A New World and The Journey Home

   I felt so done for the day as we were walking back to Twilight’s house from the long day. The sun was setting and the weather was starting to get slightly chilly, all I wanted to do was just get some sleep. I still needed to get Twilight’s trust so I can ask her about the book. I don’t know how she would react when she finds out my friends and I aren’t ponies. I could tell we were both tired, none of us has said anything for the past three minutes as we walked back. Twilight and Spike had been walking next to me and never said a single word. The silence was starting to kill me.

“So…” she finally said, “Did you like meeting my friends today?”

“Yeah, it was alright,” I replied, nonchalantly.

“Where did you say you were from again?”

“Out of town,” I replied.

“Oh, I see,” she said the silence starting up again.

“Riveting conversation,” Spike said, breaking the awkward silence.

“I see you’re still carrying on that taciturn trait.” pointed out Twilight.

“Sorry, I’m just a little tired, been walk-trotting all day,” I replied honestly.

“Well, doesn’t mean we can’t have a friendly conversation,” she suggested flashing a smile.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

I didn’t know if she wanted me to come up with a random topic to discuss or something.

“Hey, Vincent,” she started.

“Yeah?” I replied.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, where’s your cutiemark?”

“My what?” I asked confused.

“Your cutiemark?” she asked again, and pointed to my blank flank. I completely forgot that every equine in this village had some sort of tattoo on their flanks. I had to come up with an excuse.

“Oh, uh, we don’t usually get marks where I’m from,” I lied.

“Really? That’s weird, because you should have your cutiemarks by now. Come to think of it, I didn’t notice any of your friends having marks either,” she pointed out. I was on thin ice; well not really, all I had to do was just come up with another excuse.

“OH, cutiemarks. I thought you said…mutie clarks!”. Mutie Clarks, Seriously? Man, I’m a terrible liar. It’s not like I know any Clark’s who are mute anyway.

“OKay” Twilight said unconvinced.

“You know, I have a faded memory and I tend to forget important stuff easily,” I fibbed.

“Really, but you remembered my name?” she said.

“Oh,well, uh, I didn’t remember the lizards name at first,” I replied, nervously.

“Dragon,” corrected Spike.

“Whatever, the point is I have a bad memory. So, maybe you could remind me, on the importance of cutiemarks?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t find it strange I had no clear clue what those tattoos were.

“Okay then,” she started, “Well Cutiemarks are basically the marks we get on our flanks that reveal what our special talents are. So if you have something like, a hammer for example, then it could mean you’re good at construction.”

Geez, your talent could just be revealed on what your tattoo is telling you? That’s just bizarre. Ever heard of a profile or a resume, but still, the idea of a tattoo representing who you are is kind of interesting.

“Oh, right, now I remember. Thanks,” I said, trying to sound convincing.

“No problem.”

“Boy, socially awkward and short term memory. You’re really something, Vincent,” Spike joked.

“Spike” hissed Twilight.

“It’s fine, I’m usually not used to being around new, ponies,” I admitted with a slight laugh.

“It’ll be fine. I wasn’t used to this place at first, but then I made a lot of friends here and I got used to living here. I think you’ll like it.” she said supportively.

I gave her a small smile back as a reply.

We finally made it back to Twilight’s house where Kira, Den, Applejack and Rarity were all waiting for us. Along with two other little fillies, who looked like younger versions of Applejack and Rarity. Although one of them had yellow fur, red mane and tail and a pink bow; the other had white fur with a light purple mane with a pink swirl in the mane and tail. Neither of them had marks; looks like we’re not the only ones who didn’t have a cutie mark.

“Yo! What up, Vin?” Den said, greeting us.

“Just got back from murdering my legs,” I replied jokingly, referring to the long walk and walks we’ve been having today.

“How was the apple thing?” I asked.

“The apple bucking? I’ll admit, it was quite the workout, we made some pretty good progress,” he boasted proudly.

“Good progress, ya’ll only got half the apples in the first basketm” Applejack corrected him.

“The point is I feel stronger, ready for my next match!”

“How can you be ready to fight if you can’t even control your wings?” playfully mocking him.

“Pfff, no way can a couple of unstable wings can keep me down!” he yelled as he started to hover in mid-air. We were amazed at how fast he was learning how to fly already.

“Hey, it looks like you’re at least getting the hang of it.”

No sooner as I had said those words, Den shot straight up into the air like a rocket, zipping past the clouds leaving a hole in them. I could hear him shouting as he blasted off.

“Or maybe not,” I corrected myself, watching my friend careened through the open sky like a wayward missile.

We waited awhile but Den still hadn’t come back down. We all beginning to worry, sharing concerned and confused looks as we searched the skies.

“This is going to take a while,” Spike said, finally speaking up.

“So anyway, what’s your name?” I asked the yellow filly.

“I’m Applebloom, Applejacks sister,” she introduced herself.

“I can see the resemblance,” I responded, which made her smile before she returned to looking up at the sky.

“Sheesh, how long is he going to be stuck up there?” she asked.

“I have no idea, it’s like Spike said, it may take while just for him to come back down,” Twilight answered. “I just hope he doesn’t crash into my roof again.”

“Well that’s Den for you, he’s completely unpredictable,” I stated flatly.

“And unstable,” added Kira.

“But he did help out a lot on the farm, I’ll give him that,” admitted Applejack.

“Yeah, and he’s really strong. His dream sounds so amazing. Hey, maybe we could get our cutiemarks in mixed martial arts! Whatever that is.” Applebloom said, her eyes growing rounder at the next crusade.

“Uh-uh. No sister of mine is going to go running off and fighting others who are twice their size for the fun of it,” snorted Applejack.

“What? Then how come he gets to?” she whined.

“Because he has his reasons,” Applejack answered. Funny, those are the exact same words Den tell me whenever I ask him that question.

“Ooh, before we forget”, Rarity interuppted. “Kira, would you like to show everyone the design you came up with for the dress?”

“Oh right!” Pulling out a large sheet of paper, she unrolled it and it revealed a picture of a dress.

I’m not good at describing clothes so I’ll do my best. It was slim and looked silky. The collar was made of tulip petals but the entire dress had a dark violet colour to it, with minute sparkles woven in. Bloomed lotus flowers covered the body in varying blues, reds, and greens. A tiara was drawn above the dress weaved out of rose thorns with a large rose as the center piece. Looping wind sigils on the dress gave off the impression that the wind was blowing by. Definitely looks like something Kira would paint.

“What do you think? It’s the new dress we’re working on,” she chirped happily. “We’ve been working on this design all day, and I think it’s going to turn out great once it’s fully complete” added Kira.

“Isn’t it just, magnificent?” Rarity asked cheerfully.

“Well, Kira, you were right. You certainly do have an artistic eye,” complemented Rarity.

“Thank you,” Kira bashfully replied, her own cheeks becoming rosy.

“Looks like it’s another masterpiece yet to come true,” I answered with a smile.

“You really think so? I put a lot of thought into this design,” Kira said like a child who got their parents approval.

“Of course, everything you paint is beautiful”.

That last complement seemed to really make Kira smile, along with Rarity; I looked down and noticed the other filly standing next to them patiently.

“So who’s the mini-Rarity?” I asked.

“This is my sister, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, nodding to her little sister.

“I helped out too. It’s really nice to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you from Kira. Isn’t she the nicest pony you’ve ever met?” she squeaked at a mile a minute.

For a moment there, I felt like my ears were about to bleed. That filly has one hell of a squeaky voice.

“How adorable,” I said nonchalantly, trying to rub out the ringing in my ears.

“Isn’t she?” asked Kira she said innocently.

“So, what does that note say?” Spike brought up.

“Oh, right, let’s take a look.”

Twilight and I walked up to the door to read the note attached to it. Twilight lifted it off with her telekinetic powers and began to read it aloud.

“Come to SugarCube Corner for a sweet surprise,” she read aloud. That’s got to be the briefest note I’ve ever heard in my life. Well, other than the suicide message from the movie “IT”, this was reassuring.

“What does that mean?” Kira asked.

“Oh, ya’ll will see soon enough,” Applejack chortled. A loud thoom turned our attention to a nearby tree to see Den tangled up in the branches.

“Hey, Den! You alright over there?” I asked.

“I’m fine, never better” he muttered darkly, his eyes rolling around in his skull.

“You sure about that, sugarcube?” asked Applejack.

“Yeah, just losing large amounts of blood from a life threatening fall, don’t worry I’ll be dead in a few minutes.”

“Well can you manage to save some life left, we just got invited to this place called SugarCube Corner,” said Kira.

“SugarCube what now?” he asked as he raised his head as his eyes refocused on us.

“I don’t know, man. It’s just some weird invite,” I clarified watching him trying to wiggle out of the branches. A little creak was heard followed by a loud snap and Den fell face first to the ground. Applejack and Applebloom went over and helped him up.

“So are you coming?”

“Eh, why not,” he answered while rubbing the back of his head with a hoof.

“Look on the bright side,” started Twilight. “At least he didn’t crash into my roof again”.

“Or anyone’s roof,” I added.

“Yeah. Anyway, we should head on over there.”

“Lead the way.”

I was walking behind her while Spike rode on her back like a cowboy would on a horse, funny in it’s own way. Kira and Rarity were walking beside each other talking about dresses and paintings with Sweetie Belle jumping in here and there. Applejack and Applebloom were helping Den walk in a straight line, he kept wobbling to the left and his eyes were still spinning like a top.

Finally we came to a stop out in front of what I could only describe as some kind of life size gingerbread house. The roof, the doors, the walls and even the windows had candy themes. Odder still was that no lights were on, it looked rather deserted. I was assuming this was SugarCube Corner, it certainly lived up to its name.

“Here we are,” Twilight said as Spike hopped off her back.

“Of course it is,” I spoke.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just that it was kind of predictable to find out a place called SugarCube corner turned out to look like THAT,” I pointed my hoof at Peewee’s (second) Playhouse.

“Well yeah, what did you expect?”

“Whoa, cool. A candy house!” exclaimed Kira, “Can we eat it?”

“I’m afraid the building itself isn’t edible darling,” chuckled Rarity.

“Dang it,” whined Kira.

“But don’t worry, there’s plenty of sweets inside,” said Rarity.

“Good enough for me,” said Kira giving a toothsome smile.

Den finally managed to fix his eyes and spotted the gingerbread house and focused in on it.

“Oh we’re here?” he asked.

“Sure are. Ready to go in?” asked AJ.

“Sure, I’m starving,” answered Den

“Then let’s go in,” said Twilight.

We walked straight into pitch black darkness, the smell of sweets tickling my nose.

“Is it always this dark in here?” I asked aloud, an eerie chill crawling up my spine as we stood in complete darkness.

“No, but I have a feeling...” Twilight sang.

“A feeling of what?” I asked.

It wasn’t until all 9 of us were inside and Applebloom shut the door behind us, when it happened. A light switched on and a bunch of ponies shouted-

“SURPRISE!!!!”

It all caught us off guard.

“Aaahh!” it felt like my heart was trying to claw its way out my chest. Kira, Den, and I dropped to the floor. Twilight, Rarity and Applejack helped us up as the party began to go into full swing. Ponies were laughing, talking, and dancing with one another with streamers and noise makers and loud music playing.

“Hi-Ya, Vinny! Were you surprised, were ya? Were ya!?” Pinkie asked, popping out of thin air.

“Oh, it’s you again,” I sighed.

“Yeah its me. Did ya like the surprise? I got every pony in Ponyville to show up and helped me throw you a surprise welcome party!” she exclaimed while blowing a noise maker horn, right in front of my ears.

“OW! Do you have to blow that horn right in front of me?”

“Oops, sorry,” she laughed and backed up and blew to the horn again.

“That’s…better, I guess,” I replied. Don’t know if she would take it seriously.

“Well, I thought you did another job well done, Pinkie,” complimented Twilight, “It seems you’ve really outdone yourself once again”.

“Yay, Party!” shouted Applebloom.

“C’mon, I see Scootaloo over there!” yelled Sweetie.

“Fillies,” laughed Rarity as she watched her sister disappear into the crowd.

“Well, they are just kids,” Kira said sweetly. “You’ll never see me act like tha- OOOOOO, CUPCAKES!” squealed Kira, and she ran towards them like a hungry child.

“Kira, wait!” shouted Rarity as she chased after her.

“Whoa, some party we got going on here,” Den said as he took in the food and music.

“Well that’s Pinkie Pie for ya,” replied AJ.

“Um, hello,” a soft voice called out.

We all looked to our left and noticed that Fluttershy was standing right next to us.

“Um, are you one of the new ponies in the town, if you don’t mind me asking that is?” she timidly asked Den.

“I guess you can say that. The name’s Den, what’s yours?” he asked.

“Oh um, I’m Fluttershy,” she whimpered.

Though to be fair, it was more difficult to hear her with all the noise going on.

“Uh, what?” asked Den.

“This is Fluttershy” Applejack answered, “And as you can tell she’s-”

“Shy? No Kidding, I had no idea,” replied Den sarcastically.

“Is there a problem?” Fluttershy asked.

“No not at all. It’s just that, you sound like such a tough and durable fighting machine. I bet all you do for fun is fight wild animals am I right?” teased Den.

“Why, why would I do that?” she asked.

“Because you’re the most lethal pony here, how about you me have a little brawl, what do you say?” he teased some more.

“Den,” hissed AJ, her eyes narrowing to slits.

A blue bolt shot out in front followed by a familiar messy rainbow mane and tail, wearing a pissed expression.

“Hey, leave her alone,” scolded Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, it’s you. Have you badgered any other innocents today?” Den asked casually.

“I don’t know, crashed into anypony else’s roofs lately?” she snapped back aggressively.

“No, but I did crash into a tree just a few minutes ago.”

“Serves you right. Why the hay are you picking on Fluttershy!”

“Picking on her? I was just messing with her, cool your jets.”

“My what?”

“You, you were?” the timid Pegasus asked.

“Yeah, I didn’t mean anything by it. Can’t you take a joke?” he asked.

“Well, um…”

“Aw c’mon, It’s not like you actually fight wild animals would ya?”

“I would never, I love animals”.

“Well then that’s fine. I was just messing, nothing serious. No hard feelings?” he asked, still smiling.

Fluttershy went quiet for a while until she finally looked up and gave a small smile and nodded “Yes.”

“You see, we’re all good now. We’re here to party right? So let’s get it started!” he exclaimed.

“I agree, let’s party!” exclaimed Pinkie as she zoomed off to somewhere else.

“You sure do have a sick sense of humor, picking on Fluttershy like that,” retorted Dash.

“It was a joke. Ever heard of forgive and forget?”

“I may be able to forgive, but I never forget,” she hissed.

“Oh, I’m counting on it,” Den replied.

Rainbow Dash just huffed and flew off to another part of the party. Den and Applejack began to walk off to somewhere else.

“Geez, what a hot-head,” commented Den.

“Well, Rainbow is still ticked at ya for crashing into Twi’s roof like that,” said AJ.

“C’mon, I said I was sorry. Do I have to write an apology letter too?”

Soon they mingeled with the crowd, until we couldn’t hear their conversation anymore.

“That Den certainly is obnoxious,” spoke Twilight.

“Yeah, he’s an animal, but he knows when to admit he made a mistake,” I said, “Plus, it’s not like that Rainbow Dash is any better. Does she always hold a grudge for a long time?”

“You’d be surprised,” she replied dryly.

“Surprised in a good way?”

“Never mind, c’mon, let’s just enjoy the party,” she said.

“Sure”.

The party went on for a while. Loud music played while games were being enjoyed. It seemed my friends were finally having fun. Kira was just stuffing her face full with every sweet she could grab a hold of, as Rarity and I just laughed at her silliness. I couldn’t help it.

A record was playing lively music and everyone was dancing in a circle in the middle of the floor. Twilight was doing some really awkward dance, thrashing her arms around like a dying tuna on a beach.

Den and Spike were trying to bob for apples. Den came out with two apples in his mouth and spit them out. Then he went back in while Spike was still trying to get some, and Den came out with two more apples in his mouth, Pinkie declared him the winner for getting the last two out. He shot his arms up in the air in a victory pose with winning smile on his face, and then Applejack gave him a victory hug.

Towards the end of the party, I stepped outside to get some fresh air. Leaning up against the side of the building to rest, watching as the sun dipped over the horizon and the moon began to rise up. I could stare at the sky for hours. A sudden snap pricked my ears, turning my head I was face to face with Twilight.

“What are you doing out here, the party is still going on inside.”

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just tired.” Not like it was any of her business anyway.

“You weren’t doing much you know,” she said with a small frown on her face.

“I know but like I said before, I’m not used to being around a lot of peop-ponies. It just makes me feel, uncomfortable,” I said. If I had my I-Pod and headphones I’d listen to my music all night long.

“Oh, well you shouldn’t feel uncomfortable, Vincent. It’s always nice to make new friends. You’re probably just not used to this place yet, kind of like how I was when I first moved here.”

“Probably, why did you move here again?” I asked.

“Like I said, the princess sent me to check up on preparations for the Summer Sun celebration. Then Nightmare Moon came and was about put Equestria into eternal night”.

“Cool,” I said, however this seemed to struck a nerve with her.

“Cool?” she asked suspicious.

“Yeah, it’s cool” I said.

“What? Why would you think eternal night would be ‘cool’?” she asked surprised.

“I don’t know, I kind of like the night. It’s always so peaceful and quiet, not a lot of,” I paused, “ponies, come out during the night to make a lot of noise. I actually wouldn’t mind being in the dark forever. The sun would never come and shine in my eyes in the morning, and I wouldn’t be able to go to school to deal with a bunch of zombies. Besides, I like sleeping”.

“That’s ridiculous!” she snapped.

“Is something wrong?”

“Um, yeah! How could you think it’s ‘cool’ to live at night for all eternity?” she scolded.

“I’m pretty sure I just explained why.”

“I get that, but WHY would you think that? It’s not good to sleep forever, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to live, and how would you find your way through the dark? The sun would never rise up again and Nightmare Moon would take over, that’s just horrible!” she ranted.

“It was just my opinion. You don’t need to complain about it and in case you haven’t noticed, this Nightmare thing isn’t even around. So why would you need to worry about something that doesn’t even exist. Or at least not anymore, not to mention that everyone is entitled to their own opinion” I retorted.

“You’re right, sorry,” she sighed, “It’s just that, you’re the first pony I’ve met to actually say they prefer to live in the eternal night rather than day”.

“No problem, besides, look how beautiful the moon is,” I pointed.

We all looked up and noticed the full moon and how it was shining down on the village, and the stars twinkling around it.

“Yeah, Princess Luna’s moon definitely is stunning” said Twilight.

“Hmm?”

Who’s Princess Luna? Probably best to ask her about it later.

“Hey, Twilight”

“Yeah?”

“Do you trust me?” I asked. Twilight went silent for a while.

“Oh um…well, I just met you, and uh, well, mmhhmm.”

“No?”

“Well, why do you want to know if I trust you?” she asked.

“Curious,” I replied, deciding to keep it simple.

“Oh, then -”

Before she could finish, the door opened up and ponies began walking out. My only thought was, Did Pinkie seriously invite every pony in this town? Anyway, the last few stragglers came out was the group followed by my friends: Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Applejack, Applebloom, Spike, Kira, and Den; who was wobbling while holding a cup of punch in his right hoof.

“You alright there partner?” laughed Applejack.

“Where’s the leak ma’am?” Den muttered in a deep voice.

“You do know that that’s non-alcoholic, right?” pointed out Kira.

“Don’t care, too tired to argue” responded Den.

“Oh yeah that reminds me, where are we going to sleep tonight?” asked Kira.

“Huh, didn’t really think of that,” the realization now dawning on me.

“I’m sure there’s a hotel near here that you and your friends can check into,” suggested Twilight.

“We didn’t really bring any money. Sort of forgot.” I said.

“Sort of?”

“Not to worry, I’m sure I’ve got room for Den to sleep at Sweet Apple Acres,” said Applejack.

“Fine by me,” Den responded, still sounding tired.

“And Kira, you may stay at Carousel Boutique if you wish,” offered Rarity.

“Thanks, Rarity.”

“Yay, Kira’s sleeping over!” chirped Sweetie Belle.

“Ok, so where am I going to crash tonight?” I asked myself.

“It’s alright, you can stay at my place for the night, I have a spare bed. Maybe now, you can catch up on your sleeping,” she smiled.

“Thanks. Alright then, I guess it’s settled,” I said, satisfied.

“Good night, Vincent,” Kira said and went over to hug me goodbye, “See you tomorrow”.

“Good night everypony,” signed off Rarity as she, Kira, and Sweetie trotted off and we waved goodbye.

“We better head on home now,” suggested Applejack.

“Sure, night everyone!” yelled Den as they were all heading back to their farm. We waved goodbye to each other and made our way back to Twilight’s house. I still didn’t get a clear answer out of her. How am I supposed to ask her about the book now?

Twilight’s Library

We were inside Twilight’s home, upstairs in her room. Just like the downstairs, bookshelves lined the walls. Twilight’s bed sat next to her window, roughly a wooden box with a mattress on top. Blue blankets decorated with stars. She was just setting out the spare bed across from hers, just a few feet splitting the beds apart. It was blander and more looked like a board than her own, but it was better than nothing. Off to the side was a small basket with a pillow and covers inside of it.

“You have a dog?” I asked, pointing a hoof at the little basket.

“What, oh no,” she laughed, “That’s where Spike sleeps”.

“You calling me a dog?” asked Spike defensively.

“Down boy, heal,” I teased while petting his head.

“Why I otta,” he growled.

“Relax, I’m just kidding, geez. Why are all of you so uptight?”

“Spike, do you think you could meet me downstairs, I need your help with something?” Twilight asked.

Spike huffed and started walking downstairs, I looked back at Twilight and she just finished the bed.

“The bed is all set,” she said.

“What are you working on?” I asked curiously.

“Nothing much, I just need to send a letter,” she answered. “You can go ahead and get ready for bed. I’m probably going to be up for a while.”

“Cool, goodnight”.

“Night”.

As she was trotting downstairs with a candle, I climbed onto the bed and slid under the covers. Even though it was a spare bed, it was still soft and cozy. I turned to sleep on my left side, and once my head touched the pillow I was out like a light.

______________________________________________________________________________

My eyes shot open and I noticed that I was floating in a big, empty, violet, open space. I wasn’t floating, I could feel the ground underneath my hooves Objects floated around me. Clocks, gears, a TV, music notes, skulls, motorcycle parts, black electric guitars, amps, headphones and my I-Pod. I looked around and noticed that I was totally alone; no Twilight, or Applejack, or Kira, or Den. No one.

“What the hell is going on here?” I asked myself.

“You are in a dream,” a rather feminine and royal voice said.

I looked around to see who spoke but I couldn’t see anyone. All I saw was the violet emptiness wavering in front of my eyes.

“Up here,” said the voice again.

I looked up and saw the source. It was a pony, like the others, but this one was different. Dark blue fur, flowing blue mane and tail, it’s mark was a crescent moon with black splatter around it, wore blue clear glass slippers, and had both a horn and wings. It looked so, surreal.

“Who are you?” I asked. She floated down until she was at eye level with me.

“I am Princess Luna,” she introduced. Princess Luna? So, this is the princess that Twilight was talking about, the one who owns their moon or something?

“Princess Luna?” I asked, confused.

“That is correct. My duties are to raise the moon when the day has come to an end,” she answered in a somewhat echoing voice.

“So wait, let me get something clear. This is a dream that I’m in?” I asked.

“Correct young one,” she answered.

“Oh great,” I sighed, “Are you like the Freddie Krueger of this world?”

“Excuse me? I do not know of this ‘Freddie Kruger’ you speak of,” she responded.

“Well if I’m dreaming right now, lost in a strange dream and now I’ve just come across this unknown, dark-looking creature that’s giving me weird vibes. Does that mean you’re going to kill me?”

“Why would I do that? When I enter pony’s dreams, it is only so I can talk to them,” she answered.

“So you CAN enter my dreams, but you’re not going to kill me?”

“Where are you going with this?”

This conversation was getting us nowhere. I guess my curiosity got the better of me.

“Never mind, it’s nothing” I said, a little embarrassed that I asked a lot of questions.

“You are forgiven. Now then, please, tell me your name,” she asked.

“Vincent Chambers,” I responded.

The dark winged unicorn went silent for a minute.

“Uh, what?”

“Vincent Chambers? Then my sister was right, that name sounds too unreal for any pony to have,” she said.

“What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She has told me that some new ponies that have arrived here have very unusual names and have bizarre actions. Who knew you’d be one of them.”

“Wait, how do you know that?”

“Are you not one of them?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Not important, but I must warn you. That the troubles you have now are nothing when compared to what’s going to happen.”

“What? Can someone please explain what is going on?”

A sudden wind came down turning violently into a hurricane. All the objects floating were vanishing with the wind, all I could see was Luna getting blown away.

“Farewell!” she yelled as she disappeared into the void.

My eyes shot open, I was still resting in the spare bed but I could feel my whole body shaking. I slowly sat up and looked out the window. The sun was shining through the glass, burning away any sleep from me. I blocked the sun’s rays with my hoof, but I still couldn’t shield my eyes. I stretched out my limbs, letting out a yawn, and crawled out of bed. I stood up and began to walk downstairs. When I got to the bottom, I saw Twilight and Spike sitting at a table with little cups filled with coffee and a plate filled with muffins.

“Oh, good morning, Vincent,” said Twilight, happily.

“Morning,” I replied.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked.

I didn’t know if I should tell her about the weird dream I had. I didn’t know how she would react, so I didn’t mention it.

“Yeah,” was all I said.

“Well, grab a muffin,” said Spike as he swallowed some gems and continued to put more in his mouth.

“Doesn’t it feel weird to eat gems?” I asked while taking a muffin, “How do they taste?”

“Delicious,” he muttered, while he was still chewing.

“Spike, don’t talk with your mouth full,” scolding the young dragon. Spike’s child-like behavior made me let out a slight chuckle as I took a bite out my muffin.

“I think I’m going to get some fresh air, be right back” I spoke after I swallowed.

“Ok, hurry back” said Twilight as she waved goodbye. I waved back and walked out the door.

I finished my muffin and started walking about; it looked very bright and sunny today, it was kind of annoying of how bright the sun was. I felt like it was blinding me. I continued walking and spotting some ponies nearby, talking and walking past me. It was kind of funny, for some reason, these ponies remind me very much of how people act, I don’t know why.

“Hey fool!” yelled a voice.

I turned to the left and noticed both Den and Kira standing next to a large pony statue in the middle of town.

“Good morning!” yelled Kira.

I walked over to where they were standing to greet them. I stopped in front of them and was about to chat.

“Hey, how did you guys sleep?” I asked.

“Pretty good, Applejack had a spare bed for me,” answered Den, “Then again, it was in the barn”. Kira and I let out a small laugh at Den’s inefficient sleeping area.

“Sounds comfortable,” I said sarcastically.

“Hey, you try sleeping at night with the constant sound of mooing and barking,” he retorted.

“Right, how did you sleep, Kira?” I asked.

“Pretty good, I guess” she answered, “Rarity didn’t actually have a spare bed, so we had to share her own. And I couldn’t take Sweetie Belle’s small bed”.

“Oh, you and Rarity had to share a bed” Den said foolishly, “getting it one, were you?”

“Shut up,” Kira said punching his arm.

I decided that it was time that I asked them about the dream I had, seeing how I’m telling people who I can trust, at least people in pony bodies.

“Hey guys, did you have any strange dreams last night?” I asked.

They both turned their attention towards me with puzzled faces.

“Now that you mentioned it, I did have some strange dream last night,” pointed out Kira.

“Yeah, so did I,” added Den.

“Really, was it with this big blue winged unicorn with a-“

“Moon tattoo,” Kira and Den both answered at the same time.

We all exchanged looks; it was weird that we all had the same dream last night. What could it mean?

“Seriously weird,” I said.

“What do you think it means?” asked Kira.

“I have no idea, but i-“

“Hey!”

We all turned around and saw Twilight trotting towards us, she looked worried for a minute.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“Vincent, I’d like you to know that I sent a letter to the princess last night before I went to bed,” she started.

“So?”

“So I told her about meeting you and how glad I was making friends with you and your friends, even though you were a bit strange at first,” she said with a smile.

“Again, so?” I asked.

“SO, I just got a letter back from her. She told me to gather my friends and catch a train to Canterlot. And also, she told me to bring you and your friends along as well”.

“So, your princess wants to meet us?”

“Well, one of them. C’mon, let’s gather every pony, buy tickets, and head on over to Canterlot,” she finished as she trotted back to her house.

“One of them? So there are two princesses?” I asked myself.

“Two?” asked Kira.

“Yeah, didn’t the winged unicorn from our dream refer to herself as a princess?” asked Den.

“I don’t know?” replied Kira.

“Well then, I guess we better follow Twilight”.