//-------------------------------------------------------// My Little Friendship Confusion Is Magic -by Zoneheart- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1, The Cave //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1, The Cave We begin our story with three best friends exploring the wilderness near their home's. The three of them met in grade school in the second grade. However different there opinions may be, they still ended up as friends. Today, they agreed to meet on the edge of the forest to get away from civilization (at least were they live). They've been walking for about fifteen minutes when one if them decided to speak. "Hey Tristen" said one of the boys. He was the tallest of the three. He had black hair and generally grew impatient with the others. "What?" ,said Tristen. He was the shortest of the three. He has brown hair and (from the other's perspective) was the source for all of they're problems, due to his attitude. "What is this from. Doctor, I think I may be a homosexual.", Jared said jokingly. Tristen knew what the joke was, but decided to neglect it. "Your a homosexual," replied Tristen in his usual retarded voice. "Ok, don't get aggravated at each other, that means you Jared," said the third friend looking at the first. He was just a hair shorter than Jared, but the only timid one of them. He has brown hair and spends most of his time outside ( unlike the other two). "Shut it Janson," replied Jared already aggravated. "I swear, if you do that crap again...". "But Janson hasn't seen that yet.", replied Tristen. Jared looked at Janson curiously. "You haven't seen that?", Jared asked. "Not yet.", Janson said looking around. Before Tristen could speak and make things worse, Janson spoke up. "Hey guys, have we ever been in that cave before." They all looked over and saw a small cave in the distance. "Come on, lets go check it out!", Janson yelled, already running towards the cave. "Race ya!", Jared yelled sprinting after Janson. "Wait for meeeee," Tristen said walking behind the others. "Come on man you need to speed...", Jared started before slamming face first into a tree. Tristen ran up and helped Jared get up, laughing. "Good stinking job there bro ham.", Tristen laughed as he ran past Jared. "Come back here," Jared laughed chasing after Tristen. "Nope," Tristen replied nearly at the mouth of the cave. "Stop messing around and come look at this!" Janson yelled, surprising both of them. They've never seen Janson so serious before. Tristen and Jared joined Janson at the mouth of the cave. The cave was big and wide, but quickly came to a dead end. Along the edge of the wall was an old styled pic axe stuck in some coal. "Well this sucks", Tristen said walking in the cave. "Yeah, it does. Hey, anyone want a free sample", Jared said, grabbing the pic axe and swinging away on the coal. "Not a bad little cave", Janson said, examining the wall. "A little small for my likings", Tristen commented at the end if the cave. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a faint glow on the rocks. He went to were he saw the light and found some sort of engraving on a rock. "Hey! Guys! Check this out!", Tristen yelled. Jared dropped his pic and walked over with Janson. They all looked at the carving on the wall. It had a circular design with a detailed center. "Looks like a rune from Skyrim", Jared said examining the rune. "Can I touch it", Tristen asked getting ready to poke it. "Tristen no!", Jared and Janson yelled in unison. They grabbed Tristen's arm, trying to pull it away from the rune, but they were to late. As soon as Tristen's finger touched the rune, the light faded away. "Well that's disappointing", sighed Tristen. "What the hell is wrong with you!" Screamed Jared, "Why did you..." Before he could finish, the rune started to let out blinding streams of light. The light slowly engulfed the three friends. "I HATE YOU TWO!", screamed Janson. The whole cave became surrounded in light. The three friends fell, one by one. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2, A New World //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2, A New World "Ahhhhh, my head", Jared said aloud. "Wha, where am I?", he asked. He looked around and saw that he was in a different forest from where he was. There was no cave or anything that seamed familiar to him for that matter. He was up in tree in a forest he didn't know. "Wonderful", he said sarcastically. He looked down and saw two horses sprawled out underneath him. One was a unicorn and was black and had a red and black mane. The other was light blue. It had a pair of wings on it with a blue and green mane. "A demon unicorn and a aqua Pegasus, good god where am I?", Jared repeated. He got up and heard the tree limb he was on snap. "I should have known.", He said right before the tree limb broke. He landed on the only rock nearby. "YYYYEEEEEAAAAA!", he screamed when hit the ground. He went to put his hand where he got hit, but he didn't have hands. Instead, he had hooves. Hooves for both hand and feet. Jared was so shocked about his hands that he didn't notice the unicorn stirring. "What just happened.", asked the black unicorn. Jared looked around to see where the voice came from. "Hey look a horse.", the black pony said looking at Jared. "A t-talking h-horse.", Jared said. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know.", The unicorn said, "I just thought that since horses don't usually talk that-." "Wait a minute," Jared interrupted,"I know that voice all to well. Tristen, is that you?," Exclaimed Jared. The unicorn shrugged. "Well, my name is Tristen. Who are you?", asked Tristen. "It's me, Jared!", Jared said, "Try wiggling your fingers." Tristen brought his hand up and did but saw that he had no fingers or toes. "What happened to my hands?", he asked. "Ah man dude, your a horse!", Jared said, resisting the urge to laugh, " A unicorn!" Jared said laughing too hard to stand. Tristen looked up and saw he indeed had a horn. "Your one to talk ,Charlie.", Tristen said smiling. "Wha.", Jared said looking up. He saw that he had a horn too. "I'm a unicorn!", he yelled. He was dark orange with a short orange and red mane. His horn was curved. "How did this happen? WHY did this happen!?", Jared yelled. "Your guess is as good as mine.", Tristen said. Jared stopped panicking and looked at the Pegasus. It was sound asleep on the ground. "Wait a minute, if we're horses than that's Janson.", Jared said pointing at the blue horse. "More than likely.", Tristen replied without considering the facts. The two unicorns made there way over to the unconscious Pegasus . They looked at each other and back at the pony. Then back at each other and smiled. "Dog-pile.",they yelled as they jump on there friend. Tristen landed on Janson first. "Son of a...get off me." The pegasus yelled as he pushed the horse with his hooves. Jared just laid there on his friend laughing. Once his tacklers were off he stared at his hooves. "Where are my hands?", he asked aloud. "Your a Pegasus, you don't have hands.", Tristen explained, crawling from underneath Jared. Janson looked at his sides to see a pair of wings. He moved them up than down several times before talking. "Wait, did you just talk?", he asked. "Yes, and before you say anything else, it's me, Tristen." Janson nodded and looked at the orange unicorn getting up. "Oh, hey. Where did you find Charlie?", Janson asked. Jared hoof palmed his face. "For cryin out loud, Don't start that, it's Jared.", Jared exclamied. Janson looked at the strange stallion for a while, debating if what he said was true. After about five minutes, Janson finally spoke. "Oh, now I see it.", Janson said, " Why are you a horse?" "The same reason you are, retard.", Jared yelled. "Makes sense.", Janson said. "Hey guys, where are we?", Tristen asked, interrupting his friends. They all took a look around. They had forgotten that they were lost. The forest they knew was fairly open and small. This, however, was completely different. It was cramped with older than dirt trees. They looked over there surroundings when one of them spotted something. Out of the corner of his eye, Jared saw some smoke rising into the sky. "Hey! I see smoke. That means civilization." Before the others could interject, he took off for the source of the smoke. Tristen and Janson shared a quick glance. "Worth a shot, I guess.", Tristen said, and with that they took off after they're friend. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3, Welcome to Ponyville //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3, Welcome to Ponyville "Hey Jared wait up!", Janson yelled nearing the orange stallion. Jared slowed down so they could catch up. Eventually, Tristen and Janson caught up with Jared. They walked in silence, trying to figure out where they were and how they got there on there own. Once they neared they source of the smoke, they all heard a low growl all around them. Jared halted and quickly looked around. They all turned to see several pairs of eyes staring at them from deeper in the forest. "Run?", Tristen asked. "Yes, run.", Jared answered meekly. They all took off in a sprint towards the source of the smoke. They heard the creatures growling behind them. After awhile, they couldn't hear the growls anymore. "Did we lose them?", Jared panted. "Don't care, keep running!", Janson panted back. "We're near the edge of the forest anyway." , Tristen said, "So, I agree with Janson, keep running." They reached the edge within seconds. "FREEDOM!", they yelled as they burst through the forest, right into three little horses. Everyone collapsed to the ground. "Pardon my French, but why the hell does stuff keep happening to us!", Janson groaned getting up. "Oww, that hurt, said one of the little horses. "Oh god, I'm sorry.", Jared said, rushing over to the little pony,"Are you ok?" He looked down to see a tan pony with a red mane with a ribbon in her hair. "Yeah I'll be fine." Said the tan pony getting up. She shook her head and looked up at the orange unicorn. "Hey, ah haven't seen you ponies around here before." Said the tan pony. "You...ponies?",Janson asked scratching his head. "Well, we aren't from around here.", Jared said, interrupting Janson. The tan pony went over to the other two ponies. One was a white unicorn and had a light purple mane. The other was an orange Pegasus. Jared pulled Janson and Tristen into a huddle. "Until we know where we are or what's going on, lets not let them on that we're not from...wherever this is.", he said looking around. The two stallions nodded. The little ponies walked over to them. "Well my name is Applebloom, this Sweetybell, and this is Scootaloo.", said the tan pony pointing at her friends. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!", they all said in unison. They shoved their flanks together and stuck them up in the air. Tristen stifled a laugh. "What's a cutie mark?", Tristen barely asked. The three little horses stared at them in disbelief. "It's the mark on your flank silly.", Scootaloo said. The three friends turned to look at they're rear. Blank. They didn't have any marks just like the three little ponies. They swung back around at the young ponies. "We don't have any marks.",Jared said. The cutie mark crusaders looked at the three new stallions' flank and saw that they didn't have a mark. "You mean you guys haven't gotten your marks yet?", Sweetybell asked curiously. "We just found out what they were, soooo, no. We haven't got our marks.", Janson said. "No offense, but we really don't care right now.", Tristen stated,"We're sorta lost you see we-." "Well why didn't you say so, we can help.", Applebloom said, "Can't we." The other two crusaders nodded in agreement. "I know, we can take'm to my sister Applejack." "More names with apples?", Tristen asked. "Yeah, my family runs the orchard farm here in Ponyville.", Applebloom said. "Ponyville?",Jared asked. "Yeah, that's where you are.", Scootaloo laughed. "What is it with this place and ponies.", whispered Janson to the other two. "Come on. Lets go see my sis!",Applebloom said. She and the other Crusaders took off towards the farm. "When will we get some answers!", Jared asked. "We better not keep them waiting.", Janson said walking after the Crusaders. "Wait for us!", Tristen said chasing Janson. The six ponies walked on the edge of town. "Maybe before you leave, we can show you guys around." Sweetybell said eagerly. They turned a corner and found two more young ponies. One had on glasses while the other had a tiara on her head. "Oh look at the blank flanks.", mocked the one wearing a tiara. "Leave us alone, Diamond tiara.", Scootaloo said sternly. "Or what? You going to have your friends beat us up.", said the one with glasses. Jared pushed aside the little fillies. "Why, yes. They are.", he said cracking his neck. The two fillies stared at the approaching unicorn. They turned and ran as fast as they could. Jared chuckled and walked back. The crusaders' mouths were open, gasping. "Can we hurry up, please?", Jared asked calmly. Applebloom nodded, mouth still open. They walked slowly towards the farm. "Nice.", Tristen said, hoof bumping Jared. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4, The Library //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4, The Library After a brisk walk of total silence, the six ponies made it at the farm. It was basically a giant barn. Outside, there were several hundred apple trees. At the base of the trees were two ponies bucking a way at them. One was big, red, and had a green apple for his mark. The other one was tan with a yellow mane. It also had a rancher hat on. Jared looked over and saw that it had a mark on its flank. She had three apples for her mark. He nudged his friends and pointed at the mark. "Hey sis.", Applebloom said walking through the gate up to the one they were pointing at. The pony stopped bucking a look at Applebloom. "Hi'ya Applebloom.", the pony said, "Didn' spect ya home so soon." Tristen nudged Jared. "Ask her out dude.", He whispered to him. The pony looked over her sister and saw the three friends. One was hitting the other while the third one laughed. "Who's your friends?", the pony asked Applebloom. "Oh, they're lost so I thought we help.", Applebloom said looking back at her friends. She also looked at her flank and sighed. "I guess navigating an't our ability.", she said sounding a little sad. "Ah don't fell sad Applebloom. You'll find ya mark.", the other pony said. She walk over to where the three stallions were. "Hi'a. Ma name's Applejack.", the pony said, extending her hoof. "Oh, sorry, hi.", Jared said, hitting Tristen one more time. "I'm Jared, this is Tristen and this is Janson.", Jared said pointing at his friends. Jared shook her hoof. "Ma lil' sis said ya'll were lost?", Applejack asked. The three stallions nodded in agreement. "Yah, we got chased by something in that forest over yonder.", Janson said pointing at the forest where they just came from. Applejack gasped in shock. "Ya'll came from the Everfree Forest!", she gasped. The three stallions looked at each other and shrugged. "What's so bad about the forest?", Jared asked. Applejack couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Why, it's the most horrible place t'go!", she said,"It's full of timberwolves, hydras, cockatrices..." She trailed off, thinking about what she had just heard. Jared leaned back and whispered, "What's a timberwolf." Applejack heard him. "What, ya an't never heard of a timberwolf!", Applejack yelled. She looked at the three strange ponies. They just gave her a generally confused look. "Why, ya'll an't kiddin.", she stood there wondering how to help them. She thought it would be best to show them what a timberwolf was first. "Come with me.", she said walking towards town. "Oh come on. We just got here.", Jared said under his breath. The three ponies left the Crusaders and the farm and followed Applejack. "Hey Jack, where we headed?", Tristen asked. "I'm takin y'all to the library to show you what a timberwolf is.", she said,"And ask Twi a few questions." Jared walked up beside her. "Who's Twi?", Jared asked. "Oh she's one of ma friends.", she said, "She runs the library." "Oh, okay.",Jared said, nodding his head. The walk ended a few seconds later when they stopped in front of a large tree. It had several windows, doors, and decorations all over it. "What is wrong with this tree!", Janson yelled. Applejack looked at him with a grin. "This is tha library." Janson looked up at the tree. "Say what." "Come on inside.", Applejack said opening the door. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5, Twilight Sparkle //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5, Twilight Sparkle The four ponies walked into the library. It was built so the books were on shelves dug into the tree. Over next to one if the shelves was a purple mare with a star surrounded by five smaller stars for her mark. She had purple hair with a streak of pink in it. "Hey Twi.", Applejack said to the purple mare. The pony turned to see who said her name. "Hey Applejack.",Twilight said. She climbed down and walked over next to Applejack. She saw the three stallions behind her. She walked over to Jared and stuck out her hoof. "Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle.", she said. Jared shook her hoof. "Jared, pleased to meet you.", he said to Twilight. "Same.", she said back. Tristen leaned in and whispered into Jared's ear. "Ask her out dude." Jared hoof palmed looking at the floor. Twilight heard Tristen's comment and started to blush. "Excuse me one sec.", he said as he looked up. "Go ahead.", Twilight giggled. "Thank you." Jared turned and punched Tristen out the door. "Oh what the hell man!",Tristen yelled holding his stomach. Jared ran up and put him into a headlock. Tristen struggled to get free, but he couldn't. Jared took the corner of his hoof and put it behind Tristen's ear. "The more you struggle, the more it'll hurt.", Jared said as he applied pressure. Tristen screamed in pain. The two mares gasped and looked over at Janson. "Can't ya do anythin!", Applejack said. Janson simple looked at her and smiled. "You learn to just let it be around Jared.",Janson said. ,"You don't know who will get hurt." "YYYYEEEEEAAAAA!", Tristen howled. Twilight turned to Jared and stared at him. What is wrong with this unicorn, Twilight thought to herself. She shook her head and her horn started to glow a faint purple. Janson stared at the horn in awe. "What the...hey put me down!", Jared demanded as he was lifted into the air. He had a purple glow around him. "Are you doing that?", Janson asked Twilight. "Yep.", is all she said. "Oh thank you.", Tristen said holding his ear. She smiled at him still focusing on Jared. "How though?", Janson said to Twilight. Still focusing on Jared she said, "Lots of concentration." Jared heard this and thought if a quick plan. "This statement is false!", Jared yelled higher up than the tree. Twilight slowly started to lose focus on Jared. His plan worked! She couldn't focus anymore. However he didn't think on how to stop his fall. "Oh shit.", he said as he fell. "What happened Twi?", Applejack asked. Twilight was looking down at the floor. "I don't know how, but he broke my concentration.", Twilight said puzzled. THUD! "Hello. Injured horse here. Umm...Charlie down.", Jared yelled trying to get up. He fell back down on his side. "Why can't I...oh.", Jared said as he fainted. His front- right leg's bone was sticking straight out of his body. "Good god.", Tristen said poking the bone. Twilight couldn't speak. She's never hurt another pony (that's not evil) before. "Come on", Applejack said picking up Jared,"Lets get him to the hospital Twi." Twilight nodded and went to help Applejack. Janson looked at Tristen. " I did warn her.", he stated walking behind the two mares and Jared. "Sucks for Charlie.", Tristen said laughing. He could almost hear Jared complaining in his head. "Never let him forget this.", Tristen said to Janson. Janson nodded and started to chuckle along with Tristen. Janson looked forward, "This place is going to be interesting", he said. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 6, Mentors //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 6, Mentors At the hospital, Applejack, Twilight, Tristen, and Janson stood around Jared. He was laying on a hospital sound asleep. "He seems peaceful for once." ,Tristen said. "Yeah, he does.", Janson agreed. The door opened to the room and a doctor came in with his clipboard. "Well, he'll be ok. However, he won't come out of the coma for a few hours.", the doctor said. Twilight stared at Jared, filled with grief."Oh how could I do this!", she groaned on the verge off crying. "It wasn't ya fault, Twi", Applejack said,"He did make you lose concentration." Twilight just stared at her. "Just give me some time alone with him please.", Twilight asked. "Come on let's leave them be.", the doctor said, motioning them to the door. "K doc.", Tristen said as he pushed the other two out. As soon as they closed the door they were blinded by a bright light. "Not again.", Janson groaned. They appeared in a large room. To the left of them was two other ponies. One was pink with a bubbly pink mane. She had three balloons as her mark. The other was a white unicorn with a purple mane. She looked like she spends a lot of time taking care of her looks. She had three diamond as her mark. To the right was two other pegasi. One was cyan with a rainbow mane. She had a rain cloud with a rainbow coming out of it as her mark. The other was yellow with a pink mane. She had three butterflies as her mark. In front of them was a pony that was a pegasus and a unicorn. She had a flowing rainbow mane and a sun for her mark. She had a crown on her head. After a few moments of looking around the front pony spoke. "Welcome. I am princess Celestia." Tristen was about to say something when she stopped him. "I know you'll have questions, but please wait. Let me speak first." Tristen nodded."Thank you. Now, you're wondering where you're at. You are in Equestria. It will take some time for you to get use to this new land, so I have asked some of my citizens to help you." Tristen and Janson looked around at the ponies. "I cannot answer all your questions at this time, however-," Celestia started. "Wait a minute." Tristen interrupted,"You said 'new land', where are we exactly?" Celestia looked at the five ponies around them and asked, "Could you give us some time alone?" The ponies looked at each other and nodded. "Can do." Said the blue Pegasus. The stallions watched the others walk out behind them. Once they were gone, Celestia spoke. "Ok, look. You guys aren't from this world." The guys just stared at her. What did she mean? How did they get to a different world? They were home not even a day ago. Celestia looked at them and sighed. "If I knew how, I'd send you back. But, sadly, I do not." She said looking down. "Hey, don't worry about it.",Janson said comforting her. "Well, technically, it is our fault.", Tristen said. Celestia looked at them and smiled. "Thanks.", she said raising her head. "The reason I called you guys here is to help you." "How?", Janson asked politely. The pony walked down to them. "You've notice by now that most ponies have a cutie mark, have you not?", she asked curiously. They both nodded in agreement. "However you guys do not, that's where I step in. I've asked the ponies you just saw to help you get your mark and give you a place to stay." "Thanks.", Tristen said politely. Celestia nodded slightly when the ponies walked back in. Both stallions turned to see the ponies come back in. Celestia glanced at the ponies in front of her. She smiled at them and her horn began to glow. The seven ponies became engulfed in a bright light. Janson recognized this light and knew what was going to happen. "Oh, come on!", he screamed as he was fully surrounded by the light. Tristen, Janson, and Applejack appeared back at the hospital. "Well that raised more questions than in answered.", Tristen said flatly rubbing his eyes. "What d'ya mean?", Applejack asked. "For one, she didn't say who we were to stay with.", Tristen said. Janson nodded in agreement. "When ah went back with ma friends, tha'll told me bout what ya'll suppose ta do.", Applejack said, "Yanson, ya are to stay with Fluttershy." Tristen nudged Janson, who punched him in the face. "Tristen, ya suppose ta stay with Pinkie.", Applejack said helping him up. "Good luck.", she said under her breath. "Where do they live?", Tristen asked holding the side of his face. Applejack smiled at them. "Come on, I'll show ya." //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 8, Dig A Hole //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 8, Dig A Hole Applejack quickly made her way towards Sugar Cube corner. It went faster since Tristen didn't seem keen on talking. They stopped in front of a giant gingerbread house. Tristen gazed at the building. "GINGERBREAD!", he yelled excitedly. Applejack walked up and knocked on the door. "Applejack!", exclaimed a pink pony, popping up next to her. Tristen jumped in surprise, but Applejack remained calm. "Howdy Pinkie.", she said to the pink horse, "Ya know why I'm here, right?" Pinkie nodded and trotted towards Tristen. "Hi, I'm Pinkie pie. Princess Celestia asked me to give you a home and if you need a home, you didn't have one before, and it you didn't have one before, your not from here, and if your not from here, you don't know anyone, and if you don't know anyone, you don't know who to trust, and if you don't know who to trust-", Pinkie said without ending. "Hi I'm Tristen. I'm not from here so I don't know what I'm doing and if I don't know what I'm doing-", Tristen started, interrupting and mimicking Pinkie. Applejack took notice of this and quickly ran away. They talked like this for a while before stopping. "So when can I start learning magic?", Trisren asked Pinkie. Pinkie opened the door and motioned for him to come inside. "Rarity is off getting more gems, so it will be a while.", she told Tristen, "I keep telling her all she needs to do is mine her own. I've even started making a hole already." Tristen looked around. "Not in here silly.", she giggled. She led him out back and he saw the mine. It was more of a dip then anything. "It's not even a foot deep.", he stated, rather disappointed. "It's a work in progress.", she retorted, "Hey. I got an idea. Why don't you help me with it?" Tristen looked at the mine-to-be, then to Pinkie. "Sure, why not.", he said, "But only if I can use a pic axe." She reached behind her and pulled one out and handed it to him. "Where did you get that?", he asked confuse. "Hey want some cupcakes?", she said, ignoring his question. Before he could speak she went back towards the door. He shrugged and and started swinging the pic axe. Pinkie came back with a tray of cupcakes. "You'll love this. I made them my-", she stopped when she got back. She looked down and saw that Tristen was mining away happily. "How did you do that?", she asked. Tristen looked up, "Do what?", he said when he looked up.He was over thirty feet underground. "Whoa.", he said amazed. He and Pinkie stared at what he had done so fast. "Anyway, I found some iron here so I'm going to mine it up.", he said shaking his head. He went on mining, breaking large pieces of iron at a time. Pinkie went on about how she made the cupcakes, but he didn't pay attention. He went on for what seamed like hours before he stopped. He looked up and saw a problem. He dug straight down. How was he going to get out? He spun the pic axe in his hand and swung it straight into the wall. He pulled himself up, held his back to the opposite wall, and swung again. Eventually, he got to the top and climbed out. It was night now. Pinkie was still standing at the base of the hole. She was still on her story of cupcakes. Tristen looked up at the stars. What's happening to us, he thought to himself. He noticed a chariot fly above him. It was carried by two Pegasus. One had a bandage wrapped around his head. Tristen thought he saw a pony holding on to the bottom of it, but couldn't tell for sure. He shrugged and walked inside. Pinkie was right behind him, still on the story. "This is going to be fun.", he said sarcastically. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 9, Thief Time //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 9, Thief Time Jared woke up in a small room. He noticed several medical devices around it. He also noticed that Twilight was sitting on a chair reading a book. He sat up and spoke," Why am I in a hospital?" Twilight looked up from her book. "Don't you remember. You were hurting the black unicorn and I stopped you.", she said,"Oh, how's your leg by the way?" He looked at his leg. "Oh yeah. I forgot I broke that.", he said . "How can you forget? You blacked out because of it.", she asked confused. "Oh that.", he said moving his leg like no big deal. "I didn't black out cause of this thing. I blacked out cause if lack of sleep." "Why were so tired?", she asked, closing her book. "Stayed up all night playing video games.", he stated laughing. "What's a video game?", she asked. Jared stopped smiling and stared at her. She saw a tear roll down the side of his face. Twilight got up and walked towards the door. "We'll I'm glad your better.", she said leaving. Jared yawned and fell back asleep. He awoke later with a start. It was night now. He quickly got out of bed and walk towards the window. He was several stories high. He took a moment to take in the scenery. He saw a castle in the distance. he sighed and climbed onto the window seal. He looked down, then turned around. He fell backwards, felling the wind in his mane. He landed on a stack of hay, cushioning his fall. He heard a door open and ran up to a nearby bush. He ducked down and saw two Pegasus walking out of the hospital. One had a bandage on his head. He followed them stealthy to a chariot. "Next time you lock yourself outside. Use your head, and not literally.", spoke the regular Pegasus to the injured one. Jared crawled underneath the chariot quickly and grab on.The two pegasus got to the front of the chariot and flew off. "Why did we take this thing again?", asked the injured one. The other one shrugged. "Beats me. What gets me is why did we come to the Ponyville hospital instead of Canterlot's?" Jared rolled his eyes and looked up to the ground. He saw a black Pegasus climbing out of a hole Is that Tristen?, he asked himself. He looked back in front to see where they were going. He noticed a city resting on the side of a nearby mountain. He smirked looking at city. It's more than a castle? Thief time, he thought to himself smugly. Once they landed, and the pegasi left, Jared crawled out from underneath the chariot. He took notice of the giant castle in front of him. He climbed inside one of the nearby windows and landed on the other side silently. He "wondered" the halls, avoiding the occasional guard or two, looking for anything of interest. He stopped when he came to a door with a guard out front. Has to be something of value in there, Jared thought to himself. He looked around and found a pice of the wall that broke off. He picked it up. To his left was a wall with a window higher up it. "Pointless.", he said silently. Ahead of him was a hallway that curved to the right. He threw the rock down the hallway opposite from him. "Who's there!", demanded the guard. He walk up to the sound while Jared hugged the wall behind him. The guard looked to his right and started trotting down the hall. Jared snuck to the door and slipped inside. He made sure to shut the door quietly. When he turned around he saw something that him stop dead in his tracks. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 10, Forgotten Library //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 10, Forgotten Library What Jared saw before him stopped him, awestruck. Rows of books were in front of him. A lone window to his left was barely open, lighting the room. A library? That's what so special you have to guard it?, he asked himself sarcastically. He walk forward to one of the bookshelves. He noticed that all the walls and shelves where covered in dust and cobwebs. He reached forward and pulled out one of the books. He faced it up and blew off the dust. He coughed as the dust reached is face. The title read "Pyromancy 101". Jared flipped through it and realized what was special. He read some written on the back page that said, "The rings reduce, not diminish." Jared put the book under one of his arms. He looked around. in the corner found a chair stacked on top of a table. He went over and grabbed the leg of the chair. When he went to pull it away from the chair to sit in it, he broke off the leg. Jared examined the inside of the leg piece he broke off. It was molded and old. He put the leg on the table and walked to the middle of the room. He sat down on the floor, disregarding how much filth was on it. He opened the book and started reading. "Fire is not something you control. It is a being of it's own.", Jared read. "It senses fear and will consume who or what is afraid of it. However, some people have the ability to manipulate the flames for there own purposes ,be it good or bad. Most are born with that ability, but this book will teach you how to fake it in order to use fire, and control the flame." Jared read through the book, learning different techniques and testing them on other uninteresting books. From the simple fire transfer, to the inferno storm, he studied the movements of the drawings in the book. He was reading on how to make the pyro shield when he fell asleep. He awoke to a blinding light in his eyes. He stood up and rubbed his eyes. He looked out the window and saw it was just becoming day. Shit, he thought, I got to get out of here. Out of the corner of his eye Jared saw a bag. He walked over to it and picked it up. A book fell out of one side of it. Jared put the book back in, not reading it's name, and slung the pack over his back. He strapped it in nice and tight so it wouldn't fall of and put the Pyromancy 101 book in. Jared crept over to the door and opened if a smudge. The hall was vacant. Jared quietly shut the door and started for the window. So there is a point for this window, he thought to himself. He was to busy looking at the window that he forgot to check the hallways. A guard came up from one of the halls and saw Jared. "Stop! Intruder!", the guard yelled. Jared turned and saw the guard charging at him. Jared quickly climbed the window and looked back at the guard. More guards where already on there way. Jared turned to jump but saw one small problem. There was no ground below him to jump to. He was on the side that was a sheer drop. Jared turned to see some pegasus ponies spreading there wings ready to take flight. Jared looked along the sides of the buildings to find some way out. He looked up and saw a identical window above him. He jumped and barely grabbed the window seal. He pulled himself up when a bunch of the ponies flew out the previous window. Jared quickly climbed in and took off down in a run towards his left. "Yolo men! Yolo!", screamed one of the guards. "Oh please tell me I didn't just here yolo.", he said to himself. Jared kept running aimlessly down the endless halls. He rounded a corner into a large room. As soon as he turned, however, the guards had set up a blockade if men, who had him at spear point. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 11, Fight Or Flight //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 11, Fight Or Flight Jared watched as the guards held the spears at him. There was six in all. Five held the spears while one stood off to the side. The side guard had different armor than the rest. Jared heard a noise from behind. He turned to see the guards that chased him running down the hall. They stopped once they saw that he was caught. Jared glared at the ponies with spears. He noticed that the guard on the far right had a bandage on his head. Jared looked at his footing. He was standing in a unbalanced position. "Captain, what do you want us to do with him?", said the injured guard. He turned his head to look at the guard on the side. At that instant, Jared stood on his back legs and swung one up, knocking the shaft of the spear into the others. He stepped forward and elbowed the guard in the head. The guard fell unconscious releasing his grip on the spear. Jared took the spun, spear on hand, and broke the blade tip across the back of the guard next to him, knocking him out. He heard the guards from behind charging after him. He turned around and held his makeshift boa-staff in battle ready position. "I'll kill you for what you did to my friend!", yelled a voice from behind. Jared fell onto his "hands and knees" just in time to avoid a spear. He pushed off of his hands and swung his legs around. His legs collided with the shaft of the spear and snapped it in two. He followed up by bashing the guard in the head with his staff. He heard a crack and knew that it would break next time he hit someone with that end. The guard fell on his back holding his face. Jared dived over him to get more room. Just in time to because the place he was just at was surrounded with guards. He sensed someone behind him. He fell back and through his staff up to block the incoming spear. The blade of the spear landed right in middle of his staff, nearly breaking it. Jared head butted the attacker and flipped behind him. A quick second to examine the staff told Jared that it was barley holding together. He broke it over his knee and grabbed the two halves. He saw a spear head swinging down on him out of the corner of his eye. He through the half of the staff out and got it lodged in the head. He pulled the spear forward and through his elbow into the guards head. He turned to see more guards come at him. Where do they keep coming from?, he asked himself. They surrounded him, on the ground and in the air, spears pointed at him. Jared dropped his staff parts and fell to his knees. He was to exhausted to fight anymore. He felt something digging into his side. He looked and saw the bag that he had the books in. His eyes widened. The book! Of course!, he thought to himself. "So you've decided to give up?", asked the guard in different armor that the others. "Not quite yet.", Jared said grinning. He closed his eyes and his horn began to glow orange. He curled up into a ball. All the guards braced themselves, prepared to strike. The orange glow spread to his entire body.Flames appeared out of nowhere and started to incase Jared in a ball. "Men, run!", screamed the guard turning away. The guards dropped they're weapons and ran towards the exit. Jared just sat there in the floating orb of flames. The guards were almost out when a wall of fire blocked they're way. They turned to Jared and braced themselves. Jared slowly raised his head and opened his eyes. As soon as he opened them, the ball of fire that surrounded him exploded into a fury of flames. The intier room was subjected to the blazing Inferno. When the flames subsided, Jared was standing in the middle of the room, a fresh boa in hand. He looked around. Although the room itself was undamaged, the guards on the other hand were on worse conditions. At the base of the exit was the captain curled into a ball holding stomachs. Jared walked over to him and looked down at him. The guard looked up, wincing in pain. "Who-who are you?", the guard asked feebly. Jared thought to himself, I don't want them knowing my real name. He looked back down at the guard. "I am The Burninator .", Jared said. He then knocked him out. Jared looked at his surroundings. He was in a large room with several doors and hallways leading out of it. He didn't get a good look at the room earlier. On the other end of the room was three large windows. Jared looked out them to see that he was on the side with a sheer drop. When he looked forward he saw the landscape of the area. Jared nodded his head in approval. He had never seen any type of terrain like this before. Closest to him was the Everfree forest and Ponyville. Beyond that were mountains, deserts, lakes, and a volcano. He's seen them before, but not as one biome. Just then he heard a loud bang. He looked up and saw a giant circular rainbow. He was too distracted by the rainbow to hear the sounds from behind him. More guards had come to help and had noticed him. They charged and screamed in rage of what he had done. Jared heard their screams and turned. "Are you fucking kidding me", he said aloud, "How many of you bastards are there." He couldn't fight them, he was to worn out, but nor could he escape through one of the doors fast enough. Panicking, Jared did the only thing he could do. He jumped. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 13, Potions //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 13, Potions Jared fell at alarming speeds. He took his boa and held it in front of him. "Please work.", he pleaded as he fell. The boa hit the ground hard and snapped into pieces. Jared through his injured leg in front of him. He screamed in pain as the bone broke back through the stitched skin. Jared struggled to get up. He took parts of his boa, and tied them around his broken leg with some vines nearby. "Now all I have to do is make it through the forest.", he said to himself. He forced himself to ignore the pain as he walked. He was expecting to see something to come out and attack him, but nothing did. He walked in silence only making noise when he bumped his leg into something. It was hard to see with a thick bog. He kept going in one direction hoping to be a Ponyville soon. He saw a light up a head through the bog. He couldn't be at Ponyville, could he?, he thought to himself. He got closer and saw that the light came from a creepy looking tree. Jared walked up to the tree and found a door. He went inside and found the walls to be filled with hundreds of different containers. There was a large pot in the middle of the room with a book on a stand next to it. Jared went up and looked through the book. Everything in it was about different types of potions you could make. He found two that really caught his attention. One was on a sleeping potion that once it entered your bloodstream, you would be knocked out cold for three hours. The other was on a magic resistant potion. Jared read through the instructions for both of them. The sleeping potion was easy. Grass, tree bark , and a weird leaf that he found in the room. He put the ingredients in the pot and began stirring it. When it was done, he found an empty bottle and poured the potion in it. The other potion was a lot harder. It took several different items that he didn't know. "Eye of a cockatrice, blood of an Ursa Major, tongue of a hydra, what are these things?", Jared asked aloud. "Creatures that lead to doom. More can be said in the ancient pony tomb.", said a voice behind Jared. "Who said that?", he asked as he turned around. He saw a zebra walk up to him. "Are you a new pony for the crew, or are you a pony that just likes to brew?", the zebra asked. "I-I guess brew.", Jared said confused, "I'm Jared.", he said holding out his hoof "They call me Zacora, but you could probably of guessed by my flora.", she said. She walked over and looked at the book. "Does it work?", Jared asked. "To this day I've never known, but if it does, you shan't be pwned.", she replied. God damn it, no more rhyming!, Jared thought to himself."Do you at least know how to get back to Ponyville?", he asked. Zecora motioned him outside. "The path to Ponyville you seek will lead you to a pony who's quite meek.", she said pointing down a dim path. "Thanks.", Jared said as he walked down the path. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 14, MIA //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 14, MIA Jared walked down the dimly lit path through the forest. He studied the batch of the sleeping potion he made. It had a green hue to it and seemed to produce a glow. He opened the bottle and scooped up some of it in his hoof. It felt like some sort of gelatin. "I wonder.", he stated to himself. He stuck some of it on a nearby tree. He walk forward a little bit, turned around, and shot a small fire ball at it. The gel instantly caught on fire. "Huzzah!", Jared said happily. After extinguishing the fire, he continued down the path. He reached a small cottage at the edge of the forest. Several types of animals were up and about. Jared looked up at the sky. From what he could tell it was in the early afternoon. Jared walked around the cottage to the front door. He debated if he should ask for directions or not for a second, and then knocked. The door opened to see a yellow Pegasus with pink hair. "C-can I help you?", the yellow pony asked. She looked down at his leg. "Oh my gosh! We need to get you to the hospital.", she said pushing Jared along. "Thanks, but I don't need to. Do you know the way to the library?", Jared asked calmly. The pegasus stopped pushing, "Of course. Follow me.", the she said. "I'm Jared by the way.", Jared said. "My names Fluttershy.", the Pegasus said. Jared followed her towards Ponyville. It was bigger looking at it from out here. "We'll have to go by Sugar Cube Corner.", Fluttershy said. Jared nodded and followed her there. When they got there, several ponies where standing near a hole talking. Jared recognized one of them immediately. It was Applejack. "Hey Fluttershy, ya'll come here real quick?", she asked. Fluttershy walked up to the hole while Jared stayed behind listening. "What happened?", Fluttershy asked. "Tristen got caved in down there and me Pinkie and Twi don't know how to get him out.", Applejack said. The other ponies nodded in agreement. One was Twilight and the other what Jared guessed to be Pinkie. "I know how.", Jared said smiling. He walked up to the hole and jumped down it without stopping. "Wait", Twilight said to late,"Isn't he supposed to be in the hospital?" The three other ponies shrugged. Jared fell to the bottom and landed without a signal injury, other than his rebroken leg. He couldn't see anything around him. His horn started to glow and flames appeared around it. "Ah much better.", he said now that he can see. He saw where the cave in accrued. He started digging it out with his hoofs. It seemed like an eternity, but he dug it out. On the other side of the cave in was a shaft going straight. A pile of gems laying at the foot of the cave in. Jared picked up one of the rubies that were there and put it in his bag. "Tristen now, gem later.", he said to himself. He followed the shaft. It wasn't natural. Someone or something had to of dug it. He heard a faint TINK in the distant. Jared broke into a run down the shaft. The noise was getting louder and louder. At the end of the shaft was a black unicorn with a pic axe mining away at the rocks. Jared snuck up behind him. "I'M GOING TO PUT MY PAIN INTO YOUR SOUL!", Jared yelled. Tristen jumped and bashed his head on the ceiling. "Bwahahaha.", Jared laughed. "Screw you dude.", Tristen yelled laying on the ground. "It was a perfect opportunity. You can't deny that.", Jared said smiling. He helped Tristen up. "What did you do now?", Tristen asked looking at Jared's broken leg. "Something stupid.", Jared replied. "How does that not surprise me.", Tristen said jokingly. "Help!", screamed a faint voice. The to stallions looked at each other. "That was definitely down here.", Tristen said. "Well, what are you waiting for? We need to head in deeper.", Jared said bucking at the wall. "Right.", Tristen said swinging at the wall. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 15, Going In Deeper //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 15, Going In Deeper Tristen and Jared worked tirelessly mining there way to the direction of the cry. "It stopped.", Jared panted. "Yeah. It did.", Tristen panted back,"I don't know bout you, but I'm done." Tristen fell backwards onto the ground. Jared fell onto his knees. "I have an idea.", Jared said getting up. "What?", Tristen asked. "I've learned a thing or two since I've been gone.", Jared smirked. He closed his eyes and his horn began to glow brighter and brighter. A heat wave passed through Tristen and the rocks in front. "Phew. Did you fell that?", Tristen asked. "Hang on.", Jared retorted. The rocks in front of them started melting "Holy shit. Is that you?", Tristen asked. "No. It's the air,. What do you think?", Jared said sarcastically. Once the rocks melted away, Tristen helped Jared down the newly made shaft. "There should be another cave coming up.", Jared said tiredly. "How do you know?", Tristen asked. "Why do you think I sent a wave first?", Jared replied, "It wouldn't do much good if we were going the wrong direction." "Good point.", Tristen said, shrugging his shoulders. They reached another cave, just as Jared said. This one was bigger and more natural looking then theirs. "Hey dude check this out.", Tristen said to Jared. Jared wobbled over to Tristen. They were looking at shallow dug-out hole. "Someone, or something had to of dug this.", Tristen stated. Jared looked around the cave. One way lead to a dead end. The other path kept going on. "Help me!", screamed the mysterious voice. Both of the friends looked down the path. "Looks like we are in the right place.", Jared said rubbing his head. The fire on his horn diminished. "You ok?", Tristen asked him. Jared nodded,"Yeah. Slight headache. No biggie." Tristen sighed,"If only we had some torches." Jared slapped the ground. "We do.", he said pulling out the bottle. "What's that?", Tristen asked befuddled. "S'pose to be a sleep potion, but I think I fucked it up.", Jared replied. He broke a two thin pieces of wood off his leg brace and dipped the end of it in the gel. He pulled them back out and held them against his horn. The gel bursted into flames immediately. "Whoa.", Tristen said laughing,"Where'd you get that stuff?" Jared handed him one of the torches. "I'll show you when we get out of here.", he said calmly. The torches lit the cave up for them. "Come on. Lets go.", Jared said trotting down the path. "Yeah, yeah.", Tristen mumbled. "How did you learn that anyway?", Tristen asked. "We got a little bit, so i guess I'll tell you.", Jared said looking down the path. Along the way, Jared told Tristen of the chariot ride over to the mountain city, the sneaking around, the library, everything. Even the fight with the guards. "Still stealing things, huh?", Tristen asked. "Not my fault, thought it was Skyrim.", Jared said begrudgingly. "Oh my god.", Tristen laughed. Jared started to laugh with him. "Old habits die-.", Jared started. He tripped and fell to the ground hard. "Fuck.", Jared said holding his leg. He looked back to see what he tripped on. Behind him was a giant dog holding Tristen in his left hand by his tail. "Oh come on.", Jared said being picked up with the free hand by his tail. The dog started running down the cave. "You know I blame you, right.", Tristen told Jared, swinging back and forth. "Ah shut up.", Jared retorted sharply. The dog ran down the cave at insane speeds. He turned a corner sharply to the right without slowing down. Tristen swung uncontrollably into the wall head first. "Well fuck.", he said before being knocked out. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 16, Jailbreak //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 16, Jailbreak Tristen arose in a small cell. Rusted bars held them in on one end while the other parts of the cell were part of the cave. Two unicorns were in the cell. One was orange, who Tristen knew was Jared. The other was white with a piece of clothe over her mouth. He remembered her from the visit to Celestia. "What happened?", he asked wearily. Both of the unicorns looked over at him. "Short version, giant dogs, gems, and the gem finder.", Jared said pointing at the white unicorn. Tristen just glared at him. "More info please?", he said towards Jared. "Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm!", exclaimed the white unicorn. Jared reached over to pull the clothe off. The white unicorn backed away with dread in her eyes. Jared rolled his eyes and pulled his hand back. The white unicorn relaxed. "What's the problem?", Tristen asked. Jared crossed his front, uninjured leg and leaned up against the wall. "She's worried about her makeup being messed up.", Jared said, mockingly. Tristen looked over a the unicorn. Chunks of rock were sprinkled in her hair. Splotches of dirt covered most her body. Tristen looked back at Jared. "How would you know?", he asked harshly. Jared leaned away from the wall. "You've been out for a long while.", Jared said closing his eyes. Tristen squinted a him. "What does that have to do with it?", he asked Jared. Jared chuckled, "We did a sort of yes/no game. I've learned quite a bit about this unicorn." Tristen glanced at the unicorn. "What's her name.", he asked aloud. "Rarity.", Jared said looking out the cell. The unicorn nodded at Tristen. She began mumbling something when three giant dogs came to the cell. "What do we have here?", asked the smallest. "More workers.", the middle one replied. The biggest leaned down. By now all three ponies were standing up looking at them. "Heh, they don't look that st-.", the dog started Tristen reached through the bars and grabbed his collar. He pulled the dog's head into the bars and kick them out. "No!", screamed the smallest dog. Tristen picked up a bar. The dogs dove towards him in the air. He bashed them both in the head with the pole. They fell onto the biggest dog unconscious.Tristen turned to his friends. They were still in the cell. "You coming?", he asked, extinguishing the flames. Jared and Rarity walked out of the cell. "You really need to teach me how to use fire.", Tristen said looking at the chaos he created. Jared nodded and looked up. Tristen looked up at what Jared was staring at. "Awesome ceiling.", Tristen said sarcastically. He looked over at Jared. His horn was glowing brightly. A faint orange wave went up into the rocks. "Oh, now I get it.", Tristen said, remembering earlier. The rocks melted away, revealing sunlight. Jared feebly looked over at the white unicorn. "I hope you weren't kidding bout being able to use telekinesis.", he said seriously. The unicorn rolled her eyes. Her horn began to glow a white light. Jared, Tristen, and Rarity began glowing white.Jared went up first. Barely fitting in the path. Rarity went next followed by Tristen. Jared reached the top and turned to help Rarity out. Tristen was barely in the hole when a hand grabbed him. The biggest dog was dragging Tristen down. "Where do you think your going?", the dog asked menacingly. Tristen tried kicking him off. "That won't work.", the dog said with an evil grin. "Come on man.", Jared said down the hole, "Kick his ass like you did before." Tristen's horn began to glow a dull gray. The dog started pulling him down farther. A bolt of lightning jolted out of Tristen's horn and hit the dog in the face. The dog let go and Tristen flew up the hole. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 17, Fire Bad //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 17, Fire Bad Jared pulled Tristen out of the cave. "What took ya?", He asked sarcastically as Tristen got out. Tristen looked up at his friend. "A dog grabbed me, dumbass.", he said. Jared grunted and looked around. They were in the Everfree forest again. "Something about this spot reminds me of something.", Jared said curiously. He looked up and saw a tree with a broken branch. "Of course.", Jared sighed. Tristen walked up to Jared."This is where we started.", he said, remembering. "Hmmmm!", rarity tried to scream. The friends turned together. Rarity was crawling away pointing at the forest. Several pairs of eyes were staring back at her. "Them again huh.", Tristen said getting in front of rarity. "Apparently.", Jared replied staring at the eyes. Tristen helped rarity up. "You guys get out of here.", Jared told them, pushing them away. Tristen replied,"Are you insane!" Jared turned to his friends and pushed them again. "Go!", he yelled. Tristen reluctantly left with rarity. The eyes stayed at Jared. Show me what you got, Jared thought to himself. One of the pairs of eyes jumped out and showed itself. It was a large wolf made a bark. It had horns going back on its head. The other wolves jumped out and started to circle Jared. The circle got smaller and smaller till one jumped at Jared. He dodged, grabbed it's horn and started swinging it around at the other wolves. The wolves jumped back and jumped at him, dodging the wolf he was swinging. Jared dodged them and climbed into a tree. The wolves scratched and clawed up the tree. This is getting me nowhere fast, Jared thought to himself. He jumped onto another tree's branch and another, jumping farther into the forest. Tristen and rarity made it out of the forest. They headed towards town to get help. The group of ponies were still surrounding the hole. Pinkie was digging stairs along the sides. Tristen walked up to the group carrying Rarity. "A little help.", he said aloud. The ponies turned and gasped. Twilight and a blue Pegasus came and took Rarity. "Thank you so much.", the Twilight said to Tristen. He nodded as they carried her away. Applejack walked over to Tristen. "How'd ya mange to get out?", she asked. "Hey yeah. How did you?", the Twilight asked laying Rarity down. "Jared came in and we basically dug our way out.", he said siting down. "That's also how we found Rarity." A pegasus came up to him and fluttered in front if him. "Where is he? His he ok?", she asked. Tristen sighed. "He's fighting something in the forest. The group if ponies gasped. Twilight turned and looked at the group. "Fluttershy, Pinkie, you stay here with Rarity. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, you come with us.", she ordered. Tristen got up and went with the ponies towards the forest. Jared kept jumping from branch to branch, deeper into the forest. The wolves were still on his tail. He landed on a weak branch and it broke off. He fell to the ground, wolves still after him. He was getting impatient with them. "Come on!", he screamed at the wolves. He shrouded his fists in fire when one jumped at him. He stood his ground and punched the wolf in the face. The wolf fell back and rubbed his face in the ground. Jared saw smoke coming from the sides. A wolf jumped from behind him and pinned him to the ground. He heard a crack from his bag. The jar broke and starting leaking some gel. More and more wolves jumped on him and gnawed at his body, ripping off chunks of flesh. He tried to fight them off but there was too many. Back father in the woods, the four ponies raced after Jared. "Do you know where he is?", Twilight asked Tristen. "No idea.", he replied back. "I'll see what I can do from above.", Rainbow said as she flew above the trees. She looked out through the forest and heard faint growls coming from deeper in. She took off after the sound and the others followed her. Jared screamed in pain as the wolves ripped chunks from his body. The gel kept dripping out in a steady stream next to his hand. "Fuck it!", he said as he light the gel a blaze. The fire quickly went up the stream and reached the source. The jar exploded with flames everywhere, incinerating the wolves. They whelped and whimpered as the drug themselves away. "How much farther?", Applejack asked Rainbow. "It should be right up-.", she started, but was cut off by a explosion in front of them. The three ground ponies hid behind trees while Rainbow dodged the debris flying at them. They all watched as timberwolves crawled away from a charred body. They all looked to see who it was. The ripped apart unicorn collapsed in the remaining crater. "Jared!", Tristen yelled as he ran up to his friend. He put his ear to his chest. Still breathing. The other ponies came up and looked down at him. "Come on, we can't leave him here.", Twilight said as she started picking him up with her magic. "No shit.", Tristen said, stating the obvious, "Just look at him. If wasn't for the fact that his wounds were burned, he'd of bled to death already." "Then lets hurry.", Applejack said, taking off out of the forest. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 18, Reunion //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 18, Reunion "That looks painful.", said a muffled voice. "Quiet, we need him to sleep.", said another voice. "Hey, Charlie, wake up.", said a familiar voice. Jared opened his eyes and saw colorful smudges surrounding him. "Go fuck yourself.", said Jared weakly. "Nah.", said the black smudge. Jared focused and saw his new friends around him. He was back in the hospital, again. Only this time he had several tubes and machines attached to him and he was strapped into a chair. His head was clamped back, preventing much movement. He looked at the machines and examined them. "Long story.", Rainbow dash said. Tristen walked beside him. "I found something out.", he said smiling. He punched Jared in his injured leg. "We was in the cell for thirty minutes, not three days." Jared winced and reached for his leg ,but couldn't. His arms where stuck on something. He looked up as best he could and saw his hands bandaged and held to a metal bar. Jared looked at Tristen confused. "Why am I strapped down to a chair?", he asked. "Let's just say that some of y'all didn't come back.", Applejack spoke. The doctor came in before Jared could speak. "Ah, he's awake.", the doctor said aloud. He walked up and examined Jared's bandaged body. "Looks like the augmentation work.", the doctor said joyfully. "You did what?", Jared asked. The doctor looked at his friends. "You did tell him, right?", he asked nervously. They all gave him a sheepish grin. "We...didn't quite get to that.", Twilight spoke up. The doctor sighed and looked back at Jared. "Your body was in disrepair. You lost too much blood and flesh, your entire body was charred, most of your bones were broken, your hearing was shot. Not to mention your spine was snapped. We had no alternative." The doctor spun Jared into a mirror. Jared gasped. His limbs where gone and machines had taken there place. Jared still felt them like they were real. His ears had metal aids behind them hidden in his hair. The doctor released his limbs and head and he climbed out of the chair. His spine had a brace on the outside of his body going from tail to neck."Now technically, this is a trial run, the first to be exact, so there's a chance you'll experience some problems later on, but don't worry. We will cover any problems that might occur." The doctor said to Jared. He just stared at himself in the mirror. "Mind if I have a copy of the designs?" He asked the doctor. The doctor looked at him puzzled. "Not the reaction I expected, but sure, why?", the doctor asked. "If this is going to be my new body then I'd liked to know how it was built and what's all inside it.", Jared replied to the doctor. He walked over to the door to let them out. "I'll get to it as soon as I can.", the doctor said as Jared left, "Do you have a place I can mail it to?" Twilight spoke before he could, "He'll being staying at the library." The doctor nodded and walked down the hall. Jared looked back at her. "Thanks.", he said to her. "Its the least I could do since you saved Rarity." , she said back, "That and the whole "broken leg" indecent." Jared smiled at his friends. Pinkie appeared behind him. "At least you got your cutie mark.", she said happily. Jared looked back at his flank. On it, there was a ball of fire. "What does that mean?", he asked aloud. "Your cutie mark defines what your best at.", Twilight informed him. "So my special power is suicide?", he asked. "Apparently.", Janson said. Jared jumped and turned around. He jumped again when he saw Janson. He had a small, metal box under both wings. A tube led from the boxes to a pair of goggles he was warring. "My god, what the hell happened to you?", Jared asked. "About t'ask you the same question.", Janson responded. "Mauled by wolves.", Jared said. "Struck by lightning.", Janson said. He looked over at Rainbow Dash. She chuckled nervously,"Sorry bout that." Tristen came from between the two of them. "Now that your both back and better. What'd you want t'do?", he asked. "Giving the fact that we've all been through hell.", Jared said calmly, "Relax." "Agreed.", Janson agreed. "I agree completely.", said a new voice. Jared turned to see Rarity. She was all cleaned up and looked a lot healthier. "Hey, you can speak now.", Jared said to her. "Who managed to take the clothe off?" She nodded at Rainbow and stuck out her hoof. "She snuck up when Iwas sleeping. But enough of that. We were never properly introduced.", she said to Jared. "I am the fabulous designer Rarity.", she said boasting. Her friends rolled there eyes. "I'm Jared.", he said shaking her hoof,"The Burninator." Rarity gave a slight smile. "Charmed.", she said plainly. The nine of them made there way out of the hospital. Applejack had to hurry home and get ready for applebuck season. Pinkie literally dragged Tristen back to the bakery. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Janson made there way back to Fluttershy's home. That left Jared and Twilight to make their way to the library. On the way back, Twilight decided to bring up a conversation. "How does it fell with you new limbs?", she asked Jared. Jared shrugged. "Not much different really. I can still fell everything like it was the originals.", he said amazed. "Well, you got in the 2%.", she said plainly. They reached the library. "What'd you mean?", he asked partially worried. Twilight led them into the library. "The doctor said that there was a 2% chance the your nerves wouldn't fry when they put them in.", she said calmly. "Oh, if that doesn't cheer-.", Jared started. "Hey Twilight.", said a new voice,"I got a message from princess Celestia." A small purple dragon came running down the stairs with a scroll in hand. He saw Jared and slowed down. Jared watched as the dragon slowly came closer. "Ah, Spike, this is Jared. Jared, Spike.", Twilight said introducing them. "Sup.", Jared said as he stepped forward and held out his hoof. Spike immediately spat a fire ball at him. "God damn it.", Jared said before blacking out. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 19, Wanted //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 19, Wanted Janson followed the two pegasi back to Fluttershy's cottage. He was still getting used to the goggles over his eyes. They were neural optic enhancers, or, as he called them, sight goggles. When he got hit by the lightning, his corneas were destroyed. The goggles acted as make-shift corneas. Janson was focused on fixing the focus on them the way back. Before he knew it, he and Fluttershy were there. Janson looked around. "Where's Rainbow?", he asked looking at the sky. "She left a little bit ago.", Fluttershy answered him. She went inside and sat on her couch. She patted the seat next to her. Janson went over and sat. Janson sat and listen to the peaceful quite that was around them. Fluttershy just stared at Janson seductively. She crawled over to Janson and pushed him onto his back. "What are doing?", he asked cautiously. Fluttershy said nothing and leaned in on him. She was just an inch away when they heard a loud bang. Janson woke with a start. It was just a dream. He was alone on the couch. He heard several animal noises from outside. It was a dream, he told himself. Janson, covered in sweat, got up. Fluttershy came inside from the back door. She was sweaty and had marks on her back. "One of my turtles was cranky.", she explained to him. It was still daylight outside. Fluttershy and Janson went to the door. When Fluttershy opened it, they saw two pegasi standing at the door. They both had armor on. One eyed them carefully. "I see why you took a house out of town.", he said smiling, "Names Katlets." He held out a piece of paper. "Do you know the pony in the picture?", he asked sternly. Janson looked at the paper. It was a wanted paper and the picture was of Jared. "We know no more than the he is-.", started the other Pegasus. Another armored Pegasus flew in from above them. He landed and talked to the ones at the door. "We got 'em.", he said eagerly. The pegasi at the door nodded at rolled up the paper. "Thank you for your cooperation.", Katlets said to Fluttershy and Janson. He took of with the others and flew away. Janson looked over at Fluttershy. "We better go see Jared.", he said to her.They took off towards the library to check on they're friend. Meanwhile, at the bakery, Tristen and Pinkie sat in Pinkie's room. Well, Tristen sat. Pinkie was up jumping around, telling him about her other adventures. She told him about Nightmare Moon and a Starswirl person. Tristen paid attention to a Discord story. Pinkie told him how he made chaos everywhere he went. Pinkie was in the middle of a Zecora song when they heard the door open below them. Pinkie jumped up and down happily. "Goodie! Mister and misses Cake are back with the twins.", she said hopping down stairs. Tristen stumbled after her. "Wait! Who are-.", he said before tripping down the stairs. He fell down and landed flat on his back. He groaned and sat up. He saw two regular ponies, one with frosting like hair, walk in the door. One was male and the other was female. They carried little baby ponies on their back. They put the babies down and Pinkie ran up to them. They laughed and chased her around. One was a boy and it was a pegasus. The other was a girl and it was a unicorn. "Careful Pinkie.", said the male pony, walking up to Tristen, "Pumpkincake's learned to read minds." He looked down at Tristen. "Are you ok?", he ask him. He helped Tristen up. "Ya, I'll be fine.", Tristen said rubbing his back. Pinkie appeared besides him. The little fillies ran up to her. "This is Tristen.", she said to them. "This is Pumpkincake and Poundcake.", she said to Tristen, pointing at the unicorn then the pegasus. The unicorn laughed and her horn began to glow. "Pumpkin! No!", said misses Cake. She made her way across the room. A beam came from the little one's horn and went into Tristen's head. A black bolt went through the beam instantly and sent the unicorn flying into misses Cake. She fell back holding the filly. She rocked up and the filly started laughing and clapping her hooves. Her brother started doing the same thing. The others sat there jaw dropped a Tristen. "What did you do?", said misses Cake angrily. Tristen looked at her. "I tried not to think, which brought to the question of how not to think, and then went onto how the term "thoughtless" came to be.", he tried to explain. The twins dived into Tristen and started playing with him. "Get them off of me!", he said laughing. Mr. Cake went up and pealed the twins off him. The door to the bakery opened and a pegasus with armor came in and stuck a note on the wall. The four ponies went over to the paper. It was a wanted sign with Jared's picture on it. Tristen hoof-palmed. "What did he do now?", he asked himself. Three more armored pegasi flew at the door."We got'em.", said one of them. The one inside nodded and took down the sign. He went out and the all flew off. "I think we should go pay our dear friend "The Burninator" a visit.", he said looking out the door. Pinkie didn't answer. "Pinkie?", he asked turning. She was off playing with the twins. He rolled his eyes and went out the door. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 20, Locked Up //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 20, Locked Up "Is the going to be a regular occurrence?", Jared asked himself, waking up. He went to move, but he couldn't. "Is this?", he asked sarcastically as he looked up and saw his arms tied up by chains. His legs were tied down by chains as well, holding him up in mid air. Three large gold rings went across each arm and leg. Two larger gold rings went across his chest and three small rings went up his horn. They all had a clear crystal in them. His pack was gone. From what he could see, he was in a circular room with one opening that was barred. He couldn't make out anything out on the other side other than shaded figures. He heard voices outside. He made out a unicorn and a taller pegasus-unicorn. "Hate to interrupt your ice cream social, but could someone tell me what the hell is going on?", he asked, pissed off, "Last thing I remember is getting cheap shot by a small dragon." The figures stopped talking. "So your awake.", said the taller one. "How do you like your new home?", she asked grimly. "How about I give you the finger and you give me that phone call?", Jared said on return. "You dare speak to me like you no nothing.", said the taller one, "My guards told me how you went start for the library, stole the book, and obliterated everything in your path.", she said harshly. "Headed straight for the- I got lost in your labyrinth of identical corridors. I know it's probable not open for the public, but put some directions in those bitches. Seriously.", Jared said back to her. The taller pony walked closer to the bars. "You dare speak to me that way.", she said anger. "Princess, he's not evil or destructive.", said a familiar voice,"He's helped us save Rarity." "Quite Twilight.", snapped the princess. Jared chuckled,"We both know she's right. So why don't you be a nice princess and let me out of here.", he said in reply. The princess's horn began to glow. Jared started felling intolerable pain throughout his body and screamed. Twilight watched in horror as her mentor tortured her new friend. "Princess stop! He's not a bad guy. He doesn't deserve to be tortured like this!", she yelled at the princess. The princess's horn stopped glowing and Jared stopped screaming. He let his head drop. Why couldn't he use and magic. No matter how much he focused he couldn't make fire. It felt as if the magic was taking out of him. He tried to ignite the chains, but nothing happened. All Jared could see happening was the crystals on the rings glowing red. "Your right Twilight.", said the princess calmly,"He's not worth right now. Your brother is getting married in a two days, we already have another threat on us, and he can't use magic with those enchanted rings on him." Jared's eyes shot open as he remembered something. 'The rings reduce, not diminish.' The rings were suppressing his magic. Whoever wrote in that book had to be talking about these rings. Jared tried and tried to use magic, while the room became bright red. The princess walked away from the cell. "Come Twilight.", she said. Twilight put her head next to the bars. "I'm really sorry about this.", she whispered to Jared. She went after the princess and left Jared alone. Jared closed his eyes and concentrate. A small flame briefly appeared at the end of his horn, and a smile sprouted from his lips. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 7, Janson Takes Up Residencies //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 7, Janson Takes Up Residencies The three ponies walked out of the hospital. Applejack was telling them about who they were going to stay with. Once she was finished, Janson asked a question. "Which one of the ponies was Fluttershy?" "She's tha pegasus with pink hair.",Applejack answered. "What about Pinkie?", Tristen asked. "Pinkie was the pink earth pony.", Applejack said, "but y'all be learning about magic from Rarity." Tristen stared at her confused. "The white one.", Applejack said flatly. "Oh.", Tristen said plainly. "Oh! Oh! I have a question!", Janson yelled raising his hand. "No! No! Answer mine first!",Tristen demanded. Janson tackled him to the ground and they started rolling around on the ground yelling at each other. Applejack stopped and put her face in her hooves. "Of all the ponies in all of Equestria, how are they special." , she said to herself. "Can you fly?", Janson grunted before being pulled back down by Tristen. She sighed and continued walking, without answering Janson. They had been out of the hospital not five minutes and they were already getting on her nerves. They're worse than Pinkie, She thought to herself. "A'right ya'two, settle down an stand up!", she said pushing them apart from each other. "Aw."'they both groaned getting up. "Let's get Janson t'Fluttershy.", she said walking ahead of them. "Why not take me to Sugar Cube Corner first, since it's closer?", Tristen suggested. Applejack stopped dead In her tracks. She turned slowly, and stared at the. After a few seconds she simply said, "Pinkie." With that, she turned and continued walking. The two friends looked at each other with a bizarre look on they're faces. "Well, that wasn't eerie at all.", Tristen said sarcastically, Heading after Applejack. Janson nodded and headed after the black horse. "Would ya'll hurry up!", Applejack yelled at them. The two friends turned to see that Applejack was way ahead of them. They ran after her as fast as they could. Somehow, Applejack stayed ahead of them the entire way. They reached a cottage outside town. You could here all sorts of animals from the other side.Off in the distance you could see the Everfree Forest. Applejack stopped in front of the cottage. "This is were ya will be staying Yans.", she said to the blue horse. She turned to see that they had just caught up with her. "What's...with...the rush?", Tristen panted. Applejack looked at the black pony and smiled. "Ah didn't want ya t'fight with him again.", she stated pointing at Janson. With out looking, he punched Janson in the face. Janson fell over holding his jaw. "Skip it.", Applejack sighed. She went up and nocked on the door. "C-coming.", whispered a voice behind the door Janson, still on the ground, looked over. A yellow pegasus with pink hair open the door a crack. "Howdy flutters.", Applejack greeted. The pegasus opened the door some more. "Time t'do what Celestia asked of ya.", Applejack said. The Pegasus nodded, "R-right." Applejack turned to the two friends. "This is ya stop Janson." Janson got up and walked over to the two ponies. "Do what.", He asked Applejack. "This is Fluttershy.", she said nodding toward the Pegasus. Janson looked at the Pegasus. She was hiding in her mane. "I'm Janson.", he said holding out his hand. She said nothing in return. "Umm?", he asked Applejack. Applejack chuckled, "She's a lil shy." It took him a minute to put two and two together. "Oh. Flutter SHY.", he said. "Dude, you just now got that?", Tristen said laughing. Janson stared at him bewildered, "Yeah." Tristen fell back laughing,"Your fucking retarded." Janson just rolled his eyes and ignored him. Applejack turned to Fluttershy,"Come on princess Celest-" "Did you guys hear that!", Janson yelled, interrupting her. Applejack and Fluttershy listened for the sound. "There it is again!", he said climbing on top of the cottage. "What are you doing?", Applejack asked. "I. Hear. CHICKENS!", he yelled when he reached the top. On the other side of the cottage was a whole group of chickens. Janson jumped from down from the cottage to join them. "Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. They frighten easily!", Fluttershy said flying over the house. "We'll be on our way.", Applejack said walking back towards sugar cube corner with Tristen. Fluttershy flew around expecting to see chickens flying everywhere, but instead saw them all nudging up Janson going to sleep. She landed and walked towards Janson. He's face was barely visible above them. "How did you do that so quickly. They don't even trust me that much?", she asked. Janson smiled," I have a way with chickens.", he said smiling. He stood up and all the chickens flew off and back towards there roost. Jansons stomach rumbled. "Man I'm hungry.", he said out loud. Fluttershy giggled. "I have sandwiches inside.", she said nodding towards the door. Janson smiled as he followed her inside. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 12, Catch //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 12, Catch Janson followed Fluttershy into the hut. It was fairly small ,but that was to be expected. Fluttershy lead him into her kitchen. Neither of them spoke. When they entered the kitchen, Fluttershy stopped abruptly. Janson barely stopped in time to avoid crashing into her. Janson poked his head out from behind her. "Something wrong?", he asked her. Standing in the middle of the room was the rainbow pegasus. "Oh, hello Rainbow Dash", Fluttershy said, "Why are you here?" "Celestia told me to teach him to fly.", she said pointing at Janson. She flew over to him and dragged him outside. "Oh, well, ok then.", Fluttershy said to herself. Outside Rainbow Dash put Janson on the roof of the cottage. "Ok follow me.", Rainbow said flying up higher. Janson opened his wings and tried flapping them. He flapped them in uneven patterns trying to keep balance. Janson spent the next couple of hours making his way up to Rainbow Dash. She was resting on a cloud high above the ground. "What took you so long", she asked Janson. He collapsed on the cloud drenched with sweat. "Great", Rainbow sighed sarcastically . "Ok, listen up.", she commanded, "I don't know where your from, or why your slower than Fluttershy, but I'm going to teach you how to fly like I do." She flew up higher and started doing ever trick Janson could think of. She did barrel rolls, nose dives, loops, and some Janson couldn't name. He could barely follow her moves. She flew to his left, so, obviously, Janson looked to his left. As soon as he saw her, a giant blast of lightning struck him in the face. He stumbled forward holding his eyes and fell of the cloud. Rainbow gasped and bolted after him. He was falling too fast for her. She kept going faster and faster forming a Mach cone around her. Janson was still falling faster than her. "Come on. Come on.", she said to herself. She pushed herself farther and farther until she made it. Her speed doubled and she left a rainbow trail behind her. She looked back and saw the circle rainbow at the point where she doubled speed. "Haha! Yes!", she said triumphantly. She caught Janson just in time. His head barely thumped the ground. "You ok?", Rainbow asked him. Still holding his eyes, he shook his head, "Other than my eyes, peachy." "Lets get you to the hospital.", she said. Rainbow took off towards the direction of Ponyville, carrying Janson. "So much for flying lessons.", Janson laughed.