Twilight Sparkle awoke with a start.
Outside her library home, she could hear the sounds of ponies running frantically and screaming. Over the din, she heard one particular voice cry out, “The horror, the horror!”
Swiftly rolling out of bed and galloping towards the stairs, she recalled a similar commotion caused by Sweetie Belle's attempts at sewing during fashion week. She only hoped that this new disaster could be remedied as easily as burning something vaguely resembling a dress on a bonfire.
Twilight nearly tripped over Spike's empty basket in her hurry. The purple pony thundered down the stairs and skidded to a halt in front of the door. Her horn glowed as she magically threw it open and quickly surveyed the scene.
As her eyes adjusted to the early morning light, the purple unicorn could make out the vague silhouette of a strange bipedal creature slowly moving towards her.
“Oh my Celestia! It's Twilight Sparkle!” yelled the creature in a booming voice. It broke into a run straight at her with two limbs outstretched.
“Ah!” Twilight shrieked, slamming the door in terror.
Shakily she walked backwards, not daring to take her eyes off the door. As she reached the center of the main room, the door jarred violently with the creature's full weight bearing down.
“Twilight, don't act like that! I just want to give you brushies!” the creature shouted through the door.
Twilight had no idea what “brushies” could mean, and she certainly wasn't going to stick around to find out. Quickly running to the window by her bed, she looked out and found a terrifying sight.
The streets were filled with these creatures. They stood on two legs and were several feet taller than average ponies; some were even taller than Princess Celestia herself. They wore unusual and varied clothes that had one thing in common: images of ponies. Twilight quickly scanned the crowd and saw clothes with pictures of all of her friends and even herself on them.
The creatures also had a terrifying and vulgar appearance. From what she could tell, their bodies lacked coverings of dense hair, probably necessitating the clothes. The only parts of their bodies with hair were the tops of their heads and their faces.
All of the creatures appeared to be doing the same thing: frantically chasing ponies through the streets.
Twilight thought back to her books, but couldn't recall any mention of creatures like these. She woefully turned back towards Spike's empty basket and cursed the oboe classes he was taking in Canterlot. He would be gone for the next two weeks, which seemed like an eternity to her. How was she supposed to find anything around the library without him?
The pounding on her door intensified and she knew it wouldn't hold for much longer. She tried to think of anypony who could help her; somepony who knew things that she didn't. Her eyes widened as she came to a sudden realization.
Twilight closed her eyes and vanished in a flash of light, just as the hinges on the door gave way.
~~~
When she opened her eyes again, she was standing outside Zecora's hut. A few rays of early morning light shone through the forest canopy and illuminated the hut's front door, as well as the masks and bottles displayed outside.
Twilight knocked frantically on the door.
“Zecora! Are you in there?! It's an emergency!” she shouted.
The door swung open, revealing the zebra, who looked slightly disheveled and more than a little annoyed.
“And who is this who disturbs my rest? Ah, Twilight Sparkle, I see in the flesh.”
“Zecora! I need your help! There are strange creatures attacking Ponyville! I've never heard of anything like them in all my books! Not even Obscure Occult Oddities mentions them at all!” she shrieked in desperation.
“Twilight, calm your wizened head. Tell me what inspires your dread,” Zecora said as she motioned for Twilight to come in.
Twilight quickly walked in and sat down on a stool at Zecora's table.
“Well, when I woke up this morning, there were all of these things running around on two legs, chasing everypony!” she said while wildly gesturing her front hooves. “They were wearing clothes with pictures of all of us Ponyvillians on them. One of them even called me by name! Somehow they know who we are!” Twilight continued explaining what she had seen and described the creatures as well as she could. “Do you know what they are?” she asked finally.
“I have heard the legends of creatures like this, though seeing them here was not my wish. They come from a land far in time and space; a dimensional rift brought them to this place,” Zecora explained, bringing a hoof to her chin.
“So you know what they are? That's great! Now, how do we get rid of them?” Twilight asked expectantly, her eyes wide.
“Their dimension of origin has made them quite resilient; I'm afraid I cannot help you in your predicament. The legends say no effect from magic, the results in town may be quite tragic,” Zecora said apologetically.
“There's no way to stop them?! What are we going to do?!” Twilight yelled.
“According to my oldest books, they came before by the looks. In another time, another place, these creatures terrorized our race. All equines were forced from their homes, and left forever, just to roam. Though when they last came to this realm, they used different tactics to overwhelm,” Zecora said with concern in her voice.
“What does that mean? These new ones are different from the old ones? How?”
“When last they came, they were quite small; the ones you saw were very tall. They rode us, asked of us our names; they did not seek to brush our manes.”
“Brush our manes? Is that what “brushies” means?” Twilight asked.
“Indeed it does, my violet dear; it may be reason for us to fear. Those who came before were organized little; the will of these is not as brittle.” Zecora turned and nervously looked at her potion-making apparatus. Her brow furrowed. “The hair of ponies potent magic makes; enough to cause the ground to shake. They seek to brush us for some reason; perhaps a vile act of treason.”
“You mean they might want to harm Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?! We have to do something!” Twilight resolutely yelled.
“I admire your strength of will; we must return to Ponyville.”
Twilight and Zecora quickly left the hut in the Everfree Forest and ran in the direction of Ponyville.
~~~
As they left the darkness of the forest, Twilight motioned for Zecora to stop in front of Fluttershy's cottage. Twilight slowly walked up to the door and found it still intact, but wide open. As she carefully stepped inside, her heart leapt at the sight of a hastily scrawled note on a table.
“I think they're coming. It's too dangerous out here by myself. I'm going into town to find my friends. They'll know what to do. I don't think those things can fly, so I'm going to Rainbow Dash's house where it'll be safe. If anypony finds this, try to meet me there. Um, that is, if that's what you want to do. I know Rainbow Dash can be abrasive sometimes, but she's actually very nice once you get past her tough exterior, and she's always willing to help anypony in need. Why, this one time at flight camp—”
The letter cut off abruptly.
Twilight looked around in a panic and noted that Fluttershy's things were all in their proper places and there didn't seem to be any sign of a struggle. She discovered that Fluttershy's saddlebag was missing. The unicorn figured that Fluttershy must have taken it with her and didn't leave in too much of a hurry.
Twilight trudged towards the door, hoping that Fluttershy had made it to safety. She walked up to to Zecora and shook her head somberly. The zebra nodded and the two of them continued towards Ponyville.
~~~
As they neared the town, they met with an eerie silence. The creatures were nowhere to be seen, but neither were any ponies. The entire town seemed to have been abandoned.
Twilight and Zecora plodded through the streets of the empty town, occasionally whispering about the damage that had been done to many of the buildings. Broken glass from windows and the splintered remains of doors littered the streets, but there were no signs of life.
The pair slowly trotted away from the city center and approached Rainbow Dash's floating cloud house. From her sub-optimal vantage point, Twilight thought that the house seemed to be perfectly fine, but her eyes were drawn to a purple shape on the ground nearby. Nervously walking up to it, she gasped in fear, realizing what it was.
The balloon that had taken Twilight and her grounded friends to Cloudsdale laid on the grass in a wrecked heap, a large hole in one side.
Adrenaline pumping, she turned and ran back to Zecora at the front of the pegasus' house.
“Rainbow! Are you in there?!” Twilight called up to the house.
There was no response.
“I need to check this out.”
Zecora nodded. “Go and search for your friend; I'll see what I can find on my end.”
Twilight's horn glowed as she cast a spell to allow her to walk on clouds. Then, closing her eyes, she teleported up to the front door of Dash's house.
She stretched out her hoof to try the handle and found that the door was slightly ajar. Pushing it open, she carefully poked her head in.
“Hello? Is anypony here?” she called.
Silence.
She carefully walked into the house, her eyes darting to and fro as she took in the scene before her. Smashed and upended furniture covered the floor. Twilight could see the sky through a large hole in one wall. Her face contorted at the destruction these creatures were capable of. She gingerly stepped around the debris as she made her way towards Rainbow Dash's bedroom. A note on the bedside table caught her eye.
“Thought we were safe in the air. They stole a hot air balloon. Fluttershy had a panic attack when they broke down the wall. Kicked a hole in the balloon and they went tumbling. Only a matter of time until they come back. Heading to the refugee camp south of town. RD”
Twilight hurriedly teleported back to the ground right next to Zecora.
“I hope you learned some useful facts, about these things' destructive acts,” Zecora stated expectantly.
“There's a refugee camp south of town. That's probably where everypony went,” the purple pony said urgently.
Zecora nodded and the two of them set off for the camp.
Their journey to the south was uneventful and deathly quiet. Twilight expected a bright spring day like this to be filled with bird songs and the chittering of squirrels, but she thought they must have all fled in terror from the rampaging creatures.
They continued passing houses and shops with shattered windows and beaten-down doors. Through the destruction, Twilight could not see any sign of ponies actually having been harmed. She narrowed her eyes and pondered what these things could be after.
~~~
Nearing the edge of town, they came upon a rough wooden sign written in their particular Equestrian language.
“Refugee Camp Two Miles”
“We're on the right path. I just hope everypony is okay,” Twilight said nervously.
“If I'm correct they will be fine, the only telling now is time,” came Zecora's mysterious reply.
Cresting the next hill, Twilight audibly gasped at the scene before her. A line of the creatures standing shoulder to shoulder stretched as far as the eye could see. They grunted and heaved, apparently pushing against some invisible force just beyond the bottom of the hill.
Zecora dropped to her belly amid the tall grass on the hill. “Twilight! You must hide from view! Unless you want them to see you!” she reminded the awestruck unicorn.
Twilight shook her head and came back to reality. Hurriedly crouching down, she turned toward Zecora.
“What's going on?” Twilight whispered.
“So it is as I thought: when they came here, they were caught,” Zecora said cryptically.
“Caught? Caught where?” Twilight asked, perplexed.
“When last these creatures came to this plane, they spread great deals of mental pain. But it was only in a limited space; they could not venture far from their entry place. The portal that brought them to this town, has kept them well within its grounds.”
“So you mean they can't leave Ponyville? That's great! Well, maybe not great, but at least they won't be rampaging all over Equestria!” Twilight said happily.
“The only question that remains, is how to pass their seeking gaze,” Zecora muttered, rubbing her chin.
Twilight thought for a few seconds and then looked sheepishly at Zecora.
“Well, I could try teleporting both of us to the other side of their line.” Twilight smiled nervously and shrank back. “The only problem with that is a little, itty bitty chance of accidental shocking or burning of any third party in my teleportation field. You might end up a little singed,” the purple pony said coyly.
Zecora sighed and said “You might as well give it a try, though I don't want my hair to fry.”
Twilight swallowed anxiously and closed her eyes. Her horn glowed as she cast the teleportation spell, focusing intently on Zecora, hoping not to cause her any harm.
Opening her eyes again, she stood about six inches from the wall of creatures, looking straight at them.
The few who were paying attention stopped struggling and let their mouths fall open.
The creature immediately in front of Twilight looked strangely familiar. She stared aghast, realizing that it was the very same one that had knocked down the door to her library. It stared at her with a look of shock mixed with admiration. She glanced at its clothes and recoiled in horror. Emblazoned across the front of its clothing was an image of her, grinning wide with check boxes next to her.
“It's her!” the creature bellowed. “I told you guys I saw her! Twilight, come a little closer, I just want to give you brushies!” it shouted, motioning its front limbs.
The creatures forgot their exhaustion at this sudden turn of events and they struggled against the invisible force even harder.
“Ah!” Twilight screamed. She spun on her hooves and broke into a gallop.
Beating her hooves against the grass, Twilight crossed several more hills before a greenish line came into view. Moving closer, she saw rows of tents set up in a picturesque field near a stream.
Trotting to a stop in front of the closest tent, she tried to catch her breath. A sudden thought made her heart drop.
Zecora had been with her.
She looked around in a panic and found Zecora standing right next to her, breathing heavily. The zebra's mane bore the telltale signs of magical burning.
“Zecora! I'm so sorry! I'm also sorry I kind of forgot about you while I was running for my life,” Twilight said, embarrassed. “Is there any way I can make it up to—”
Zecora held up a hoof to silence her.
“Do not worry my dear Twilight, I also received quite a fright. Now, if you will pardon my laze, I think I'll sleep for a few days.” Zecora then turned and shambled into the tent, dragging her hooves.
Mayor Mare walked out of the tent a moment after Zecora walked in.
“Twilight! I'm so relieved to see that you're safe! Your friends have been worried sick about you. They'll want to see you right away. Come with me.”
She motioned for Twilight to follow her and the two of them trotted down the row of tents. They passed a group of ponies huddled together talking in hushed tones about the horrors they had seen, while a few foals cried into their mothers' coats nearby.
~~~
Mayor Mare led Twilight into a tent at the end of the row. A pink blur immediately blindsided her and knocked her to the ground.
“Twilight! Omigosh! I was so worried about you! When all those things started wrecking up the town, I ran right over to Carousel Boutique and got Rarity; she was yelling something about having to protect her shop, but I wasn't really listening. Then we went–I say we went, but it was more like I dragged Rarity–to the library to see if you were okay, but when we got there, the door was broken down and you were gone! Also, did you know that Rarity is real strong?” Pinkie said, without pausing for breath and finishing with a wide smile.
“Uh, that's great, Pinkie. I'm happy to see that you're okay, too. Could you please get off me?” Twilight said, mildly confused.
“Okay! I'm just super happy that you're all right!” Pinkie said, hopping off Twilight.
Twilight got to her hooves and glanced around the tent. She teared up a bit seeing the faces of all her friends.
“You don't know how relieved I am to see you're all safe. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to any of you,” Twilight said with happy tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
The sudden sound of galloping outside caught their attention. The ponies looked towards the entrance as a yellow and orange shape burst into the tent.
“Madam Mayor! I heard that Twilight made it! Please tell me that Derpy was with her!” the carrot mare cried.
“I'm sorry Carrot Top. Twilight came in with Zecora: nopony else,” she said somberly.
Carrot Top's rear legs collapsed under her and and her mouth fell open, tears building in her eyes.
“You mean...” she started, shakily. “She's still out there with those things?”
“I'm sorry to say that nopony has seen her all day,” the Mayor said apologetically.
“How could I let this happen? I'm supposed to be her best friend. I mean, we've been roommates for three years! I helped raise her daughter for Celestia's sake!” Tears began running down her face. “I never should have let her take that night shift at the post office!” she bawled.
“Now, now, don't blame yourself. You've been a wonderful friend to our dear Derpy.” Mayor Mare placed a hoof on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. “If she was here, I'm sure she would thank you for ensuring Dinky got to safety.”
“She might still be out there...sad and alone...surrounded by those monsters...” she muttered slowly.
Twilight felt a tightness in her chest. She walked over to Carrot Top and wiped the tears from her face. The yellow mare stared into Twilight's eyes with an unblinking look and a quivering jaw.
“When I was in Ponyville a little while ago, all of the creatures had left the town. They were on the outskirts trying to come here, but there was something that stopped them.” Twilight turned and looked at the Mayor. “A point they couldn't pass. They should still be fruitlessly struggling to get here, leaving the town empty.” She looked back at Carrot Top. “If Derpy is hiding somewhere in Ponyville, I'll find her for you.”
Carrot Top burst into tears and suddenly gripped the unicorn tightly.
“Thank you so much!” she shouted through sobs. “Thank you! Please hurry!”
Carrot Top released her grip and Twilight turned to her friends with a new sense of purpose.
“Girls, you should all stay here. That means you too, Rainbow,” she added as the pegasus raised a hoof in protest. “It's going to be very dangerous and I don't want to put any of you in harm's way. Don't worry about me, if I get into trouble, I promise I'll teleport back here.”
She embraced each of her friends as well as Carrot Top and Mayor Mare in turn before walking out of the tent. She paused just outside to cast an invisibility spell on herself. She held up a hoof and saw right through it to the tents and refugees beyond. Closing her eyes and focusing on the center of Ponyville, she disappeared in a flash of light.
~~~
Opening her eyes again, she found herself about ten feet in front of town hall. Looking down at her hooves, she saw nothing but dirt and grass. Satisfied that the invisibility spell was still active, she slowly made her way around the side of town hall and met a most unexpected sight.
A line of creatures stretched as far as the eye could see. It was quite orderly and many of them were happily talking to one another. Twilight traced the queue to its terminus with her gaze. Her mouth fell open.
Derpy sat on a pile of pillows with one of the creatures hugging her. She looked perfectly happy and oblivious, as usual.
After a few seconds, the creature released its grip, stood up, raised one of its limbs above its head and yelled “I hugged Derpy Hooves!”
It then began walking back to the end of the line while another of the creatures walked up and hugged Derpy.
After it released her, she said “I need a little break guys. Don't worry, I'll be back.”
The line of creatures groaned and one of its members suddenly shouted, “We love you Derpy!”
Derpy turned away from the line of creatures and began to trot down the street towards Sugarcube Corner. Twilight followed from a distance, continually glancing over her shoulder at the massed creatures.
Finding the front door of the bakery torn off its hinges, Derpy gave a small shrug and went inside. Smoothing a piece of paper on the counter with her hoof and gripping a quill between her teeth as best she could, the mailmare wrote, “I owe you one piece of pie. Signed, Derpy.”
Leaving the note on the counter, Derpy grabbed a nearby plate of pie with her wing and trotted to the closest table.
Twilight silently walked towards Derpy and opened her mouth to speak.
“Hay, Twilight. Why are you following me?” Derpy asked before taking a bite of pie.
“Keep your voice down! I'm invisible, how did you see me?”
Derpy stopped chewing and her expression turned serious. She lifted a hoof to her left eye. “You see these eyes?” Derpy asked as bits of apple filling hit Twilight in the face.
“Yes, Derpy,” Twilight said, wiping a hoof across her face.
“These eyes are magic,” Derpy said flatly.
Twilight blinked and thought for a moment. “How are they magic?” she finally said. “I've never heard of enchanting eyes before. Is it some kind of experimental spell?”
Derpy shook her head.
“A few years ago,” she began, putting her hooves together on the table and looking as directly at Twilight as she could, “a traveling magician came to town and said he could heal anything. He had a big stage and a lot of neat looking posters with pictures of sick or hurt ponies that said “before” and pictures of the same ponies, only healthy, that said “after.” Dinky had a cold at the time, so I decided to check it out to see if he could help her.”
“He sounded really professional and said his name was Doctor Snake Oil. He asked for a volunteer and pulled me up on stage when he saw my eyes. He asked me if I had trouble seeing with eyes like this and I told him I did sometimes. Then he asked me if other ponies ever made fun of me because of the way I looked. I told him they did a lot when I was a filly, but not so much anymore. Then he turned to the crowd and said something about “fixing” my eyes so nopony would ever make fun of me again. Before I could say I didn't want my eyes changed, he cast a spell on me and my eyes felt weird for a second,” Derpy explained, covering her eyes with her hooves.
“Derpy,” Twilight interrupted, “do you remember what kind of spell it was? Did he have a book he read it out of?”
Derpy uncovered her eyes and and narrowed them in thought. Her eyes slowly rotated until the right one stared directly at the plate of half eaten pie in front of her. The left one seemed preoccupied with a support beam for the ceiling.
“Nope,” she said suddenly, her right eye quickly spinning around to look in Twilight's general direction again, leaving the left one staring at the ceiling. “He just closed his eyes and his horn glowed, the same way you cast spells,” Derpy said, matter of factly.
“Anyway, when the magical dust settled, he looked at me like he just saw a Manticore. A lot of the ponies in the audience started booing and throwing old fruit at him. Some of them said he was 'pulling a con' and should get out of town. He rushed me off the stage and packed it up as fast as he could. When I got back home, I looked in the mirror and saw my eyes looked the same as they always did. Later on, I found out I could see through any kind of illusion magic.”
“Wow, uh, that's good to know,” Twilight said, expecting something completely different from Derpy.
“Yeah you'd be surprised what ponies do when they think nopony can see them, but then you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?” Derpy asked with a knowing smile.
Twilight blushed. “The...The dancing?” she asked, embarrassed.
“Oh yeah, your early morning trips into town give a whole new meaning to 'dancing in the street', especially the 'dancing' part.”
“Um, about that...” Twilight started, her face increasingly reddening.
Derpy laughed reassuringly. “Relax! You're still better than me. I have four left hooves and 'minimal depth perception', or at least that's what my eye doctor said. In fact, I'm not allowed to dance anymore: court order. The judge said any further dancing would be 'tantamount to negligence', whatever that means, and I'd have to pay for any property damage, not like last time. By the way, could you please tell Applejack I'm sorry she got stuck with the bill?” Derpy scratched her head and her face scrunched up as she paused to think. “Oh, right! Why were you following me?”
Twilight's blush suddenly faded. “That's right! I'm here to take you to safety! There's a refugee camp south of town and there's something preventing those horrible creatures from getting there. Dinky and Carrot Top are worried sick about you!” Twilight shouted.
“They're worried about me? Why?” Derpy asked.
“Why?! Have you seen what those things have been doing?!” Twilight demanded, stomping her hoof.
“Oh, right, that. They messed up the town and they were scaring everypony. They didn't mean to do any of that. They were just excited to be here,” Derpy explained, nonchalant.
Twilight blinked and shook her head in confusion.
“What?” she asked, puzzled.
“They said they're big fans of ours, all us ponies, and they came here to meet us and show their appreciation,” Derpy said.
“What do you mean? Fans of ours how?”
“They call themselves Bronies,” Derpy began. “They say they watch us on things called teevee and the inter-net. They know all about our adventures in Equestria and they just wanted to visit us. They've been really nice to me. They really like giving me hugs, and brushing my hair, and some of them said I was 'best pony.' They said they're sorry for all the damage and they promised to fix it. All they want is a chance to meet all of us,” the gray mare said before taking another bite of pie.
Twilight stared at the pegasus, dumbstruck. Her mind tried to make sense of everything she had just heard. Zecora said that these creatures were probably even more dangerous than the ones from last time, which seemed to be true given the sheer amount of damage they had caused. On the other hoof, their apparent familiarity with the local populace would make sense if they had some kind of foreknowledge about Equestria. Adding to that their continuous mention of “brushies”, combined with the fact that they haven't harmed any ponies makes sense if they just wanted to brush pony manes to show their fondness. But what if they just want to collect pony hair for some nefarious purpose, like making a poison, or even something far worse? After all, this was Derpy, the oblivious walking, and flying, disaster. Could she really be right about these Brony things?
“Uh, Twilight? You've been staring at me for about five minutes and you're kinda drooling a little. Maybe you should close your mouth,” Derpy suggested, one eye fixated on a strand of drool that had nearly reached the floor.
Twilight snapped back to reality and wiped a hoof across her mouth.
“That's better.” The pegasus turned back to her pie and continued eating.
“Are you serious? Do they really just want to meet us and hug us and brush our manes?” Twilight asked, astonished.
“If you don't believe me, you should go talk to them; they're really friendly,” Derpy said happily.
The mailmare swallowed the last bite of her pie and stood up from the table. “Well Twilight, what are you gonna do?” she asked.
Twilight looked down at the floor for a moment and sighed. Her horn glowed as she faded back into visibility. “Let's go talk to them,” she muttered, defeated.
~~~
The unicorn and pegasus walked back outside and towards the line of Bronies. As they came into view, the line erupted with cheers and many Bronies began chanting Twilight's name. She stopped in her tracks at the sudden uproar and took a deep breath. “It's going to be okay, Twilight. Just talk to them and see if this was all just a big misunderstanding,” she mumbled to herself. Slowly trotting towards the Bronies with her head defensively lowered, she realized that the one at the front of the line was the one she saw after teleporting herself and Zecora, and the same one that had broken down her door.
He glanced at her shyly and she finally got a good look at him. He had short, dark hair and a beard, he wore glasses and was taller than most of the others. She looked into his eyes and saw not malice, but kindness, awe, and humility.
She swallowed and stuttered “H-hello, m-my name is Twilight Sparkle, what's yours?”
He dared not blink for fear that he would never get another chance to see her. He swallowed and stuttered “M-my n-name is Terry.”
Twilight did not expect such a soft sound to come from one of these Bronies. Could Derpy be right? She felt a surge of confidence rush through her and she stood up straighter.
“Well, Terry, it looks like you and your friends made a big mess of Ponyville,” she declared, looking around at the destruction.
“Oh, man. We're really sorry about that. We just got caught up in the excitement of actually being in Equestria. The portal that brought us here is going to close in a week. If you don't mind, we'd like to make it up to you by fixing up the town before we go,” he said quickly while gesturing his front limbs.
“Thank you, we would love the help,” the unicorn said simply. “I was talking to Derpy, and she mentioned that you wanted to meet everypony in town. Is that true?” Twilight kindly asked.
Terry looked down at the ground and hesitated. “Yes,” he said finally.
“Okay then,” Twilight remarked, turning towards Derpy. “Derpy? Could you please go back to Sugarcube Corner and get two pieces of paper and a quill for me?”
“Sure thing, Twilight!” Derpy said happily.
~~~
Twilight and Derpy trotted into the refugee camp with their heads held high. The sun cast an orange glow over the camp as it neared the western horizon. As the two ponies slowed to a stop in front of the large administrative tent, Derpy poked her nose into her muffin-clasped saddlebag and pulled out a piece of paper with her teeth.
Twilight's horn glowed as she grabbed the paper with her magic. She looked as well as she could into Derpy's eyes. “Thanks, Derpy.”
“No problem, Twilight. My saddlebag always has enough room to help a friend,” Derpy proclaimed, smiling.
Twilight shook her head. “That's not what I mean. You took a big risk getting close to the Bronies and finding out that they weren't rampaging monsters, especially after all the damage they caused. They could have really hurt you,” she said, concerned.
“Twilight,” Derpy started, putting a hoof on the unicorn's shoulder, “it might have looked like they were ugly monsters trying to capture ponies and destroy the town, but I learned a long time ago that appearances aren't important. What's important is who you are on the inside. The Bronies are good, kind, and friendly. They just got a little carried away.”
“I know that now; thank you for sorting this all out,” Twilight humbly said, smiling.
“It was nothing special, Twilight,” Derpy said, shaking her head. “I was just being me. Now I need to find Carrot. See you later.”
Derpy turned and set off down the row of tents. When she got to the tent at the end, she walked in.
Carrot Top sat on a cot, sobbing into her hooves. Fluttershy tried to console her with a hoof on the back and gentle words of reassurance.
“Hey there, Carrot,” Derpy quietly said.
Carrot Top quickly spun her head in the direction of the voice and blinked the tears from her eyes. Her vision was filled with the image of the familiar gray mailmare. She leapt from the cot and embraced Derpy tightly.
“Oh, Derpy! You can't imagine how happy I am to see you're all right! I was so worried about you! Did those horrible things hurt you?” she asked through happy tears.
“They didn't hurt me at all. In fact they don't want to hurt any of us. It was all a big misunderstanding,” Derpy happily announced.
Carrot Top abruptly stopped crying and loosened her grip on Derpy. She looked up at her with a puzzled expression as a small unicorn walked into the tent.
“Mama, you're back!” cried Dinky, breaking into a run towards her mother.
Carrot Top released Derpy as the mailmare bent down to hug her daughter.
“Auntie Carrot said everything was going to be okay and it is! I've been having lots of fun with the Cutie Mark Crusaders! They said when I get just a little older I can join them! That's gonna be so much fun!” she said excitedly.
“Oh, my little muffin. I'm so proud of you,” mirthfully spake the derped one.
~~~
Twilight passed the paper to the mayor and she read it intently.
“Are you certain we can trust them, Twilight?” she asked cautiously.
“I'm positive. They just want to show how much they appreciate us, and they want to make up for any trouble they caused,” Twilight assured her.
Mayor Mare lowered the paper and uneasily looked into Twilight's eyes for a moment. The unicorn reciprocated with a confident gaze and a smile.
“Okay, Twilight, I believe you. I just hope everypony else agrees with their...requests.” Her voice betrayed a slight tone of disgust at the last word.
~~~
“Dear Princess Celestia,
Today, I learned that interdimensional travel can have unexpected consequences. Planning for weeks to make sure your trip to Ponyville goes perfectly doesn't matter if you forget your plan in excitement as soon as you arrive in the world of your dreams. You should stick to your plan to calmly introduce yourself to the ponies you're there to see and not chase them around the streets, breaking down doors, smashing windows, and knocking holes in walls. I also learned that you shouldn't drive an entire population from their homes in a blind panic just because you want to hug them or brush their manes.
If you still want to make friends after doing all of that anyway, all it takes is one who is willing to see things differently. One pony who is willing to hear you out and give you a chance. One pony can make all the difference. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back on the line for your faithful student, I've only hugged her twice today.
Your paying customer,
Terry”
Princess Celestia magically rolled the letter back up and tossed it aside. Looking into the distance, she saw the gray mailmare flying back in the direction of Ponyville. She stood up on her hind hooves with her fore hooves spread wide. Letting herself fall backwards, she landed in a pool filled with human currency from around the world.
Princess Luna stood next to the pool shaking her head.
“Sister, did you learn nothing from the legends of our forebears? They spoke of plagues of small human children wreaking havoc on the targeted pony settlement. Need I remind you of the fall of Ponyland?” Luna maintained, clearly annoyed with her sister.
Celestia somehow managed to make wriggling through piles of money look graceful. She “swam” to the edge of the pool and looked up at Luna.
“Luna, just relax. Everything is going to be fine,” she declared with a dismissive gesture. “I made sure they can only stay a week this time. When the portal closes, they'll find themselves back in their own world, flush with new memories of time spent with their pony friends.” She paused to spit out a few pence. “These guys aren't like the kids from the stories. They really respect ponies and genuinely care for them. The legends said that maybe one kid in a hundred felt that way last time. The rest were all just freaking out over ponies. If you don't believe me, just read that letter from their spokesman,” she said imprudently, pointing a hoof at the discarded letter. “But you should skip the first part, it's pretty boring and not important. Point is, everything's fine.”
Luna sighed, exasperated. “All right sister, I'll trust in your immense wisdom. Just promise me that you won't do this again.”
“And disappoint our biggest fans? Never.”
The End
