The Strength of Bonds

by RamCard

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life
Length: 10960

A typical Friday turns into a nightmare as six friends are engulfed in an adventure they didn't know was possible.

This Friday seemed like any other yet something felt off to him. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to end his time here, and soon. He was right, just not in the way he expected. Not that he's complaining.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-29 00:15:00 UTC

Smile, Smile, Smile

Matt awoke with a jolt to find himself surrounded by five other ponies in hospital beds. He didn’t recognize them at first but it only took a second to see that they were the O.C's he had created for his friends. The shock almost overtook him again as he looked down only to notice a set of icy cobalt hooves instead of his hands.

"Don’t stress to much you'll hurt yourself" said a white unicorn walking into the room. He looked over to see Nurse Redheart standing in the doorway.As with no thought otherwise he asked

"Are they all alright?"

The nurse simply said flatly

"Yes they'll be fine, a few cuts but the burns were worse they will be unconscious for a few more hours."

As a sigh of relief left his mouth the Nurse also added

"You got off the best out of all of your friends though. You can leave now in fact." As the last part of the sentence the Nurse looked away from him with pain in her eyes.

She started again, "If Princess Luna hadn’t found you… you probably would have all died.”Luna" the name passed through his thoughts several time before the princess of the night herself walked through the door.

"You're awake, that’s good. Shame that your friends didn't fare as well as you." Luna said with a noticeable twinge of remorse in her voice.

"What happened after I collapsed, and furthermore Princess do you know what brought us here?" He said.

The Princess looked back at the confused cobalt unicorn with a look of utmost sincerity.

"You and I brought them here."

As those words passed from the princess they smacked him with more shock than he had experienced both physically and emotionally.

He laid back and only one word escaped his mouth, barely a whisper, "How...?"

Luna began the explanation...

“The object around your neck is linked to me. I was able to move into your dreams like those of the ponies here and I saw our world. I also felt the passion you had to live in this world. So I decided to grant your wish... however your friends were an, unfortunate complication, but from what I can tell all of your friends would enjoy it here save one, the one named KeyClicker."

"Well that’s good...Wait Key Clicker? You know the name of my friend's..." he stopped himself short not wanting to risk his well being or that of his friends.

Luna simply looked confused for a moment but continued "Yes I peered into friends dreams to learn what you call them in these forms."

"Then is that why you called me RamCard when you found us?" He asked quizzingly

"Yes it’s also why I trusted you enough to let you cross into our world"

"Well than I am in your debt oh princess of the night." RamCard said with as much regality as he could muster.

"You owe me nothing but a promise."

"And what would that be Luna." He asked with his head cocked to one side.

"That you not discuss your origins with any pony except those that I trust."

"I’m assuming you mean The Elements of Harmony?" RamCard said mater of factly.

"Yes but the first pony I want you to meet is Twilight; however the first pony you will probably meet is Pinkie Pie."

"I assumed as much." He said remembering the pilot episodes with Twilight.

Luna snickered and proceeded to walk out but stopped to say "Don’t worry about fitting in, you and your friends should integrate just fine, just be yourselves."

(Shifts Perspective)

As I left the hospital a faint warning in the back of his mind tipped him off to Pinkie's Presence.

"Well I guess I know who's about to jump me?” I said sarcastically.

"GASP.... I’ve never seen some pony who knew when I was coming before. How did you do that?"

"To be totally honest Pinkie I don't know, maybe it something like your Pinkie sense?"

"Maaayyybeee?" Pinkie said apparently deep in thought.

"Sorry to interrupt Pinkie but could you point me in the direction of the library?"

"Oooohhh um just head north from The Carousel Boutique and keep going until you see a big tree, you can’t miss it."

"Thank you Pinkie. Oh and before I forget could you point the next five ponies to leave the hospital toward the library please?"

"Sure.... um what is your name by the way?" Pinkie said with her head cocked to one side.

"My name? Uuhh… my name is RamCard." I said almost too hesitantly.

"Well it’s nice to meet you Ram, see you soon."

"Bye Pinkie" I said walking north with a huge grin on my face.

"Huh... She really does know how to make ponies Smile, Smile, Smile."

"Well looks like my personality is adjusting well" I thought to myself still beaming.

15 Seconds of Orange

As I proceeded toward the library at the end of town I felt the presence that I had felt last night.

"As if Death himself was poking me in the ribs" I quietly thought to myself.

I placed a hoof on the door but hesitated.

"Should I really tell her the truth?" The thoughts swirled in my head furiously without end. As I clasped my head in my hooves fighting with my thoughts until a soothing voice suddenly brought me out of my turmoil.

"Umm... Can I help you?" said the purple alicorn.

"Actually Miss Sparkle you can." I said recovering from my mental breakdown.

"I could feel your pain and anxiety but I’m pretty sure I know why your here."

"I'm sorry if I caused any discomfort for you." I said without thinking. I smacked my head in frustration as the mare simply snickered.

"One of the Princesses sent you to me didn't they?" she asked.

"Ummm... yes Luna sent me to talk to you." I managed to stammer out.

"About what?" she asked with a slightly hostel tone in her voice.

"My...Origins." I said hesitantly.

"You mean you parents?" She said quizzingly.

"No, I mean how I got here."

"You mean the train?" she said becoming more and more perplexed with each statement.

"No, I came here through this." I said my hoof holding up my pendent. Almost immediately I felt my chain slacken as Twilight unhooked it with her magic and proceeded to scan it with her power.

"I can feel... a link." Twilight said almost uncertain.

"Yes, it was my link to Princess Luna. She used it to see my dreams through the barrier between our worlds. She decided to "Help" me by bringing me to Equestria." I said my head dropping with every word.

"Not only that but she said that my friends were... an unfortunate complication." I said with visible pain in my face, tears welling up in both anger and despair. Showing greater concern she simply asked,

"How does this pendent link you to Luna? I thought that this sort of thing was an…"

"Old mare's tale." I interjected. She turned to look at me and I instantly realized my mistake, "I cut her off, this might not end well" I thought bracing myself for anything. Yet all I heard was a soft click and felt a weight on my neck as Twilight replaced my pendent. She giggled and said

"Not many ponies can finish a thought before I can, you will be an interesting pony to get to know. But before I forget, could you please try to explain the link that your pendent created."

"Oh-Ok" I stammered out.

"From what I can tell, Luna heard my dreams through the pendent, how I can only speculate but I think it has something to do with the particular date associated with the moon on my pendant. It’s my Birthday."

Twilight still looking puzzled by her own thoughts as well as my own simply stated

"Interesting.  What was the moon’s phase last night?” she asked, determined to find answers from some pony.

“It was a half moon, same as on my pendent.”  I said. Her eyes lit up as bright as Pinkie’s as she seemed to discover the solution.

“THAT’S IT I’VE GOT IT!” She screamed.

“Got what? “ I asked.

“I figured out part of how you got here, the link the pendent and Luna’s magic share must have been stronger than usual  that night and that allowed Luna to project her spell through the pendent.”

“I kind of get it but I still have no grasp of magic in this world.” I said shame dripping from my words. The purple alicorn’s ears perked up at the sound of my lament.

“You need a teacher?” she asked beaming at me.

“It’s all too obvious that she wants a student” I thought to myself.

“Yes, are you offering?” I ask with an increasing sense of trepidation.

“YES! YES! YES!” she screamed gaining altitude with each syllable.

“Well I guess I have to take you up on your offer then Twilight.” I said with my inner fan boy screaming to be let out at the fact that I was now Twilight’s student. Yet a thought surfaced that silenced the raving idiot inside me.

”I hope my friends wake up soon…”

Mix Masters (incomplete)

The white unicorn slowly opened his eyes; I noticed something odd about myself, besides the pain, my body felt odd, I sat up rubbing my head,  I noticed that I had a horn on my head, shuddered a tad, and then shook my head and looked around at the bright hospital room.

“What the hell is this? Am I in…?” scratching the back of my head.

I heard the sound of hooves clopping in the hallway, my ears wiggled, and I rubbed my eyes.

“Ah, you’re awake! Good to see you’re looking better, a couple of your friends are still recovering, but I’m sure they’ll be okay” said Nurse Redheart

I was freaking the hell out,

“OH. MY. GOD. I’M IN PONYVILLE! TELL ME I’M NOT DREAMING! PINCH ME, SOMEBODY PINCH ME!” I yelled, as Redheart actually did.

“OW! Well, thanks for that anyways”

“Are you from Trottinghamn or something? Well, no matter, We found you and your friends in a scorched area, Princess Luna herself brought you in, it was very strange, but she is a princess, so we took you all in for treatment.” She said with a bit of curiosity in her voice

“Wait, Princess LUNA? What does this mean…?” I pondered, What would make the Princess of the Night come to save us, let alone know that we were… wherever we were that night.

Melodious

I woke up and began to look around me.  Nothing looked even vaguely familiar. I looked to my left and saw three ponies in hospital beds.

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore,” I said.

“Oh, I see that you’re awake,” said a pony that looked to be a nurse. “How are you feeling?”

With my head pounding, I said, “I feel like I’ve been hit by a train.”

“Well I don’t think that happened to you, but I’ll get you something for that,” said the nurse.

“Thank you,” I said as I tried to figure out what was going on.  After she left the room, I tried to gather any memory of why I was there, but I couldn’t get anything. The last thing I remember was being at my house. Wait a minute! Where is everyone? Looking back around I only saw three horses, and then, I finally looked down at myself. Why do I have hooves? Jumping off of the bed, I ran to a mirror, stumbling all the way. What I saw was a cyan unicorn with a burgundy mane with indigo highlights. I was a pony! Oh well, might as well try to go find everyone, it’s boring here, I thought as I started to leave the hospital.

Once I reached outside, I knew that they were not going to be easy to find.  Lucky for me a pony that I remember my friends telling me about, Pinkie Pie was there.

“Uh, excuse me. Did you see anyone leave the hospital earlier?” I asked her.

“Oh, yes. You must be one of Ram’s friends.  He said to meet at the library,” said Pinkie Pie.  “Ram? Oh she must mean Matt” I thought to myself

“Oh thanks,” I said ready to leave. “Umm…could you tell me where that is?” I questioned.

“What? Oh sure you take a…….” I wasn’t sure what she after that because I went into one of my zone out phases.

“So you know where to go now?” she asked.

“Yep,” I said coming out of my phase.

“Okay, then I will maybe see you around.”

“Defiantly,” I replied and walked in a random direction.

“You’re supposed to go the other way!” she shouted to me.

“Oh. I knew that,” I said and walked the other way.  “Pretty sure that she was giggling at me that whole time.” I thought but anyways, I started on my way.  I’m pretty sure I took a few wrong turns, and was going in circles, but I wasn’t sure until I heard a laugh from behind me.  Turning around, I saw a gray pony with black hair and a pink bowtie.

“I’m guessing that you’re lost,” she said while laughing.

“Now what gave you that idea?” I said laughing at myself.

“Well the look on your face, and the fact that I’ve seen you pass by here five times. You’re not from around here are you?” she questioned.

“Not really. I’m…new around here,” I said with slight hesitation.

“Oh well then, I’m Octavia Melody, but you can call me Octavia.”

“I love your name, and I’m Laur…” stopping short, I wasn’t sure if I should use my name. “What did Matt call my pony?” I thought hesitantly.” I’m Autumn Song, but please call me Autumn.”

“Okay Autumn. So where are you going?” she asked.

“Well I’m supposed to be going to the library, but I am so lost.”

“Well I can see why. That’s all the way on the other side of town,” she said laughing.

“I knew that Pinkie was up to something!” I said giggling.

“Yeah, she’s definitely a joker,” she said.

“Well then, could you show me the way?”

“Sure, after I play for a bit, if that’s okay with you?” she asks while pulling out a cello that I never saw there.

“Yeah, no problem,” I said as she began to play.

The music was amazing, and soon enough others started to gather around. We all began to relax and just sink into the sounds that we were hearing.  After the performance, she put her cello down, and she began to walk away.

“Are you coming or not?” she shouted to me.

I ran to catch up with her, and she asked me about the type of music that I listen to.

“I’ll listen to pretty much anything,” I tell her.

“Wait. So you listen to that bass music too?” she questions.

“Yeah, I think it’s really cool to listen to. It really makes you want to get up and dance.”

From out in the distance, they heard that same bass and I began to dance.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Dancing. What does it look like?” I replied. “Come on,” I said as I drag her away.

We dance down the streets making turns left and right, and we finally arrive in front of what looked to be a tree house.

“Okay. This is your stop,” Octavia said.

“Okay. Thank you. Will I see you around?” I asked.

“Yes, I think you will,” she answers as she walks away.

“Goodbye,” I shouted as she walks off into the distance. Once she disappears, I walk through the threshold into the library in the hopes of finding my friends.

Frustrations

I awoke to a splitting headache and several discomforts in his hooves wait… hooves? “Crap, I’m not where I think am? Am I?”

“Oh, you’re awake!” said a pale unicorn entering the room.

“Crap! I am where I think I am!” I thought with an increasing sense of dread.

“Yeah I’m awake.” I said with noticeable irritation in my voice.

“Well maybe you would prefer being unconscious.” The nurse threatened.

Becoming defensive I stammered out “No, No that’s fine, I’ll just go now.”

Walking awkwardly out of the hospital I bumped into a pink pony trying to gain control over the new body.

“Hey watch where you’re going,” The pink pony blurted out.

“Sorry, I just want to find my friends and figure out why I’m in this place,” I said disgruntled.

“OH, are you one of Ram’s friends!” the pony blurted out ears perking up.

“Ram, where have I heard that na…, oh Matt’s O.C,” I thought.

“Yes… I am. Did he say anything about me?” I asked cautiously.

“ Yepyepyep he told me to tell you to go to the library,” she said ecstatic at helping the new pony.

“Ok, so can you direct me there?”

“Okie Dokie Loki, you go north of the Carousel Boutique until you get to the big tree house, you can’t miss it.”

“Thanks Pinkie.” I said trying to hide the irritation in my voice.

I then proceeded to walk towards what I assume was the boutique and ran into a white unicorn standing outside.

“Excuse me darling but could you lend me a hoof for a moment?” the unicorn asked.

“Sure? What do you need?” I asked with an increasing sense of trepidation.

“I just need you to come inside and let me take your measurements. I have a client that has your build and the order needs to be completed in a week,” she said with twinge of excitement in her voice.

“I don’t know… I guess I can help.”

Suddenly surrounded by a pale blue aura I was carried into the boutique and placed on raised platform becoming more and more uncomfortable as I was surrounded by tape measures and pins.

Feeling more uncomfortable by the moment I managed to stammer out, “Is this safe? I mean lots of pointy objects floating all around.”

“It’s perfectly safe darling I’m a professional, by the way I never got your name sir?”

“Oh my name is…” the hesitation was not unexpected as he closed his eyes to think. “Damn what did mat call my O.C again Key something…ah ha!”

“My name is KeyClicker.” I said coming out of my stupor.

“That’s a peculiar name darling, but definitely interesting,” she said as I felt a prick in my back legs causing me to twitch.

“OUCH, please be careful I don’t want to be full of holes when I find my friends,” I said. My irritation eliciting several more pokes from the dressmaker who only chuckled at my discomfort.

“Thank you darling, if you ever need anything don’t hesitate to ask me, especially if it has to do with that mane of yours,” she said snickering.

“Maybe later but now I need to get to the library.” I said rubbing my hind legs.

“Well at least I know I’m not dreaming,” I said thinking out loud.

“Dreamin ‘bout what sugarcube,” said an orange pony walking to catch up with me.

“Oh nothing it’s just… I can’t believe that I’m here, in this place. I didn’t think it was possible.”

“Watcha mean there mister?” she asked perplexed.

“Nothing, forget I ever said anything,” I said feeling more and more irritated at my current situation.

“Now I’ve never been the best liar but I can tell one from a mile away, so fess up what’s nagging at ya?”

“Well I’ve never been really invested in anything that had to do with this town… and to be suddenly thrust into it, is a bit disorienting.”

“I can understand where you’re coming from,” she said looking sad about something.

As a large tree came into view I said to her , “Well this is where my friends are supposed to be, it was nice talking to you uh miss…”

“Applejack,” she said confidently.

“Thank you Applejack for listening, my name is…KeyClicker,” I said surprised at how easily the name came to me.

“See ya around then sugarcube,” she said as she trotted away.

I turned to the library and thought, “Well time to find some answers,” as I knocked on the door.

Trepidations

A slow but sure picture of ceiling tiles was forming in front of my eyes as the telltale buzz of florescent lights hummed in my ears. I thought to myself “What happened?”  when I began to notice a strange growth on my back. I turned to look and what I saw was jarring, a pair of deep violet wings,

”Wings I have freaking WINGS! “  I hollered to no one.

“Well of course you do you are a Pegasus after all,” said a pale unicorn walking into the room.

Her statement caused me to look down to where my hands would be but my eyes only saw a pair of hooves.

“This can’t be real? Can it?” I thought to myself. I looked around only to see one other pony in another bed.

“Wait where are my friends?” I asked barely audible.

“Most of your friends have already checked out of the hospital and have gone into town, you can leave now too,” she said.

“Oh okay, I guess,” I said while going out of the room and watching the unknown pony as I did.

Walking out of the hospital was a pain in the ass. While walking was difficult I could manage fairly well. “However you two are going to take some getting used to,” I thought experimentally flapping my wings. They felt interesting but strong and at the same time extraordinarily fragile.

“Hiya!” shouted an overly enthusiastic pick pony. I jumped and reached a pretty good height but regretfully I still had no control over my wings and hit the ground…hard.

“OhI’msosorry!Ididn’tmeantoscareyousobadMaybeIcangetRainbowDashorFluttershytohelpyouwithyourflying,” she said franticly helping me up out of the small crater my impact had created.

“Well I just want to find my friends. I woke up in the hospital like this and I’m not sure but I think I’ve seen this before,” I said although the last part was more to me. I felt a grip on me and noticed that a cream yellow Pegasus with a hoof on my shoulder.

“Umm are you ok? I mean if you want to tell me that is.”

She talked so quietly, but she spoke in a tone that seemed concerned and motherly.

“Yeah I’ll be fine once I find my friends and figure out why I’m here,” I said weakly.

“Oh-Oh-Oh! I know where your friends are!” exclaimed the pink pony.

“You do! Please tell me PLEASE!” I exclaimed as jumped up and grabbed her.

“There…in…the…library…and…could…you…let…go…please?”  she rasped out.

“Oops, sorry. Tehe,” I said slightly giggling while letting her go. Then, the yellow Pegasus placed her hoof on me again and said “I’ll take you to the library. If that’s ok with you?”

“Sure I would love the company,” I said as I nodded.

As we began our walk towards the large tree in the distance the yellow Pegasus spoke up, “Umm what’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking.”

I looked at her and hesitated, “My name is umm…KindWind.”

“That’s…nice,” she said with a warm tone.

“So what’s your name?” I asked a little cautiously.

“Oh my name is…Fluttershy,” she whispered.

I barely caught her name but I still got it.

“Ok Fluttershy it’s nice to meet you and I hope we can be friends,” I said calmly. She seemed to smile and that sent a nice warm feeling through me. I then notice a little white rabbit sitting on her back.

“Hey who is your cute little friend there?” I said pointing a hoof at the bunny with a kind look. The bunny scowled at me causing my smile to falter slightly and started tapping his paw on her back.

“Oh that’s Angle Bunny. He can be kind of grumpy sometimes but he always is nice to me,” she said confidently. We came up on the library and as I began to walk forward she spoke up again.

“Um I could use a hoof helping my animal friends later this week. If you don’t mind helping that is.”

I gave the mare a reassuring smile and said, “Sure that would be great.”

With that, I turned and knocked on the door to the library looking for answers.

Eccentricities

I woke up sleepily with a random unicorn staring at me.

“Oh, hello. I see you finally are awake. How are you doing?” The unicorn said to me.

“Holy shit! A talking unicorn!” I said with eyes wide open.

“Well you are one to talk,” she said with a questionable look in her eyes.

“I’M A UNICORN!” I said looking down at myself.

“No! You are a Pegasus. Did I give you too much medication?” she said looking down at my chart.

Looking around at the room I was in I realized that none of my friends where here.

“Where there any other pony/unicorn things here?” I asked the nice unicorn lady.

“You mean your friends? They left after they woke up.”

“Ok well I should probably go find them,” I said as I jumped out of bed and fell on my butt.

“You should probably stay in bed,” she said as I stumbled on my new legs, and tried to find the door.

“Byeeeeee!” I shouted as I ran for the window because the door would not appear. “I can fllllyyyyyyy!” I shouted as I fell downward. Suddenly I hit something hard and rolled onto my back. “Can I do that again?” I asked to myself as I tried to regain my senses.

“Sure, just don’t land on me next time,” said the bright pink thing I landed on.

“Sorry, guess I can’t fly yet,” I said as I tried to get up but fell into a bush.

“Neither can I, but at least you have wings,” she said while helping me out of the bush.

“Thanks for helping me out of the bush,” I said as I practiced walking.

“Oh! I was supposed to tell you to go to the library.Maybeitwillbeaparty.Oops, youmightnotbesupposedtoknowthat.Whatifit’snotaparty?ThenIwilljusthavetothoughyouaparty.Whatdoyouliketodo.Oh!Wecaninvitethewholetown!” she said excitedly hardly breathing until the end when she took a huge gasp of air.

“I love parties! Maybe I can help put it together! Wecanhaveballoons,andcake,andcandy,and-

“streamers-”

“and games-”

“and a chocolate fountain-”

“and cookies-”

“and pranks-”

“and friends-”

“OH MY! We have to start right now!” we both said at the same time.

“First we need to find a place to have it. Also, what is your name?” I asked.

“Pinkie Pie’s the name and parties are my game. Hehe,” Pinkie said with a giggle. “What is your name?”

“Ummmm. I don’t know. Let’s just call me Crystal Rose,” I said in deep thought.

“Back to the party I know just where to have it,” She said skipping off.

“Where are we going?” I asked skipping right along with her singing the tune, “we’re off to see the wizard” in my head.

“To the best place to have a party by the lake,” she said suddenly stopping and looking around.

“Is this it? This is perfect! Butwhataboutdecorations,andfood,andinvitesand-” I said cut off by Pinkie.

“Don’t worry! I always have emergence party supplies on me!” she said pulling a box seemingly out of nowhere. It was almost like magic, but it wasn’t—it was just Pinkie. She was prepared for a good time, and no pony could blame her for that!  She started to pull things out of the box. Neon streamers flew through the air. Glitter confetti sprinkled down. Pointed party hats, noisemakers, and birthday candles rolled across the ground.

“I am going to go find my friends to invite them to the party,” I said. I then climbed a tree and jumped off trying to fly. I just hit the ground really hard.  “Still can’t fly,”

“Well, just think happy thoughts,” she said running around decorating everything. I swear she was trying to decorate air. “Just jump from the highest place you can find. Why don’t you try jumping off the town hall?”

“OK!” I said running down the street. “Crap!“ I thought running back to Pinkie Pie. “I almost forgot. Where is the town hall?”

“Just go straight you’ll get there eventually,” She said shrugging.

“Ok.” I said running off again.

An hour later I finally found the town hall. “Ok good, now time to fly,” I thought as I climbed the tower.  “1.” I said backing up as far as I could go. “2.” I said just remembering I had no idea where to go. “3.” I said starting to run and jumping off the roof.  As I was half flying half falling, I realized something. I can’t land.

CRASH! Glass was flying everywhere and I slid across the floor.

“That was new,” I said standing up and looking around. “Hey I found you guys!” I said staring at my lost friends.

“Not again,” the pretty purple alicorn said while I was in a daze.

“Oh look at all the pretty birdies……………………………………..” I said staring around in wonder.

Revelations

As the library slowly filled with ponies of various colors and dispositions, Twilight was having trouble maintaining her sanity with the noise level rapidly reaching deafening levels.

“QUIET!” the alicorn shouted with an intensity produced only by one other, Luna herself.

The entire library became silent, as she moved to retrieve the one pony that was missing. The room he was sitting in was soundproofed by Twilight herself so she wasn’t surprised that he couldn’t hear the volcano of noise in main lobby.

I heard movement behind me and turned around only to see my new teacher standing there.

“I’ve only started getting into the basics…” I started out. Yet was cut mid sentence by

“Your friends are here.” She stated with a small twinge of annoyance in her voice.

“Ohhhhh, crap she must not like the library so packed” I thought to myself.

As she led me to the others another thought crossed my mind, causing me to sinker “Gregg must be REALLY enjoying himself.”

As I entered the lobby I was met with four bright happy faces and one slightly disgruntled one.

Twilight smiled as the friends embraced for the first time since waking up.

“How have you all been?  I mean besides the possible second degree burns and concussions?” I said with my trademark sarcasm.

“Well I crashed through a window. No wait two windows!” Crystal Rose exclaimed excitedly.

“You know you owe me for that right?” Twilight said visibly irritated.

“Well she would need a job to do that now wouldn’t she?” I quipped at my teacher. She looked at me obviously frustrated but at the same time defeated.

“So back on topic, we need a plan if we need to stay here for any extended period of time.”  I said, my ROTC training kicking in. Just then a knock was heard at the door. I looked over to Twilight who had a look of reassurance on her face as she went to the door. As the door opened both me and Bass almost died at the sight of who was at the door.

“Hiya everypony,” said the pink blur that had gathered us up into an impromptu group hug.

“Pinkie darling please let them go before they start turning blue,” said Rarity.

Trying not to sound rude I asked “What are you all doing here?”

“Well sugarcube we came to help ya’ll find a place to stay will yer here, “commented Applejack.

“That’s nice of you all but we don’t have any bits.” I said with a note of caution.

“Um we were talking and we decided that it might be good if some of you stayed with some of us until you could get your own places, if that’s ok with you all,” whispered Fluttershy.

“Well I need to stay with Twilight to finish my studies but I don’t know if there is enough room for me.” I said worried.

“Don’t worry I have had the basement renovated into a guest room so there is plenty of room here for you my new student.” She said putting emphasis on the last to words to break the news to all present.

Other than a few gasps from my friends and hers the reception to the notion was well received.

“This is going to gut into our flying lessons, isn’t it?” asked a concerned Rainbow Dash.

“Unfortunately yes Dash, I’m sorry but his studies take priority over learning how to fly,” she said matter of factly.

I looked at dash and mouthed “I’m sorry” to which she simply responded with a shrug and a smile.

“So if I’m staying with Twilight who do the rest of you want to stay with?” I asked my friends.

“Well I guess I would stay with Pinkie, it just makes too much sense not to,” said Crystal..

“I couldn’t agree more!” me and Pinkie said simultaneously.

“Well who would like to stay in the boutique with me?” asked Rarity.

“Did you say boutique?” asked KindWind.

“Why yes darling, I am Ponyville’s premiere fashonista after all.

“I’m going with her,” she said in a no nonsense tone that rivaled even my own.

“Aww, no one wanted to stay with me! But I’m so awesome!” exclaimed a disappointed Rainbow Dash.

“Sorry Dash but the rest of us couldn’t live with you, I know I don’t know the cloud walking spell and besides it’s only temporary,” said Bass with an apologetic look on his face.

“What about you two?” Twilight asked.

“Well to be totally honest I would really like to stay with Octavia and get to know her better, sorry,” Autumn cautiously stated.

“And I would like to try to be Vinyl’s roommate but I’ll stay with Fluttershy for now,” Bass said looking towards the yellow Pegasus.

“That’s…nice” she said quietly.

“Ok now that that is settled lets all go get some rest, this has been a crazy day for all of us and I think it’s in our best interests to get some sleep,” commented Twilight.

“Well Key looks like you’re coming with me,” Applejack said.

“Ok I guess I’ll go along with this,” Key said nonchalantly.

“What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Applejack questioned.

“Nothing I was being sarcastic, let’s go,” Key said as he followed Applejack to Sweet Apple Acers.

“Well I guess I’ll get back to my studies, good night Twilight,” I said politely.

“Good night Ram see you in the morning,” she said as the door to the study closed.

Divide by Zero

I was feverishly working on my studies for what only seemed like a few hours. Then I looked at the clock: 11:30a.m… on Monday.

“I have been in here for three days? Really?” I thought to myself as the symptoms of sleep deprivation and prolonged hunger hit one by one. First was incoherent speech.

Twilight recognized what was happening almost immediately as she had been through something very similar.

“Ram? Oh sweet Celestia are you O.K?” Came the concerned voice of my teacher as stepped out of her soundproofed study and stepped past a mirror. My mane was disheveled, my coat was matted and slightly discolored, and my horn was sparking randomly form the overexertion.

“imdihgssjusttefiinetwwilghhuu…” was all I could manage before collapsing.

“Oh for Luna’s sake Ram,” She said with a scolding tone she usually took with Spike. “You need some sleep. Let me help you to your room.”

“No…must… get back… to… studies…” I croaked out leaning on my teacher.

Then the second symptom hit, Hysteria.

My eyes snapped open as I began to look for any signs of caffeine or something similar. Putting my new senses to work my new nose quickly located a coffee pot in the kitchen and I made a dash for it. Using my telekinetic spell I fumbled with the machine and the various odds and ends of the coffee maker. However my brain was not registering that I hated coffee and in my panic I opted for chewing on the grounds witch in retrospect probably was my worst idea so far.

As I choked and gagged on the grounds Twilight rushed in to see what was going on. All she saw was a shaking unicorn covered in coffee grounds and speaking spasmodically.

“Ram I know what you are going through just let me get your friends here,” She said as she sent a letter to my friend’s residences.

I shot up and looked at Twilight with a crazed look in my eyes as I screamed

“I’M NOT CRAZY YOU’RE CRAZY, ESPECIALY YOU NAPPA!”  Shooting a hoof at Spike who simply look confused and walked away.

Twilight was feeling quite a few things at the moment but the one thing that she was confused about was the new feelings of concern for her student.

“This must be what Celestia felt when I went through this.” She thought as she franticly searched for a way to calm her student.

“I HAVE THE SHINYEST MEAT BICYCLE!” I shouted while being hit with an immobilization spell.

This unfortunately didn’t stop my mouth from moving, which at this point was moving so franticly Twilight decided to shove an apple in my mouth to shut me up.

She then decided to move me into the guest room for comfort as she heard a knocking at the door. As my friends walked in they asked Twilight what was happening and she simply stated “Me, all over again,”

This caused Bass’s ears to perk up as he said “Oh sweet Celestia. Where is he?”

“He is in the guest room immobilized…with an apple in his mouth,” She said flatly.

This caused his friends to snicker but that was quickly shut out with a glare from Twilight.

“HE IS BREAKING DOWN RIGHT NOW AND YOU ARE LAUGHING AT HIM!” She shouted.

Then all of my friends looked down in shame as the realization of what they had done.

As I saw my friends walk into the lobby my nerves began to calm down but my hysteria began to manifest in my horn causing a bright olive light and sparks to cover the entire lobby. At this point my friends walked over and hugged me. My eyes shot wide as a registered that they still thought my well being was something to be cared for. My hysteria subsided and my eyes gave out as a slept for the first time since being pulled here.

When I woke I immediately looked at the clock: 9:00a.m. On…WEDNSDAY! I immediately ran down stairs to see something I rather didn’t expect. Sitting on the couch was Rarity and Sweetie Bell. Sweetie turned to me and smiled. I couldn’t help but return the smile yet; I turned to Rarity and asked “What brings you to the library today? I didn’t hear that Twilight was expecting visitors,”

“Well darling Twilight asked me to have Sweetie here talk to you about your magic troubles,” She stated.

I gave a cautious look towards the little filly and asked

“Well Sweetie what do you want to talk to me about?”

“Well I just wanted to tell you that even if you don’t have a lot of magic that doesn’t mean you have to push yourself to reach something you don’t need. Look at me I can’t to a lot of magic yet either but I can still get by.”

And with that my heart melted and I began to sob.

Through this though I managed to get out

“I was only studying so hard in order to find a way for me and my friends to get home. But through the entirety of portal spell books I looked at, the one Luna used was a one way spell.” As my voice broke and wavered I felt two sets of hooves wrap around me and through my tears I saw Rarity and Sweetie Bell on either side of me and I couldn’t help but hug them back as I thought

“This can still work… hopefully.”

Conformity

I had asked Twilight to call my friends to the library.

“I have discovered a…terrible, truth about the spell used to bring us here.” I said cautiously.

“How terrible…is terrible?” asked KeyClicker with obvious concern.

“The spell used to bring us here was…one way, there is currently no way to get us back to our original states or our world. I’m so sorry, I’ve been doing nothing but research portal spells since we woke up but even after discovering the spell Princess Luna used, Twilight assured me that the spell was one way.” Tears clouded my vision and showed how distraught I was. Breaking this news to them had not been easy. I noticed my teacher had wrapped a wing around me and I felt safe, protected.

I looked at all my friends and saw nothing but raw emotion. Autumn Song looked mentally shattered but seemed to come to terms rather quickly. Key on the other hand had his jaw on the floor and shock in his eyes. That shock turned to disbelief and then to anger as he stormed out of the library not knowing where to go or what to do. Finally Crystal, Bass and Kind looked concerned but that concern melted away knowing the world they were in and shrugged off the doubts they had about staying as now they had no choice.  I looked at Bass “So you seem to be enjoying yourself what happened to you over the past couple of days?”

His ears perked up as he said “Um YES! What did you expect form me dude?”

I smiled warmly and said “Nothing less man, nothing less.”

“As for what happened, I may have found a way to bunk with Vinyl.” He said confidently.

“And how, pray tell are you going to accomplish this?” I question.

“Well I plan on performing at the welcoming party and hope to catch her attention,” he said confidently.

“I have the utmost faith in you, but other things need to be taken care of now. We need to find Key before he hurts himself,” I said concerned.

“Agreed,” was his only rebuttal as we left the library.

“Where do you think he went?” I asked.

“I think we should just follow the carnage,” he deadpanned as he motioned his hoof toward the town. I look and saw several ponies recovering from being trucked over. Similarly several market stalls had also been knocked over.

“Well this is… unexpected,” I said astounded by the carnage reeked by a single distraught earth pony.”I never thought he was capable of something like this,”

“Me neither” he said quietly.

As we walked through the destruction a familiar grey mare was flying buy seeming not to notice the destruction around her. Bass and I nearly died as we came face to face with Ponyville’s mail mare.

“Hi Derpy!” we said excitedly startling the poor mare into a recently up righted rose cart.

“Hi there, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two before, and I know practically everypony,” she said as she helped, who I can only assume was Roseluck, right her cart before turning back to us. We nearly died as those big wall eyes looked into ours.

“No we haven’t met. My name is RamCard and this stallion here is BassTrot,” I said resisting the urge to “squee” as loudly as possible. Bass however was not as composed as he seemed to be literally babbling incoherently.

“Well we need to go and find our friend we’ll talk to you later Derpy!” I exclaimed as I ran dragging Bass by the tail as we went. After about a hundred yards I let him go as I said “Can you walk again or are you still stuck up your own plothole over meeting Derpy.”

“I’m good,” he said shakily as he got up brushing the dirt out of his coat and tail.

“I think I see him over there by the tree, let’s go,” I said as I trotted toward the tree with Bass following close behind.

(Shift to Key Clicker’s Perspective)

I didn’t care to stop or even avoid anyone or anything, I just ran. I ran to the point of my legs trembling and pushed myself even farther until sheer exhaustion clamed me. I collapsed panting and sweating against what looked like an apple tree. I didn’t know what to think anymore and I didn’t want to think anymore. I could never go home and I felt destroyed. By the time my breathing had slowed I felt myself fall further into the grooves of the tree. However it gave a huge jerk and I tumbled away from it with an apple hitting me on the head.

“OUCH!” I screamed rubbing my head.

“Key, that you?” sounded a familiar southern accent.

“Hi, Applejack,” I muttered.

“What’s got your tail in a twist now?” she asked harshly

“Nothing you should be concerned about,” I shot angrily.

“Consider’n you live on my farm it does concern me, so spill it!”

At this point I was beyond snapping I was full blown ranting, “You want to know what’s got me upset, FINE I CAN NEVER GO BACK HOME, EVER! AND IM STUCK HERE IN THIS FANTASY LAND THAT I NEVER ASKED TO BE IN! There I said it now can you leave me alo…,” at this point I saw Applejack sitting there her mouth agape and the pain of true loss shined in her eyes as she muttered,

“I know how it feels to lose family,”

“I’m…I…,” I stuttered trying to find the right words but was cut off by Applejack.

“Look here sugarcube, I can’t pretend to know what you’re goin through but I can say this you will never be alone here at Sweet Apple Acers or here in Ponyvile as much as you want to be,” she said as she tipped off her Stetson.

“Talk to em, your friends, you need it,” she continued as she replaced her hat. At this point I heard two sets of hooves as Bass and Ram came up to me.

“Dude, are you ok?” Ram deadpanned.

“Does it look like I’m ok?” I deadpanned right back.

“No and that’s why we came to find you, you need to cope and if we can help you do this, than we will,” Bass said confidently.

“Thanks guys,” I said sympathetically

“Good but we still need to head towards the lake we wouldn’t want to be late for our own party now,” Ram said enthusiastically.

As we began to walk towards the lake one thought crossed my mind “Party? What party?”

After the boys had left, the girls were hanging around the library, but not for very long.

“Hey…..what’s your name again?” Crystal whispered over to Autumn.

“Autumn?” She said it more like a question.

“Okay, so what’s my name?” she whispered back.

“How am I supposed to know?”Autumn yelled to her friend.

“Well I don’t know either. Let’s go ask Pinkie!” she yelled before sprinting out the door.

“Hey! Wait up! Uhh....yeah,” she said hesitantly, running after her.

The both of them continued to sprint through ponies in the town, and soon ended up near the lake.  Continuing their race, Crystal reached the lake first and spotted a familiar purple and green dinosaur.  She slammed on her brakes after making him spin around, and had a “phew” moment right before going into the lake, but as she turned around, it was too late.  Autumn couldn’t stop fast enough, and she ran straight into her.  Crystal fell in with a huge splash, and came up yelling, “SPIKE!!!!”

Both ponies turned around to stare at the dinosaur, and he looked slightly creped out by the two.

“How do you know my name?” Spike questioned.

“Oh well….you see….,” Autumn tried to explain but failed to do so. Lucky for her, there seemed to be acue for another pony to come in.

“PINKIE!!” Crystal screamed running towards the pink pony.

“CRYSTAL!!” Pinkie yelled running in the same direction as her.

Of course, they missed each other, and Pinkie went straight towards Autumn instead.  Because she was too close to the water, well you can guess what happened after that.

“Splash!” Autumn landed straight in the lake with Pinkie following after her.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Crystal yelled jumping back in the water again.

After coming up from the water, Autumn saw no one else in the water with her.

“Crystal? Pin…” Before she could finish her question, she was sent flying through the air and hit the ground with a thud.  “Ugh,” she groaned.

“Oopssorryididntmeantothatijustwantedsomemorefuntothispartywhat’syourname?” screamed Pinkie magically appearing in front of Autumn.

“Ugh,” she groaned again.

“Ugh? That’s an interesting name, but it’s nice to meet you! Now if you don’t mind I have to finish decorating getting the food getting thesuppliesohmanican’tbelieveiforgottheconfettiireallyneedtogogetthattooandohcrystalyoucanhelptoo,” she said all in one mouthful as she seemed to vanish to the other side of the lake.

“Did someone say my name?” Crystal shouted finally appearing from under the water.

Finally coming back into reality, Autumn walked over to Pinkie who seemed to be concentrating very hard on something as Crystal came over too.

“Hey Pinkie….oh my god is that a cannon! Can I try it? Pleasepleasepleaseplease?” said Crystal.

“Yes sure if I can get it working!” replied Pinkie.

“Ohohohoh let me help let me help let me help!” she said while going behind the cannon.  “Oh shiny button!”

“No don’t press….” Autumn didn’t have time to reply before she was shot backwards from a blast of confetti. “That.”

“Let’s do that again!” said Crystal as she stood in front of the cannon. “Woohoo! I’m flying!” she shouted as she was shot through the sky. It just had to be at that time that the boys decided to show up.

“Weeeeeee!!!” shouted Crystal as she fell from the sky with confetti falling around her.

“Wait, what was that?” questioned Key as they approached the lake.

Turning towards the sky, Ram shouted, “RUN!!”

They began to run towards the forest, while yelling, “NOOOO!!” Key tripped over his new hoofs and fell to the ground very hard. Once Bass turned around to check on his friend, he continued running and went straight into a tree.  While all of this happened, Crystal finally hit the earth or should we say Ram.

“That was fun! Let’s do it again!” Crystal said happily.

(Shifts to Ram’s perspective)

“There are no words to describe the catastrophic amount of pain I’m in right now,” I groaned out as the crimson Pegasus removed herself from the small crater the impact created.

“Sorry! But that was so much fun!” she babbled.

Groaning I removed myself from the crater and proceeded to limp to the picnic table that was set up by the lake. I went over myself, checking for injuries and fortunately found nothing of significance. Looking back at the group eying me with concern I simply stated “Well? Aren’t we supposed to be having a party?”

That brought Pinkie to full attention and she ran off to get the rest of the town leaving me and my friends at the lake. My friends began to sit around me and I smiled at them with several smiles returned to me. “POP” the sound of a teleporting spell tore me from my contempt state causing me to jump. The end result being me smashing my face into the ground. Groaning again I looked up to see Twilight snickering at me.

“Well that was unexpected” I thought to myself disgruntled.

“Sorry I though you would at least prepared for stuff like that,” she apologized

“Well think about it… I’ve spent the last four days locked in a soundproof study furiously researching the limitations of my magical capabilities, what part of an unexpected teleport should I expect?” I said poking through her logic.

“Well you do have a point there,” she said with a defeated tone. I turned to look behind her and noticed a few ponies coming over the hill lead buy a bouncy pink blur.

“LETS GET THIS PARY STARTED!” cried the enthusiastic party pony.

With that the telltale two tone blue mane appeared behind her and moved towards a large set of turntables. A set of records were levitated on to the tables as a low hum began out of the speakers.

“LETS DROP IT!” she screamed as the low hum became a thunderous roar as the records spun faster. With that a confidant Bass walked up to the turntables and picked up the microphone in his magic. Looking at the DJ confidently he said “Well allow me my dear,” and began to perform for the party. I watched as a torrent of beat boxing erupted form the muzzle of one of my closest friends. Shocked Vinyl gawked open mouthed as the pony in front of her matched her sound system beat for beat. The song ended with an 8 bit chip tune flourish. Vinyl removed her glasses and walked over to Bass “Dude I’ve never seen anypony match my system before let alone with their voice,”

“Thanks, you have no idea how much that means to me,” Bass said shyly.

“You know I have extra space at my place if you’re looking for a place to stay. Tavi already brought in a new roomy and there is still another guest room if…you want,” she said faltering at the end.

“YESIWOULDLOVETOO!” Bass blurted out before falling over.

“Um is he ok?” Vinyl asked as I walked up.

“Yes he’ll be fine just… let him recover from the shock,” I said sarcastically.

“Well when he wakes up give him this,” she said as she floated a note over to me.

“Will do,” as said as she returned to her turntables to begin another set.

“Well looks like you did it man,” I thought returning to the party to mingle.

As the party dragged on began I began to notice…things, especially around the punch bowl, where a very interesting situation was playing out. Berry Punch was drunkenly hitting on Key despite his adamant refusal. However I managed to get a few snippets of the conversation.

“No”

“Aw come on baby I could show you a great time” pleaded Berry her words slurred.

“No” Key deadpanned

“Well maybe you just need a little more…incentive” she said sultrily

“What do you mean…incentive?” Key questioned cautiously.

Realizing what was about to happen I shot a small telekinetic spell at Berry’s front legs as she began to spin in place. Thankfully the blast uprooted her enough to where she slid a few feet away from Key. Berry ended up in front of a few Pegasus stallions so I decided to leave her alone. However two other mares didn’t share my idea however. I looked and saw Crystal and Autumn whispering to each other and looking over at Berry.

“Did you just see that?” Crystal whispered excitedly.

“Yes I did” Autumn shot at her with a glare aimed at Berry.

“Hmm… I know let’s throw apples at her!” Crystal chided.

“Lets” was the only reply.

I gulped remembering how hard both Crystal and Autumn could throw things. I positioned myself between Berry and the girls hidden but still in the party…then the first apple flew. Acting as quick as my magic would allow I made mad grabs for the rouge fruit. However fruit became the least of my worries as several beams of wood came hurtling towards the still unaware mare.

“CRAP” I thought to myself as I made grabs for the carpentry only to realize that a kitchen sink was in the air. Grunting I reached out and caught it with the last of my magic as I cried “PINKIE STOP GIVING THEM AMUNITION!”

The two disgruntled mares turned to see Pinkie sitting there with a pile of stuff that she was handing them.

“Aww but it’s so fun!” Crystal shouted with a frying pan in her hoof. My eyes go wide as several large metal objects started flying towards me. Quickly casting a shield spell I smirked at the crimson Pegasus who then proceeded to grab Spike and hurl him at me. The realization that a living creature was hurtling towards me caused me to drop my shield which inadvertently caused Spike to hit me in the chest.

“Run!” I yelled at him. He took off running towards town as a stool flew towards me.

“That’s ENOUGH!” I exclaimed as I caught the stool and slammed it hard into the ground. The party fell silent all eyes were on me. The mounting embarrassment caused me to want to diffuse the tension but I seized up.

“Its fine everypony it’s getting late so I think you should all head home, I’ll handle this,” came the quiet voice of my teacher. Calming down I relinquished my grip on the stool as I followed my teacher back to the library. Nobody noticing the coat of frost on the stool…

Intrigue

      I awoke to the sounds of several books hitting the floor. Groaning I began a blind trek up the basement stairs, opening the door proved to be a mistake as a rather large tome forcefully struck the top of my muzzle resulting in me falling down the stairs. Groaning louder caught the attention of my teacher.

“Ram? What happened to you this morning,” she said trying to beat around the bush.

“Book…nose…stairs…pain,” I croaked out as I struggled to my hooves.

“He he he…sorry about that, I’ve just been so frustrated lately.” She grumbled. “Spike is there anymore of the relaxant left?” she called.

“Nope you used it all last night to try to get to sleep…again,” he called back with a teasing tone. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Twi downing basically anti energy drinks in her attempts to quell her own mind.

“Twilight, why exactly where you up all night for?” I quizzed.

“Just that stupid box that the Tree of Harmony spit out, I haven’t found anything in this entire library about it,” she said as her tone slowly grew as her frustrations boiled over.

“Twilight calm down, let’s just head over to Zecora’s to get some more of that relaxant. Maybe she knows something about the box?” I said trying to give her some hope.

“Actually you might be right Ram, she did have that weird potion too, it stands to reason that she might know something about the box too!” she exclaimed bouncing in place at the prospect of learning something new. We began our trek towards the Everfree Forest when I began to fell a strange presence.

“Twilight? Do you feel that?” I asked visibly shaking.

“Fell what?” she asked confused.

“I can feel this dark presence, here; use a mind share spell to see if you can feel what I do,” I looked at her, she saw the fear in my eyes and decided to at least give me the benefit of the doubt. As her horn touched mine I saw her eyes go wide as she felt the presence. She recoiled in a reaction that could only be one of pure fear. As I continued to look into her lavender eyes I noticed something odd, under the fear I saw a torrent of emotions. There were three that stood out to me; disbelief, recognition, and anger, pure rage.

“Twilight you know something don’t you?” I prodded.

“Yes, unfortunately I recognize the presence that is plaguing you,”

“What? What is it?” I asked excitedly. “Finally some answers!” I thought I she began to speak.

“The feelings that plague you are something I haven’t seen in a long time. They are from an evil that I helped destroy over a year ago. I thought he could never manifest again but… the being that plagues you is none other than King Sombra himself,” She said sternly. This caused me to stop in my tracks.

“That’s… impossible… you destroyed him,” I breathed

“I thought that too but apparently we were wrong,” she deadpanned.

“Should we be worried? I mean he is the lord of fear itself,” I said with strain in my voice.

“No we shouldn’t,” she deadpanned  “Even if it is him he would still be too weak to be able to inflict any major damage,” she said confidently “Along with that we still have Cadence and Shining Armor with the crystal heart to deal with him,”

“That seems like a sound conclusion,” I said with my nerves settling slightly. We continued to the forest in silence. Pausing only momentarily to say hi to Fluttershy before we entered the forest. Zecora’s hut wasn’t far in but Twilight still wanted me to stay close to her. I didn’t object as we maneuvered throughout the paths in the forest. Having to detour every once and a wile to avoid some Poison Joke.

“Nasty plants,” Twilight whispered under her breath.

“I think we’re here,” I said with a slight twinge in my voice.

The hut was a tree that had been hallowed out and decorated to seem like there was something terrible that lived here. As we entered strange smells and sights filled my senses but before I could ask a very smooth cadence interrupted my thought process.

“Ah princess what brings you to my space,” she said noticing me “as well bringing as this unfamiliar face,”

“Hello Ms. Zecora my name is Ram Card,” I said outstretching a hoof.

“Your aura is warm yet cold, I wonder what powers you truly hold,” she said a bit confused from the contact.

“Well to answer your question Zercora I need some more of the relaxer that you have,” Twilight said

“You when through an entire bush in a week and yet still more you seek?”Zecora quizzed, concerned about her friends health.

“Don’t worry Zecora alicorns are immune to the effects of addiction…just not the actual effects of the substance,” Twilight chided.

“Well if it’s your biology you can share in the fruits of my herbology,” she said confidently.

“Oh and Zecora,” Twilight called after her, “My student and I have a question for you about the box the Tree of Harmony produced a few days ago”

Looking back at the box the zebra placed a hoof on the box and said, “In this mix a second six must be kept at your side if you are to find out what’s inside.”

“A second six? What does that mean?” Twilight asked herself

“I couldn’t tell you Twilight, maybe we should run it buy everyone else? See what they think,” I said confidently.

“I couldn’t agree more Ram. Thank you Zecora,” Twilight chirped.

“By Zecora, it was nice meeting you,” I said as I followed my teacher out of the hut.

“See you soon you two, let me know what you plan to do,” she said happily as the two left her home.

The Humbled Friend

Well it seemed to go as smoothly as he had predicted without his sibling there. However something felt off, as though this night was his last. Matt quietly sat down on his friends couch fiddling with his pendent as he looked out a window, a half moon, the same moon that had been in the sky on his birthday. Gregg quietly nudged his friends shoulder and said

"Hey, you O.K? You seem distant."

Snapping out of his train of thought he turned to his friends and gave them each a once over in his mind before responding.

Lauren: The glue, as I thought of her, kept us together and our bonds strong despite our frequent playful fights.

Ashly: The eccentric story teller and his longest personal friend from elementary school.

Erica: Relatively new but still quiet the eccentric personality if you push her pas her shell of shyness.

Mev: Possibly the most creative of us and the only other Brony in the group and I appreciate the conversations with him.

Gregg: Gregg was one of the few people he trusted when it came to the gaming world and media in general.

But back to the question,

"Huuhh? Oh sorry I just have this uneasy feeling about tonight. It’s like Death itself is poking me in the ribs, I just can’t shake it."

"Well there he goes being all poetic again." Lauren chimed in.

"I'm being serious Lauren, I think we should call it a night it’s almost six anyways."

The usual clean up happens.....

"Well this was fun but that’s my ride" I said with a slight pain in my voice as a silver Mazda pulled into the driveway.

We all gathered for a group hug as was customary for our hangout.

Yet this was different, as they closed their embrace Matt's pendent sparked and glowed causing an orb to form around the group.

A faint scream was heard from the group as the orb blinked out of existence. Leaving only faint scorch marks on the lawn.

As Matt came to he felt his pendent against his chest still warm from whatever happened. Yet as he looked around he saw nothing but a ring of scorch marks around the entire clearing. This place felt familiar as if he had seen it before or even been here before.

Rustling was heard as he surveyed his surroundings. Quickly he took up a defensive posture over his friends as he was still the only one conscious.

Then a voice was heard above him that rocked him to his very core.

"Welcome to Equestria my little RamCard." said the navy blue alicorn.

Matt only managed one word before collapsing in shock "Luna?"