Normal life was boring. It was the same boring routine every single day – wake up, take a shower, go to school, get back from school, eat, sleep. It was rare that anything ever happened in my life.
Because of this dull, boring routine, I was especially thrilled when I was able to finally move out into to my own place when I graduated high school. Of course, normal adult life was just as boring as when I was a teenager who went to school.
I have friends just like every other person and that helps liven up things. Normally, due to our busy schedules, we try to make time at least once a week to get together, but of course most of the time that doesn't work out. But this week however, we were all able to get Saturday off. The plan was to meet at my house and hang out for an hour or two and then head out for a "night on the town." If only things worked out like that.
That last week of work was torture, we had been waiting for about a month to be able to meet up again so I couldn't wait for that Saturday. But after what felt like forever, the day finally rolled around.
I anxiously waited in my living room for the others to show up. Kevin was here even earlier than he had said, by about 30 minutes. I supposed he was just as ready as I was to see our friends.
It wasn't long after until our other two friends showed up. It was a good feeling to know that they wanted to see me just as much as I wanted to see them.
"So we gonna kick this party off the right way?" Kevin shouted as soon as Lily got through the door.
"Yeah, I'll get the popcorn!" Kristen said, heading into the kitchen.
"So watcha guys wanna watch?" I said sarcastically, as if I didn't already know.
"DEM PONIES!" Kevin shouted louder than anybody else. He always was a loud one.
"All right, all right, which episode do you guys want to watch? I've got Rarity Takes Manehattan, Apple Family Reunion, or…"
"Let's watch Bats!" Lily said as she sat down on the couch.
"We always watch a Fluttershy episode! Let's watch Pinkie Apple Pie!" Kristen shouted from the kitchen.
"No! Let's watch Sonic Rainboom!" Kevin shouted from beside Lily.
"But Applejack is best pony!"
"Anon, who you gonna listen to... Kristen?" Kevin said, mimicking Rainbow Dash.
"How about this, since I'm the host, I'll choose which episode we watch, okay?" I said with a raised eyebrow.
Without waiting for an answer, a slid in the season four disc. Returning to the couch with Kristin, along with the popcorn, I grabbed the remote and selected “Rarity Takes Manehattan”.
"Gee, a Rarity episode, who knew?" Kevin said sarcastically.
"Yeah, so? Besides, Coco's in this one, and she's awesome!" I said rather enthusiastically. Coco Pommel had definitely become one of my favorite characters, but of course Rarity was my overall favorite. Kevin's favorite was Rainbow Dash because she's "20% cooler than all the other candidates." Lily's favorite was Fluttershy because she felt that Fluttershy and she had a lot in common. Kristen liked Applejack because Applejack's strong, determined, and honest, just like her.
Kevin couldn't argue with that; with all the fanfics out there,Coco might as well get an episode.
The show started without another hitch, then the song started. I, of course, sang along, much to the others' dismay. But later in the episode, something very strange happened. Around the middle of the episode, when Rarity freaks about her stolen design, the screen was full of nothing but static.
"Hey! What happened?" Kevin shouted with his hand stretched out toward the TV screen.
"I have no idea!" I grabbed the remote and started hitting buttons: power, input, eject, nothing seemed to be working. Then the screen started flickering in and out, a familiar face slowly being revealed. A gray horse's face with a thick white beard and a pair of thick white eyebrows along with a couple of crazy looking eyes… Discord.
"Now listen closely," Discord slowly began speaking. "I know exactly who you four are, even if you don't," The four of us looked between each other with confused expressions across our faces. "I know that you know who I am, so I'll just skip that part. For now, just know this," Discord's eyes swirled with multiple colors. "my world is about to become your own."
The last thing I remember is hearing the snap of fingers.
I awoke to the throbbing of my head. I reached my hand up like it would somehow ease the pain and that's when I felt it. It was no longer soft like a hand should be, but rather hard. I slowly moved my "hand" in front of my face.
What I saw was a white hoof. My breath quickened along with my pulse. I slowly moved it towards the cold, stone floor I was sitting on and knocked. My worries were confirmed when the sound echoed with a hollow sounding "thunk."
I didn't have much time to worry about my body. "So, you're finally awake."
I jumped at the sudden noise and looked for the source. What I saw was a light brown colored unicorn with a long and wavy, light pink mane and tail. I wasn't able to tell much else about her in the dim light, but even so, she seemed familiar.
"W-who are you?" I asked the strange pony.
"Oh, right," she raised her hoof and flipped her mane. "I look good, don't I? It's me, Kristen!"
I was still a little bit skeptical, I had no idea what was going on and I just wanted to be sure. "How do I know you're really Kristen?"
Her face went blank as she lowered her hoof to the ground. "Your name is Anon and you still sleep with your Rarity plushie."
I raised my hoof up to my lips so fast I almost punched myself. "Shhh! You aren't even supposed to know about that!" She grinned, I still don't even know how she found out about that. "How did you know it was me?"
"Because you look exactly like your OC."
"I do?" I got to my hooves and turned to look at my body. She was right, I was a white pegasus and my mane and tail were both rough and messy looking, yet still presentable, and they were both aquamarine outlined by a darkish purple color. I turned to look at her again and realized that the reason why she looked so familiar is because she looked just like her OC as well. "This is so cool!"
"Hold your horses there, 'Sky Write.' Turn around," She nodded towards the area behind me.
I turned around to be met by iron bars, beyond which lay other cells which held only darkness. It didn't take me long to figure out where we were. "Why are we in jail?"
Kristen shook her head. "I have no idea, but what's worse is that I also have no idea where Kevin and Lily are," she observed the small cell that we were in. "Hopefully they're in a better position than we are."
I followed her gaze around the small room. Suddenly, there was the loud creaking of a door followed by the room being flooded in light. Two figures approached our cell door; one was a tall, white, regal looking pony with her wings outstretched and mane colorful and flowing in the solar wind, the other a much taller, slender figure, similar to that of a snake, which was made up of many different parts from many different animals, Princess Celestia and Discord, respectively.
"I see your friend is finally awake," Celestia said, looking from me to Kristen. "Maybe I can get some answers out of him." She turned back towards me.
"I doubt it," Kristen said, looking at Celestia with what appeared to be hatred in her eyes.
Discord spoke up, "You'd be wise to watch your tongue, Rose Thorn. The Princess isn't in a mood to be tried."
"Now, I'll ask you the same thing I asked your friend: where are Swift Wind and Emerald Isle?" Celestia said without breaking eye contact.
"W-Who?" I was barely able to stammer out.
Discord snapped his fingers and suddenly I was floating upside down, my feet shackled to the ceiling by chains. I was face-to-face with the hodgepodge of animals. "Don't play dumb, kid. You know exactly who we're talking about, your partners in crime, the ones who helped you–"
"Discord!" Celestia shouted.
"I-I really don't know who you're talking about!" Could they have been talking about Kevin and Lily? Wait… Partners in crime? What did we do?
"But, Princess," Discord said with a roll of his eyes, "you can't truly believe that neither of these criminals know anything about their little 'friends', can you?"
"No," Celestia took a step towards Discord and me, "but harming them isn't going to help us find them any faster. Now let him go."
Discord let out a sigh, but snapped his fingers and the next thing I knew is that I was back on my hooves and back inside the cell. I didn't agree with Celestia's methods, but I certainly wasn't going to complain.
Suddenly, the door burst open and a unicorn dressed in golden armor rushed in. "Princess!" He called. "We found them!"
"Good," she looked down at me, "put them in a seperate cell," She turned back towards the guard, "I want a guard stationed at each cell and do not let them speak to each other, do you understand?"
"Yes, your highness!" The guard saluted and waved his hoof at somepony outside. He stepped out of the doorway and the princess, along with Discord, took her leave.
Two more guards walked in after the first had left the room. Each carried a pony. One was a gray pegasus with a black mane, which was styled into a loose mohawk fashion, and tail, which was shorter than my own, but still rough-looking. The other was a deep green earth pony with a dark brown mane and tail, both braided, but her mane was off to one side.
The guards put the other ponies down on the floor of the cell in front of our own, more gently than what I would have thought.
I turned around and saw that Kristen, or rather Rose Thorn, was watching the scene with interest. I could tell that she had the same thoughts as I did on who these other ponies were.
When I turned back around, the guards were locking the cell door and taking their positions in front of each of our cells. Well, what do we do now? I thought to myself as I sat down on the cold, hard floor.
“What do you think is gonna happen?” I asked Rose with a raised eyebrow.
“I don’t know,” Rose said without looking away from the cell opposite from our own.
A swift kick to the metal cell door got our attention as the guard shouted at us. “No talking! I know you heard what the princess said, now shut it!”
I turned back to face Rose, making eye contact with her before shrugging. After looking towards the guard to make sure he wasn’t watching, she mouthed the words “just wait.” She then proceeded to lay on the floor across from me with her head on her hooves. I decided to do the same, it wasn’t like there was anything else to do.
I opened my eyes and looked around drowsily. I must’ve fallen asleep I thought to myself as I got to my hooves. “Huh?” I looked down to see my white hooves on the stone floor. “Oh, right... pony.”
I looked outside of the cell to see that the other ponies were awake. I was about to shout to them, but quickly remembered the guards standing in front of the cell doors. It appeared to be a different pair from the one that was here before.
I glanced down to see that Krist– Rose was still sound asleep. I walked towards her and nudged her with my hoof, of course, she pushed me away and attempted to fall back asleep. I pushed her again, this time a bit harder. “Rose, wake up.”
She groaned. “Rose?” Her eyes opened up a little as she quietly said, “Oh yeah,” She got to her hooves and stretched. “How long have I been out?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, “but there are some new guards, so it must have been a while.”
“Quiet in there!” The guard in front of our cell yelled.
I narrowed my gaze at him, but my attention was quickly diverted as the door outside of the cells opened and Discord made his way in.
He walked to our cell and snapped his fingers. In a split second, both Rose and I found ourselves falling to the ground outside of our cell. As if by instinct, I flapped my wings to soften my landing. Rose, however, fell to the ground face-first. “Don’t try anything funny. You can’t escape from me,” Discord said through gritted teeth. What happened to make Discord angry?
“Okay, first of all: ow!” Rose stood up, rubbing her head. “Second: where are we going?”
“The princess would like to have a little ‘chat’ with the four of you,” He then snapped his fingers a second time and the other two ponies- Emerald Isle and Swift Wind- appeared on the ground next to us.
“How come they didn’t get dropped?” Rose questioned.
Discord lowered his face up to Rose’s. “Because I don’t want to smash them into the ground,” Discord walked past us and through the wooden door. “Follow me and keep quiet. If I hear even a peep out of any of you... well... let’s just say I won’t be as nice as I have been.”
That was nice? I followed the rest of the ponies after Discord.
After we passed through the doorway, the first thing I saw was a magnificent window that depicted Luna and Celestia using the elements to vanquish Discord.
We passed a few other stained-glass windows which showed many other great moments in Equestria’s history. Some of which I couldn’t even recognize, which I found a little bit strange at the time, especially since I had seen every episode of the show up until that point.
We passed through a pair of massive wooden doors and walked up a flight of stairs, which led to another hallway. We passed by several doors which led to different places in the castle, at least, I assumed that they did.
It wasn’t long after that we found ourselves in the throne room with the princesses. Discord led us through the doors and stood beside Celestia, who was seated in her throne.
“Thank you, Discord,” Celestia said without even so much as a glance towards Discord.
“Anytime, Your Highness,” Discord hissed back at her.
Celestia shot him a look, but quickly returned her gaze to the four of us. “I won’t beat around the bush. I will not keep the four of you here any longer. You can’t be trusted in the castle, even with my best guards watching over you.”
“I still say this is a mistake,” Discord said under his breath, but still audible.
“Discord, we’ve been over this,” She turned towards the dragonequus. “there’s no reason to keep them locked up in a cell if there is a way to change their thieving ways!” She returned her gaze to us. “As I was saying, you will not be here much longer. I have arranged for the four of you to stay in Ponyville under the watchful eyes some of the most trustworthy ponies I know, the former bearers of the Elements of Harmony: Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie.”
I was stunned. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to meet the Mane Six! But that excitement didn’t last very long. I quickly realized that each of them already knew about what we had, apparantly, done. This would mean that they already had their minds set on the type of ponies we were, which wasn’t good.
“I have already informed them of the situation and they are preparing for your arrival as we speak. My sister and I have decided that this is the best course of action, as they were able to reform Discord.”
“Yes,” Luna spoke up, not quite as loudly as I had expected. “we have also agreed that you all leave without delay. Discord will take the four of you to the train as soon as you each put one of these on.”
Four small, silver bracelets floated towards us in Luna’s magical grip, one for each of us. “What are they?” Swift Wind said. He certainly sounded a lot like Kevin.
“These,” Celestia motioned towards the bracelets. “are tracking bracelets. They will allow us, along with Twilight and her friends, to track you wherever you decide to run off to. They have been infused with a special magic that cannot be dispelled by anypony, save my sister and myself.”
The four of us examined the bracelets. It appeared to be a normal bracelet that slides right onto a pony’s hoof. I took the bracelet out of Luna’s magic and slid it on my left hoof. I didn’t understand, if they slip on that easily, then what’s to stop us from taking it off? My question was quickly answered as I felt it tighten around my hoof. I tried to pull it back off, but it wouldn’t budge in the slightest.
I looked up to see everypony watching me struggle with the bracelet. Realizing that it would’t come off, I lowered my hoof back down to the tiled floor.
“Now the rest of you, put them on,” Celestia ordered.
They all obeyed and put the bracelets on, all of which tightened as soon as they were on.
“Now, Discord,” Celestia turned to Discord. “take them to the train and watch it until it departs. They may have trackers on, but I don’t want to keep Twilight waiting.”
“Yes, Princess,” Discord half-bowed and led us out of the castle.
The outside was incredibly bright, how long were we in there? I looked up to the sun and saw that it was as high in the sky as it could possibly get. If it works the same here as it does on Earth, then it should be noon. Celestia may raise and lower the sun, but it should take the same amount of time to rise as it does to lower.
Discord led us through the crowded streets of Canterlot. The other ponies still seemed to be a bit wary of him, but I couldn’t really blame them. They all tried to keep out of his path, so it didn’t take long to reach the train station.
“Here we are, ponies, the train station,” Discord said sarcastically.
The train was already there, boarding ponies for the next town. “All aboard to Ponyville!” The conductor shouted as the last few ponies boarded the train.
“Alright,” Discord said half-heartedly. “you all have your trackers, right? Yes, of course, I still think this is ridiculous, but I can’t do anything about it, or else the princesses would surely take the elements back and have me turned back into stone. So, off you go!”
The four of us looked between each other before boarding the train. As I boarded, I heard Discord sigh and say, “They grow up so fast, don’t they?” He was, no doubt, trying to make somepony uncomfortable.
