Lucas Chronicles, the Afterstory Part 2: Monster Behind Mountain Dew Interlude; Of Skillets, Waffles, and Other Things

Chapters

The Arrival... Again
The Concert
Recruiting the Band
Celestia's Proposition
Previously in the Lucas Chronicles...
Teh Almighteh Waffel of PWR; Heading to Rougeport
Adventures in Rougeport (Mainly Glitzville, but we visited other places too)
The Ever-Wandering Soul of Admiral Bobbery
FRICKIN' WALKERS...
Confronting Fluttershy
An End, Once And For All
...Or So I Thought.
Alternate Ending: With this mask, I'll ask to borrow your light...

The Arrival... Again

Fluttershy saw the madness that was going on on the stage as well as in the crowd. She cried again as she grabbed me.

"I hate my life." I commented as she lifted me to her wet, teary cheek in what I think was supposed to be a hug.

"I'm s-so sorry Lucas! I didn't mean to ruin your concert..." She balled. I was definitely drenched now with salty tears. It was not enjoyable. Oh, and I also couldn't breathe.

"-uttersh-" I choked. "Can't... Breathe..." She couldn't hear me. So, in order to save myself from suffocation via death hug, I inched my hand towards my hip and and choked out the words, "CH-A...O-S... CO-NTRO-L..." A portal opened in Fluttershy's hand and I fell through. It closed.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I fell through the portal and felt beautiful oxygen seep into my lungs. However, as I took in a deep breath, my head slammed into something hard. I blacked out.

When I awoke, a familiar face leaned over me. Although my vision was blurry since I wasn't wearing my glasses, I knew it was Fluttershy. We were in her cottage in Ponyville.

WAIT A MINUTE...

"FLUTTERSHY?!?" I shot up, groaned, and grabbed my head. "Ahhh... What did I hit..."

"Careful," She meekly said as she made me lie back down. "you aren't yet back to health, Lucas."

Wait, 'Lucas'? She knew me...

"How do you know me?" I asked.

"Don't you remember?" She looked worried. "You helped us stop the Changelings a few months ago..."

I had a blank face. She expounded, "You know, with us, your human friends, and a Derpy Hooves from the future..."

"Oh. I remember now." So I was in THAT world... In this world, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack sacrificed themselves to stop the Changeling Invasion, and, ultimately, they stopped the threat of Reapers. (*sigh* I can already hear your booing and hissing. Jeez. A guy saves the world from utter annihilation, but when he tries to tell people about it, he gets torn apart by his own species. I mean JEEZ, come on! Yes, the very same Reapers from the game Mass Effect. Again, it's confusing, but hang in there)

That's cool. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this Equestria.

"Thanks for housing me for a little while, Fluttershy." I sat up, this time slowly. "But I sorta have a different problem in a another dimension... so... yeah..." I reached for my Chaos Emerald, but it wasn't there. "...CRAP."

Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry. "But... you just got back..."

"Hey, um, did you see my Chaos Emerald anywhere?"

She had tears flowing now. "I was g-going to t-try to th-throw a p-party like P-P-Pinkie Pie used to... I told everyp-pony that you were b-back..." She sniffed. "R-Rainbow Dash s-said she'd b-be able to m-make i-it... even Rarity said she'd c-come..."

I interrupted with a cold impression, "You see them everyday. Why does that matter? Like, I seriously can't find my Chaos Emerald. This is a huge problem..." I noticed Chillrend had disappeared as well. "...WHAT THE CRAP?!? Seriously, Fluttershy. THIS IS BAD. I can't find-"

She exploded at me, tears and all, "YOU LEFT US AND NEVER CAME BACK! Now, you're back, and all you care about are your stupid weapons?!?"

This shocked me, "Um... Did... Did I miss something?"

She heaved, "After you left, we waited... We didn't know what to do after Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie died... We thought you might come back. But when you didn't... Rainbow Dash, Rarity and I went separate ways... Rainbow Dash made a new friend named Bill... He's a rouge Changeling that survived the Invasion..."

I interrupted again. "DUDE. That's awesome. Can I meet him? He sounds like a cool guy!"

"LUCAS!" Fluttershy cried.

I gulped. "Oh, um, sorry. Continue."

She did. "They hang out in the newly rebuilt Cloudsdale now... They rarely come back to Ponyville..." Her tears began to fall again. I began having the worst memories of death hugs. But I didn't say anything. I just let her cry and continue. "A-and Rarity d-decided to move t-to M-M-Manehatten because her b-business wasn't doing well..."

Great. Now I felt like a jerk. "I... I had no idea Fluttershy... But you do realize that never did say I was coming back. I'm so sorry. I wish I could stay... but I have other commitments. I have to get back and fix my other problems. But to do that... I need Chillrend and my Chaos Emerald."

She sobbed. "I... I know.... I guess I should never have told Celestia you were back after the way she treated you when you left..."

"You did what?!?"

She cried again, "I... I'm so sorry... I... I didn't know... I knew I should have checked for your weapons after she came to see you..."

"SHE DID WHAT?!?!?!?!?"

Fluttershy took a step backwards as she whimpered. "I..."

I facepalmed, which only made my head hurt worse. "I... Nevermind... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. That's not gonna fix this... However... now I need to go to Cantorlot." I started to exit the bed.

She suddenly changed her composure as she acted as if she were caring for one of her animals. "Oh no you don't, mister! You are going to sleep until you are all better!"

She pushed me back down as I said, "...What? WHAT? Dude. Fluttershy, seriously. I have to-"

She looked down, closed her eyes, and interrupted me with a whisper, "...and I don't want to be all alone again..."

I sighed. That made a little bit more sense and I saw no point in arguing further, so I lied back down. "Here," she said, "let me sing you to sleep." She cleared her throat. "Hush now, quiet now-"

I interrupted her. "Um, no thanks, I'm good. I'll just let Skillet put me to sleep with Sick of It or What I Believe or something." I motioned with my iPod and headphones, which to my relief, were still there.

"Oh... Okay..." She looked and sounded slightly disappointed. I slipped on my headphones, turned on my Skillet playlist, and fell right to sleep.

__________________________________________________

When I woke up, Fluttershy was nowhere to be found. I sat up and felt my head. No headache...That's good. I thought.

...And no headphones. That's not so good. I sighed. I was about to call Fluttershy when I noticed my things had been set on a side table by the bed along with my glasses. I reached to retrieve them, then pulled my hand back. I figured getting my weapons and such back wouldn't exactly be an easy task, and I REALLY didn't want my iPod and headphones to break, so I decided to just leave them here where it was safe. I also figured that WHEN I got my Chaos Emerald back, I'd just come back for them. Instead, I just put on my glasses so my vision could return to me.

With this decision, I began heading for the door. As I reached the door, I stopped.

I should say goodbye to Fluttershy. I thought, She deserves that at the very least. I turned and called, "I'm leaving Flutter-" When I turned around, I was interrupted by Fluttershy who had adorned two large saddle bags.

When I realized what she meant to do, I shook my head, "Nope. No. Not gonna happen."

"But-" her face donned a distraught expression.

I continued to shake my head. "You can't. Just like I have responsibilities in the other dimension, you have responsibilities here. On top of that, it could be WAY too dangerous."

Again, she tried to convince me, "While you were asleep, I told Angel Bunny that he was in charge. I've had him the longest, so he knows everything I do to take of the animals. I didn't know how long I'd be gone or if I'll even be able to come back, so I told him he's in charge indefinitely."

I turned towards the door. "I'm putting my foot down. I'm not taking you with me."

As I reached for the door handle, I could hear Fluttershy starting to cry. She quietly sniffled, "I... I d-don't w-want to b-be a-alone anym-more..."

I stopped my hand short of the door knob. I looked up and sighed. This hit me rather hard. She was right. I couldn't leave her alone again. Sure, she had her animals, but all her real friends had pretty much either deserted her or died. I was her very last friend. I couldn't do that to her.

But in the end... I knew I'd have to leave her anyway. I figured I would give her some moments of happiness before that happened. I turned back to her and sighed again, "Fine. I don't really know how to combat that argument. Plus, I think we'll have a better chance with both of us rather then me going at it alone."

She smiled the hugest smile, even bigger than one of Pinkie Pie's (and that's saying something). She flew to me and hugged me while saying, "OH THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

While I had memories of near suffocation via death hug, I realized hugging a normal-sized Fluttershy wasn't so bad. "Alright," I pried her off of me. "We should probably get going."

She laughed, "I agree."

The Concert

As we exited the house, I heard something. Actually, it wasn't just 'something'. I knew exactly what it was. It was a rock concert and it came from the center of Ponyville. "Huh." I said aloud. "I didn't know you guys had a rock band in Ponyville."

Fluttershy replied, "Oh, that's actually new. Four ponies showed up in town a couple weeks ago and gave performances a couple times every week. And I, um, I listened to your iPod after you fell asleep... The band actually played one of those songs you mentioned on your iPod. I really liked it..." She placed her hoof on her chin, "Ooh... What did they call themselves...? 'Dishpan'? No... 'Glass Bowl'? ...No, that definitely wasn't it..."

I interrupted her, "...Wait, YOU DID-" I sighed. "Nevermind. Anyway, let's go listen to them. I'm always down for a rock concert. Surely, they'll say the name of the band during the performance."

With that, we dashed towards the sound of the concert. As we drew closer, the song they were playing had ended and I recognized the next song. It was Whispers in the Dark by Skillet. I ran slightly faster because I happen to like that particular song. I found it slightly odd, but I didn't complain. All parallel realities have to be somewhat equal, right?

As we approached the concert, it actually looked quite a bit like this:

Youtube Video

Since the concert had already started, we were extremely far away and I couldn't make out any of the details of the band. All I could really see was that the lead guitarist had a Mohawk mane. Oh, and none of the band mates had Cutie Marks, something really odd for ponies of Equestria.

After they finished the song, the lead singer introduced the next song, "Alright everyone, listen up. Without Christ, we are dead in our sins. We have a sickness. This sickness puts us into a Comatose state. We are asleep in our sin, and without Jesus... we will NEVER wake up..." They started playing Comatose by Skillet. The singer shouted, "LET'S TAKE THIS THING UP! LET ME SEE THOSE HOOVES! PUT 'EM UP IN THE AIR!"

Youtube Video

This sounded all too familiar to me... And he said, 'Jesus'. I had my theories of course, but I rocked out all the same.

...But I could have sworn that during the song that the rhythm guitarist looked directly at me. Her (Hey, we may have been far away, but I could still tell the difference between a mare and a colt) eyes grew wide as she continued to play.

After they finished Comatose, they played Sick of It, which was, again, originally by Skillet.

Youtube Video

My theories had started to take form, but my thought pattern was interrupted by Fluttershy's fangirlish screams, "OH MY GOSH!!!! THEY'RE DOING SICK OF IT!!! OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSH!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

I didn't blame her, because honestly, if she hadn't, I would've.

Just after the bridge, the singer did something I thought was amazing. He shouted, "How're ya feelin' Ponyville?" That was met with various woos and screams. He continued, "We all... have something in our lives that we are sick of! Maybe it's Loneliness." I had to glance at Fluttershy, giving the band her utmost attention. "Or Abuse. Or Addiction! Whatever it is that you are sick of tonight... I wanna tell you something that Jesus said. He said, 'I came to give Good News to the poor and to SET. YOU. FREE.'" Now I started fangirling along with many others in the crowd. The colt continued, "So tonight, WHATEVER YOU'RE SICK OF, I want you to put it in your hooves... and raise it up to Jesus to be set free!!! RAISE YOUR HOOVES IF YOU'RE SICK, IF YOU'RE SICK OF IT!"

Everyone in the crowd, including Fluttershy and myself, raised their hooves (well, for me, my hands) and we shouted, "RAISE YOUR HOOVES (I yelled 'hands', just assume that's what I continued to yell) IF YOUR SICK, IF YOUR SICK OF IT!"

The singer yelled back, "RAISE YOUR HOOVES IF YOUR SICK, IF YOU'RE SICK OF IT!"

We responded, "RAISE YOUR HOOVES IF YOU'RE SICK, IF YOU'RE SICK OF IT!"

He replied, "LIFT IT UP TO JESUS! RAISE YOUR HOOVES IF YOUR SICK, IF YOU'RE SICK OF IT! " This volleyed back and forth a couple times, until he finally yelled, "GIVE IT TO JESUS TONIGHT!!!"

They continued with the song as I continued to fangirl.

After they finished, my theories again began to form, This... This can't be... I thought. Nah. They're definitely not...

Youtube Video

The singer broke through my thoughts, "Are we having fun out here?" We all screamed. "I know I promised you I wasn't gonna talk tonight, but I wanna tell you one story about this next song. It's something I'm very passionate about. I wrote this song for a friend who wants... to end her own life..." The crowd grew silent.

"And she has been told, ever since she was a foal," The rhythm guitarist walked to the left of the stage and started playing a sad melody on a keyboard. "that she's a loser by her family... that she's never gonna be good enough... they wished she had never been born... she's a failure... And she finally thinks about it and she says, 'You know what, number one, I hate my life;'" This punched me in the gut. I had said that exact thing not too long ago for reasons I didn't really mean or even remember now. He continued, "'Number two, I hate going home at night; Number three, I hate what I see when I look in the mirror; And number four... I don't have a SINGLE reason worth waking up for tomorrow morning...' And she comes to me in this song, and she says, 'Look... I just wanna say goodbye...'

"And in this song, I get the chance to tell my friend... how special she really is. I get a chance to tell my friend that no matter what she has been told about her not being 'good enough', that her life is not a mistake." I screamed out a 'woo' and a 'yeah'. I think I even yelled out, 'Preach it!'

He continued. "And I'm telling you this story, not just so you know what this song is about, but I'm telling you this story because I meet ponies like her at every single concert that we play. And I know" he pointed out into the audience, "that there are ponies like her standing out here right now tonight. Some of you have given up on your life. Some of you have thought about suicide. Some of you have TRIED to commit suicide. Some of you cut yourselves. Some of you just say, 'You know what, my home life is SO bad, that I don't know how I'm gonna make it past tonight.'

"Whatever your story is, I wanna tell you how glad I am to see you here tonight. 'Cause I wanna tell you something that got me through my hardest nights growing up. Something that could change your life tonight. And this is a quote from my number one Hero. And His name... is JESUS CHRIST." I was screaming my head off at this point. "And this is what Jesus said. 'ANYONE who is weak... ANYONE who is heavy burdened... Come to Me, and I will give you rest!'" Some of the crowd, including myself, cheered.

"And some of you need rest tonight. Some of you need peace tonight. Or some of you are just like the mare in this song; you just need a reason to get out of bed tomorrow. Well, if that's you, then Skillet," My eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped literally to the ground. My theory was true. I had a hunch. I wasn't sure at first, but the singer just affirmed it. "is here tonight for one reason. And that is to say to you, no matter what you've done, and no matter what you're going through, no matter what your parents, or anyone else has said to you about you not being 'good enough'... There IS a God! His name is Jesus! And He loves you tonight just the way you are! And if you give Him one chance... This WILL BE the VERY LAST NIGHT you will EVER spend alone."

They started playing. "If you can relate to this song, then it is written for you! This is... THE LAST NIGHT!"

As they played, I just sat there, dumbfounded. Ha! No! HAHA! This... Could it be? How is my favorite band of like, ever, here in Ponyville? I thought. Nah, all realities have to be similar. It can't be the same Skillet from my world. But... this is TOO similar... details are NEVER this similar... And I KNOW the rhythm guitarist looked at me during Comatose.

I HAD to get backstage after the concert. And, if worst came to worst, they're not the same Skillet my world. It couldn't hurt to check.

But actually, before Fluttershy and I did that, she tugged on my shirt with her mouth and tears in her eyes as the band continued. Her face told me everything. This song spoke to her. She pulled me towards the stage. I didn't think we'd make it, due to the sheer mass of the crowd, but oddly, they let us through.

When we got to the stage, she whispered, "L-Lucas... I don't ever w-want to be a-alone ag-gain... You seem to know about this b-band... will... will you h-help me t-talk t-to J-Jesus?"

My eyes grew wide at this unexpected request. "O-of course!" I said. I gave a glance to the singer. I could have sworn I saw him nod his head. We bowed and closed our eyes. In that moment of the concert with the help of my favorite band ever, I led Fluttershy to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

BEST. MOMENT. EVER.

When we finished, we stood up and hugged each other (because, y'know, that's kinda what happens in a situation of that sort). I also noticed that A LOT of the crowd had done the same thing we did.

That sight... PWOOSH!

That was the sound of my mind being blown.

Recruiting the Band

The concert had ended abruptly after The Last Night. The band packed up and went backstage, just like I had suspected. I hadn't actually noticed how late it had gotten until it was over. I guess I was just rocking out way too hard. Anyway, Fluttershy and I (more like, just me while carrying Fluttershy on my back. She walked very sluggishly after that emotional moment she had. I HAD to know if that band was really who I thought it was, and she was moving WAY too slow) tried our best to cut through the crowd.

We weren't very successful.

After what seemed like an hour, the crowd had finally dispersed enough so that we could reach backstage. To my disappointment, the band had already left. "Aw..." I said as I lowered Fluttershy onto her hooves. I sighed. "It's getting late. We may have to spend one more night at your cottage before our trek to Cantorlot..."

"But... what about meeting the band?" She asked. "I really wanted their autographs..." She sounded just as disappointed as I did, probably not for the same reason though.

I shrugged, "I guess it's not gonna happen. C'mon. I'm tired, and my throat is sore from screaming and such."

So, we returned to Fluttershy's cottage for the night.

So, I woke up the next morning (real shocker there). I got out of the bed, made sure my iPod and headphones were where I had left them (they were), and I turned and called for Fluttershy, "HEY! YOU READY TO-" She was standing right behind me as I turned. I jumped. "GAH!" I yelled. "...You GOTTA stop doin' that..."

She looked down, "I... I'm sorry..."

I shook my head and laughed, "Don't worry, it's fine."

She smiled, "Okay... if you say so..." She paused. "Oh! I almost forgot! We need some supplies before leaving for Cantorlot!"

I raised my eyebrow. "I... kinda don't have money. Any money that I would've had, I would have spent at the concert."

She continued to smile, "It's okay. I'll buy it."

I shrugged. "Okay. If you say so. I was just gonna wing it." Thinking back on that, it probably was an awful idea anyway.

So, we made our way to town. We figured we wouldn't need much, considering Cantorlot was just a train ride away, but... we also figured that I probably wouldn't be very welcome...

We (I really mean 'she') purchased things such as sleeping bags, toothbrushes, snacks, waffles, etc. You know, the mandatory stuff.

We stopped in front of the old Tree Library where Twilight used to live to make sure we had everything. Fluttershy had made a list. Good thing too, because I wouldn't have.

I read down the list. "Alright, do we have sleeping bags?"

"Check!" She smiled.

"Waffles?"

"Check!"

"Doritos?"

"Check!"

"Sleeping bags?"

"Check! Again!"

"Doritos and waffles?"

She frowned slightly, "Now you're just repeating yourself."

I laughed as I continued. "Personal Hygienic things such as toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, etc.?"

"Check, check, check, and check!"

I looked up at her with a sly grin. "...Jesus?"

She giggled. "CHECK AND CHECK!"

"Alright!" I crumpled the up list. "It's looks like we're rea-"

"HEY! It's you!"

I turned to face the voice who had interrupted me. It was a white mare with a long, straight, black mane with two blue streaks, green eyes, black makeup, a black 'glove' (it might have been a horseshoe) on the one foreleg, tattoos on the bottom of the other, and a long black tail much like her mane. "Can I help-" I started, then realized who I was speaking to. "OMIGOSH! Your the rhythm guitarist from the concert last night! Have to say, I'm a HUGE fan! I'm Lucas by the way!" I thought to myself, This can't actually be her... Not the same one from my world...

She smiled, "Glad to meet you! Gotta say, Lucas, I was shocked when I thought I saw a human in the audience last night. You were so far away, though. I thought I was just going crazy. But when you and your friend here came down to the stage... We knew then you were actually human."

Now, before I left Equestria the first time, my human friends and I were kinda famous (and infamous), so this didn't surprise me. I'm slightly surprised that I hadn't heard more of our renown (Hey, don't judge me! We did a lot of stuff here!). What she said next, though, shocked me. "We need your help..."

"...WHAT." My jaw dropped.

She didn't even explain herself. She just said, "I'll let John explain."

What. She just said 'John'. Not 'Bass-Picker' or 'Shiny Singer' (Hey, don't laugh. Coming up with pony names isn't easy.) or something pony-like. She said 'John'. My mind raced inside my head. She turned and began walking away. She didn't stop, she just called back, "You coming?"

I looked wide-eyed, mouth agape at Fluttershy, then to the mare, then back to Fluttershy, then back to the mare... This happened for quite a while until I finally noticed she had stopped to look back at us. I stared at Fluttershy and said, "NO.... WAY... THIS IS AWESOME!"

I ran to catch up with the mare. As I did, she said, "The name's Korey, by the way." I stopped everything, even breathing. It was actually her. So many questions raced in my mind such as, 'Why is she here?', 'Why is she a pony?' and 'Is this REALLY the same Korey?', but they were all blown away by one thought. I'M TALKING TO KOREY COOPER FROM SKILLET!!!

She looked worried. "Hey kid... You okay?"

I laughed. "Yeah, um, I, uh, I'm just gonna-" And I passed out. Last thing I remember, Fluttershy caught me from behind. Probably a good thing too. Concussions are NOT fun.

____________________________________________________

When I came to, my eyes opened to Fluttershy and Korey standing over me. I tried to play it cool by yawning and saying, "Soooo... how's it goin'?"

"Don't try to play it cool kid." Korey stated, "We all know you fainted."

"Aw..." I frowned slightly. It was then that I noticed that we definitely were not in the middle of Ponyville's streets. Rather, it seemed that we were in some sort of hotel room, and I was laying in a fold-out bed/couch combo. "Wait, where are we? How long was I out?"

"You were only out for a couple of hours." Fluttershy replied.

"Hey!" I heard a colt exclaim from another room as he walked in, "Looks like our little rocker that Korey kidnapped is finally awake!"

He was a grey colt with a brown Fohawk Mane, spiked tail, green eyes like Korey's, a tattoo that ran up to about the midway point of his left foreleg, piercings on his ears and a nose ring. I knew exactly who this was.

And I started freaking out. He spoke again. "The villagers of the town were nice enough to give us a place to crash for the time being. I'm John, by the way." He raised his hoof to me.

I started hyperventilating with a giddy smile as I met his hoof with my fist, "I... I j-just brohoofed John Cooper..."

"Please don't pass out again." Korey pleaded, even though I could tell she was fighting back a smile.

I smiled as I held out one finger to her. I stood up from the bed, walked into the restroom and screamed fangirlishly, "I'M TALKING TO JOHN COOPER OF SKILLET!!! I'M MEETING SKILLET!!! OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSH!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

I walked casually back into the room. Both John and Korey looked down and giggled.

I can't say I blame them.

Just then, a tan colt with a lightish-brown Mohawk (the lead guitarist from the concert) rushed in from another room, wielding his guitar like an ax. He shouted, "WHAT'S GOING ON?!? Korey, are you okay? I heard you scream!"

"Um, actually Seth..." She motioned her head at me.

"Oh." He said. Then he realized, "OH..." He gasped slightly.

I laughed, "Don't worry, it's all good. It WAS pretty fangirlish... hehe..." I gulped. "Um... So... yeah. I'm Lucas. Huge fan, by the way." I offered my hand in a handshake.

But being that he didn't have a hand, he lifted his hoof and we stood there awkwardly until I balled my hand (awkwardly of course) into a fist and brohoofed it. He replied, "Seth Morrison."

"What is-" A light-ish brown mare with a fiery red mane and tail yawned and rubbed her bronze eyes as she walked in from another room. She continued with a different accent from the rest of the band, "What's going on?"

My eyes grew wide and I covered my mouth with both my hands. Korey walked over and whispered, "I guess it really is true that you have a crush on Jen."

How did she know that I had a crush on their drummer, Jen Ledger (well, actually, MY world's Jen Ledger. I'm not exactly into bestiality)? "NO- maybe... How did you know?!?"

She laughed, "You mentioned it while you were out cold. That, and something about Walkers tearing your throat out..." She paused and shook her head, "Don't worry. Fluttershy and I are the only ones who heard that part. Your secret's safe with us."

I had to give a slight laugh at this. I took a quick breath to calm my heart rate. Then, I walked over to introduce myself, and, avoiding the same awkwardness that I had with Seth, I offered my fist, "I'm Lucas."

She brohoofed me and yawned. "Jen. Jen Le- Ledger."

My mind reeled. Not only was this Skillet, my favorite band ever, but they have the same names as the ones from my world. I whispered as I ran my fingers through my now-unkempt hair, "No WAY details can be this similar... They're NEVER this similar..."

"So, yeah," Korey interrupted me. "like I was saying before you passed out, we need your help."

I spoke with a confused tone, "Wait, why do you need me? You seem to being doing just fine here. Plus, I kinda need to get back to my world."

John spoke up, "You see, that's the thing. We're trying to do the exact same." I was SO lost at this point. He elaborated. "We don't know how we got here, or even where 'here' is exactly. All we know is that this isn't earth. We don't exactly have talking, multicolored, magical ponies on earth."

My jaw dropped. "But that means..."

"Yep." He nodded, "we're human."

And that is where my jaw hit the ground. It WAS the same Skillet from my world... "B-but... H-how?!? How are you here?!? How are you ponies?!? It's just- PWOOSH! (again, that's the sound of my mind being blown)"

He shook his head. "We dunno. All I remember is that we let Jen drive the tour bus- granted, that was probably pretty dumb, considering none of us can ACTUALLY drive the bus-, then she crashed it."

Jen retorted, "I told you! My hands changed into hooves as I was driving!"

He yelled back, "You drove on the left side of the road for crying out loud!" He sighed as she grumbled, then continued explaining, "Anyway, she drove the bus past this school, we felt a weird wave of... something. Then, she crashed. When we came to, we were ponies. We didn't really know what to do, so we did what we do best: Rocking hard and telling people- or ponies, I guess- about Jesus. Funny story, we had to learn the terminology of this world really quick. We'd go to the store and ask for the person in charge, and they'd stare at us like we had ten heads.

"Then, we saw you at the concert last night. We figured you were from earth, so we thought you could help us."

I started piecing things together, "...And you think I could help you get back?"

Korey spoke, "Well, you're human. So, yeah."

I smiled, "Well, it just so happens that Fluttershy and I here are going to speak with the princess so that I can return myself. I guess having four more travel partners couldn't be so bad. But I can't guarantee that I'll be able to change you back if we actually find a way..."

"Eh," John said, "I'm sure we'll figure something out."

I shrugged. Then, I just thought of an idea. That wave-like thing they felt must have been a portal, which meant their bus was here as well. "We could even take your bus too! I never did trust the train here..."

Korey shook her head, "No can do."

I raised my eyebrow, "Why not?"

"Follow me." She motioned. Everyone followed.

We exited the room and met the noonday sun. I noticed the hotel they stayed in was just behind Sugarcube Corner.

` Huh.

Anyway, we traveled to the other end of town, all the way to the town limit. There, I saw why we couldn't take the bus. It had been overturned in a ditch.

"I see what you mean..." I commented.

"Yeah," Korey replied, "and there's no way we could flip it."

"Good point." I said as we all headed back to town.

"Wait," Fluttershy interrupted. We stopped. "why don't we just get a couple of unicorns to flip-"

KABOOOOOOOOM!!!

We all turned around slowly.

The bus was on fire. "Never mind..." Fluttershy looked down.

The only thing we could do is look on at the burning metal. Seth commented. "Huh. Good thing we weren't actually on that."

John glared at Jen. "NOT MY FAULT!" she shouted.

He was about to shout a retort, but I interrupted, "Oh, hey guys, um, did we tell you that Fluttershy got saved at the concert last night?"

They stopped fighting and smiled at Fluttershy. "Oh, congratulations!" John said. "Trust me, it's the best the decision you'll ever make." She blushed.

"Oh," I added, "she also would like your autographs."

She turned up some dirt with her hoof, "I mean, if that's okay with you..."

"I would also like your autographs..." I added again.

` John looked to her and me repeatedly before finally laughing, "That's a little difficult in our current state, but as soon as we change back, I promise we'll sign something for both of you."

I raised both fists in the air and yelled, "WOO!" as Fluttershy flew up and hugged him, saying, "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!"

"Alright," I finally said, "how's about we start making our way to-"

Seth interrupted me. "Um, John? Your thigh is glowing."

"What? No it's-" John pried the pegasus off and turned to see what Seth meant. "Um... What? Why's my thigh glowing?"

Fluttershy gasped, "You're getting your Cutie Mark! OOH! This is so exciting! I wonder what it's going to be!"

John raised his eyebrow disdainfully at her, "...My what?"

She replied, "Your Cutie Mark! It indicates what your special talent is!"

"Uh-huh..." John said as the glow faded. He looked to see that his Cutie Mark was a skillet. "Hmm." He smiled. "Fitting."

Fluttershy looked confused. "... A frying pan? Are you good at cooking?"

I laughed. "Fluttershy, their band's name is 'Skillet'. His Cutie Mark's a skillet."

"OH!" She smiled.

"Hey!" Korey shouted. "I have a tattoo of a skillet on my thigh now too!"

"I have a drum set." Jen added.

Seth looked at his thigh which had just finished glowing. "I have a guitar with a Mohawk. Huh. Guess I can't ever shave."

We all laughed until I finally stated, "Alright. We gotta head to Cantorlot now. The train is this-a-way." I pointed north and started walking.

"Actually..." Fluttershy interrupted shyly. "it's that way..." She pointed east, towards the center of town.

"The train is that-a-way." I pointed to where she did and walked in that general direction.

Celestia's Proposition

As we walked towards the train station, Seth eyed the loaded backpacks and saddlebags that Fluttershy and I carried. "Sooo.... What's in those?" He pointed to them.

I replied, "Oh, these are our supplies for our trip."

Just then, John's eyes grew wide, "Guys, I just realized... Most of our stuff was on the bus..."

They gasped as I facepalmed. "First of all, why was it still on the bus? Fluttershy tells me you been here for, what, a month now? Secondly, why wouldn't you bring supplies with you to Cantorlot?"

He replied, "Firstly, we didn't exactly expect the bus to spontaneously explode a month after it crashed... Second, I dunno. I guess we kinda thought we'd get there, you'd talk to the princess you told us about, and everything would work out alright."

I sighed. "Did you all think this?"

The rest of the band mates shrugged and nodded. "Actually," Seth stated, "I'm just stoked that we're getting outta here. This place is eerily colorful, the main color being pink. It's kinda freaking me out..."

"Yeah..." I chuckled as I agreed. "now, back to the supplies. See, the thing is, last I checked, Celestia- that's the princess, by the way- didn't exactly like me too much. She came and took my first method of going home while I was unconscious."

Then, Fluttershy interrupted, "Y-You... Don't like it here?" She looked as if she were on the edge of tears.

John, Korey, Jen, and I gave a slight gasp as Seth tried to explain, "I- I mean- It's a little- But it's-" Fluttershy sobbed as he turned to us with a pleading face, "Um, guys? A little help?"

John placed his hoof on Seth's shoulder, "Hey, man, you know I normally would, but I've been through this kind of situation with Korey... and it's not really a minefield I wanna revisit. So... Good luck!"

Fluttershy began sobbing harder, "B-But everyp-pony's so nice here... D-Did we d-do something wrong? I... Y-You were so n-nice in c-concert..."

John stepped away quickly as Seth tried to calm down the now-hysterically sobbing pegasus. "Hey there, Fluttershy was it? Please don't- Please don't cry. It's okay... You... You're a very kind flying horse... Um... And-"

Although Fluttershy cheered up a little at being called kind, I could see this whole situation not going well at all, so I interrupted, "So, um, hey, don't you guys need supplies for the trip?"

"I'LL GET THEM!" Seth immediately shouted as he jumped towards the nearest shop.

The other band mates and I laughed. Korey sighed, "I'll tag along. I'm good in stores and such. Plus, I could use some Ibuprofen for my neck. I think I rocked just a little too hard last night..."

"I'll go too." Jen offered in that British accent of hers. "I, for one, enjoyed meeting the villagers and such."

"Don't crash." John joked.

She rolled her eyes, "Ha, ha. Very funny."

Well, at least they're just joking about it now. I thought. Skillet might have needed a new drummer soon otherwise. "Oh wait!" I said as John and Korey started walking to catch up, "Fluttershy, you should give them our list. It'll help them out a bit."

Fluttershy, now calmed down to an extent, reached into her saddlebag. She paused. "... I... I don't have it..."

"What? I asked. "You were the last one to- WAIT!" I reached into my pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. "Nevermind, I had it." I laughed nervously as I uncrumpled the paper and handed it to Korey. I smiled. "You may tailor that list to your own needs."

Korey read down the list, then looked up and smiled back, "Alright, thanks! But... Why are 'Doritos' written on here twice?"

I blinked, "I like Doritos."

John interrupted, "Well, if you have a list, I don't see any point in me coming. I'll just hang out with Lucas and, Fluttershy, was it?" (*sigh* Yes, I admit, I had a minor fangasm. Actually, I think Fluttershy did as well)

Korey shrugged, "Alright, see you later Doggy. We'll be back soon."

Fluttershy looked confused, "I thought you're name was John... And you don't look like a dog..."

John laughed. "Haha! No, you see, Doggy's just a nickname."

The yellow pegasus smiled, "Oh, okay!"

Korey kissed John (they're married by the way), "Be safe. Please don't get into trouble."

He chuckled, "Oh, never!"

She smiled and rolled her eyes as she walked to catch up with their drummer and guitarist.

So, John, Fluttershy, and I just bummed around town for a while until...

"HEY!"

I knew that voice. I turned to see a cyan mare with a rainbow mane walking with an orange pegasus colt that resembled a sunset and night sky. "Hey Rainbow Dash! How's it been?" I held out my fist for a brohoof.

She met my fist with her hoof (I know this is repetitive, but they don't have hands for typical greetings such as handshakes, high-fives and the like) as she responded, "It's been alright! What brings you back to Equestria, anyway? Fluttershy here tells me she's gonna try to throw a party."

I laughed, "Oh, you know, trans-dimensional troubles, minor head trauma, the usual stuff. But yeah, a party sounds fun."

John interrupted, "I'm down for a party. I could definitely get the band to supply music. And it would totally ROCK."

Rainbow Dash looked puzzled, "Wait, who are you again? I haven't seen you around."

Fluttershy looked down and coldly stated quietly, "That's because you aren't around anymore..."

Silence dropped like an anvil. You could just FEEL the awkward. The other colt broke through the awkward screen, "Hey, um, Dash, we kinda have that race to get to in Cloudsdale."

She gasped, "Oh shoot! Your right! Well, it was good seeing you guys again! Wish I could stay longer, but you know how it is. Always on the fly." She unfurled her wings. "See you guys later! We'll be touch!" She took off.

"It was nice meeting you Lucas." The colt said. "Dash told me a lot about you. Oh, and it was good to see you again Fluttershy."

He took off after Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy whispered, "Yeah, that's what you both always say..."

And so, the awkward silence was upon us once again.

It remained this way until Korey, Jen, and Seth returned with saddlebags much like Fluttershy's. I started to wonder how they actually paid for all of that, but then I figured they just spent money that they most likely made from their concerts (or they just straight up stole it. But that's highly unlikely).

"Alright guys!" Korey called, "I think we're ready!"

But I noticed she stumbled slightly. I realized that she carried two sets of loaded saddlebags. I was about to jump and help her, but John noticed this first and beat me to it. He slipped one set of bags onto his back.

I smiled. "Alright! Let's do this! ...But actually, I'd like to do something first."

Everyone had confused looks as I took off towards a little hill outside of Ponyville.

I trudged up the hill where three graves lied. I stood over them with my hands in my pockets and spoke, "Hey, Twilight... Hey Pinkie Pie... Hey Applejack... It's been a while, huh? How have you guys been?" I looked downward, closed my eyes and laughed slightly.

I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I turned to see Jen. "Friends of yours?" She asked.

"Yeah..." I replied.

"I'm so sorry..." She gazed at the tombstones.

I shook my head and chuckled, "Nah, don't be. We had some fun times and awesome memories. And that's what we gotta remember, y'know? Not the fact that they're gone, but all the good times we had. That's what really matters."

"Amen!" I heard John concur as he reached the top of the hill.

I sighed. "I guess we should get going then, huh?"

"Only if your ready." Korey added.

I turned to descend the hill, "Yeah. I think I'm-" Then, I thought of something. I walked back over to the gravestones, reached into my backpack, and pulled out three waffles. I laid one on each of the gravestones (What? I didn't exactly have roses, so I used the next best thing) and smiled, "Alright guys... See you later..."

I nodded to everyone and we started making our way to the train station.

________________________________________________________________________

The train ride to Cantorlot was EXTREMELY uneventful. We ended up just teaching Fluttershy some more of Skillet's music(a-Capella, of course), such as Awake and Alive, American Noise, Lucy, Those Nights, and What I Believe.

We disembarked at Cantorlot and strolled to the castle.

That was a dumb idea.

As we reached the entrance, we were stopped by guards. "Halt!" One yelled. He paused as he examined us. It seemed as if he were about to let us through, but then he recognized me. "YOU! You're the human fugitive! QUICK! SOUND THE ALARMS!"

CRAP. I had to think of a plan. "WAITWAITWAIT!" I waved my hands in front of him. "All I need to do is speak to Celestia! So if you just-" I could see this wasn't getting me anywhere. I yelled in desperation, "EVERYONE! STAY CLOSE TO ME!"

Instantly, I pushed past the guards and dashed down the halls of the castle, searching for the throne room.

But I didn't make it very far... I tripped.

I was quickly apprehended by the guards. They tied me up painfully (I think they did it on purpose...).

They dragged me to the throne room and forced me to kneel right at the hooves of just the pony I wished to talk to.

The princess glared at me. "Lucas."

I replied as the guards dragged in my friends, "'Sup Celestia. How's it going?"

"Don't patronize me." She growled.

John leaned over to me and whispered, "Wow. When you said she didn't like you very much, you weren't kidding."

I shook my head as Celestia continued. "Why have you returned? And why have you turned another one of my subjects against me?" She motioned towards Fluttershy

To which I replied, "Yeah, my re-arrival was kind of accidental. And you also stole my way to get back while I was unconscious. Not cool. Secondly, Derpy was never your subject. She was from the future, remember? And I tried to deter Fluttershy, but she wouldn't listen. Now, maybe you could answer me a question. Or maybe not, but you never know. Anyway, why is Skillet- MY world's Skillet- even in this world?"

"Oh, that's simple." She smiled. "I wanted entertainment."

My jaw dropped as well as those of the band mates. I yelled. "Wait, WHAT?!? Is this world's entertainment not good enough for you?!? You can't just steal people and turn them into ponies for your own personal gain! It's WRONG!" At that moment, I noticed that Chillrend and my Chaos Emerald were hanging just above her throne. But... there was NO way I'd be able to grab them bound as I was. I continued, "Plus, the only reason we're here in Cantorlot is because we wanted to go back to earth! And on top of that, you need to change Skillet back into humans! And we aren't leaving until you do!"

Well, actually, that wasn't COMPLETELY true... I did indeed need my Chaos Emerald and Chillrend...

Celestia sighed, "Aw... I did not even get to hear Skillet play... I'll tell you what, I'll send Lucas home and keep Skillet here. That's a good plan. I like that plan."

Celestia was clearly insane.

...Did I really screw up her kingdom THAT much? Whoops.

John spoke up, "With all due respect ma'am, although we think all our fans our awesome, we can't stay here. We have to go back to OUR world's fans. They're kinda how we got where we are, y'know? We can't just abandon them."

The princess sighed and looked down. "I must do the right thing here, don't I? Then, I have a proposition. Guards! Release them."

They did as they were commanded. Instantly, I dashed over to the throne, leaped on top of it and reached for my weapons. But just as was within reach, Celestia froze me in midair. "CRAP..." I whispered.

She spoke in an irritated tone, "I JUST released you! And THIS is how you repay me?"

I laughed nervously, "So, um, haha, yeah, um... About that proposition?"

She just shook her head, set me on the ground away from my weapons and sighed, "In order to do all that you have asked me, I need three things."

"Uhkay..." I raised my eyebrow.

She continued. "Firstly, I need a Holy Sweetroll. Next, I need something called 'The Almighty Waffle of Power'."

I whispered to Fluttershy. "Yep. She's definitely lost it. She's COMPLETELY insane."

"And finally," Celestia concluded, "I need you to bring me the Ever-Wandering Soul of Admiral Bobbery."

My jaw dropped. "Admiral Bobbery? You mean THE Admiral Bobbery? Of Rogueport?"

"Yes. You knew him?" Celestia asked.

I answered, "Sort of. Well, when he was alive at least."

HECK YEAH, I knew Bobbery! I mean who hasn't played Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door? That game was awesome! And this also wouldn't be the first time that a world from a video game was connected to Equestria somehow.

"Sooo...." Seth asked. "where do we start?"

Celestia started scribbling on some paper without saying anything.

Then, something hit me. "Wait, why are you helping us so readily? I assumed you'd want us, or at the very least, me to suffer since you kinda hate me."

"That's precisely the point." She growled. "I hate you and simply want you gone. Whatever gets you out of my kingdom fastest is best."

WHAT THE HECK DID I EVEN DO? CAUSE A FREAKING REBELLION?

She handed me the drawing. I looked at what seemed to be a map. I sighed, "You do realize there's NO way we'll be able to pull this off without my weapons, right?"

She shook her head. "I can't do that. How do I know that you won't just leave like the first time?"

I sighed. "Listen. You have my word as a Christian. That's the best I got. On top of that, IF I decided to just leave with Skillet, they'd still be ponies. Trying to explain that to their fans would NOT be very enjoyable."

She paused. "...You were indeed trustworthy the last time you were here... Fine." She used her magic to relay my weapons from the wall to me.

I grabbed both and smiled. "Alright guys!" I turned to my friends. "Let's do this!"

As we headed for the doors, Celestia called to us. "Just hurry up."

When we walked beyond earshot, Jen commented, "Wow. She REALLY doesn't like you."

I laughed as we continued down the corridors of the castle.

Previously in the Lucas Chronicles...

"Alright," I said as I studied the map as we walked down the hallways, "it looks like she's marked the general area of each object on the map. Huh. She must REALLY want me gone to make it THIS easy."

Korey looked uncertain. "There HAS to be a catch. Nothing's EVER that simple."

I shrugged. "Wait a minute..." I looked closer at the map. "This says that there's a Holy Sweetroll right here in the castl-"

"Um... Lucas?" Fluttershy interrupted.

I turned to see that she was staring down a corridor. "Yeah?"

"I... I think I found something..." She squeaked.

I walked over to see what she saw. At the end of the corridor, a single glass case stood on a podium, housing what seemed to be a pure white muffin in a golden wrapper. We walked over to the case and. Under it was posted a golden plaque that read 'HOLY SWEETROLL'.

"Hmm. Convenient." John commented.

Fluttershy squeaked, "But it looks really heavy... I don't think we can lift-"

Without warning, I shattered the glass with the hilt of Chillrend. The sound caused Fluttershy to jump and faint. "Problem solved." I looked down at the unconscious pegasus. "...Whoops."

I looked back at the Holy Sweetroll. I reached for it, then stopped short.

"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked, now conscious.

I jumped and screamed, "BLOODY HECK!" I took a breath to slow my now-fast paced heartbeats. "What did I say about doing that?!?" She whimpered as I answered the question that scared me so. "Anyway, this thing is supposedly 'Holy', right?"

"So it says." Jen answered.

"Well," I continued. "if that's true, what happens if we were to even come in contact with it?"

Fluttershy asked, "What do you mean?"

I explained, "You see, as Christians, we know that we aren't perfect, which is why we needed Jesus in the first place. 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.'"

John nodded. "...Romans 3:23."

"I'm still confused..." Fluttershy stated.

"It's the Bible." I replied. "It's the thing we Christians try to live by. Don't worry, we'll teach you about it later. Anyway, we're imperfect, I.E. UNholy. I'm just saying that I don't what to spontaneously combust into flames by touching something holy."

"Good point." Korey placed her hoof on her chin.

We sat there thinking until Seth finally exclaimed, "Oh wait! I just remembered! I had bought a baseball bat at one of the shops! We can use that to nudge the sweetroll into one of the bags. I also bought this killer baseball cap."

He pulled each item out of his saddle bag, placing a black cap with the Wonderbolts symbol on his head. He grasped his new bat and swung it like he was hitting a baseball.

I smiled. "Dunno why you bought it, but I don't care. That's an awesome idea! But hold on. We should probably empty one of our bags into someone else's so we carry it without killing any of us. It seems that Fluttershy and I have the least amount of stuff, so we'll just combine ours, and she'll carry the Holy Sweetroll."

Just before we started unpacking her things, John raised his eyebrow, "Why don't we just grab this last?"

We froze. I facepalmed. "That's actually a really good idea. But... The glass is broken now. I don't want guards to find the sweetroll like this and then place it under even tougher security."

I had an idea. I impaled the holy dessert with Chillrend. "Hey Seth?"

"Yeah?" He replied as he continued to swing his bat.

"Could you bash a hole into the wall for me?"

He paused in confusion, then shrugged and did as I asked. I smiled as I scraped the Holy Sweetroll into the hole in the wall. "Thankee Kindly." I commented. He nodded as I pulled out the map out to study it. "Hmm... The map says that the Almighty Waffle of Power and the Ever-Wandering Soul of Admiral Bobbery are in two TOTALLY separate directions... I like waffles, so I say we go for that one first." There were no objections. I smiled as I rolled up the map and returned it to my backpack. "Alright! Let's start heading towards the first mapmarker!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

It had gotten really late as we traveled somewhere in the wilderness of Equestria, so we had to set up a camp. But since we didn't exactly expect to be thrown into an adventure, we never bought tents. So, we set up our sleeping bags around our newly made fire pit under the stars (which Luna had made particularly beautiful that night, I'd like to say).

John and I had tried to start a fire (though much effort I might add. I'm not exactly an outdoorsman, but I've had people show me before) when he asked, "Hey Lucas, what's the deal with the Princess? I mean, she REALLY didn't like you back there."

I replied while stirring the fire, "It's kinda a long story. We should wait so I can tell everyone. I don't want to have to tell it twice."

So I stood up, now happy with my fire, and gathered everyone around it. I started explaining. "Now, you see, Celestia didn't always hate me. Actually, she brought me here from earth because they needed help with something." I laughed. "She's actually the one who gave me my weapons in the first place."

"Then why did she want them back?" Korey asked.

I continued, "Well, actually, that's where it gets slightly confusing. You see, that was a Celestia from the future, a future torn apart by beings called Reapers, like from the game Mass Effect. Basically, giant robot insectoid aliens that shot laser beams of death.

"When I described what they actually were to Celestia, she figured fighting in that timeline would be absolutely fruitless. She sent me to the past along with one of her commanders, a pegasus named Derpy Hooves. She did that so we could stop the one responsible for summoning them, the Changeling Queen Chrysalis, before she got too powerful. So, we informed the present day Celestia about the threat. However, due to the time jump, we had like six months to kill. I had various adventures here and there, and they were quite entertaining. They don't really have to do with why Celestia hates me, but I'ma tell you guys about them anyway.

"Firstly, we had a pretty great snowball fight. We called it the Great Snowball War. Nothing interesting really happened other than a fun snowball fight. After that, one of the unicorns- her name was Twilight by the way- cast a magic spell that switched- oh, I forgot to mention, Fluttershy here had five other friends that we constantly hung out with- our bodies. I was unfortunate enough to be in the room. I was put in Rainbow Dash's body."

"You mean the one pegasus we met yesterday?" John asked.

"Yeah." I laughed. "It was really weird. I actually accidentally killed someone in that body, along with destroying a town called Cloudsdale. It was pretty bad... That might be why Celestia hates me. Anyway, during that same misadventure, Celestia kidnapped a few a my friends from earth. They were NOT happy. It was VERY tough to actually get them to cooperate in any given situation. Celestia changed us back afterwards, so that was kind."

"So, she doesn't hate you yet." Seth commented.

I laughed, "Nah, I guess not. Then, my partner, Derpy, accidentally spilled a premature potion all over Fluttershy here, causing her to become a giant. THAT was interesting. My friends and I almost died from laughter."

Fluttershy chimed in, "Ooh! I remember that! I thought you guys didn't like me anymore after that, so I flew away..."

I chuckled, "To be fair, my friends already hated you. But, honestly, if I hadn't been laughing so hard, I would've been kinda scared. Y'know, you never wanna anger a giant for the shear fact that you may end up like a pancake."

She frowned. "I wouldn't ever do that! Not to my friends... Anyway, something good did come out of that." She smiled. "I got to meet the Dragonborn. He was really nice."

I nodded as rubbed my chin, "He was. He was very oddly kind for a bloodthirsty dragon killer." I continued my account. "Soon after that, Discord, their world's god of Chaos, captured me. Derpy saved me shortly after, along with the help of a my friend named Ben. Then, Twilight did another magic spell. From what I can gather, she, Rainbow Dash, and another one of their friends named Pinkie Pie were sent to an older generation of My Little Pony. Y'know, the evil, demonic abominations that give these ponies a bad rep. You know the ones. Funny thing is, I could've brought them back instantly via Chaos Emerald, but I was lazy. Heh... They were TICKED."

"Why..." Fluttershy interrupted. "DIDN'T you save them earlier?"

I rubbed my head, "Because, y'know, we were having fun playing Terraria and such! And that was one great Go Fish game! Even if I did think it was poker... Now that I think about it, that bruise Rainbow Dash gave me probably wasn't worth it... Anyway, moving on. Now, we've come to the Changeling Invasion. Basically, there was an invasion, we stopped it, but it killed Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and one of our friends named Applejack."

"And they were the ones whose graves you visited?" Jen asked.

I nodded, "Yeah... Anyway, at their funeral, Celestia wanted to take our weapons from us, but I didn't let her. I sent us back to our world- via Chaos Control of course- and sealed the way through so she couldn't follow us."

"But," Korey questioned, "the princess said you had turned ANOTHER one of her subjects against her. I can see that Fluttershy here was the 'another', but who was the first?"

Seth interrupted, "And how did your weapons even end up back here?"

I continued, "My partner, Derpy Hooves, was the one she was implying. I took her with me back to earth. As for my weapons, that's another story."

There was silence. "...Well?" John stated, "We're all ears."

I closed my eyes and chuckled as I continued. "A little while after I had gotten back to earth, I went to the E3 gaming convention. On my way back home, I got lost. I then found this school- I wanna say it was in Ohio somewhere, but don't quote me on that- where Fluttershy and her friends were humans. I met a human Twilight-"

"Wait," John interrupted, "didn't you say that she was one of the ones who died in the invasion?"

"Yeah, which confused me as well. She also told me something about Pinkie Pie, another one who died in the invasion. I have a theory, but I'll mention that in a bit. Anyway, I met Twilight and gave her my Bible. After that, it got really trippy... And slightly boring. Anyway, I started a band there- we performed some of your songs actually!- and through a series of unfortunate events that I'd really rather not remember for many reasons, I nearly suffocated at the hands of a giant, human Fluttershy.

"I mean, I STILL don't understand how that even happened. AGAIN! My best guess is that- this is my theory by the way- all parallel realities have to be somewhat similar."

"But..." Fluttershy whimpered. "I would never do that... not on purpose at least..."

I shook my head, "I don't think she meant to either."

Seth laughed, "From what I understand, you don't have much luck with giants."

I chuckled as well, "Oh, no! Not at all! But, on the bright side, at least she didn't transform into a Titan. That would've been awful, since she probably would have eaten me. Heck, she would've eaten the entire school."

I laughed some more, then sighed as I continued, "Anyway, like I said, I was suffocating. I used the Chaos Control to save myself, sending me back here. But when I fell through the portal, my head bashed something hard. I blacked out. I awoke to Fluttershy here standing over me and my weapons gone. We started our trek to Cantorlot, watched your concert and you guys know the rest."

"But," John pondered. "one question still bugs me. From what you've said, you didn't exactly do anything to warrant that kind of hate that the princess showed you in her throne room. I mean, sure, you killed someone and destroyed a town in that one rainbow pony's body- which is still not good in any way- but that was SO accidental. So, why does she hate you?"

I shrugged, "Honestly, I... I dunno. Couldn't tell yo-"

Fluttershy squeaked out an interruption, "Actually... um... I don't mean to interrupt... but I think I know..."

We all looked at her with raised eyebrows. She looked down as her mane covered her eyes, "Um... Celestia said something once about Twilight's, Pinkie's, and Applejack's deaths being your fault."

My jaw dropped, "So, let me get this straight. She's only mad at me because we were overrun by changelings?!? That's a load of crap!" I sighed as I placed my hands behind my head. "I guess it can't be helped. Those with false beliefs are not easily swayed." Then, something dawned upon me, "Wait, why in heck did Celestia even bring me to Equestria in the first place?"

John replied, "Well, you said she needed help with some kinda robotic aliens of death."

"Yeah, I understand that, but why me? I'm just a simple high-school student who plays video games, chills on the Internet and works part-time at Chick-Fil-A!"

"U-Um..." Fluttershy responded. "Didn't you tell us once that the future Celestia found you on their own version of the Internet, the one they linked to yours?"

"Pffft!" I spat. "I'm not famous on the Internet! Not at all in the slightest! My best YouTube video has about forty-five views at best. And my-"

I stopped myself there. I didn't DARE let these few know about the fan fiction I write on occasion... A shudder burned it's way up my spine at that thought.

"...And your what?" The yellow mare asked.

"It's not important." I dismissed.

"Oh..." She paused. "...I also think I heard somepony say Celestia had a nickname... They called her "Trollestia". I'm not sure what that means though..."

My face emitted an bemused looked. "Great. I think I understand. The Celestia that brought me here had already given up hope and simply just started messing with people. Not cool." Then, I cracked a smile. "Although, I can't say I regret it. You were guys were pretty awesome to me here."

Fluttershy blushed as silence fell on us.

Then, I had an idea. I thought we should sing a song, since that's what sometimes happens around a campfire. I started one.

[QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE: I suggest changing the color of the background to see some lyrics. I found that the 'Fluttershy' setting works well. I suggest using that.]

Youtube Video

"Angry words and honking cars... Satellites and fallen stars... "

John smiled as he realized what I had started. He joined in. "Distant, dark blue radios that whisper down my boulevards..."

Jen sang the next part, "Ghosts in chains rattle in the attic..."

"Broken headphones filled with static..." Korey chimed in.

"Lonely room, you’ve got nowhere to run." Seth sang.

"Three..."

"Two..."

We all casted our eyes to Fluttershy. She was slightly hesitant, but then joined with her beautiful voice. "...One for all and all for one."

We all smiled as I continued. "Times will be bad!"

"Times will be good!"

"Things I wish I hadn't done..."

"...And some I wish I would!"

"Cutting through the American Noise!"

"You’ve got a voice!"

"...And a song to sing!"

"And a song to sing!"

"Drink deep in the morning!"

"See what the day will bring!"

"La, da, da, da!"

"Lift up your voice!"

"Let love cut through,"

"the American Noise!"

"La, da, da, da!"

"Lift up your voice!"

"Let love cut through,"

"The American Noise!"

"Slammin' doors and cell phone rings..."

"Hurricane force of silent screams..."

"...Dunno what to believe..."

"Bend the rule, just to break it,"

"You're so tired 'cause to gotta fake it..."

"But you just wanna be someone..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"...One for all and all for One!"

"Times will be bad!"

"Times will be good!"

"Things I wish I hadn't done,"

"and some I wish I would!"

"Cutting through the American Noise!"

"You've got a voice!"

"And a song to sing!

"And a song to sing!"

"Drink deep in the morning!"

"See what the day will bring!"

"La, da, da, da!"

"Lift up your voice!"

"Let love cut through,"

"the American Noise!"

"La, da, da, da! "

"Lift up your voice!"

"Let love cut through,"

"the American Noise!"

"...No matter who you are,"

"You've got a voice!!"

"Why don't you use it?"

"Sing your own song!"

"Take all the noise,"

"and make it into music!!!"

"La, da, da, da,"

"La, da, da, daaaa!"

"La, da, da, da,"

"La, da, da, daaaaaaa!"

At this point, we all sang together. "La, da, da, da! Lift up your voice! Let love cut through, the American Noise! La, da da, da! You have a choice! Let love cut through, the American Noise!"

"YOU'VE GOT A VOICE!!!"

"Let love cut through the American Noise!" We finished in unison.

We laughed for a while, until Fluttershy asked, "...What is 'American' exactly?"

We all laughed even harder until I finally answered in between by laughter, "It's where we're from. America, the land of the free and home of the brave!"

"Oh!" Fluttershy said as we continued to laugh.

When we all finally settled down, Jen yawned, "Well, I'm going to hit the hay."

We all agreed to do the same as we stood up.

But then, something inexplicable happened. A Chaos Control portal opened.

Fluttershy looked to me, confused. I just stared at the portal, "Wasn't me..."

Just, then, a girl, probably somewhere in her early-twenties, flew backwards through the portal and through our campfire, diminishing the remaining embers. She sat up and rubbed her head. I noticed that she was wearing Daedric Armor, something I had only seen worn in real life by the Dragonborn the last time I was in Equestria. Her hair greatly resembled Fluttershy's mane. I actually had do a double-take between the two to make sure.

However, what confused me the most was the weapons this girl had in her possession. In her right hand, was the Legendary Blade of Eternal Frost, Chillrend, and chained to her hip was a Chaos Emerald.

My brain started to hurt. I ran to my sleeping bag to see if I still had my stuff. Lo and behold, my Chillrend and Chaos Emerald were right where I had left them.

I walked back over to her with my weapons in hand, jaw agape, and asked, "...What?"

The girl smiled, "'Sup kid. So, you have them too-"

She was interrupted by a voice from the portal, "KID! We could really use your help!"

I recognized that voice, "WAS THAT THE MASTER CHIEF?!"

Another voice yelled from the portal, "Hey FLUTTERSH!! C'mon! You're too slow!"

My jaw dropped even further, "SONIC THE HEDGEHOG?!?!?"

The girl chuckled, "Well, time to go."

She jumped back through the portal. It closed.

I looked back to Fluttershy and the band mates, all who wore the same confused expression that I did.

I was speechless. All I could say was, "...WHAT?!?"

Teh Almighteh Waffel of PWR; Heading to Rougeport

The next day, we gathered our supplies, packed up 'camp', and began our trek to the where the map said the Almighty Waffle of Power was located. Days past as we traveled ever closer to where the map said to go. Those were some fun days. There was never a dull moment.

We made a makeshift raft in the shape of a waffle (I like waffles if you couldn't tell) to traverse various rivers and such; we discovered a rare, poisonous snake the nearly killed me, but was saved by Fluttershy, who had taken the snake as pet; I almost stepped on a spider that was the size of my hand. I fainted due to me being slightly Arachnophobic. I awoke to a crying Fluttershy as I was informed that Seth squished it with his baseball bat; John pulled his usual shenanigans, ranging from jumping on back and riding me like a horse, random tongue movements with varying sounds, and random songs about wanting to drink Dr. Pepper. There was just general all-around randomness.

After we exited the forest, we were immediately greeted with a desert. I groaned as I looked at the map. To my disdain, it was exactly where we needed to go. We quickly abandoned the aptly named Waffle Skiff. The days traveling in the desert turned to weeks as the sun blazed by day and the moon froze by night. We nearly ran out of water on more than one occasion. Thankfully, we found a small oasis very near to the mapmarker. We replenished our water supply twice over, then continued onward.

Soon after finding the oasis, we finally reached where the map pointed us. I looked up from the map to see, if I know my Skyrim correctly (which, anyone who has read 'Fluttershy's Giant Problem' knows, I do), what seemed to be the entrance to an ancient Nordic underground burial crypt. However, it was unknown to me as to why the crypt was even in the desert anyway. I gave another groan and thought about how to defeat the Draugrs that waited us as I reached for the ancient door. "Well... Allons-y, I guess..."

However, as I neared the door, it burst open revealing a company of humanoid creatures. I stood there, shocked to see other humanoid creatures in Equestria. I counted about nine of them as the company walked right past me, giving various comments such as:

"That was... intriguing..."

"You don't understand, one does not simply..."

"Hey, when are we going to have second breakfast?"

Then, an idea broke me out of my shock. I called out to them, "Hey, um, did you guys happen to find a... um... waffle in there? Probably emitting some form of powerful energy?"

They stopped. An old man with a pointy, gray hat strolled over with his walking stick and towered over me. "What is the meaning behind this preposterous inquiry?"

I looked to Fluttershy and the band and asked, "Should I tell them?"

They all shrugged their shoulders as Korey said, "I don't see why not."

With that, I explained our entire story to the man. He stroked his gray beard for a few minutes before nodding to his comrades. A rather short, scraggly haired boy walked over to us. As he reached into a sack on his back, I noticed a gold ring dangling from a chain around his neck. For whatever reason, it seemed oddly familiar to me...

"Here." The boy handed me a golden waffle with a rainbow aura emanating from it. I paused to examine it. "Well?" he asked. "Won't you take it? Please... I don't know if I can handle two all-powerful objects..." He grasped his ring. "I feel stretched thin as it is..."

That REALLY seemed familiar to me...

But without thinking any further on it, I grabbed the waffle and stuck it in my backpack.

He smiled, "...Thank you." then rejoined his group as they continued on their merry way.

John walked over and raised his hoof for a brohoof. "Alright!! That makes two out of three!"

I brohoofed him back as Korey grinned. "Haha! We'll be human again in no time!"

Then, the realization dawned on me. "...That was a hobbit! THAT WAS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING!!!"

"Wait," Jen asked, "you mean like, 'Lord of the Rings'? Those hobbits?"

I just nodded, mouth agape. Everyone else's mouths dropped as well, save Fluttershy. She just looked confused.

_______________________________________________________

We began our journey to the other side of the map. To my disdain, the mapmarker was located on the other side of the desert. And what's worse, after the desert was a large body of water. For a week and a half of utter torment, we suffered through the blazingly hot desert sun traveling in the day and the bone chillingly freezing nights in which we had to huddle close to stay warm.

It was no where near as enjoyable as the forest...

When we did finally reach the body of water, we ran into a few other problems, the first of which being that there seemed to be no end to this ocean.

"Um..." Fluttershy squeaked. "How are we going to cross?"

I smiled. "The Waffle Skiff."

"But-" she started.

I silenced her by holding up one finger. I grasped my Chaos Emerald and said, "Chaos Control!" I walked through the portal that opened and dragged the Waffle Skiff through, placing it in the water.

As we started loading our stuff onto the makeshift raft, Korey stopped and asked, "Wait, why don't we just use that Chaos thing to transport us to the Rogueport city you mentioned to Celestia?"

I explained, "You see, the thing is, I have to focus on my destination when I use the Chaos Control, otherwise the results wouldn't be so great. I could end up in a completely random place. Now, I know of Rogueport from the game 'Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door'. If I use the Chaos Control while focusing on that Rougeport, we most likely will end up in the game. We don't want that, because the Admiral Bobbery we need has to be dead. So, that means we have to sail across this sea, even if that means that we're only guided by our map."

"We don't have a sail..." Seth stated bluntly.

I stopped. Crap. I hadn't taken that into account.

We sat there for like thirty minutes until Fluttershy suggested, "...C-Could we use a sleeping bag?"

I looked at her and smiled. "THAT'S BRILLIANT!!" I jumped onto the raft, undid the binding on my sleeping bag, and rolled it out completely. However, as I went to set it up, I realized that there was no mast. I froze with disappointment.

Seth saw this and reached into his bag. He pulled out a rather long walking stick made from intertwining wood that entangled itself at the top and handed it to me, "Use this. I bought back in town because I thought it looked wicked. I call it the 'Moses Stick'."

I laughed as I broke it in such a way that I could attach it in a cross pattern. I almost felt sick after breaking such a beautiful stick, but Fluttershy asked a question that got my mind off of that. "What... what's a moses? And what does it have to do with the stick?"

I chuckled as I attached my sleeping bag to the mast (rotatable, of course) and responded as I hoisted the machination onto the raft. "Again, it's the Bible. God used a guy name Moses to save Moses' people from some bad guys. He parted an entire ocean just by hitting the water with his walking stick. He and his people were able to cross it completely dry."

Fluttershy's jaw dropped. "Th-that's amazing!"

I laughed. "That's not even the best of it! The Bible tells of even crazier things." I smiled slyly. "But I won't spoil those for you."

Fluttershy face fell into a distraught, disappointed expression. John chuckled as he commented, "I find it fitting that we're using the 'Moses Stick' to cross an ocean. That's awesome."

We gave a laugh at this, including Fluttershy, who was no longer disappointed.

Then, I discovered that we ran into another slight problem.

"Guys..." I started. "there's no wind for our sail..."

We all fell silent. Fluttershy spoke in almost a whisper, "If only our special talents could help here..." she glanced sadly at her Cutie Mark.

I sighed. "Wait a minute..." My mind hatched a plan. "FLUTTERSHY! YOU'RE A FLIPPING GENIUS!!"

She blushed at being complemented, but then furrowed her brow. "...What did I say?"

I looked at John, "Hey, your guys' instruments are still in your hotel room, right?"

"Yeah," he replied. "but I don't see why they're useful in this situation."

I smiled as I grasped my Chaos Emerald. "Chaos Control!" A portal opened to Skillet's hotel room back in Ponyville.

John paused, then smiled, "Ah yeah, baby! I get what you want us to do now!"

He galloped into the portal, followed by Korey and Jen who had also discovered my plan. Seth was the last to trot through as he asked, "Wait, what are we doing?"

Fluttershy frowned. "I... I'm with Seth on this one... I still don't know what's going on..."

I smirked as I continued to concentrate on the portal. "We going to have our very own Skillet concert."

She gave a huge, giddy smile, but then frowned. "But... Why? Not that I'm complaining..."

Seth poked his head back through the portal. "I understand now! It's to create wind from the sound of our music! Now, we can sail through the ocean! But there's one more thing. How are we going to get the instruments to work on the Waffle Skiff?"

"Oh," I replied. "we're not. This is where I come in. I'm gonna keep the portal open so you guys can play from Ponyville. The wind will travel through the portal, propelling the raft. I'm also gonna rotate the sail in direction that the map says Rougeport's in."

No more questions remained. Everyone generally loved the plan. Skillet set up their equipment while Fluttershy and I grinned at each other. We were SO excited that we getting a private Skillet concert!

Then, they started playing as I adjusted the mast with my free hand.

[QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, this is a full concert below. No, you do not have to watch it. Again, you may have to change the color of the background to see some words clearly.]

Youtube Video

To my joy, my plan had actually worked. Their music was creating wind energy, actually allowing us to set sail!

With that worry gone, I joined Fluttershy who was now rocking out herself. She didn't exactly know all the lyrics, but she enjoyed the concert all the same.

At about nine minutes into the concert, John called through the mic. "Alright guys, I'm gonna need your help with the next song. Shout back to me as loud as you can; let's see if you can do this: IF YOU'RE SICK, IF YOUR SICK, IF YOU'RE SICK OF IT!"

Both Fluttershy and myself started fangirling. 'Sick of It' was definitely my favorite Skillet song, and it was apparently Fluttershy's as well. We shouted back, "IF YOU'RE SICK, IF YOUR SICK, IF YOU'RE SICK OF IT!!"

He volleyed, "IF YOU'RE SICK, IF YOUR SICK, IF YOU'RE SICK OF IT!"

He brought his hoof to his ear as we responded, "IF YOU'RE SICK, IF YOUR SICK, IF YOU'RE SICK OF IT!!!"

He smiled. "Yeah! You're ready!" They began to play the human version, which basically just saying 'hands' instead of 'hooves'.

Fluttershy and I again started rocking out, raising our arm appendages. We couldn't contain ourselves at the chorus. We had to join in. "ARE YOU SICK OF IT?!"

"Raise your hands!"

"Get rid of it!"

"While there's a fighting chance!"

"Are you over it?"

"Bored to death?"

"Have you had enough regret?"

"Take a stand!"

"Raise your hooves!"

"If you're SICK OF IT!"

They continued to rock as we continued to rock out. Then, something happened that I would never have guessed. Fluttershy sang the bridge. Alone.

It started out that she sang the first line with Skillet, "I'm tired of it!"

But then, John stopped singing as the band continued the bridge. "I'm over it! I'm bored of it! Gotta fix this...

I'M.

SICK.

OF.

IT!!!!"

As she screamed 'it' (which was surprising in of itself), I could have sworn I saw something off with her teeth... They seemed to be sharp as daggers. That was NOT normal.

As John continued with part of the song where he gives his speech (my favorite part, by the way), I shot a questioning stare at Fluttershy. She gave an embarrassed smile and blushed.

Her teeth were normal however. It had to have been just my imagination... This thought was quickly silenced by Skillet, as they continued their concert.

____________________________________________________________________

After Skillet performed their entire setlist (minus the pyrotechnics)- consisting of Comatose, Rise, Awake and Alive (with a special intro I'd like to add), The Last Night, Not Gonna Die, Circus for a Psycho, Monster (Fluttershy actually enjoyed this one almost as much as 'Sick of It'), and Rebirthing- I could see the Rougeport docks. Since we had the wind still going the right direction from the concert, I motioned for the band to return to the Waffle Skiff. They complied, breathing heavily.

I didn't notice until they had walked back through, but I could see a sizable number of Ponyville fans had accumulated outside the hotel room window. They eventually broke through to the room (as raving fans do). I began to panic. The Waffle Skiff definitely couldn't handle that much weight. It was edgy with just the six of us. I quickly yelled out, "CHAOS CONTROL!!" and closed the portal.

I didn't realize how tired I actually was up until that point. Concentrating on keeping a portal open for the duration of a rock concert is definitely exhausting. "Hey guys-" I started, but I noticed that the band had already collapsed in the boat, asleep. "Alright then." I commented. I looked to Fluttershy, "Hey, Fluttershy? Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"I need you to wake us when we get to Rougeport."

She raised her hoof to her forehead in salute. "Aye, aye Cap'n! I won't-"

I was unconscious before I ever heard the end of that sentence.

_______________________________________________________________

"LUCAS! WE DON'T HAVE THE FIREPOWER FOR THAT MANEUVER!"

"QUIET JIMOTHY! IT'S OUR ONLY OPTION!!" I yelled at my Lieutenant.

"BUT SIR! THE ELEPHANT PEOPLE OPERATING THE CANNON COULD DIE!" Jimothy cried.

"Jimothy... have you not learned the term, 'Mistakes were made'? We made a mistake, now we've lost all the cheese ammunition, the Palace of Doritos is in ruins, and the Great Waffle president is a zombie. We can't let this continue... We have to stop this now!"

"But sir!"

"What?"

"They've got a bunny with a hat!"

I paused. "...We're screwed."

Then, there was an explosion, sending me headfirst into a metal beam.

_______________________________________________________________________

...I woke up and grabbed my forehead that was now in splitting pain.

"I'm so sorry Lucas..." Fluttershy squeaked. "I didn't mean to roll you into the mast..."

I noticed that Skillet had woken up already. I glared at Fluttershy for giving me a knot on my forehead, but then started laughing, realizing she only did what I asked.

Which reminded me... "Well, my friends," I smiled as I gazed on the front gate of the port-town. "welcome to Rougeport!"

Adventures in Rougeport (Mainly Glitzville, but we visited other places too)

As I hopped onto the docks, Korey asked, "So, any idea how to find this Bobbery guy?"

I smiled, "Actually, for once, yeah. Well, I have an idea. Hopefully, he's still alive..."

Fluttershy spoke in an almost whisper, "B-but... Celestia said Bobbery was already dead..."

I laughed, "No, not Bobbery. I was talking about a good friend of his named Podley. He owns the local bar/inn in town. But actually..." I paused. "I don't know how many years have past for Rougeport since Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, so I was kinda wondering if we could do some sight-seeing."

Fluttershy shrugged and smiled. "I don't really have any important things to do. I'm just along for the ride."

She wasn't the one I was actually worried about, though. The band mates were the ones I feared wouldn't like the idea. I feared they were getting uncomfortable in their pony bodies and wanted to change back as soon as possible.

I looked to them with pleading eyes as they huddled together, whispering. Then, finally, the huddle dispersed and my heart sunk as John gave a disagreeing look that just screamed 'no'.

But then, his face turned almost completely upside-down as he spoke, "I don't see why not! I mean, when are we ACTUALLY gonna be able to come back here? Never, that's when! The sight-seeing idea sounds like it ROCKS!"

I smiled. "OH WAIT! I HAVE AN IDEA!" I grasped my Chaos Emerald, opened a portal to Fluttershy's Cottage, and grabbed my iPod (which, to my relief, was still there). "Now, we have a camera!"

After exploring Rougeport for while, having Fluttershy's bits stolen from her by a local bandit, chasing said bandit down, him realizing bits were useless in Rougeport thus giving them back, having a meal cooked by Zess T., visiting the local shop, and saying hello to the goomba professor, Prof. Frankly, I told Fluttershy about the quaint, peaceful town called Petalburg. After describing what I remembered of it to her, she was SO eager to go there. In fact, she started pulling me in all sorts of different directions, trying to drag me to the village, even though she had no idea where it was.

Heck, I was almost scared to suggest something else in fear that I would collide head-on with a fluttering yellow-and-pink freight train with nothing but a frying pan.

So, we jumped down the pipe to Rougeport Sewers. The band was hesitant at first, but after I jumped in out of familiarity and Fluttershy out of eagerness to get to Petalburg, they joined us soon enough. I guided them through the treacherous Rougeport sewers (made more treacherous for the sheer fact that they were considerably older than in Paper Mario: TTYD) to the pipe that led to Petal Meadows.

When we arrived, Fluttershy nearly fainted at the sight of it. She frolicked in the fields and made friends with the various creatures around. While she did this, I snapped a picture of Hooktail's castle that sat stoically on the horizon. Even from here, though, I could tell that, after Mario dealt with the red dragonness, the castle fell into ruins.

We reached Petalburg sooner than I remembered. Then I realized, the town had grown exponentially since Paper Mario: TTYD. It was now the size of Rougeport. Although the town itself had grown, it was still as peaceful as I had remembered.

Since it's a town of flowers and plants and such, Fluttershy desperately wanted to find some seeds and the like for her garden, since many of these plants don't exist anywhere near Ponyville.

During Fluttershy's shopping trip, the band and I took pictures of us and Petalburg, even snapping a few of Fluttershy and her new flowers and seeds.

When she finished shopping, something dawned on me. "Uh... Fluttershy? How... did you pay for those?"

She blinked, "I... I had some leftover bits from our shopping in Ponyville... What's the matter?"

My eyes grew wide. They mistook her bits for coins.

We had to get out of there before they realized her bits were worthless here. I explained to her how her currency was supposed to be useless here. She gasped, "O-Oh dear... Then, shouldn't I return the seeds and flowers I bought?"

I nervously pulled her along as I stated, "No time. The popo's probably already on our tails. We gotta go."

After we hastily escaped Petalburg, we headed back to Rougeport. One place I DESPERATELY wanted to visit while we were here was Glitzville. It was definitely my favorite chapter in Paper Mario, and I was curious to see who the champ of the Glitz Pit- the fighting arena that Glitzville was famous for- was now.

As we made our way to the blimp (the only way to get to Glitzville) in the back end of West Rougeport, we ran into a slight problem.

"Tickets, please." The Cheep-Cheep- a red land-fish type creature with small wings for fins- with a white pilot's hat spoke.

My heart sank. I remembered this. Anyone wanting to go to Glitzville needed a ticket to ride the blimp... "We... we don't have tickets..."

"Then, I must apologize, but I cannot allow you on." The Cheep-Cheep stated.

I hung my head in depression as I turned slowly to walk away. I wouldn't get the chance to visit Glitzville, defeated by my own lack of memory...

"Excuse me, Mr. Fish?" That was Fluttershy. I looked back. "Um... We don't mean to bother you... but... this is our first and probably very last time in Rougeport, and we really wanted to ride the blimp... I-Is there anyway you could find it in your heart to let us go?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but-" He started, but Fluttershy's eyes gave him the most pleading look they could muster. The fish conductor stumbled with his words. "I- I can't just- I mean, rules are-" Then, he closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine... go right ahead..." Fluttershy squee'd as she boarded. As the rest of us passed, the Cheep-Cheep shook his head. "I'm SO fired..."

As the blimp ascended into the clouds, I looked at Fluttershy and smiled. "You know what, Fluttershy? You're awesome."

She blushed. "Oh... it... it was nothing..."

"Dude. That totally rocked." John added.

"Thanks, Fluttershy!" Korey grinned.

"You were great!" Jen added in that British accent of hers.

"I totally take back everything I said back in the village." Seth stated.

Fluttershy gave a huge smile and looked down as her face grew ever redder from the compliments. "R-Really... it wasn't anything special..."

We all laughed as Glitzville came into sight and grew larger as we approached.

When we finally landed, I hopped off and grinned. "Well guys, welcome to Glitzville!"

We were all excited to see the glamour of Glitzville (although Fluttershy was slightly timid about the grandeur of it all). The first places we visited Podler's Juice Bar and the Glitzville Gift Shop. The shop actually had plushes of all the previous Glitz Pit Champions that I knew of. We wanted to buy some of those, but we didn't have any money.

Then, I had an idea. "Guys. I know how we can make money." They gave me an intrigued look as I smirked. "The fighters in the Glitz Pit make money after every fight, especially if they win."

Fluttershy, realizing what I wanted to do, looked worried, "I... I don't think that's a good ide-"

But I dashed out of the gift shop towards the arena before she could say anything. They soon followed. They walked up as I spoke the bouncer guarding the entrance to the fighter's quarters.

"So, you and your friends wanna be fighters, eh?" He asked. I nodded my head. "Right this way, then."

He led across the hallways of the Pit. Fluttershy began to whimper. "I... I think you guys should just go on without me... I'd only slow you down... I'll be sure to cheer you from the crowds! Yay!"

She started to turn back when Jen stopped her, "Oh, come on! It'll be fun! I'm sure you won't slow us down! We'll need you. We're a team now, y'know."

The red blushing returned to the shy mare's cheeks. "...do you really mean that?" The drummer nodded. "O-Okay then..." Fluttershy gulped. "I g-guess I'll try..."

The bouncer had led us to the manager's office in no time at all (some might even say in 'ten seconds flat'). Inside, a pink, female toad (when I say pink, I really mean the circles on the toad's hat were pink) with a long strand of golden hair leaking from her hat over her eyes, glasses, and a red suit sat behind the desk. I took a picture of the one who I knew (from playing Paper Mario) had to be Jolene.

She looked up from her desk. I noticed her hair was considerably grayer then in Paper Mario: TTYD. "So. You wanna be fighters?" She asked in an almost bored tone. I nodded my head. She began typing on her computer. "Alright, so you can each fight solo, or you can fight as a team. Due to rule changes, teams with bipeds in their squad can only fight in pairs of two."

I looked to the band and Fluttershy. The band glanced at each other than nodded at me. Korey spoke, "It's alright, we'll sit this one out. We're rockers, not fighters. We'll leave the fighting up to you two. Just make sure you guys give 'em a whack for us!"

I smiled while Fluttershy looked almost horrified. Jolene nodded. "Okay. Now that that's out of the way, I'll need your names."

"I'm Lucas, the EpicNinjaGamer." I offered.

Fluttershy muttered in almost a whisper, "I'm... Fluttershy..."

Jolene raised her eyebrow, "What was that?"

The mare squeaked, "My name is Fluttershy..."

"Please speak up." The toad stated, slightly irritated.

Fluttershy began to cower. Jolene rolled her eyes as I facepalmed. I finally said, "Her name's Fluttershy. As I'm sure you can tell, she's extremely shy."

"She won't last long..." Jolene said under breath. She sighed, then spoke, "Alright, due to crowd appeal, your going to need fighter's names, something sort of a household name that fans can go, 'Yeah, so-and-so fighter is my hero!', a name that's catchy, yet memorable." We nodded. "Lucas, you're going to be 'Epic L'."

"Hmm. I like it. Has a nice ring to it."

Jolene continued, "Fluttershy, you'll be 'Li'l Shy'. Ha. I know the fans will just love it. They'll eat it up like Thanksgiving Dinner."

"O-Okay... I-If you s-say so..." The pegasus stammered.

"Now, we have rules that MUST be followed if you wish to remain fighters." Jolene explained, "First, absolutely NO unsportsmanlike conduct outside the ring. Inside the ring, go ballistic, get the crowd fired up, do whatever so long as it doesn't kill someone. But outside the ring, keep it cool and level-headed."

I nodded, "Shouldn't be a problem."

"Second, you will start out in the Minor Leagues. With enough wins, you can excel into the Major League, and maybe eventually, Champion. But until then, you MUST remain in your respective locker rooms.

"Thirdly, since your other friends, the 'rockers', did not sign up to be fighters, they cannot accompany you in the locker rooms. In fact, once we are done here, they must be immediately escorted out of the Pit." Everyone was slightly disappointed at that rule.

"Fourth, leaving the ring for any reason is counted as a loss. And lastly, before each match, I will give you set conditions that must be met. If they are not, you will receive only a fraction of the prize money and you will not advance. In such a case, you must fight the same foe again. Failure to follow these rules, minus the last two, will result in disqualification and immediate eradication from the Glitz Pit."

"What happens if they lose?" John asked.

"I was just getting to that." The manager replied as she pushed up her glasses. "If you lose, you drop one position on the list. For example: Say you are ranked number 15. You lose to rank 14. You must then fight rank 16. If you lose again to rank 16, that rank will take yours, and you will then fall to that rank, thus you must fight your way back to rank 15."

I nodded and smiled. "Alright! Sounds awesome. Now, I have just one question."

She raised her eyebrow, "And that would be?"

"You see," I started, "my friends here" I pointed to Skillet, "are an extremely talented band. I was thinking, since they couldn't be fighters, you could provide them with a gig, say, between fights and such."

To my disappointment, she laughed this idea off. "Very funny. No." I sighed and looked down. "BUT," I lifted my eyes. "I'm not a cruel person, so if you could actually manage to win your way to the championship fight, I'll let them play ONE SONG as you enter the ring. Now, follow me to the Minor League locker room."

She led us out of the room. Immediately, a bouncer in a black suit immediately began escorting the band out.

"Knock 'em out!" I heard Korey shout.

"We're rootin' for ya!" John followed.

The walk to the Minor Leagues was a relatively short one. When we arrived, Jolene explained how to request a fight (of which I already knew since I played the crap out of Paper Mario), then wished us good luck.

The fellow Minor Leagers were quite interested in seeing Fluttershy. She grew extremely nervous around all of them, as other people aren't exactly her 'forte'. I pushed them all away, but that didn't stop them from staring. I quickly requested a fight for her sake.

We began our first fight, the only condition being Fluttershy couldn't fly. That was simple since all she did was tremble in a corner of the ring. Between my Chaos Emerald and Chillrend, the opponent didn't stand a chance.

After a few battles, Fluttershy had really gotten into the fighting and started helping me out. The ranks blew by quickly. That is, until one of the fight's conditions was that I was not allowed to enter the battle at all, for any given reason. Fluttershy had to fight alone.

I feared this would've been the end to our streak.

I was sorely mistaken.

Long story short, Fluttershy won her solo fight BECAUSE she was shy. She constantly ran from her attacker until she eventually collapsed. The attacker tripped over her body and flew out of the ring, resulting in a loss for him.

I congratulated her when she returned to the locker room, then we continued to fight through the ranks.

Eventually, through some form of miracle, we fought our way to the number 1 seed, with the only fight remaining being the Champion. We requested the fight, our only condition being that I couldn't use the Chaos Control to manipulate time and space.

We were preparing ourselves in the Major League locker room when a bouncer had escorted Skillet back to meet us.

Korey smiled, "Congrats, guys!"

Jen spoke in an animated tone, "You two were utterly amazing out there!"

"Especially in that fight where Fluttershy battled alone! That was awesome!" Seth added.

"In other words," John spoke, "that totally ROCKED." We thanked them all in unison. "So, what song do guys want us to play for you as you enter the ring?" John asked.

Fluttershy and I blinked. We had totally forgotten about that. We looked at each other and smiled. It was obvious, almost painfully so. We turned our smiling faces toward him and answered in agreement, "Sick of It."

He smiled back, "Alright! We're gonna go set up. You guys give it everything you got!"

We nodded as they left. Soon after, a bouncer came and escorted us to the ring. When the doors burst open, I heard John's vocals over the loud speaker, "No one can make this better! Take control, it's NOW OR NEVER!!"

As they continued to play, Jolene introduced us through the mic. "Now, raise your arm appendages for the challengers; these two excelled through the ranks faster than even the Great Gonzales himself! Please welcome the Duo of Duos! The Double-Decker Trouble Makers! EPIC L AND LI'L SHY!!"

The crowd's screams resonated through the stadium, "OMG! IT'S EPIC L! IT'S EPIC L!"

"YOU GUYS GOT THIS!"

"WILL YOU SIGN MY WAFFLES?"

"KNOCK 'EM DEAD, LI'L SHY!!!"

Jolene motioned for Skillet to stop playing as she introduced the Champ, "Alright, ladies and gentlemen. This is what you've all been waiting for... Put your hands together for the current Champion! The Heir to the name 'Merciless Executioner'! The Superstar Sequel's Protege! WELCOME... THE GREAT GONZALES JR.!!!!"

My jaw dropped as the crowd screamed, "GONZALES!! GONZALES!! GONZALES!! GONZALES!!"

An adult, white Yoshi with magenta boots and a yellow hair swirl hopped onto the stage.

I could hardly believe it. The little Yoshi kid Mario had left behind had become Champion of the Glitz Pit.

He walked over and spoke to us, "Yo! Wassup? I wanna congratulate you guys for coming this far! You would've made even Gonzales proud! I'm expecting an awesome fight, you hear?" He offered his hand in a handshake a sportsmanship. "Best of luck to you two!"

My hand met his as I answered, "We'll give it our all! You can be assured of that!"

We smiled and nodded as we returned to our respective corners. Jolene shouted into her mic, "Now, get ready to... BRAWL!!"

That was the cue to start the battle.

As the battle drew on, our strength began to wane. There was a reason Gonzales Jr. was the Champ.

However, the turning point of the battle was when he used his 'Gulp' attack and stole away Chillrend. He put it in an egg and excreted it out of the ring. With our fatigue failing and my sword unobtainable at the moment, the tables had definitely turned in his favor.

And on top of all that, he spawned three eggs and threw them all at me. They hit me square in the face. I flew across the ring, dazed. However, luckily for me, this was his 'Mini-Egg' attack. I shrunk as I flew, and did not cost us the match by flying outside the ring.

Even so, I was in no condition to fight. My vision blurred as I saw various things flying above my head. I grabbed my head, trying to clear the dizziness as I awaited the inevitable K.O. from the Yoshi.

But it never came.

Instead, Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around his waist and shouted, "NOPONY. HURTS. MY. FRIENDS!"

Although, to me, the pegasus' muscles seemed slightly, unusually bulky as she hurled the dinosaur behind her, out of the ring.

The crowd cheered in awe. We had won.

As my vision cleared completely and the effects of the Mini-Eggs had worn off, Fluttershy trotted over to me, no longer bulky. It must've just been the hit to head screwing with my vision...

Her face held the hugest smile as she helped me to my feet.

We walked over to Jolene, grasping my hand in her left hand and Fluttershy's hoof in her right. She shouted into the mic. "WELL EVERYONE!! WE HAVE A MAJOR UPSET!! THE ROOKIES THAT JOINED THE GLITZ PIT JUST TODAY HAVE OVERTHROWN THE CHAMPION!! EVERYONE, GIVE IT UP FOR YOUR NEW CHAMPIONS!" She raised our arm appendages. "EPIC L AND LI'L SHY!!!"

Everyone screamed their heads off as Gonzales Jr. hopped back on stage, returning Chillrend and presenting the Champ's Belt- a leather belt adorned with a huge, light-orange, sparkling star- to us.

We went to the lobby, surrounded by fans. We asked Jolene and Jr. to accompany us at Podler's juice bar. As we weaved our way through the crowd, we managed to pick up the band and the eight of us managed to cut to the juice bar. We shut the door behind us as a bouncer pushed all the rabid fans away.

I sighed in relief as I looked at John. "Is this pretty much every concert for you guys?"

He smiled. "Pretty much."

We all laughed. "Hey, Fluttershy?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"You remember that party you promised?"

"Yes..."

"Wanna have it here?"

Her eyes lit up. "Oh my! That sounds like a great idea!" She shied away as she looked at everyone, "I mean... If it's okay with all of you..."

Podler shouted from behind the counter, "FREE DRINKS FOR THE CHAMPIONS AND CO.!!"

So, we partied. It was great. We had Podler take a picture of the eight of us- Fluttershy and myself holding the belt, surrounded by the band, Jolene, and Gonzales Jr.-. Then, Fluttershy and I nodded to each other. We returned the belt back to the Yoshi.

His eyes grew wide, "B-But, why? You won, fair and square!"

We explained to him that we were supposed to be on a mission for a princess and that we probably wouldn't ever be able to come back to Glitzville, so we had to step down as Champions. Jolene nodded in understanding, "If you do ever return, you are the Champions. Such a shame we've lost a second set of Champions in the same way..."

All of my comrades raised their eyebrows in confusion, but I knew exactly what she meant.

The Yoshi agreed with Jolene, "This sounds extremely similar to way Gonzales and I had to step down as Champions the first time... On a mission for a princess!" He chuckled, "Anyway, the belt is yours. I'll keep it warm for you guys."

We thanked them for everything as we fought our way to the gift shop with our new prize money, the reason we had begun fighting in the first place. We each bought a plushie of our favorite looking Champion. What surprised me most is that the shop already had plushes made for Fluttershy and me. I bought Prince Mush, the very first Champion, Fluttershy got one of Gonzales Jr., John bought Rawk Hawk, Seth got Mario, Jen bought my plushie (which killed me since I did have a crush on her), and Korey got the Fluttershy plush.

Afterwards, we decided to try some of the famous Glitzville Hot-Dogs (I didn't DARE tell Fluttershy what they were made of), then proceeded to board the blimp. As it rose into the clouds, we waved goodbye to Glitzville- fans, fighters and all- and descended back into Rougeport.

The next place I told them about was Poshley Heights. I remembered a warp pipe in Rougeport Sewers that led to the high-class city.

After getting lost for about an hour, we finally found the pipe and started our sight-seeing. There really wasn't much: Just some famous Poshley Pasta (Which was, for lack of a better term, meh) and the Poshley Sanctum. After devouring the former (using a RIDICULOUS amount of coins), we decided to visit the latter. The interior was as ornate as I remembered. After a long hallway, rested a dark-orange crystalline, star-shaped gem on a podium in front of a painting of the entrance to the Sanctum. I remembered the gem as the Red-Herring Crystal Star from Paper Mario. We all marveled at it.

"Can I help you?"

The voice startled us. I turned to face it. I smiled as I recognized the Sherlock Holmes-esque penguin, Pennington, the owner of Poshley Sanctum. I spoke to him. "Actually," I handed him my iPod. "can you take a picture of us in front of this star and the painting?"

He blinked, "Okay. Doesn't sound like a too difficult conundrum."

We all posed around the gem as he snapped the picture. We thanked him as he handed my iPod back to me. He sighed as we exited the Sanctum, "...The creatures that visit are getting stranger every day..."

We quickly returned to Rougeport Sewers. I told them about wanting to see the Thousand-Year Door. They seemed interested.

When we arrived, we were filled with shock and awe in the presence of the huge, magnificent door.

I knew we had to take a picture of this. I set my iPod's camera to 'delay' and set in a decent position in front of the door. I had us all pose, and it snapped.

Happy now with our adventures in Rougeport, I used the Chaos Control to place my iPod safely back in Fluttershy's cottage.

I sighed with a smile as I closed the portal. "Well, we should probably try to find Bobbery now, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, that's probably be a good idea." Korey laughed. So, we returned to the surface of Rougeport.

The Ever-Wandering Soul of Admiral Bobbery

I led the band and Fluttershy back into the center of Rougeport and entered the building with a purple skull spray-painted to the left of its doorpost.

Inside were various ruffians drinking Chuckola Cola and arguing to their hearts' content. Fluttershy seemed uncomfortable by their behavior, but I told her to just ignore it as we walked over to the person polishing a glass behind the counter.

The man with a bean-looking head, circular glasses, and mustache welcomed us. "Welcome. This is Podley's Place, a humble little cola shop where folks mix stories and drinks."

"You Podley?" I asked.

He coolly nodded his head. "Indeed. What can I do ya for?"

"What can you tell me about the famed 'Admiral Bobbery'?"

He set down his cup and exhaled a long breath. "It's been quite a long while since anyone's asked for him... Let me get you all a drink." He poured each of us a glass of Chuckola Cola. I reached into my bag to pay him, but he stopped me. "It's on the house. Now, what do what to know about the Admiral?"

I stated bluntly, "Specifically, where can we find him?"

He shook his head and sighed, "He's been dead for twenty years now, son."

It's been at least twenty years, huh? Wait... Podley doesn't look like he's aged a day! I swear, I'll never understand the Beanbean people...

After that initial thought, I sipped my cola and stated, "We know. But our sources tell us that his soul still wanders this plain of existence."

This shocked the innkeeper. "Wha- Not many know that secret, lad. Yes. After Bobbery's passing, his soul couldn't find peace. My theory is that he still regrets not spending enough time with his wife, Scarlette."

"What happened to her?" Fluttershy asked, taking a small swig of her drink.

Podley replied, "I assume since your looking for his tormented soul, you desperately need him. So, I'll let you ask him yourself." He continued his account of Bobbery, "Although I don't know where he actually is, I know of one who might. Shortly after the 'Thousand-Year Door' incident, Bobbery sailed with the cursed, undead pirate, Cortez."

Fluttershy's eyes grew wide, "...U-U-Und-d-dead?"

Podley nodded his head, "The old sea bomb never returned from that endeavor... Cortez never spoke of it either..."

I then remembered in Paper Mario that Cortez used sail Mario to Keelhaul Key and back after the player obtained the fifth Crystal Star. "I've heard that Cortez used to sail people to Keelhaul Key. Does he still do that? We didn't see him out at the docks when we arrived."

The innkeeper coolly replied, "I believe he does. I had gotten word that he was returning from the island now. Should be here shortly."

I placed my empty mug on the table as I smiled, "Alright. Thank you for your help. We'll be on our way."

My friends set their drinks on the counter. As we turned to leave, Podley picked up his glass and began polishing it again, "It was nothing. If you're ever in town again, my door is open."

"Take care." I waved as we exited the inn.

As we passed through the main gate to the overpass overlooking the docks, I heard Fluttershy gasp in fear. It was then I had seen why.

A old, black ship sat in the docks, almost motionless. It even seemed to defy the water in it's motionlessness.

Fluttershy trembled, "I-Is that C-C-Cort-tez's sh-sh-sh-ship?"

I nodded, "Mhm-hm. Let's go! Allons-y!"

As we took a step down the wooden stairs leading to the docks, I heard Fluttershy whimper. I turned to see that she hadn't moved and started cowering under under the gate. "D-Do we have t-to?"

I sighed. "Yes. Yes we do."

She started backing away towards the gallows hanging in the center of Rougeport, "M-Maybe we could, um, just p-pay one of those nice f-folks at the inn? I s-sure they'd be VERY helpful..."

I gave her a negative look. "You know that's not really a possibility, right? It's gotta be us. Plus, Cortez isn't all that bad."

"Oh," she started backing away further, "I'm s-sure it doesn't H-HAVE to b-be us-"

John nodded at Seth. They both walked towards the trembling mare.

"-I m-mean, th-there's so many b-brave-"

"Ally-oop!" Seth said as he and John hoisted her onto their backs.

"EEP!" Fluttershy froze.

They grinned as as John said, "Let's do it!"

I smiled back. Once again, I stepped down the creaky, wooden stairs, finally landing on the cobblestone ground of the docks.

We briskly stepped towards the old, haunted ship that sat in the harbor. As we hopped on the boat, the giant, floating, head of Cortez appeared, just like it had in Paper Mario.

This caused everyone other than me to jump backwards in slight fright. The head spoke, "Yo, ho, ho! You landlubbers want to head to Keelhaul Key, aye?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Fluttershy started breathing again. "What's going on?" She started looking around. "Where are we-" she noticed the undead skull of the Pirate King Cortez. "EEEEEEK!"

She fainted again with a goat sound and her hooves straight up in the air as she fell off of John's and Seth's back onto the deck.

Cortez stared at her, "Argh, she'll be okay, right, amigo?"

I laughed, "Yeah, she'll be fine. But, actually, no, we don't want to go to Keelhaul Key."

"Aye, goodbye then." He started to disappear within a mini-tornado.

"WAITWAITWAIT!!" I stopped him.

He stopped spinning and asked, irritated, "Argh, what do you want, muchacho? It's either Keelhaul Key or a good cursing. 'Tis all I can do for you. Ho."

"Podley told us you could help us find the Ever-Wandering Soul of Admiral Bobbery." I stated.

The pirate boss grew silent. "...Then, Keelhaul Key is where you're going."

Jen finally spoke up, "Hey, um, that Podley guy said you were with Bobbery when he died. What happened?"

Cortez ignored her. "All hands on deck! You scallywags ought to have had this ship set sail yesterday!"

__________________________________________________________________________________________

It didn't take long for the ship to reach Keelhaul Key. It was a cursed, undead ship after all. When we docked, Cortez spoke to us, "There's a monument to Bobbery atop of the mountain of the Pirate's Grotto, compadre. If you want to find him, aye, he'll be there."

We thanked him as we hopped off of his ship, dragging the still-unconscious Fluttershy. Then, I realized something as my hand touched my Chaos Emerald. We may not use his ship to return, and may not even return to Rogueport at all. I turned to the pirate, "Cortez, if we aren't back in twenty-four hours, leave us and go back to Rogueport."

"Argh. Understood. Best o' luck to you, muchacho." He replied.

With that, we shook Fluttershy awake and began our trek through the jungles of Keelhaul Key. Pushing through the barreling brambles and cutting down various vines, we noticed that the ground had turned into a slight incline.

After a few hours, we reached the edge of the forest. The clearing housed a small precipice overlooking the ocean, and, just as Cortez had said, a small, stone monument.

We slowly exited the forest, half expecting an extremely cliche'd 'BOO!" from the ghost of Bobbery. It didn't happen.

We approached the monument and read the small, bronze plaque that sat below the stalwart statue of a bomb with a mustache. It read, "DEDICATED TO THE FAMED ADMIRAL BOBBERY, GREATEST NAVIGATOR ON THE SEVEN SEAS".

I gazed up at the stone Bob-omb. It looked just as I had remembered Bobbery. If I remember correctly, Bobbery was a small, brown bob-omb with a magnificent grey mustache. He always donned blue boots and a tattered, white sailor's hat. He was true sailor indeed (and an absolutely indispensable member of my party in Paper Mario!).

We waited for a little bit, hoping Cortez was right and Bobbery would show up. He didn't.

I walked towards the edge of the precipice. I first gazed down to see how far the drop was. The height (ending in extremely cliche'd sharp rocks) seemed to be quite a ways down, (I'd say about several hundred yards) but the thought of falling had begun to sicken me, so I had to gaze up towards the horizon.

I REALLY didn't want to fall here...

"Bobbery..." I mumbled, "where are you?"

"Aye, the sea is beautiful, isn't she?"

I sighed. The sun had just sent on the horizon. Orange gleams of light sparkled on the water. I had to concur as I turned my head, "Yeah, Seth, it really-"

But it wasn't Seth that spoke. Everyone gasped as I jumped slightly. There, right in front of my face, stood the apparition of the Admiral himself, Bobbery, gazing far into the horizon.

Everyone fell silent, mouths agape... except Fluttershy. She fainted. "What?" the spirit asked, "The sea got your tongue? Have you landlubbers never seen a spirit before?"

"Not... Exactly..." I finally spoke up. I gazed back out into the sea. "How... how did you die?"

Bobbery scowled. "That blasted pirate Cortez." The fuse on his head came alight. "That fiend drove us right into some rocks. Those that were not already cursed with undeath drowned! Oh, the idiocy of that devil! And to make matters worse, as I was drowning, the demon cursed my soul to this precipice! He later told me that he only meant to prolong my life since he caused my death, but REALLY! How could he think that THIS was a good idea?!?"

As the fuse on his head diminished rapidly, I nervously tried to change the subject, "Uh, so, um, why don't you just leave?"

He shook his head as his fuse went out, "And to where would I go? I'd only bring unnecessary fear." He nodded towards Fluttershy, flat on her back, hooves straight up in the air.

"But wait..." Korey finally added, confused, "since you refuse to leave because you don't wanna scare anyone, why do they call you the 'Ever-Wandering Soul of Admiral Bobbery'?"

He sighed, "Is that the rumor Cortez has spread about me?" We all nodded. He shook his head, "Blasted pirate... Covering his own bony back..." He decided to change the subject as he gazed back out into the ocean. "You know, I almost joined the Army, but I decided to become a sailor instead."

Fluttershy, now conscious and somehow seemingly unafraid of the ghost standing before us, spoke up, "Um, Mr. Admiral Bobbery sir, I, um, don't mean to intrude, but... We need your help..."

Bobbery smiled under his mustache and raised his ethereal eyebrows, "Ah, so it DOES speak! How so?"

Fluttershy continued, "Um... my friends don't belong in this world... a-and the only way my ruler, Princess Celestia, can send them back is with your help... I mean, if that's okay with you..."

The bob-omb paused, then laughed, "...Is that all? That is a very simple task for an old sea bomb such as myself! Celestia owes me a favor anyway. She and I go WAY back."

"So, is that a 'yes'?" Jen asked.

He nodded, "Anything to get me off of this blasted island." We all cheered as night finally set in. "Although," Bobbery added, "we should probably wait until the morning before our journey."

We all agreed as we re-entered the forest and set up camp at the edge.

FRICKIN' WALKERS...

Fluttershy woke up with a jolt the next morning. She gasped, "OH NO! I overslept! I forgot to feed Angel!" She started hyperventilating, "Oh, he must be so-

"Who's 'Angel'?" Jen interrupted the fast breathing pegasus.

She blinked at the drummer who sat around a small campfire with Seth, Korey, and Bobbery. The pegasus shook her head as remembered where she was. "Oh... um... he's my pe- ...my friend. I used to take care of him..."

"Was he homeless? Or hurt?" The red-headed mare asked.

Fluttershy paused. "...You could say that..."

"Oi! Look who finally decided to wake!"

Fluttershy jumped as she recognized the voice of Bobbery. She stuttered, "O-oh... U-um... G-G-Good m-morning..."

"Aye, you don't have to be so nervous." The spirit sailor stated.

The pegasus trembled, "B-B-But, y-you're a g-g-g-ghost!"

"By Blabberton's Beard, I thought we were over this." The Bob-omb rolled his eyes. "Arr, where is that bravery you had when asking me to help?"

The mare shakily replied, "I-It drowned in the ocean..."

Bobbery laughed, "Aye, I know what that's like. Alright, I'll make you a deal. To show you that I'm not a bad sea-bomb, ask me a question. I'll answer anything." He smiled.

"Oh, um, o-okay..." Fluttershy brought her hoof to her chin as she thought. She then remembered the question she posed to Podley back in Rougeport. "W-What happened to Scarlette?"

The old spirit's expression dropped as he thought about his wife. It no longer held any trace of happiness as he sighed. "Aye, that is a sad tale of woe, one that I do not wish to revisit. But, I did promise to you anything. Do you still want to hear it?"

Fluttershy looked down as her mane covered her eye. "Oh, if you really don't want to tell us, I underst-"

"I'd like to hear it." Korey interrupted.

"EEP!" Fluttershy squeaked at being interrupted.

Bobbery sighed. "Alright. 'Tis a sad tale woe. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Youtube Video

"Scarlette... My Scarlette perished long ago..." Fluttershy gasped. "Aye, Scarlette, she was the love of my life, even rivaling my love of the sea. Since I was indeed a sailor, I spent many weeks- sometimes months, even- at a time, sailing on the ocean. But, Scarlette... My Scarlette always waited for my return." Bobbery gazed into the fire they hand made earlier that morning. "However... one icy winter, while I was out on the ocean... Scarlette fell extremely ill... Her condition only grew worse by the day. By the time I had returned, she had passed away...

"I thought that I could have saved her if I had been there. My guilt had penetrated into my dreams, causing horrible nightmares. I had felt like I failed her... From that day, I vowed to never sail again. I sank into deep depression. But one day, a young man by the name of Mario gave me an old, tattered letter. It was from my beloved Scarlette. That letter is my most precious treasure. Even to this day, I perfectly remember the message it contained."

He paused, then began to quote, "My love, if you are reading this letter, then I am no longer by your side. Because fate has stepped between us, I have decided to write you this letter. If you're reading this, I must have passed away while you were out to sea... I can only assume that you will blame yourself for it, my sweet Bobbery. Although my life was short, you gave me more than a lifetime's worth of joy. Though you will mourn, I beg that you remember that time, like love, is a tide. You are one with the sea, as you were one with me. Do not lose both your life's loves."

He sighed, "Aye. There you have it. That's the story."

Fluttershy, who had already given up holding her tears and wept openly, sobbed, "I... I... I..."

Jen also allowed a few salty tears to fall. "I... I can't even imagine going through that..."

Korey looked on the verge of tears herself, "I... dunno what to say..."

Even Seth had gotten choked up, "Um... Wow..."

Bobbery nodded, "Aye. I warned you that it was a sad tale of woe."

Silence fell. After the ponies had calmed down and got a hold of themselves, Fluttershy wiped the last few tears from her eyes and asked, "Wait, where's John and Lucas?"

Just then, they heard a scream resonate from the precipice.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!?" Jen shouted.

Korey answered, "This probably goes without saying, but we should go- y'know what, nevermind." She stood up, grabbed her saddlebags, and ran towards the screaming, followed by everyone else (who had also grabbed their saddlebags).

As they pushed past the edge of the trees, they heard John shouting, "-don't even know how you got down there right now!"

"I don't either! I fell!" They heard me shout back.

Fluttershy's eyes grew wide, "Lucas, hang on!"

They raced past Bobbery's statue, only to notice John leaning over the edge, trying to trying to save a dangling me with only Seth's baseball bat.

"Why'd you do this? It completely ruined our day!" John struggled, trying to pull me up.

Seth ruffled his eyebrows, "How did you..." He felt around in his saddlebag. "How did you get my bat?"

Ignoring the guitarist, I attempted to get a better hold on the bat, "Would you just help me up?!?"

John grunted, "Listen, just listen to me!" I did as he asked. "...How long have you had glasses?"

"...WHAT DOES THAT MATTER, JOHN?!? Just pull me up!"

Fluttershy started pulling on John's flank in her efforts to help. "I didn't notice them 'til today. Just right now, I just noticed them."

"Hold on Lucas!" Fluttershy cried as she pulled.

John replied sarcastically, "...Thanks Fluttershy. I don't think he would've known to do that, without you."

I screamed, "Get me up! Pull me up!"

"I'm trying to!" John responded.

But... their efforts were in vain. John lost his footing and fell, dragging Fluttershy with him.

"CRAAAAAPPP!!" I yelled as I panicked and flailed around in the air. "Fluttershy! Quick! You have to fly us out of here!"

"O-OKAY!" She closed her eyes and tried unfolding her wings. They did not. "...They're stuck!"

"AW, COME ON!!!" I yelled. I looked over to John, who was flailing his own appendages. Then, I noticed some of the appendages that he was flailing were wings. I shouted to him, "JOHN! You're a pegasus! You can fly us out of here!"

"I'm a what?" He looked to his own wings and commented, "Oh, wow! I have wings!" He paused. "...I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FLY AT ALL!"

"CRAP!" I yelled as the pointed rocks grew ever closer. I began flailing again, praying for some miracle. It was then that my hand brushed across my Chaos Emerald. "CHAOSCONTROL!" I yelled as I grasped my gem. A portal opened just above the rocks, and we fell through (and didn't die. That was nice).

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[QUICK AUTHORS NOTE THAT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: From here on out for the remainder this chapter, there are EXTREME spoilers for the mid-season 4 finale for 'The Walking Dead'. If you've already seen it or don't care for it to be spoiled, keep reading. If not, skip to the next chapter. I'll do my best to explain anything important, spoiler-free, in a later chapter. You've been warned. Also, this is the only place the gore tag appears in the story. And yes, I censor my own work. I DO NOT like foul language, but I still wanna capture the essence of a character to the best of my ability.]

We landed vertically in what seemed to be a forested area, but since we still held our momentum from the cliff, we tumbled and somersaulted in some leaves.

I shook my my head and took a deep breath. "Oof... Aye, that was painful..."

"To be fair," John stated, "it wasn't as painful as could have been."

"Good point." I agreed. My eyes made a sweep of the area, but it was so dark that they couldn't make out anything in particular. "So, where did we end up? I can't see a thing..."

Fluttershy smiled (I think) as she stated, "I think I help with that!" She reached into her saddlebag.

As she felt around inside her bag, I could have sworn I heard something rustling in the leaves. Although, I didn't worry about it, as it sounded like it was a decent distance away.

"AHA!" Fluttershy exclaimed as a flashlight now rested in her jaws. She flipped it on (using her tongue, I would assume) and squee'd.

She had then noticed the sound that I heard, and had shined the flashlight's beam in it's direction. To mine and John's surprise, it was another human!

But... something seemed off to me... The way his head was aimlessly cocked upward and the way he stumbled over sticks and leaves...

I gasped, "OH NO..."

"What's wrong?" John raised his eyebrows.

"F-F-F-Fluttershy..." I spoke shakily.

"What ih it?" Fluttershy asked, the flashlight still shining from her mouth onto the 'human'.

I started hyperventilating, "T-T-Turn the light off. Now."

"Bu-"

"DO IT NOW!" I shouted as I leaped for the flashlight. To my dismay, all I did what knock it out of Fluttershy's mouth. The beam still glared at the 'human' as it growled and started running at us. "CRA-A-A-A-A-A-AP!!" I cried as I was immobilized by fear.

As the 'human' drew closer, I noticed various things about it that confirmed my fears. The light from the flashlight showed pale gray skin and eyes that were glazed over. Blood dripped from it's maw. But the most noticeable thing about it that gave me the knowledge of what it was and where the Chaos Control had sent us... was that its stomach had been ripped open, with varying organs spilling out of its abdomin...

It shouldn't have been running towards us... But it was.

Fluttershy raised a nervous eyebrow, speaking with slight fear after hearing my reaction, "A-Are h-humans' stomachs sup-p-posed to look like th-that?"

John and I shook our heads. I covered my mouth with my hands and started heaving, "W-W-WALKER..."

Then, my brain finally decided to work slightly and yelled for me to draw Chillrend. However, my body wouldn't listen. With the Walker only mere yards away, my hands finally decided to obey my brain and they drew my Blade of Eternal Frost.

Since I was the one that had shouted, the Walker leaped towards me. It knocked me on the ground, trying to both take a bite out of my flesh and rip my chest open. The only thing that stopped it from accomplishing this was me pushing back with Chillrend, shoving against its hands and mouth.

However, it didn't relent, even to the point slicing itself on my blade as it drove ever harder. I pushed back, but my strength was fading. Within seconds, the Walker's eyes were mere inches from mine as half its jaw forced through my blade, blood dripping onto my Dr. Pepper T-Shirt. Its hands stopped grasping Chillrend and instead began clawing at my stomach.

Still pushing back with my blade, I closed my eyes and sobbed.

I didn't want to believe it, but I knew this was the end for me...

But then, I felt the pressure of the Walker's weight leave my blade, and then, off of my body. I opened my eyes to see both John and Fluttershy flying, wrapping their hooves around the Walker and holding the the flesh-eater back.

The Walker struggled to break free of the pegasi's grasp, but to no avail. The strength of my friends had been too much for the undead to fight.

Fluttershy grunted, "I- *grunt* I don't know what happened to you, but- *grunt* what you're doing isn't very nice!"

As she said that, I saw the 'human' shifted its gaze from me to the nearest hoof holding it...

Fluttershy held it at it's neck in a choke hold...

It shrieked as it twisted its head. It opened its mouth and, in what felt like slow motion, its jaws began closing the distance between her foreleg.

...I could only look on in horror...

But, just as the Walker was about to chomp down on the yellow hoof, a crossbow bolt impaled its head as 'time' returned to a normal feeling.

Fluttershy gasped and dropped the body, causing it to slump in John's hooves.

Now knowing where we had ended up, I just laid Chillrend by my side, sat down in a fetal position and held my head in my hands, sobbing slightly.

"Is everyone all right?" I heard slightly rough, southern, male voice ask.

I stopped sobbing and lifted my face. I looked around for the voice, but it stayed out of the area illuminated by Fluttershy's flashlight.

John called back as he lowered the Walker's body to the ground, "Yeah, I think we're okay!"

"Did anyone get bitten?"

The two pegasi examined themselves. When they couldn't find anything, Fluttershy responded, "I-I don't th-think so!"

"Alright," the voice called, "we're steppin' into the light. Don't make any sudden movements."

To my utter joy and sorrow, I recognized the two humans that had entered the area encompassed by Fluttershy's light. One with a combed-back hairstyle, a slightly unshaven beard, and a filthy shirt, aimed a six-shooter revolver pistol and entered first. I could tell his other hand had been wounded recently by the gauze that was wrapped around it.

As he entered, he paused, shocked at the sight of the pegasi. The other man with relatively long, messy hair, and a sleeveless, leather jacket followed the first, brandishing a crossbow.

My head slumped into my lap as I sobbed even harder.

The second man stopped next to the first, jaw agape, and aimed his weapon at the two pegasi. "What the **** are they?" he asked in a southern accent of his own.

Fluttershy shakily squeaked, "I-I-I'm F-F-Fluttershy..."

"It TALKS?!?" The second man exclaimed as he aimed his crossbow at the mare. Fluttershy began to cower.

"Now, hold on a minute Daryl." The first man put his hand on Daryl's crossbow. "They were fightin' the Walkers just like we are." He turned to Fluttershy and knelt to meet her at eye level. Seeing how frightened the mare had become, he spoke in a gentle voice and sheathed his revolver, "Alright now, we ain't gonna hurt you. What are you? Who are you guys?"

Seeing that this man attempted to be kind- unlike the other one-, Fluttershy stopped cowering. It also helped that the man's accent reminded her of her late friend Applejack. She hesitantly spoke, "M-My name is Fluttershy... a p-pegasus pony from Ponyville..."

Daryl rolled his eyes, "Oh, you gotta be *****in' me, Rick!"

Fluttershy recoiled slightly at Daryl's vulgarity. The one called Rick ignored his companion and spoke again, "Who are your friends?"

He looked at John and me. Fluttershy tried to introduce us, "Oh, u-um... The other pony's name is John..."

"What's up?" John nervously smiled.

"A-And that's L-Lucas..." Fluttershy pointed at me.

"...What's wrong with him?" Daryl motioned his crossbow at me, still sobbing, head in my lap.

John replied, "We... We dunno. He was attacked by that thing, then he just sat down and started crying."

The two humans paused. Then, Daryl's eyes grew wide as he exclaimed, "He must've been bitten!" He aimed his crossbow at my head. "I'm sorry."

When I heard his reaction, my brain actually decided to arrive at the gravity of the situation. "NONONO!" I waved my hands in front of me, "It didn't bite me! I swear!"

"We can't take that chance." Daryl stated, applying pressure to his trigger.

"DARYL!" Rick stopped him. "What if he's telling the truth? We have to at least check him."

Daryl sighed as he loosened his finger on the trigger, although still aiming it at me. Rick then knelt down and proceeded to examine my body for any bite wounds. Just as I expected, there were none to be found.

He sighed in relief, as did I. He stood up and stated, "It's not safe out here right now. Do y'all have a safe camp?"

We all shook our heads. "Not exactly..." I replied. My hand hovered over my Chaos Emerald as I envisioned the precipice that we fell off of. I pulled it away, not wanted to scare Rick and Daryl with a random Chaos Control warp.

Rick paused, "...Y'all can stay with us for the night."

Daryl pulled him aside and hissed, "Rick! We don't know who they are! We've worked too hard and have had too many people screw us over already..."

Rick whispered, "They have a survivor, Daryl! And he's just a kid, too! Leaving them out here is no different from murdering them. We aren't murders. On top of that, the horses could be useful."

"Fine..." Daryl mumbled. He then noticed Chillrend by my side. "But what are we gonna do about that?" He motioned towards my sword. "What if we let him in and he kills someone?"

"He's just a kid, Daryl!"

"A kid with a sword, Rick! He was able to hold off a Walker even after it jumped him! He clearly knows how to use it! What if he kills Judith, Rick?! Or Carl? What then?"

"He doesn't seem cruel... But you have a point." Rick sighed and walked over to me as he reached for my sword.

I grabbed his wrist, "Woah, what are you doing?"

"We'll give it back when we can trust you. I'm sorry, but for now, we can't take any risks."

I hesitantly released his wrist as I sighed, "...You have to hold it by the hilt. If you touch the blade, it'll freeze you solid..."

I handed him my sword sheath as he nodded and headed my advice.

He sheathed the blade and strapped it around his back. "Let's go." He stated as he offered his hand to help me up.

He drew his revolver and a flashlight of his own and began walking. I followed him, along with John behind me, and Fluttershy behind him (she also had retrieved her flashlight and put it back into her saddlebag). Daryl covered the rear.

It fell silent other than our feet and hooves crunching the leaves and sticks. There was an occasional Walker here and there, but Rick and Daryl dispatched them quickly and quietly.

"U-Um... Mr. Rick?" Fluttershy broke the silence (not very effectively, but broke it nonetheless).

"What is it?" He asked quietly, not wanting to attract any more Walkers than necessary.

"Y-You told us that it wasn't safe... but why were you two out? I mean, I'm thankful you were there to save us, but..."

He replied, "Two members our group went missing this morning. We've been searching all day. We were just about to stop the search until tomorrow, but that's when we heard your screams and saw your light. Now, I have a question. Where'd you come from?"

The mare started, "Oh, um, well, we-"

"It's kind of a long story." I interrupted.

Rick paused, "...Then, let's save it for tomorrow when it's safe. If you want to stay with us though, I have some other questions for you."

"O-Okay..." The mare responded.

"First, how many Walkers have you killed?"

Fluttershy was taken aback, "Kill? Oh no, I couldn't ever do that! Especially not to a new creatures! They could be friendly!"

"...What, have you been living in a magical world of friendship an' rainbows?" Daryl scoffed.

The pegasus blushed, "Um... actuallly..."

Before she could finish, the crossbowman spat bitterly, "There ain't nothing 'friendly' about the Walkers, Buttersky. H***, if it weren't for me, you'd be one."

"It's... u-um... it's Fluttershy-" she gasped, "Wait, what?!? Wh-What do you mean?"

Daryl stopped, jaw agape. "Holy ****. You really don't know what Walkers are, do you?"

"U-Um... I-I..." She stuttered.

"To be fair," John interrupted, "that was the first 'Walker' we've ever seen."

It was Rick's turn to stop. "...What?" He turned and displayed a questioning expression. "How's that possible? The virus outbreak was a year and a half ago!"

I answered him. "It's all apart of that long story I mentioned." He shrugged and kept walking.

Fluttershy's ears dropped as her pupils shrunk, "A v-v-virus d-d-did that to the h-human that atta-tacked us?"

Rick nodded as he continued to walk. "I'll explain it some other time. I still have some other questions I need to ask."

"Fire away." I said.

He paused, as if his next question was hard to ask. "...How many people have you killed?"

I furrowed my brow. "None! We're not murderers!" I waited for the question. "...Anything else?"

Rick paused, "... I don't think so. I think the rest of my questions will be answered by your story."

"I have one." Daryl spoke. "How come you horses can talk?"

Fluttershy smiled, "Oh, all ponies from Equestria can talk! We learn to speak when we're just little foals!"

Daryl facepalmed as he whispered, "Why'd I even ask?"

There were no more questions as we were led through the forest, eventually coming to a huge, fortified prison. As we approached, the large gate made out of shipping crates opened, allowing us entrance. A young boy with long-ish, black, greasy hair and a cowboy hat- the operator of the fence mechanism- dashed over to us.

"...Where are they, Dad?" He asked.

Rick shook his head. "We didn't find them... We'll search again tomorrow..."

"...Who- WHAT is that?" The boy gave us a cautious look.

"We found them in the forest. They're going to join us." Rick stated tiredly.

The boy exploded. "DAD! We can't! There's not enough rations as it is!"

"CARL!" Rick chastised, "We DO NOT turn away other survivors who need help! Do you hear me?"

Carl looked at his shoes, "Yes, Dad..."

Rick sighed. "Now, it's late. Go get back in the house." Carl complied as he walked towards one of the cell blocks, but the father doubted that his son would stay there.

Rick shook his head, tossed my sword and sheath to Daryl, "Put this with the weapons supply, then you can go to bed."

Daryl nodded and walked away as well.

Rick took a deep breath as he ran his hands through his hair. "Come on. Let me show you to the cells you'll be sleeping in."

We nodded and followed him into the cells. I do believe he led us into Cell Block C and gave us the cell closest to the stairs.

He locked us in as he gave us a single warning, "Don't go into Cell Block D. We have our sick in there for the time being. Goodnight."

In all reality, we really weren't that tired, considered we had all just woken up before teleporting to this world.

After Rick left, John asked me, "What happened back there? With the Walker, I mean? You kinda had a mental breakdown. That's not like what I've come to expect to see from you, y'know?"

I sighed. "I think- no- I KNOW we're in the world of The Walking Dead..."

I expounded as I told them what I knew of this world. I told them that the Walkers were indeed zombies, so standard zombie rules applied (get bitten and you turn, have to deal a fatal brain wound to kill, etcetera). But then, I told them that, in this world, the zombie pathogen had infected everyone- every single person- and took effect after death, unless that person died by head wound.

Fluttershy started shaking, "D-D-Does that mean th-that we have the v-virus now too?"

I shook my head, "I have no idea... I'm gonna stay hopeful and say no."

"Wait, can't we just leave now then? I mean, like, before one of gets bitten?" John asked.

I again had to sadly shake my head. "They have Chillrend..." I sighed. "I'm going to try to retrieve it tomorrow. After that, we should be good. Just... Just stay alive, please?"

Although we weren't tired, laid down in the cots and attempted to sleep until morning.

We failed miserably, of course, so we just ended up talking to each other about our lives and stuff.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

"Rise an' shine Tinker Bell." Daryl threw open the cell door. "You and your talking horses have some explaining to do."

Despite not falling asleep immediately last night, we did actually crash at some point. I moaned as I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Fluttershy was already up and moving, attempting to wake John.

John murmured as I slowly trudged out of the cell, "Aw, Korey... Five more minutes..."

The more the mare tried tried to wake the sleeping colt, the less successful she seemed to be. Then, she had an idea. "John, we're live in fifteen minutes!"

The grey pegasus snorted and jolted up, "I'm awake! I'm alive!"

Fluttershy giggled, "I'll do what I want, 'cause this is my life!"

John chuckled as well, "Oh, hey! Mornin' Fluttershy!"

She smiled, "Good morning!"

The rocker turned his head and scanned the cell, then asked, "Where's Lucas?"

"Over-" I tried to call from outside the cell, but was stifled by a yawn. "Over here."

"Alright." He called back.

The two pegasi trotted out of the cell to see me rubbing my face tiredly, Daryl leaning against the stairwell's guardrails smoking a cigarette, Rick crossing his arms, and Rick's son, Carl, standing with his hands in his pockets.

Rick started, "Alright, time for some explaining. If y'all are gonna live with us, we gotta know where you come from. We need to know if we can trust you."

"But-" I yawned again, "-but if you just give me my sword, we can be on our way back."

Daryl raised his eyebrow, "Back? Back where? You said you didn't have safe camp."

I sighed as I tried to wipe the sleep from my face. "I guess I really do have some explaining to do."

I shook my head as I started explaining. I told them what I could about Equestia (with a little help from Fluttershy), the properties of Chillrend and my Chaos Emerald, my original adventures in Equestria, our current adventure, and the truth about John.

Their jaws dropped. Daryl, whose cigarette had fallen on the ground, picked it back up and spoke, "If you told me about that two years ago, I would've said you were bat**** insane. But after the outbreak..."

Rick finished the thought as he rubbed his chin, "...It might be believable. But, that gem, the Discord Diamond or whatever," he nodded to the gem strapped to my hip, "can it really do that? If it can, that'll validate your story."

I sighed as I tiredly muttered as I barely touched the Chaos Emerald, "Chaos-" I yawned, "Control..."

A portal opened to who-knows-where, then I quickly closed it, completing my demonstration.

The three other humans' jaws dropped for a second time. And, again, Daryl was the one to speak, "That... That means you can bring us out of this h***hole of a world!"

They all looked hopeful. That is, until I had to shoot down that idea with a shaking of my head. "I don't think I can." Their expressions fell into disappointment.

"Why not?" Carl asked. "All you gotta do is say those two words. It opens a portal, and we all walk through, leavin' all the Walkers here. Simple enough."

I had to shake my head again, "It's actually not really that simple. Y'see, you guys know that everyone in this world is infected with the zombie pathogen. When you die, you turn. We all know that."

Daryl started to ask, "Wait, how do you kno-"

"Not important." I interrupted. "Anyway, if we take you guys, sure, we'll leave the Walkers behind, but what happens when one of you die in the 'new' world?"

Rick sighed. "...So, we have to stay... Can't bring the infection to other worlds. But what about you three? You're here. Y'all are most likely infected just like the rest of us."

"About that," I yawned, then continued, "while I can't exactly refute that, I can say that we've only been in this world for a night, while everyone else has been here since the outbreak. I'm not positive that we actually have it."

Rick paused, "... I understand. Daryl, get the boy his sword."

Daryl nodded as he started walking away. However, he was stopped by the bone-chilling sound of a gun being cocked.

Carl aimed his silenced firearm at me. "Give us the gem."

"Carl!" Rick took a step towards him as my heart instantly jumped into my throat.

The young idiot growled, "If anyone takes one step closer, I shoot him." He aimed the gun back at me as he commanded, "Place the gem in front of you. Now."

"CARL!" Rick hissed. "Put the gun down!"

I took step towards the boy as I tried to talk some sense into him. "Carl, you can't really-"

This was stifled as he shot my foot. I howled in agony. Any tiredness left in me had fled as I knelt down and grasped my foot.

"CARL!!!!" Rick yelled.

"How DARE you..." I heard Fluttershy seethe. I noticed she started trembling. But from the sound of her voice, it didn't sound like she trembled in fear, but rather, in utter rage.

With pain reeling in my wound, I looked up at Carl as he stated, "Now, just give us the Emerald and we'll-"

I painfully looked up at him, only to see that he had frozen, pure fear drowning his face. His hand started shaking violently as he switched his aim to Fluttershy.

Rick had also shakily drawn his revolver.

Confused, I looked behind me to see Fluttershy's muscles bulked out like in the Glitz Pit and her teeth had sharpened like razors, like on the Waffle Skiff. What's more, her eyes no longer retained their usual, kill-with-d'aws, turquoise cuteness. Rather, the entire eye had become drowned in a deep blue...

This wasn't Fluttershy standing before us... This was a monster...

"HOW DARE YOU!!!!!" The beast screamed, its voice now distorted beyond all recognition.

My eyes grew wide in fear. I stumbled backwards, landing beside John. The creature heard me hit the ground and turned. "W-What's wrong?" It spoke as it took a step towards me.

With immeasurable amount of pain shooting through my foot and my fear growing, I struggled scoot myself away from the monster. John began backing up with me.

The beast took another step, then another. With what I assumed to be a confused expression, it spoke again. "A-Are you okay?"

Backing as far away as I could, I soon hit a cell door. Now trembling, I covered my face with my arms and shouted, "STAY AWAY FROM ME!!"

"Wha-"

The sound of a silenced handgun interrupted it as its head shot upwards. I uncovered my face to see that Carl had shot it.

However, what terrified me the most was that the gunshot hadn't even left a mark. And considering the horrific pain shooting through my profusely-bleeding foot...

It growled, turned and instantly pounced on him (which was quite remarkable from where we were).

Tackling him, she took the gun with her dagger-teeth, and tossed it aside. It gazed at Carl menacingly as a cruel smile spread across its face.

Immobilized by fear, all I could do was look on as the monster's maw drew closer to Carl's face.

"F-F-Fluttershy!" I heard John shakily shout, "You gotta s-stop this!"

The beast's head shot upward, as if realizing something. It's muscles faded back into normality as it shook its head.

It looked back to us, its eyes now back to the crippling, turquoise cuteness, and teeth were no longer sharp as daggers.

It quickly leaped backwards off of Carl, muttering, "I...I...I..."

Carl leaped for his gun, grabbed it, and aimed his weapon at the 'monster'. It started backing up at the sight of the weapon, until eventually hitting the cell door beside me.

I fearfully glanced over at it. It did the same, giving me a terrified look, as if it were on the edge of tears.

I sighed. This isn't the monster that attacked Carl just now. This is our friend... Dunno what that was all about, but it's over now, I guess...

My thoughts were interrupted by Carl, "Any last words, monster?"

Fluttershy's pupils shank to the size of pinpricks and her ears dropped as she started weeping, "I-I... I did- didn't... mean to-"

"CARL!" Rick shouted as Daryl wrapped his arms around the idiot child.

Carl struggled to break the hold. "LET ME GO! IT'S A MONSTER! WE HAVE TO KILL IT!"

Daryl grunted. "You're the one who shot the kid's foot, boy."

Rick crossed his arms. "If you hadn't done that, the horse probably wouldn't have done what it had. Clearly, we don't yet have a full grasp of what ponies from- you said 'Ponyville' yesterday, right?" Fluttershy shakily nodded. Rick continued. "We clearly don't know anything about them, or what their capable of." Rick walked over and wrenched Carl's handgun from his grasp. He glared at his son. "Now, Daryl's gonna let you go. You going to sit back in your cell for the time being and-"

"RICK! DARYL!" A negro woman with her hair in a bun walked upstairs. "Tyreese wants to-" She paused momentarily to stare at my comrades and me. She shook her head, deciding her news was more important at the moment. "Tyreese wants to see you. Now."

Rick raised his eyebrow, "Can it wait, Sasha? We're a little busy."

She shook her head. "I really don't think it can."

Rick sighed as he holstered Carl's weapon. "Well then, get some medical attention for the new kid." He nodded to my bleeding foot. "We had an... accident."

"Alright." she nodded as she flew back down the stairs.

He looked back to us, "We shouldn't be gone long. Just don't..." He gave Fluttershy an unsure stare, "Don't do that thing again."

They retreated down the stairs behind Sasha. I could hear Daryl bellow, "Yeah, that was freakin' horrifying. An' that's comin' from me."

When they were out of earshot, I let out a painful scream as I grasped my foot. "AH-HAH-HA-HOOWWWWW!!!"

"A-Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked, as if just noticing my bloodstained shoe.

"Not really!" I growled through my teeth. Fluttershy whimpered. Calming down slightly (well, as much as my gunshot wound would allow), I apologized, "I'm sorry, that wasn't kind of me."

John raised his eyebrow. "...Were you holding in the shriek until they left?"

I gave an embarrassed smile, "Kinda..."

He shot a look that pretty much asked 'Why?'. Before I could answer his silent question, Sasha had returned with some medical gauze, a towel and a small bucket of water.

"Alright, I need you to try to take off your socks and shoes." She calmly ordered. I did as she asked. I cringed slightly as the DC shoe slipped off, and a little more when I tugged off the sock. "Now, place your foot in the bucket."

I hesitated at first, but then I obeyed. Searing pain instantly shot through my foot as it hit the water. As I submerged it further, my body started shaking. My foot felt like it had been set on fire. I let out a horrendous shriek of pain. I noticed both Fluttershy and John had to look away. After completely submerging my foot and holding back my tears, Sasha stated, "Alright, you can take it out now."

I complied. She dried my foot as best as she could without causing anymore pain. Then, she quickly wrapped the wound tied with the gauze. As she tied the last bit of it, she grunted, "Alright, you should be *grunt* good." She rubbed her hands together and smiled, "Now, I'm no doctor, but I did see two bullet holes, one on top and one on bottom. I think that means that the bullet passed completely through the foot."

Sighing in relief at that straight-up miracle, I said a small prayer of gratitude, and then thanked my 'medic'.

She continued to smile, "It was nothi-"

KAAAABBOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!

"BLOODY HECK!!" I yelled.

"What was that?!?" Sasha shouted.

"I think it came from outside!" John exclaimed, helping me to my feet and slipping my arm over his back for balance.

I grabbed my shoe and slipped it on. "Let's go!"

Fluttershy attempted to speak, "D-Do w-we h-have t-to-" However, we had already escaped down the stairs. She sighed as she followed, "Oh dear..."

________________________________________________________________________________

We quickly arrived in the courtyard, seeing that the inhabitants of the prison had already gathered. I noticed Daryl on the far side, crossbow drawn. John helped me hobble over to him.

"What's going on?" I asked.

He motioned to the outer fence of the prison. "...The Governor." He spat.

I turned to where we motioned. Rick stood in front of the outer fence, and it seemed to be that he was conversing with someone. On the other side of the fence, a tank sat with various armed people. In front of the tank stood a man with an eye patch.

My heart instantly fell into the pit of my stomach. "Oh no..." I cried.

"You know the Governor?" Daryl asked.

I slowly nodded my head.

Daryl slowly unstrapped something from his back and handed it to me. It was Chillrend. "Dunno how you know him, but you'll need this."

"But..." I started

He shook his head, "Whether you stay here or leave usin' your Chaos thing, you'll need it. I'm just gonna say this: This ain't your fight, kid. An' trust me, it WILL be a fight. Go back an' save that princess or whatever."

"Thanks..." I smiled.

"Thank you..." John added.

Fluttershy gave a timid grin. "Th-Thank you f-for everything, Mr. Daryl..."

Daryl gave a sly smirk. "Whatever, Buttersky."

The mare dropped her ears, "But I'm-" The mare soon realized he was joking, and she giggled and smiled along with him.

We paused. "...Aren't you going, then?" Daryl asked.

"I would also like to say goodbye to Rick." I admitted.

He shrugged, "Fair enough."

I looked back to the outer fence where the man with the eye patch motioned towards his militia. They brought two people out of a car: an elderly Caucasian man, and a young negro woman.

I heard Daryl mutter, "They had Hershel and Michonne all along..."

Shifting my attention back to the fence, the eye patch man had forced his prisoners to kneel. He motioned towards his militia again, this time bringing out a long, white-hilt katana. There was a pause.

...Then, the eye patch man swung the katana straight into the Caucasian man's neck, half-way severing his head.

"HERSHEL!!!!" The entire courtyard resounded and they drew they weapons. The entire prison had become a firefight.

As John's jaw dropped, I covered my mouth with my hands in horror and Fluttershy quickly began weeping. Daryl had moved to a different location in order to fire his crossbow more effectively.

I spaztically cried out, "CHAOS CONTROL!" as I grabbed my emerald. A portal opened beneath our feet, causing the three of us to fall through. It closed behind us.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

After getting a hold of ourselves, we looked around and found that we had landed right on the precipiece that we fell off of at Keelhaul Key. Heh, it was even still mid-morning!

We gave a sigh of relief.

"HEY!" I heard a feminine, British voice shout. "They're alive!"

Instantly, we're tackle-hugged by the other band members of Skillet. The spirit of Bobbery simply walked over

"How long have we been gone?" I asked.

Korey answered, prying herself off of John, "From the point you disappeared, about five minutes. What happened?" She noticed my dry-bloodied shoe, "WOAH! Are you okay? Seriously, what happened?"

"It's a long story..." I sighed as I relayed our previous adventure, minus what had happened to Fluttershy. I didn't know how they would react, so I decided to keep it a secret.

I took a deep breath. "So, yeah. That's tha-"

Just then, I had a sickening feeling welling up in my stomach. It grew worse, eventually moving up into my chest, then into my esophagus. My eyes grew wide.

I was about to vomit.

I caught a glimpse of John and Fluttershy. I could tell they were having the same sensation.

Not able to hold it any longer, I began vomiting. It felt like all of my stomach was being torn out through my mouth.

The two other pegasi had begun doing the same (thankfully, it didn't get on anyone).

As the chunks kept flowing, I felt something distinctly slimy and wriggly slip through my throat and onto to the ground. I soon stopped, along with the other puking ponies. I had noticed a thing had regurgitated with the other... excess.

It was a worm. A worm had been inside me. After coming to terms with that disgusting fact, I discovered Fluttershy and John had also expelled a worm from their stomachs. Upon closer inspection, the worms, still alive and moving, had huge mouths with teeth, very much reminiscent of the Walker that had jumped me.

Then, it hit me.

"EVERYONE GET BACK!" They did as I commanded.

"What's wrong?" John shouted.

I withdrew Chillrend and replied, "I think it's the early stages of the zombie pathogen!"

They all gasped as I hacked away at the worms, dicing them into small pieces just to make sure they were dead. When I was satisfied with what I had done, I sighed. "Bobbery? Can you still explode?"

"Aye." The apparition replied as his fuse came alight. "How do you think I flattened this precipiece?"

I scooped the remains the worms into a pile with my sword. "I need you to disintegrate this pile of... undeath."

His smiled. "With pleasure, my boy!"

I sat down to take the weight off of my bullet wound (away from the blast radius) and I instructed the band and Fluttershy, "Get all your stuff together. We'll be leaving shortly after Bobbery finishes."

They did as I asked, and re-entered the forest.

Confronting Fluttershy

After about ten minutes of Bobbery exploding the worms, I decided that I should gather my things together as well. Plus, I think I started going deaf.

Also, ten-minute old puke is NOT the most pleasant smell.

Not wanting to endure either of these any longer, I stood on my feet and hobbled back towards the forest. As I reached its edge, I noticed Jen had decided to lie down on her side.

But... I noticed red goo had been smeared on her throat. I walked over and knelt down to inspect it a bit more closely. Is this... blood?

I didn't want to believe it... But it was blood... Jen Ledger was dead... I covered my mouth and backed away. I stumbled onto my backside and started sobbing. W-What happened...?

I froze as I heard a moan and a shuffle in the leaves. I slowly stood up and withdrew Chillrend. "H-Hello?" I called. The moaning grew loader, "F-Fluttershy? J-John? Korey? Seth? A-Anyone?"

I scanned the area. Seeing nothing, I inched my way towards the moans. It wasn't long before I found what had been uttering those sounds...

In that moment, my heart stopped, horrified at what stood before me. I-It can't be! NO! IT CAN'T BE!!! I sheathed my sword as Fluttershy stood there, gazing upward aimlessly. Her fur no longer held it's vivid yellow hue, rather was now a pale-grey. Her mouth hung opened, with blood dripping from her jaw.

Jen's blood...

"No!" I cried. 'Fluttershy' looked down at me. But it wasn't her eyes... These eyes were glazed over, and their whites were stained with a sickly brown.

She stepped toward me, moaning again. She tripped, ruffling her mane, now a significantly duller pink. She stood up and took another step.

"NO!!!" I yelled again, this time pushing her back. She continued to walk towards me. I continued to push. "NO!!!!!" I screamed, this time shoving her to the ground with both my hands. I sat down, crying. Again, she walked over, reaching her hoof and growling. I kicked her away. "H-How did this happen?!? That worm was supposed to be the early stages of the zombie virus!" She crawled towards me.

...I didn't care anymore...

At this rate, Fluttershy had probably already bitten the band-mates since they were unaware, Jen had probably already reanimated along with the rest of them, and they were probably on their way here to eat me.

I just dropped my head into my lap and started crying. There really wasn't anything else I could do. I felt a hoof touch my foot. I look up to see Fluttershy had crawled all the way back towards me and was about to take a chunk out of my calf.

Deciding that I actually wanted to survive today, I pulled my leg away and stood up. Out of sheer rage and sorrow, I grabbed Fluttershy by the fur on her chest and threw her. I ran my hands through my hair and sobbed. Then, I shakily drew Chillrend again and whispered, "I-I'm sorry, F-Fluttershy... I'm so, so sorry..."

As I readied to strike, a pair of hooves wrapped around my neck. I screamed the most high-pitched scream of terror as I heard a shout.

"GOTCHA!"

"...W-What?" I turned to see John let go of me and roll backwards, laughing hysterically.

I looked back to where I had thrown Fluttershy, who was now rubbing her wings and flank. I think I even heard her mumble something along the lines of, "Ow... That really hurt..."

"What's going on?!?" I shouted angrily.

"Oh man!" Korey appeared, "We really got you good!"

Jen and Seth soon followed, laughing hysterically. I scowled, realizing I had become the victim of a prank. "I hate you guys so much." This just caused them to laugh even harder.

"E-Even m-me?" Fluttershy asked, sounding as if she were on the edge of tears.

I turned to face her, only to be greeted by huge, turquoise, oceans of cuteness that could explode even the coldest of hearts. My frown melted as I sighed, "...No... How can I be mad when you always look at me with those eyes? I swear, you could probably take over the world by just using your eyes..." She was taken slightly aback my 'world domination' comment, but blushed when she realized I was complimenting her. Then, I realized, "OH CRAP." A sharp pang of guilt stabbed my chest. "I actually kicked you. The real you. I even threw you! Are you okay? I'm SO sorry! I didn't know!"

She rubbed her wings again, "Oh, I'm okay. You didn't mean to. You didn't realize we were just joking with you. After watching you get attacked by a real Walker, I figured you would react like this when John told us what he wanted to do. I was prepared." She gave small smile.

So, it was JOHN'S idea...

"JOHN!!!!"

"Yes?" He tried to respond through his laughter.

I stomped over and gave his face backhanded slap as I growled, "Now, we're even."

He just laughed as he started rubbing his face, "Yeah, I guess I kinda deserved that one. Totally worth it, though!"

I just sighed as I shook my head. "I do have a few questions though."

"Fire away." He smiled, still rubbing his now-red muzzle.

I started, "How did you guys make Fluttershy's coat and mane so pale?"

"Dirt and dust!" Korey stated with a huge grin plastered on her face.

I nodded. "That's understandable, now that I think about it. But what about her eyes? How did you make them look like a Walker's?"

Fluttershy answered that one. "You remember my special 'Stare', right?" Although she had never used it during my last visit to Equestria, I remembered it from the show, so I simply nodded. She continued, "I simply tweaked it slightly, causing my eyes to change, like this." She closed her eyes, squeezed them, then reopened them. They looked just like they had during the prank. She blinked again, causing them to revert the their original turquoise color.

But that wasn't normal, not for a pegasus... which brought me to my final question. I felt my face fall into a stern look as I asked in an equally stern voice, "What the bloody heck was that back in the prison?"

The band finally stopped laughing as Fluttershy's ears dropped at hearing my sudden roughness. "W-What do you mea-"

"Don't play dumb." She squeaked as I interrupted her. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. What the literal crap was with the whole 'monster' thing?" Her pupils shank at the accusation as they flooded with acknowledgement. "Ah, so you do remember. Why did your muscles bulk out? Why did you're teeth sharpen like knives? Why did you almost kill Carl?!?" I clenched my fist and looked down, shadows covering my eyes. "...Why did you become a monster?"

"She did WHAT?!?" Korey, Seth, and Jen exclaimed in unision. At this point, the band had cast confused glances between Fluttershy and me, save John, who kept a stoic stare on the mare.

She sobbed as fearful tears started to fall. "I... I... I..."

Even though it hurt to see her cry like that, I forced myself to remain stone cold. It nearly killed me... But, I had to know why she did what she did. As long as that beast ran amok inside her head, Equestria wasn't safe. "...'You' what?" I forced myself to ask as coldly as possible.

She took a step backwards, sobbing even harder. "I... I-I didn't want to tell you guys... I th-thought y-you might l-leave me i-if I told you what I've bec-come..."

Jen consoled, "You can tell us. We won't leave, we promise!" She flashed a gentle smile as she gave some familiar encouragement. "We're a team, remember?"

Fluttershy sniffed, "...P-P-P-Promise?"

We all nodded as Jen replied, "Promise."

Calming down to an extent, Fluttershy started explaining, "It all s-started after Lucas and his friends left after his last v-visit. Celestia wasn't v-very happy...Actually, she was very m-mad... She t-tried all sorts of th-things to get you to c-come b-back. After hearing you had returned to retrieve J-Jeremy's Xbox, she flew to P-Ponyville as fast as she c-could... but you had a-already l-left... Then, she was beyond mad... She s-studied the w-wavelengths and p-properties of the t-t-trans-dimensional rift you left behind. U-Using this kn-knowledge, she t-tried e-experimenting on R-Rainbow D-Dash, R-Rarity, and me to find a loophole... a w-way through... s-she never f-found one..."

She took a deep breath, calming down even more. "Rainbow Dash and Rarity quit after the first few experiments. But the experiments made things really hard for them... Rainbow Dash had to stay in Cloudsdale most of the time to make up for lost work... that's where she met Bill, the rogue Changeling... And Rarity had to move to Manehatten because of all her lost time... She thought it was the only way to make all the money back that she lost...

"I was all alone now... I continued on with the experiments, hoping for some form of miracle... The miracle never came... Instead, THAT happened to me... Whenever I get really frustrated- and I mean REALLY frustrated- I become that... thing. The first few times I transformed... It wasn't pretty..." She closed her eyes as more tears started to fall, "I hurt so many ponies... I did eventually learn to control it to where I wouldn't hurt my friends and would recognize them, but the thing that would set me off usually didn't survive..."

"So," I mumbled, "Celestia turned you into a weapon..."

She nodded as her chest heaved and her sobbing returned. "I-I've done so many b-bad th-things... I d-didn't w-want to hurt anyp-pony... But I h-hurt s-so m-many... H-How d-did I g-get h-h-here...? I-I-I'm n-not who I once was..."

Just then, she felt hooves wrap around her neck. Her eyes shot open as she saw who had embraced her.

It was me. I could no longer keep my stony façade. "You're a Christian now, right?" I spoke quietly.

"Y-Yes... I believe in J-Jesus now... You t-told me about h-him..."

I consoled her as I rubbed the back of her neck. "Then, those wrong things you did are farther than the east is from the west. You don't have to worry about what you've done in the past. Those things are gone. Forever."

"R-R-R-Really?" Fluttershy's sobbed even more. "D-Do you r-r-really m-m-mean th-that?" I nodded as she returned the embrace, allowing her tears to stream down my neck.

She must have been holding these emotions for a LONG time...

"That's alright, Fluttershy," Korey joined the hug, "let it out."

Jen joined next, followed by John and Seth, completing the five-pony-one-human group hug maneuver.

Fluttershy bawled, "Th-Th-Thank you guys s-s-so much... I kn-know I won't be alone anymore now..."

That moment, my heart stopped... again.

I don't think she realized we weren't staying in Equestria... And there's NO way Celestia would allow her to come with us...

I wanted to change the subject. Thankfully, my mind created another puzzle that bugged me. "Hey, Fluttershy?"

"Y-Yes?" She sniffed.

I pulled her away, effectively breaking up the group hug. I sat down cross-legged as I continued, "Last time I was here, I remembered that you didn't like company all too much. You were VERY introverted, and would much rather be away from everyone. But the whole reason you came along with me this time was because you didn't want to be alone. However, that contradicts almost everything I came to know about you."

She dropped her head, mane covering her eye. "When you lose your closest friends... lots of things change..."

I understood as silence fell.

That is, until Bobbery shouted from the forest's entrance. "Oi! Are you lads an' lasses finished with your mushy sob-fest? l've been done for ten minutes!"

"Wait, what?" I stood up. "How much of that did you see?"

"I watched you slap Johnny boy." I could see him smiling a huge, giddy grin under that great, ethereal mustache. "That was quite entertaining!"

"Why didn't you say anything, then?" I asked.

His smile faded as he paused, "How you guys comforted young Fluttershy... It reminded me of all the things I wish I could've said to my Scarlette..."

"Aw..." Fluttershy consoled.

"Aye, enough of that!" Bobbery pretty much shouted as his smile returned. "Let's leave this blasted island, shall we?"

I smiled too. "I agree. But first, I want to check your bombing run on the worms."

The Bob-omb scowled as his fuse came alight, "Oi! Are you doubting my explosion skills? I should have you sent to the brig for such mutiny!"

I laughed nervously, "N-No! That's not it at all!" Then, I spoke seriously, "It's just... when dealing with something like zombies, you gotta be thorough in dispatching them."

The sea-bomb sighed, "Aye, I understand."

With that, I grabbed my backpack that I had left by the fire before we fell into The Walking Dead, and I jogged out to the edge of the precipice. To my shock, ABSOLUTELY NO greenery remained. The only thing that I saw was black, charred ground and Bobbery's stone statue. I didn't need to look any further. If there had been anything there, it was now dust and echoes. I returned to the forest with a shocked look.

"What'd you think, lad?" Bobbery smirked.

I simply gave a slow thumbs-up and said, "Good job."

"Alright, you landlubbers!" Bobbery bellowed. "We best be hurryin' if we want to catch Cortez before he takes off again."

Fluttershy and the band quickly gathered their things as Bobbery walked towards the deep forest, the same direction where we had come from yesterday.

"Uh, Bobbery?" I asked.

"What is it, old boy?" The old spirit sea-bomb paused and stared at me.

I smirked as I tossed my Chaos Emerald up and down repeatedly. "I don't think that'll be necessary."

An End, Once And For All

After a quick Chaos Control, we were all the way back in Cantorlot Castle. In fact, it placed us right in the room where we had left the Holy Sweetroll about a month prior. To my joy, it was where we had left it, causing me to really question the Princess's Royal Guard for not finding the hole we made. At any rate, we happily acquired the desert (by me impaling it with Chillrend), then made our way to Celestia's throne room. Nothing really interesting happened until that point.

When we arrived at the entrance to the throne room, I kicked open the door and shouted, "Hey Celestia! We're back!"

Celestia, poshly seated on her throne, spoke disappointedly, "Ah. So you survived. Pity. Oh well. Since you are back, I assume your mission was a success."

"By Blabberton's Beard, it was!" Bobbery shouted.

"Bobbery." The princess growled.

"'Ello, Princess!" The ghostly Bob-bomb smirked.

"Just sit down and shut up so we can get this over with." The Princess rudely commanded.

I leaned over to the sea-bomb and whispered, "I thought you said you and the Princess go way back? And that she owes you a favor?"

He laughed, "Aye, but I didn't say she liked me! I just saved her from the briny blue on one of my many sea endeavors that didn't exactly go over smoothly with her. Oi, I'll have to tell you about it someti-"

"Did I not make myself clear?" Celestia interrupted with an irritated tone. "Sit down and let's get this over with, shall we?"

I just had to chuckle at how much she hated me. I mean, it's not like I could do anything about it.

"Now," She glared at me, "YOU. Where are the objects I instructed you to gather?"

"Right here!" I smiled as I pulled the Almighty Waffle of Power out of my bag and displayed it in my hands as well as the Chillrend-impaled-Holy Sweetroll.

"I see." The Princess deadpanned as her magic hovered the objects away from me. She slid the Sweetroll off of Chillrend and threw the blade aside. "Now, Skillet, I need you to stand still in front of me."

The band nodded and did as she asked. Celestia closed her eyes and focused her magic. The Holy Sweetroll and Almighty Waffle of Power had begun revolving around the band at a rapid pace. Soon, they were only blurs spinning around the band. A blindingly white light flashed, causing Fluttershy and me to cover our faces.

When the light faded, the band stood there. On two legs.

Human.

They all examined their bodies and smiled. John danced around a bit, brushed his leather jacket and swiped his nose with his thumb, "Aw yeah, baby! Skillet's baaaaaack!~" He sang out.

They high-fived each other with smiles plastered on their faces as Fluttershy and I walked over.

I held a huge smile myself as Fluttershy gave them an examination of her own. A perplexed look washed over her face as she mumbled, "So THIS is what you actually look like..."

John chuckled as he grabbed the insides of his jacket, "Yeah, dude! This is us!"

"I see..." The pegasus muttered. Then, a smile broke across her muzzle as she held her hoof up and squee'd, "That's awesome!"

John laughed as he met his fist with her hoof, "Hey!" He exclaimed, "We can sign something for you both now!"

I gave a huge smile as I raised both fists, "WOO!" I spoke moderately loudly, similarly to how I reacted about a month ago

Fluttershy's jaw dropped in excitement, "You can?!? Oh boy! What should I have you sign? Oh, I hope I'm not imposing to much... It's just... I'm so excited, I could just scream!" She took in a deep breath. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

She blushed as we all started laughing hysterically about how quiet that actually was.

"Ahem." Celestia interrupted coldly. "I do believe it's time for you to leave."

I cleared my throat as I ceased my laughing, although a giddy grin had remained on my face, "Ah, yes. I believe so to." But I had realized something. While the Holy Sweetroll and the Almighty Waffle of Power were gone, the Not-So-Wandering-Soul of Admiral Bobbery still remained. I raised my eyebrow, "Wait, wasn't Bobbery apart of the things needed to change Skillet back?"

"No." She replied coldy.

"Then why did-"

"I owe him a favor." She turned to Bobbery as her chilling demeanor softened slightly.

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"I plan to lift your curse, and let you leave this existence."

Bobbery stopped all motion, "Aye, that's one heck of a favor, Princess. I don't think I quite deserve it."

"Silence." She commanded as she shook her head. "It's been far too long. It's time for you to reunite with Scarlette."

"Sc-Scarlette?" With that, the sea-bomb stumbled out of of the room. When out of eyesight, I heard him mumble, "Scarlette- my dear Scarlette- I shall be with you soon..."

He returned to the throne room, small tear stains draining into his mustache. He nodded. As a yellow aura surrounded Celestia's horn, Bobbery's ethereal form began to fade. "Thank you. Farewell, my comrades." Now barely visible, his voice echoed, "See you all on the other shore, aye?"

"Aye." We all resounded.

With that, the Great Admiral Bobbery was no more, gone to his wife's embrace forever.

With a heavy sigh, I smiled, "So, how do we get home?"

Celestia's horn glowed again as she detached the Chaos Emerald from my side. "Simple."

I tried to catch it, but wasn't fast enough as it was now suspended right beside the Princess' head. She hissed, cold expression returning. "As you remember, last time you had 'locked' the way through, with the only way to go between world's being this gem. It is still that way, no matter how much I've tried to break through it. Now, this gem is the only key."

"So..." Realizing she wouldn't give my stuff back, my face fell into shadows, "my own lock screwed me over..."

She smirked as she taunted, "Oh, it sure seems that way, does it not? As this is goodbye, I should say it was nice knowing you. Except, it really wasn't. Chaos Control."

The portal opened, back to my room back on earth. Utterly defeated, I turned one last time to the Princess. "But- I- I mean-" It was fruitless, as I couldn't possibly come up with a counter-argument to persuade the Princess to allow me to keep my stuff.

It was then that I noticed Fluttershy standing right behind me, on the edge of tears. "P-P-Please don't go..."

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She closed her eyes as tears started to fall. "I don't want to be alone again..."

Kneeling down to meet her on eye level, I closed my eyes and gave a slight chuckle. I opened my eyes and spoke, "You're never alone Fluttershy. You got someone living with you, right here." I poked her chest where her heart would be. "He's a great Someone to have too, 'cause He won't ever leave you."

She sniffed, "C-Can I come with you guys? I mean, you took Derpy the first time..."

I frowned as I shook my head. "No, and that's the exact reason why. She's still mad about Derpy. If I allow you to come with me, Celestia will be in an outrage. If she ever saw either of us again after that, she'd kill us on the spot."

"But-"

"I'm sorry. But this is how it has to be..." I sighed as I tried to pass a small smile, "It's been really fun y'know, and you were awesome!"

I tried to sound happy, but it didn't really work out. The gravity of this situation weighed down on me too hard. Celestia had taken Chillrend and the Chaos Emerald, Fluttershy was going to be alone again, and, worst of all, I'd never be able to return. Thinking of all the time I spent here, I cringed. When I added it all up, it had been at least a year. And now... Poof. Gone. All up in smoke.

Worthless.

No... Not worthless...

I still had my memories.

I wrapped my arms around the yellow pegasus. She returned the embrace, her tears once again streaming down my back. "...We had some fun times and awesome memories... And that's what you gotta remember. Not the fact that I'm gone, but all the good times we had. That's what really matters." Her chest began heaving large sobs as I pulled away from her embrace. "I guess this is goodbye."

As I stood I up, she cried, "D-Do you have to say it like that?"

"How do you want me to say it?"

"C-Can y-you say it l-like we'll see each other ag-gain? I m-mean... I-If th-that's okay w-with y-you..."

I chuckled. "Alright. See ya around, Fluttershy."

She paused. "...G-Goodbye..."

I nodded to the band. They were ready to go. They walked ahead of me into the portal, one by one. First, John. Then Korey. Then Seth, followed by Jen.

Finally, I reached the portal, a lump forming in my throat. I turned around for one last look. Celestia sat on her with a cold expression while levitating my Chaos Emerald. Chillrend was still lying on the ground where she had tossed it. Fluttershy sat in the same position, frozen. "Hey Fluttershy!" She looked up. I almost choked up giving her my final words. "Have a good life. Do that for me, Fluttershy; Have a fantastic life!"

I didn't see how she reacted. I turned and walked through the portal as it closed behind me.

____________________________________________________________________________

As I sat down on my bed, I gave a long sigh and stared at the flat-screen TV that sat on my dresser just under my 'Starry Night' Doctor Who poster.

"What's wrong?" Jen asked as she placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I..." I started. "I spent a lot of time there, y'know? But all things must end. I knew that already, so that's not what I'm sad about. Thing is, you guys remember when I talked about the time with the human Fluttershy right?"

"The giant one?" Seth asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. That one. See, I never was able to fix that problem, but I promised I would help... Worst of all, my car is still at their school! I don't even know exactly where that is! And, ON TOP OF ALL THAT, my iPod and headphones are still at Fluttershy's cottage!"

I slammed my fists on my thighs and gave a defeated sigh as the band remained silent.

Glancing around at all my posters and knick-knacks strewn about my dressers, I wondered if there could've been another way...

And then, a Chaos Control portal opened.

...Or So I Thought.

"C-Can y-you say it l-like we'll see each other ag-gain?" Although I was sad beyond all thought, I didn't want to impose to much, so I forced myself to say, "I m-mean... I-If th-that's okay w-with y-you..."

He chuckled. "Alright. See ya around, Fluttershy."

"...G-Goodbye..." I dropped my head. I was going to be all alone again. I didn't want to be alone... It was, well, lonely...

"Hey Fluttershy!" I perked up at hearing my name. I could tell that what he was about to say hurt him a little. "Have a good life. Do that for me, Fluttershy; Have a fantastic life!"

That only made things worse... I felt my tears welling back up in my eyes, eventually breaking through and pouring down my face as my head fell again. "B-Be strong, Fluttershy..." I muttered, "H-He asked you to l-live a f-fantastic life... C-Can't you at least r-respect his l-last w-wish?"

"Good riddance." The Princess coldly remarked.

...How dare she...

Lucas... was my friend... Jen was my friend... John was my friend... Korey was my friend... Seth was my friend... well, sort of.

How could she just treat them like nothing? They never did anything wrong! Lucas only tried to help the last time he was here! How could she blame him for Twilight's, Pinkie's and Applejack's deaths! They died saving Equestria!

She frustrated me so much! I just wanted to scream! But I couldn't... I just sat there, wallowing in my pity.

No. No more wallowing. No more pity. I was sick of it.

I learned so much from Lucas and the band. They taught me that it was MY life to live. I wasn't going to let Celestia bully me anymore! They taught me that I had a voice, and I was going use it to cut through the noise that she presented me!

I was going to give the Princess a piece of my mind!

I swung my head around and shouted, opening my eyes for the first time since my friends left. "Now, you listen to me-"

But there was no Celestia. There was no throne. There was no anything. Just... darkness. Well, that wasn't entirely true. A small area of light had encompassed where I stood.

My eyes grew wide and my ears dropped. "H-Hello?" No answer. "P-Princess? W-Where did you go?" Again, no answer. I'm pretty sure I wasn't in the throne room anymore...

"...Where am I?"

"Oh, don't you recognize it?" That voice... it sounded familiar... yet, at the same time, it sounded distorted... "It IS our mind after all."

I gasped as I collapsed to the ground. Trembling, I burrowed my face into my hooves, "W-W-Who said that?"

"Oh, don't say you've forgotten who I am as well! That would make me very sad... I am you after all."

Confused, I lifted my head slightly above my forelegs, only to see a monster with teeth like blades step into my light circle. "EEEEEEKKK!!!" I squealed. "P-P-Please d-d-don't hurt me!!"

The monster chuckled, "Not like I could if I wanted to. Like I said, we're the same pony after all."

"No!" I squeaked as lowered my head and trembled again. "Even if this is my mind, you're not me! I'm me!"

I think the beast sighed. "Oh gosh darnit, me. Look."

It placed it's arm appendage through my forelegs and forced my chin to gaze up at it. I gasped as I recognized it.

It was me. The me with the dagger teeth. The me with the deep blue eyes. The me with the slightly bulky muscles. The mar-a-pony-by-just-looking-at-me me.

The me that Celestia created...

My pupils shrank to pinpricks as it spoke, "Now, do you remember? Please say yes. I don't have any other proof. It's not like I have much to work with in here."

"Y-Yes..."

It gave a toothy smile. "Good. I'm actually quite relieved I don't have to go into further detail-"

"W-W-What d-does a m-m-monster like y-you w-want with m-m-me?" I stammered.

It lowered it's head as it sighed, "Aw. Do you have to call me a monster? I'm not that bad."

"B-But you made me hurt l-lots of p-ponies!" I accused.

It chuckled defensively. "Hey! It's not my fault you only let me out when your angry! I say that's all on you, me. Oh, and this whole 'me, me, you, me' thing is getting rather confusing. I guess since we are the same pony, we should be on a first name basis!" It reached out its hoof, "Hi, my name is Fluttershy!"

I glared at it and stood up. "You are not-"

"-'me'?" It's voice began to sound irritated. "I thought we got over this. Can we cut that crap out please? It's starting to freaking aggravate me. I'm the- and I quote- 'you that Celestia created'."

I gasped, "Do I really use that kind of langu-" I gasped again. "How did you know I thought that?"

It sighed, "You're really not getting the whole 'we're the same pony and this is our mind' thing, are ya? Anyway, you don't want to call me by my name? Fine. Dandy. Bloody freaking beautiful." It sighed, "Just call me..." it paused and frowned. "Rage, I guess, since you only let me out when you're mad."

"O-Okay... I guess..." There was a long silence. Then, I asked, "W-W-Why am I in here, as apposed to, y'know, out there?"

Seriousness replaced all the sarcasm and irritation in Rage's face, "We can't stay in Equestria. I'm not sure if you noticed, but Celestia's kinda sorta insane now. Wow. I just realized how stupid that sounded." It shook its head and chuckled. "Of course you know that, otherwise I wouldn't be here. And it would be much appreciated if you didn't think of me as an 'it'. I'm still you after all. Sort of."

Her face fell back into seriousness as she continued. Well, actually, she smiled first, "There ya go! 'She'! Now you're getting it! Now," Then, she became serious for real. "since you and I are the same pony, we both miss our friends horribly I presume. Right?"

I nodded, "...Y-Yes?"

"Well, I have a proposition. Celestia isn't the Celestia we want to remember. However, in her insanity, she created me!" Her smile twisted the the creepiest manner. I bet it could scare even the bravest of ponies. And considering I'm nowhere near the bravest of ponies...

Now trembling again, I took a step back and stuttered, "W-W-What d-do you th-think we should d-do?"

"Simple." She chuckled evilly.

Okay, maybe not evilly, but definitely very frightening...

"I can take her."

"B-But-"

"Think about it: Remember when Carl shot us with that weapon of his?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Remember how it made a hole in Lucas' foot?"

"...Yes..."

"And finally, do you remember what happened when he shot us?"

I paused. "...Nothing."

"Exactly." Her grin grew even more menacing. "All it did was irritate me. Now, considering the fact that a weapon like that didn't do anything, I think we've got a decent chance against the princess."

"...But what if we go berserk and severely hurt somepony else?"

Rage took a step back and shrugged as she chuckled, "In all fairness, since I'm you- as I keep trying to drill into your head- I was just as confused and scared as you were."

I wanted to believe that there were other options, I really did... But my only friends... "D-Do you really think we can do it?"

"Psh!" She waved her hoof nonchalantly. "Easy. Grab the the sword and jewel, say the Chaos thingy words, and boom. We're done."

"...Promise not to hurt anypony?"

She rolled her azure eyes, "I promise I'll give you full range of control, unlike the other times. You in?"

"O-Okay, I guess..."

She raised her hoof to me and smiled, "Alright! Let's do it! Oh, and by the way, if you ever want my help, all you gotta do is ask."

"I-If you say so..." As I met her hoof with my own, my vision went white.

When the brightness faded, everything seemed like it had been painted in different shades of blue. My mind didn't have time to dwell on that, though. Only two ideas washed over my brain. Sword. Gem.

Sword. Gem.

"PRINCESS!!" I yelled in a distorted voice.

It actually even startled me a bit... I felt my face grow warm with a blush.

I turned to see a bemused-looking Princess Celestia sitting on her throne, levitating Lucas' gem with her magic.

She sighed. "Mother of Me, of all things..."

I glared at her and growled, "Give me the gem and the sword!"

She shook her head and chuckled, "What if were to say 'no'? I don't exactly want you to return these to their owner, now do I? So tell me: How exactly are you going to obtain them?"

I stopped.

I know Rage said we could take her... But she's an Alicorn...

Aw, come on, me! You're not going to choke on us, are you? I mean, I could always take over for ya if you can't do it...

N-No. I can do this.

I cleared my throat. "You know what I'm going to do?" The princess raised her eyebrow. "I'm going to ask very nicely."

There was a long pause.

Really, me? REALLY?!? Where's the plan?!? That's not what we discussed!

B-But I'm not a violent pony...

Well, you know what? If you don't do something fast, we'll lose our chance. If we don't do this now while the princess is alone, it'll never happen. We won't get this shot again! You are pushing me to my limits; if you don't do something, I'm going to take control.

N-No, please! Just one more chance! I can do this...

Alright. One more try.

O-Okay... U-Um, Rage? Are you ALWAYS going to have a conscience of your own? I don't know if I can have two ponies in my head...

WELL THEN. Jeez. Talk about hurting sompony's feelings. I heard her chuckle in my head. Anyways, no. Give it a few days, and my conscience should meld with yours easily enough. But not if we don't get the sword and that emerald! If we don't I will personally fight the melding process!

I gave a slight gasp, but I understood why she said that. She didn't want to stay in Equestria ruled by this Celestia. And, frankly, neither did I.

It was then that I noticed Celestia had been laughing. I didn't know how long she had been laughing as I lost myself so much in talking to Rage, that I seemed to block out everything else.

When she finished chuckling, she sarcastically spoke, "Are you done staring into Oblivion? If you are, I must request that you leave."

"...No." I denied.

She glowered. "I made you. You WILL obey me-"

That... That was the last straw to break my back. "NO. YOU didn't create me: You only hindered me. You only hurt me. You only caused me heartache. Well, you know what? I'M SICK OF IT!" Without thinking, I blindly charged at her, head first and eyes closed, slamming her into the back of the throne.

CLINK.

I opened my azure eyes to see that she dropped the gem drop onto the floor. I quickly scooped it up with my wing as my eyes scanned the room for the sword.

Quickly finding it, I dashed over and grabbed in my dagger-teeth.

Now, one final thing remained...

"Chaoth Concrol!" I muttered through the sword in my maw.

A portal opened on the other side of the throne. I glanced at Celestia, still dazed by my attack. Calming down slightly, my vision returned to normal as I shook my head. I sighed and mumbled, voice now not distorted, "Goodbye, Celestia."

I slowly walked towards the portal. I grinned as I saw the creatures on the other side: Five humans, all sitting in a bedroom.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

I continued to stare at the portal, dumbfounded.

"How-" Korey asked, exchanging glances between the portal and I, "-did you do that?"

I shook my head. "...I didn't."

Just then, our jaws dropped as Fluttershy stepped through, carrying Chillrend in her mouth and my yellow Chaos Emerald in her wing. She walked over and gently laid the weapons on my dresser. Turning around, she gave a huge grin, "Oh, um, h-hey guys! It's been a while!"

"You idiot! Do you realize what you've done?" I yelled.

Her ears dropped as tears started welling up in her eyes. "Wh-Wha-"

I sighed. "I'm sorry, that wasn't kind of me. But we can't go back to Equestria now. Like, ever."

She took a deep breath, "I-I kn-know... I d-d-don't want to go back... Celestia isn't fit to rule."

Trying to come up with a retort, I couldn't find any.

"What about your animals?" John asked. "You told me your were an animal caretaker back in the prison."

Fluttershy's eyes grew wide, "O-Oh no! I... I didn't think about my animals!" She placed her hooves on my lap as she pleaded, "Lucas, we have to go back! We have to save them! Oh, Bearington can be so fickle sometimes, and Humty the Hummingbird can only drink very specific nectar! Maurice the rice mouse gets very lonely! We can't leave them there with Celestia!"

"...We can't." I gravely muttered. "We can go back, but only for one trip, so I can grab my iPod and headphones... You'd only be able to save one, smaller creature."

Tears started falling from her eyes as she understood what she had done. "...I-I u-understand..."

"We don't have to go right now, though." I reassured. "I'll give you some time to calm down and think of goodbyes for your animal friends."

She paused, then choked out, "...Th-Thank y-y-you..."

"LUCAS!" I heard someone yell.

No... No, that can't be...

"LUCAS!" The voice forced open my bedroom door, revealing it to belong to my friend Isaac.

I raised my eyebrow. "ISAAC! What the heck are you doing in my house?!?"

He replied angrily, "Your pony friend is aggravating me over Xbox. I came to strangle it-" He shifted his gaze to Fluttershy. "...Butts. You brought another one?" He seethed.

"Actually, um, this one-" But that was all I could say as he gave me an uppercut to the stomach before storming out.

Fluttershy and the band rushed to my side as Jen asked, "Are you okay?"

I shook my head 'no' as gasped for air.

"Wait," Fluttershy asked, "the Derpy from the future is here?"

I shook my head 'yes' while still gasping.

"Oh boy!" She let go. "I can't wait to see her again!"

She raced out of the door and down the stairs as air finally was able to regulate itself in my lungs.

Giving a few deep breaths, I sighed. "Well, I guess that's it."

"I guess so." John smiled as he wrote something down on a piece of paper. "If you need to reach us, call this number. I'm sure we'd all be willing to go on another adventure."

He handed me a piece of paper with number scraggly drawn on it. "Thanks!" I smiled.

"Yeah man!" He smirked. "We should really getting back to our tour now, though. If you give us a call, you and Fluttershy can have a backstage pass to any show!"

My jaw dropped. "OMIGOSH! OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMI-"

Korey chuckled, "Hey, remember what I said about not passing out?"

I covered my mouth my right hand and gave a thumbs up with my left. Then, I just remembered something. I removed my hand and spoke, "Hey, I'm actually going to go fix problem at that one high-school now. So, if you guys could tell Fluttershy where I went on your way out, it'd be much appreciated."

"Will do, man." John nodded. "Anyway, we'll get something autographed for you two like we promised and we'll send it in the mail. Can we have your address?"

I smiled as I started scribbling my address on a Chick-Fil-A receipt I had laying on my dresser. I handed it to him and grabbed Chillrend and the Chaos Emerald off of the dresser. "Well, I guess this is it." I raised my hand for a high-five. "It's been fun!"

The band nodded as they each returned my high-five. With that, I announced, "Chaos Control!" A portal opened, reveling giant shoe. I gave the band one last 'See ya' as I walked through.

___________________________________________________________________________

As the portal closed, I looked up at the giant, human Fluttershy standing before me, with a human (regular sized) Rainbow Dash standing to the left of her ankle, hands on her hips.

A huge grin spread across my face as I laughed, "You guys won't BELIEVE what just happened! I- and you- and Skillet- Ah, I'll tell you guys about it later! Oh wait..." I glared at Rainbow Dash as I remembered the cause of this month-old problem. "YOU GAVE HER MY MOUNTAIN DEW!!!"

Alternate Ending: With this mask, I'll ask to borrow your light...

A portal opened on the other side of the throne. I gave one last glance to Celestia, only to see that she had shaken away her dizziness from my attack. Glaring at me, her horn had begun to glow yellow as she planned to retaliate.

I gasped, "Oh no!" I quickly dashed towards the portal, running as fast I could. As I jumped through, I felt something tingle down my side as I think her magic hit it's mark. "Chaoth Concrol!" The gem glowed as I yelled through the sword in my mouth. The portal closed as I examined my body for anything wrong.

I looked at my hooves. White hoof? No.

Then, I felt my neck. The Scratchies? Not that either.

I turned my head to examine my wings. Extreme molting? Nope.

I gave a sigh of relief as I finally noticed my surroundings. It seemed to be a bedroom of sorts. A huge smile spread across my face when I saw my friends sitting around the room.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Then, without warning, she collapsed. Shocked, I instantly dropped to her side. The band did the same, surrounding her.

"What happened? What's wrong?" I worriedly asked.

The mare weakly replied, "I... I'm j-just a little tired."

That didn't sound good. As she closed her eyes, I could hear her breathing slow down dramatically, getting slower with each passing second. Her breathing became heavy, so I lowered my ear to her chest and listened to her heartbeat.

BUM.

...

BUM.

...

BUM.

...

BUM.

I gasped as I shot up. "SHE'S DYING!! Her body's rapidly shutting down!"

"We have to do something!" Jen exclaimed.

"Can't we call a doctor or vet or something?" Seth asked.

I stroked my hand through my hair. "There's no time..."

I quickly glanced around my room searching for a miracle. Of all the knick-knacks and plushes strewn about my dressers, none seemed to be of any use in this situation. That is, until I saw my acoustic guitar leaning against the wall, forgotten behind my bed.

My brain gave me an idea. It was far-fetched though, and I hoped with all my being that it would work. I grabbed the guitar and scribbled something on a forgotten Chick-Fil-A receipt left to rot on my dresser. I handed it to Jen.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Lyrics." I hastily began explaining. "Look. Equestria was a land filled to the brim with magic. Maybe some of that magic leaked through when we returned... With that in mind, I'm going to play a tune that may just save Fluttershy's life; I just need you to sing those lyrics. The song itself is called the 'Song of Healing'. Hopefully, with my guitar, your voice, and a small remnant of Equestrian magic, Fluttershy won't die today."

She paused. "...Understood." She gave a quick glance at the lyrics, then nodded. "I'm ready."

I started picking the strings on my guitar.

Youtube Video

After a few seconds, Jen began singing the lyrics. "Day to night, dark to light, fall the sands of time... Let the years, like the gears of a clock, unwind..." As I continued playing, everything around Jen, Fluttershy, and I faded, casting darkness around us with only a small light encompassing the three of us, each of us being at an edge of the area. "In your mind, walk through time, back to better days... Memories, like a dream, wash tears away... Like a star in the sky, darkness can't reach you! Light the night... joy is light 'til the new dawn..."

After Jen sang those words, I noticed Fluttershy had become transparent, as if she were fading away...

Jen, noticing this as well, continued nervously, "Cast away your old face; Let go your spite. With this mask, I'll ask to borrow your light..."

After she finished, I threw away the guitar and rushed to Fluttershy's side, placing one hand on her chest and the other behind her head. Although I had thrown away the guitar, the melody I had been playing continued to echo.

Youtube Video

Jen followed me almost immediately. Fluttershy, almost completely faded, mumbled weakly, "Th-Thank y-you..."

With a smile on her face, the pegasus vanished completely, leaving only behind her face and top of her mane, now a simple, plastic mask in my hand. I could feel kindness radiating from it...

The darkness faded as my room reappeared around us. Still holding the mask, I placed it's forehead to mine and started weeping as words rang inside my head:

You got the Kindness Mask! This mask is the essence of the Element of Kindness. Wear it to make animals draw near. While wearing, press the B button to utilize Rage mode.

"W-What happened?!?" Korey asked worriedly.

I gazed up at her, still weeping, "W-We... saved Fluttershy..."

"But..." Jen choked, now with tears forming in her own eyes. "S-She disappeared... That's her face in your hand..."

"I... I know..." I sobbed.

"How is she saved, then?" She asked bitterly.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I replied, "This mask... This mask is her essence... everything she was, it's all in this mask..."

To prove my point, I turned the mask around and placed in on my face. I felt a form of tingling as the mask attached itself to me. As the seconds passed, the tingling grew into a burning sensation, then a scalding one. I couldn't hold it in any longer; I let out a loud, distorted scream as my vision went white.

When I could see again, long strands of pink hair impaired all vision in my right eye. I looked at the band members. They seemed taller than before...

"...F-Fluttershy?!" Jen exclaimed "Is that you?"

"Yes." I answered in a soft, feminine voice.

"Where'd you get Lucas' clothes?" John asked.

"Thing is, I'm still Lucas." I replied. The band gasped, taken aback. Still feeling a little woozy from putting on the mask, I walked into the bathroom one door to the right of my bedroom. I examined myself in the bathroom mirror to understand what John had asked.

I had Fluttershy's body, but was wearing Lucas' green Tony Hawk jacket, eye glasses, Dr. Pepper T-Shirt, blue jeans (with a tail hole in the flank), and DC Shoes with a bullet hole one of them. I also retained the pain of that wound in my back-right foreleg. Taking the weight off of that leg, I hobbled back into my room, only to be greeted by nervous expressions held by Skillet.

"You see," I explained. "Fluttershy started dying. Because the effects of whatever ailed her were so swift, there was little anyone could have done. So, Lucas thought to trap her essence in a mask, before losing her forever. And here we are."

"But wait," Korey spoke, confused. "I thought you WERE Lucas..."

"Well, yes and no." I replied. "With the mask, I'm both fully Fluttershy the pegasus and fully Lucas the human." I gave a slight chuckle. "I guess you could say I'm Lucashy."

The band fell silent. Although we saved Fluttershy, the air fell heavy and gloomy. This had been a grave end to our adventure, indeed.

But as I looked at my yellow hoof, I was reminded of all of Fluttershy's memories.

I was reminded of the sorrow of losing not only her pony friends, but now her animal friends as well... I was reminded of all the ponies she had hurt in her rage form... I was reminded of the callousness Celestia had shown her during their experiments... I was reminded of the loneliness that Fluttershy felt on a daily basis with no hope for escape...

Then, I remembered the happiness she had once shared with her friends before their deaths. I remembered the joy she had felt when she found Lucas back in Equestria. I remembered the excitement she had when seeing Skillet in concert for the first time. I remembered the awe she experienced after winning in the Glitz Pit. I remembered her anger when Celestia sent her friends away, leaving her alone again. I remembered the sweet relief she felt seeing Lucas and Skillet sitting in my bedroom. I remember it all.

As I thought more about Fluttershy's memories, I had begun to cry again, knowing that she was gone.

No.

Lucas and Jen saved her essence in my mask...

In your mind, walk through time, back to better days. Memories, like a dream, wash tears away. Like a star in the sky, darkness can't reach you! Light the night, joy is light, 'til the new dawn.