Chapters The shadows loomed heavily around the Everfree Forest, the soft rain leaving the forest soaked with water and sap, coupled with the soft smell of growing shrubbery. The darkened sky promised the chance of more rainfall soon, with even possible lightning. However, in the small, sinister hut lined with all sorts of foreign masks, five ponies and a zebra gently sat inside, with four of the ponies wheezing every few moments from a rare illness.
Rarity give a soft sigh, her dark turquoise uniform slightly ruffled, her three-colour bowtie hung at an angle around her neck. Glancing around the dark room, purely lit by candles, she noticed Zecora, the local herbalist, reading through yet another book. Gently shaking her head, Rarity turned to the other ponies, and her gaze darkened.
"Is there nothing else we can do? Absolutely nothing?" Rarity choked, her voice grating and broken as her gaze met with her zebra friend.
"I'm sorry, Rarity, but I don't think there is anything else..." Toe-Tapper rasped, his golden eyes glancing over to Rarity, before the room around him, and silently voiced his suspicions about the rows and rows of oddly coloured bottles. He gently gave a flick of his dark-azure mane and gave a broken sigh, "Just a shame we have to disappoint everypony..."
"Toe-Tapper..." Rarity sighed, tipping her head downward and looking to the wooden floor, digging her fore-hoof into the floor, "Zecora, is there anything?"
"I'm sorry for this illness, friends, but there is no instant cure for this sickness..." the Zebra sighed with her heavy accent, her fore-hoof stretching out and grasping another book.
Releasing yet another sigh, Rarity forced herself to stand up, "I'm sorry, Zecora, for wasting your time..." she muttered, about to start heading towards the door, until there was a soft, gentle tap, and it was pushed open slightly.
Standing in the doorway was a pure white pegasus mare with what seemed to be tiger stripes across her body, with a pure white mane with black tips on the end.
"Oh, sorry if I interrupted anything, I'll come back later if I have to," the mare apologised, taking a step backwards.
"No, no. It's fine. You're not interrupting anything," Rarity waved her hoof dismissively, allowing her to enter.
"Rarity? Are you alright? What happened?" she asked softly, walking over to her friend, her eyes wide with fear.
Rarity looked to the floor, "At first we thought this was just a bad case of the cold, but we're starting to think it's something worse... We came here to possibly get a cure for the show, but it doesn't seem that way..."
"Oh, that's terrible... On your last show as well..." she muttered sympathetically, gently rubbing Rarity's back, "Are all of you guys affected by it?"
"I'm afraid so..." rasped Toe-Tapper, his eyes filled with sadness, "Sorry for asking, but, what is your name anyway?"
"Oh, sorry. My name is Silent Paw, but most ponies just call me either Paw or SP. Either way, I don't mind," she replied with a smile.
"We met a little while ago, when she came to the boutique to place an order for a dress, but we ended up getting into a rather lengthy conversation, and eventually became friends," Rarity explained to her other friends, before shaking her head dismissively, "But the entire story is not important at the moment."
"So are you guys gonna like, cancel the show or..." Paw paused, raising a hoof questionably towards her friend.
"It very much seems like that..." Rarity sighed. She always did hate disappointing other ponies, but they just couldn't sing at that time, "I seriously doubt this will heal in less than a week..."
"Oh... I was really looking forward to the show as well... unless..." Paw's face instantly lit up as an idea entered her head, "I mean, I know this band called the Pentatonix in another realm, that Kitty showed me."
"Kitty?" Torch Song asked, her voice the most badly effected out of them all.
"She's my friend from the other realm. It's a long story, but I remember her showing me this AMAZING band called the Pentatonix, and oh my Celestia, they are so amazingly good, ImeanWORDScan'tevendescribehowgoodtheyareseriouslyTHEYAREAMAZING!!" she spoke as fast as she could, and ending her small rant off with a loud 'Eeeeeeek!' and an inward coil of excitement.
Everypony stared at her as if she had grown a second head, but she simply gave a sheepish grin, before clearing her throat nervously, "I mean, they are purely a cappella group, which would fit with you guys, and they are a five member group as well. They can fill in for you guys, if you want, so you wont have to cancel it or anything."
Rarity paused, studying the notion of another band filling in for them, "Hm... I guess.... it means that we're not disappointing anypony..."
"Wait," Toe-Tapper interrupted, confusion drawn across his face, "Didn't you say they were in a different realm?"
"Yeah," Paw replied with a smile growing across her face, with Toe-Tapper tilting his head, looking completely perplexed, "I can send a message to them," her eyes flung open and she gave a loud gasp, "Ohmygosh!! I can go and actually meet them!"
"I'm not sure... Fluttershy, Big Mac, Tapper, Torch, are you guys on board with this?" Rarity turned and asked her friends uncertainly.
"I'm fine with it," Fluttershy muttered, giving Rarity a quick, reassuring smile, her voice seemingly unaffected by the illness, but they guessed it was that she didn't spend as much time with the others, since she had to care for her animals, as there was an influx of baby animals this season, much more than usual.
"Eeyup," Big Mac replied simply, his tone just as broken as Rarity's.
"Sure, I guess," Toe-Tapper shrugged, but Torch Song simply gave a nod, not wishing to strain her voice more, "But I don't see how you can-"
"Yes!" Paw shouted, thrusting her hoof into the air victoriously, cutting off what Toe-Tapper was about to say, "I'd best go get my stuff! Oooooooooooh! This is gonna be AMAZING!!" she instantly shot towards the door, her wings taking her as fast as possible through the Everfree Forest.
"Oh, never mind..." Toe-Tapper dismissed the thought with a shake of his head, and giving a tired smile.
"Well... that fixed that problem then," Rarity smiled, stealing a glance towards the others, relief painted across their faces.
"Hairbrush... jeans... top... glasses... deodorant..." she muttered, half to herself as she looked through her backpack, checking to see if there was anything she was missing, "Oh- phone," she quickly sped off, and grabbed her small phone, a gift from Kitty, and dropped it into her bag, "Ok, anything else? Hairbrush, jeans, top, glasses, deodorant, phone... um..." she paused. There was definitely something, at the very back of her mind, but what? "Um... Oh!" quickly shooting off again, she grabbed her copy of PTX Vol. 2, and placed it gently into a separate part of her backpack, and quickly put it around her back.
"Off I go..." she muttered anxiously, gently spreading out her wings, and stepping out of her door, 'Now, if I remember correctly, then I'll have to fly for a few hours.... that way,' she twisted her head around to face directly North, where a large, sinister mountain stood, with everything beyond it shrouded in fog. She gulped. 'Well, better get this over and done with...' beginning into a slow trot and building into a gallop, she quickly gained enough momentum to take flight.
"It's been... how long?" she gasped for air, her flight taken more energy out of her than what she expected. She was sitting in a grassy clearing on the mountainside, looking down to her phone, only to see that she had been flying for just over an hour. She released an exasperated shout of disbelief as she felt herself fall backwards, her back laying on the soft grass as she stared into the azure blue sky, with few clouds in sight.
The Everfree Forest was a hidden gateway to the Human realm. Most rumours that were spread say that the magic mirror in Canterlot is the only way to reach the Human realm, but they were anything but right. In reality, the further into the Everfree you got, the stranger and uncontrollable the nature became, until you passed the border into the Human realm. But that was besides the point, Paw was exactly on the border between Equestrian life and Human life, and by this point, she was already feeling the effects.
Her skeletal system did not change much, other than change her forelegs and hooves into arms and hands, and changed her mane shaping slightly. Her muzzle still remained the same, she still had fully functioning wings, her tail was still there and her tall ears were still at the top of her head. And on top of all of that, her skin was a pure white with large, black stripes across parts of her body.
As she pulled on her jeans and purple shirt, she realised. 'If I'm going to meet the Pentatonix, think of how much they'll freak out at the half-pony hybrid standing in front of them. I bet they'll freak out and call the police on me! I'll never return home because I'll be in some testing lab somewhere!' panic slowly began to rise within her as she stared in the direction of Equestria, thinking of how easy it would be to just fly home and avoid the whole situation.
'No! I've not come this far just to disappoint everypony! I'll have to do this whether I like it or not!' she flared her nostrils and stood up, and shot off again, leaving Equestria behind her, 'But let's just hope I'm right...'
Paw stood there shaking. She was staring directly at the house of Mitch Grassi, the home of one of the members of the Pentatonix. She could see clearly see Mitch, Scott, Kirstie and Kevin through the windows. Fear and nervousness dug right through her as she stood, frozen in place.
'C'mon! Go! You have to! Don't disappoint everypony 'cause you chickened out!' her mind shrieked at herself, and she desperately took a step forward, her hoof clicking against the rough tarmac that made the pavement (or sidewalk), before flinching backwards. She never felt so self conscious in her life. She felt so stupid having her entire body be such a glaring white which stood out against everything around her.
Her eyes wide, her body sweating with the ultimate fear, she desperately tried to take another step forward.
"Well, hey there," Paw nearly jumped out of her skin as a sudden, deep voice sounded from right behind her, making her stomach turn to a ball of ice, "Well, aren't you quite the character then?" as the voice came closer, Paw felt a warm hand gently placed onto her shoulder, and she slowly turned to face the man that addressed her, a face she instantly recognised to be Avi Kaplan, another member of the Pentatonix.
"H-hi..." she muttered, her eyes still huge and full of fear as her ears dropped backwards and she let her fringe slipped in front of her right eye.
"Oh, wow..." he breathed, looking directly at her features; the ears, the tail, the wings, the pure white skin, the muzzle, the hooves and the huge, dark brown eyes, "You certainly are quite the character."
"I- well... um I-just- um..." she stammered desperately, trying to formulate proper English, but that seemed to be the last thing that would be happening, before her brain finally snapped, "Oh, please don't hurt me or call the police on me! I swear I'm no monster!" she shouted as she flinched backwards, coiling her arms over her head, with a few tears streaming down her face.
Blinking, Avi paused, staring at the fearful creature standing in front of him, "Hey, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. Look, it's fine." he attempted to reassure her, putting his hand on her back, "Are you lost or something?"
"N-no... I-I was looking for you g-guys.... I'm j-just scared it all..." she muttered desperately, her shivers of fear becoming more and more violent by the second.
"You were looking for us? You mean the Pentatonix?" he asked gently, with Paw nodding slightly, "C'mon, let's get you inside and calmed down..." he decided softly, guiding her towards Mitch's door.
As soon as they reached it, the door seemed to swing open, and standing in the doorway was Paw's other four idols. 'Great, the first -and probably the ONLY- time you meet them, and you look like the physical encarnation of a mental breakdown!' she mentally scolded herself as she looked towards the four in front of her, their eyes glowing with concern and curiosity.
"Hey, you alright there?" she heard the voice of Scott call to her, and she looked towards the incredibly handsome form of Scott standing before her, "Avi, who is this?"
"I'm not sure. When I showed up, she was just, sorta, standing there. So I went up to her to see who it was, and she kind of freaked out a little. I'm not sure she's from here," Avi replied, rubbing her violently shivering back.
"Avi, I think that much is obvious," Mitch stated, watching her shivers, "Hey, do you want to come in for a little while, so you can calm down?" he asked, addressing Paw in a soft, yet pressing tone. Paw simply stood with her head facing downward in shame as her shivers became worse.
"Poor thing!" gasped Kirstie as she went up to her, and wrapped her arm around her neck, "C'mon in. It's ok, you're safe with us," she reassured her, guiding her gently into Mitch's house, and to the closest seat, "Poor thing..."
"How did she even get here?" Mitch asked questionably, his eyes full of sympathy.
"I... I flew..." Paw muttered, wiping the tears away from her eyes and looking towards the five members seated before her, and her nerves instantly started up again. Mitch put a hand on her shoulder for a moment, before deciding to get her something to try and calm her down.
"Wait, you mean to tell us.... you can fly ?" Kevin asked, his jaw dropping even further, as if the talking humanised pony wasn't enough.
"W-well yeah.... the gateway from Equestria to here can only truly be managed by flying..." she sniffed, trying to put her nerves aside so she can relay the message.
"Equestria?" Scott asked, mentally putting two and two together, "Wait, that means you're a pony, right?"
Nodding slightly, Paw looked up, "I... I came with a request for you guys... I guess I sorta wimped out when I got here though..."
"Hey, it's ok now," Avi reassured her once again, forcing Paw to deliver a soft smile, "Now, concerning the request."
"Right... a band in Equestria- a five-piece a cappella band -is sick, and it's their last show as well, so I was coming here to ask..." she paused as she tried to figure out the right wording for the phrase, "Um... would you guys want to fill in for them?"
Scott, Kirstie, Kevin and Avi glanced towards each other, and Mitch re-entered the room with a cup of steaming hot chocolate, and gently sat the cup next to Paw.
"Oh, thank you so much..." Paw smiled towards Mitch, her eyes wide with admiration towards the kind person, before taking a few sips of the luxurious brew.
"Eh, it's no problem," he replied, gently rubbing the back of Paw's ear, and gave a big smile as she inadvertently leaned forward is she felt the sensation, "Dang, you are so cute."
Paw gave a silly giggle as he joined the others, "So.... are you guys up for it?"
Again glancing around, Scott looked up and gave a challenging grin, "Sure. I wouldn't mind seeing the guys again," and with that, a huge grin drew across Paw's face as she hopped onto her hooves, and fist-pumped the air.
"Yeah!" she shouted victoriously, causing the five to grin at her little celebratory dance, "Oh, now I'm so excited!" she continued, jumping into the air, fluttering her wings, "I'd better go and tell the others!" she chanted joyously, finishing off her hot chocolate, "Oh, and thank you guys so much for the hot chocolate.... sorry if I interrupted anything for you guys... I guess I'll see you in Equestria, then," she said, waving her hand as she proceeded towards the door.
"Be careful!" Avi called after her with a short smile, "So, do you think the recording can wait until our return?"
Scott grinned, "I'm sure it can."
Author's Note
I tried to make Zecora rhyme, I'm just so bad at it
How Paw reacted to meeting the Pentatonix is kind of how I envision myself reacting to meeting them, since I am easily freaked out and made very nervous.
Also, I did not describe Mitch's house, since I have no clue what it looks like, and frankly, I don't want to search it up, and I'm sure you can guess why
Dropping himself onto the soft, light-blue aeroplane seat, Mitch glanced in his hand-mirror, seeing his normally well-groomed short hair turned big mess, his blue shirt and joggers dishevelled. He hated aeroplanes. He hated the unnecessary stress it caused him. At least on tour they'd get a heads-up about these sort of journeys, but this time, for him at least, it seemed to happen very last-minute.
Brushing his hand through his hair, he gently fixed it, feeling discomfort and tiredness mix together then sink into his stomach, but he did his best to avoid this dampening his adventurous spirit. His best friends, Scott, Kirstie, Kevin and Avi took their seats close by, and began to start up small talk. Scott took a seat next to him, and gently fixed his red flannel shirt, making sure the word 'Flawless' on the back was perfect, even though no one was there to see it. It was one of his favourite shirts after all, so he didn't blame him for doing so.
"Hey, Scott, where were we going again? I thought our tour ended ages ago," Mitch asked mildly as he continued to fix his dark-brown hair, glancing over to his companion, and giving a short smirk.
"Well... we've extended it a little bit. We're heading off to..." Scott paused as he glanced upwards as he raked his thoughts, before returning the smirk right back to him, "We got hired to fill in for a band in Equestria."
"Equestria?" Mitch tilted his head for a moment, showing a face of pure confusion, before shrugging and giving a grin, "Never been there before! Sounds cool!"
"Oh, that's right, the last time the rest of us were here, you were too ill to come," Scott replied casting to the ceiling for a moment, before turning back to him, "I'm sure you'll love it! The ponies there are amazing!" he reassured him with another kind smile, but Mitch couldn't help but think, 'Huh, convenient... but... I don't remember even having spoken about this place before... Wait, did he just say 'ponies'? I'm sure he means people... At least, I hope...'
Shaking his head of the thoughts, he noticed a small red light with the picture if a seatbelt illuminated above his head. Fitting in his seatbelt, Mitch began to stare out of the small window on the plane as it began to roll forward, and lift off the ground, entering the grey, clouded sky, which promised the land below rainfall. Good thing they were escaping it just before it started.
"So... How long will it take to get there?" Mitch asked no one in particular, his gaze still fixated on the world outside of the window as the plane gained more and more height. However it seemed that, oddly enough, the higher the plane got, the more and more tired he became.
"About two or three hours," replied a bass tone, whom Mitch instantly recognised to be the voice of Avi, coming from directly behind him, "But when we land, you have to remain calm, since something strange will happen." he continued for a few moments, before returning to his chat with Kevin, but Mitch could obviously tell he was trying to cover something up, that much was easy, but what it was, he had no clue.
A few minutes of silence passed before a certain, happy voice chirped from the seat across from Scott, Kirstie. "So, what are you guys gonna' be doing for the Superfruit episode while we're away?"
Mitch gave a soft shrug of his shoulders, his eyes still remaining on the window as the plane burst through the cloud layer, revealing a gorgeous light-blue sky, however, his low energy stopped him from enjoying it as much as he could have. He could tell that both Scott and Kirstie had rolled their eyes at his anti-social act. After all, it was nothing too new for him.
"I think we'll just do, like, a small Vlog or a Q&A session. Depends on what numb-nut over here wants to do," Scott replied with a soft chuckle. Kirstie simply gave a small smile and rolled her eyes, but Mitch didn't want anything to do with this, he simply gave a glare to the window, all of his energy from the coffee he had that morning was somewhat gone. He was too tired and hungry to be bothered with their antics right now, and all he wanted to do now was sleep.
"How much longer?" Mitch asked in the politest tone he could gather at the moment, but no matter how he tried, his tone, poisoned with frustration, still sounded very bitter, warning his friends of his foul mood.
"About... An hour and a half, maybe longer," Avi cautiously replied, unsure of his reaction, but Mitch simply gave an impatient groan, and tore his gaze away from the window. It just got boring now. Just pale-blue sky and clouds got boring for him, seeing the same thing with no stimulation could only hold his attention for so long.
Glancing around, he noticed the others looked slightly... different, but he guessed he was just seeing things, but he could swear that he could see a patch of blue fur creeping out of the edge of Scott's shirt. His hairline was seemingly much further down the back of his neck, with his ears seemingly more pointed, and slightly further up than usual. He looked at his own hands, noticing a small patch of tan fur forming in the palm of his hands, and his finger nails were turning a light nougat colour. He rubbed the back of own his neck, feeling the extended hairline, and a dark void opened in his stomach, but he didn't think it was worth raising the alarm about just yet, so he did his best to stay quiet, and shrug it off.
Looking over, he noticed that Scott and Kirstie were having a rather heated conversation about what they should have to eat when they land, as if they would talk about anything else at this moment, but he couldn't help but notice Kirstie's eyes flicker towards him for just a moment, glowing with some sort of awareness of the strange occurrences happening to him, though he did his best to ignore this as well.
Closing his eyes tight, he gave a tremendous yawn, allowing his jaw to stretch much further than usual. He could almost feel his jaw shifting into a different position, but he passed it of as just another delusion from tiredness. He gently closed his mouth again, allowing his eyes to rest for a moment, his entire body screaming for him to lay back his head and sleep for a few hours. But he wouldn't allow it, seeing as there was probably less than an hour until the plane landed.
"Hey, Mitch, you alright? You can rest for a bit if you want, we'll wake you when he have to go," Scott's voice came, filling his demand.
"Thanks..." Mitch's speech already becoming slurred as he dropped his head against the seat, allowing his body to finally relax and fall into a deep rest.
At least one hour had passed before Scott's voice rang deep in his ear.
"Mitch, wake up! We're going to land soon!"
His eyes opening wide, he noticed his field of view was seemingly much larger, 'Wow, I guess I really was tired!' he thought to himself, giving another short yawn. His nose seemed to protrude further from his face than usual, and appeared to be more of a tan colour to his average skin, but he guessed Scott has played some sort of prank on him. Closing his eyes, he rubbed them gently with his hand, which felt a lot more like rough bone than flesh. His eyes jolting open with surprise, he looked down to see his hands gone, and replaced with smooth, rounded hooves.
"Ah! What the heck?!" he shouted louder than what he probably should have, tossing his hooves away from him and falling back, causing a light blue pony with a blonde, spikey mane to whip round and face him.
"Mitch, are you ok?! Is something wrong?!" the pony said, his voice sounding oddly like Scott's, lifting up its left foreleg in an attempt to place it on his shoulder. Mitch, heavily stricken with fear, violently lashed out, before coiling further into the wall, and a wave of realisation passed the pony's face a few moments later, "Mitch, it's all right, just don't panic and-"
"How do you know my name? Who are you? Where are my friends? What have you done to me?!" Mitch shrieked, panic alarms going off in his head. He tried to comprehend that this pony was talking; let alone in his friends voice, and suddenly it dawned on him. This 'thing' must have done something with his friend. Narrowing his eyes, and baring his teeth, he spoke in a low, threatening tone, "Where is Scott?!"
"I- Mitch! Calm down! It's me! Scott! Mitch, remember, we met in theatre school in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'!" the pony replied quickly, his voice beginning to grow in panic as well.
"H-how do you know that? I-" Mitch was suddenly cut off by the voice which belonged to Kirstie, and noticed the face of a light-pink pony with a long, black mane with a streak of light pink through it, peering over the blue pony's head.
"Mitch, calm down. It's just us. Remember what we said about strange stuff happening?" the new pony interrupted sternly, with the light-blue pony beside him nodding quickly, holding his forelegs close to his body, as if to avoid getting hurt by him.
Calming slightly, he looked at the ground, terror still rattling through his system, "If... if this is the 'strange thing' that happens..." Mitch paused for a moment, his fear turning into vivid rage, lifting his head up, his eyes viciously narrowed, "Then why didn't you tell me it did this in the first place, and this whole situation could have been avoided!" he shouted, flailing his - hooves? - about in the air.
Opening his mouth to say something, Scott promptly closed it again, "And how did we even transform?!" he snarled, seeing the others turn away, and his suspicions rose, "What happened?!" Scott looked directly at the ground, guilt clearly showing in his eyes, "What did you do?" his voice remaining eerily calm as he attempted suppressed his anger
"We... We purposely put you to sleep- but it was for the best. We didn't want you to be scared, is all," Scott replied, turning his head and giving a sheepish grin, as Mitch's face remained flat, but he could see the rage building up in his eyes.
"You expect me to forgive you so easily?!" he began gently, before releasing all of his rage onto Scott, "Well, why didn't you flat out tell me that we were transforming, why did you not just flat out tell me to sleep, why did you not flat out tell me that you didn't want to scare me?! I'm not stupid you know! I-"
"MITCH!" Avi shouted viciously from behind him, making him jump, "Calm down! Now, while you had it easy, sleeping, we had to watch ourselves change! Do you think that is easy? No, far from it! Watching our bodies change into something alien- and remaining calm while doing so -is really hard! So I'd expect someone who got it as easy as you to at least remain somewhat calm!" everyone turned to face Avi, their eyes wide with surprise. They had never, in all there time in being his friend, ever seen him act like that before. He gave a soft sigh, "Sorry..." he apologised, looking to the floor.
His ears dropping, Mitch turned to Scott, "Sorry... I was just..." he muttered quietly, guilt abundant in his tone.
"It's fine," he replied, glancing over to him, but keeping a straight face, causing Mitch to stare at the ground in shame and guilt, 'Well... already been an ass enough today... better get this over with...'
He looked downward to the rest of his body, a small 'meep' of terror escaping his mouth as he looked down to a body he didn't recognise, 'How could the others have watched this happen, let alone remained calm with it...' The soft tan fur covered his entire body, with his legs changed into a pony's leg with an odd joint, with a short, dark brown tail connected to the end of his spine. Looking towards his flank, he noticed a picture of a musical note, with an arrow pointing upward stamped there, and he guessed it was to signify how high pitched his singing voice can go.
"I..." Mitch began, his voice sounding as if it were on the edge of tears, but paused as he noticed wings connecting to his shoulder, forcing his entire body to shudder with fear, "I'm not sure where my hand mirror is gone- not that I could use it anyway since I have no..." he paused again, holding his hooves up, "... hands..."
"Don't worry," Scott said from beside him, a small frown still present on his face causing Mitch to look to the ground again, and flicked his mane aside to reveal a horn protruding out from his forehead, "I'm not sure how this'll work, seeing as it's been a while since I was last here," he glanced to Mitch for a moment, his eyes full of shame, before he closed his eyes and concentrated on putting energy towards his horn. A moment later, and it lit up in a dazzling blue aura, the same colour as his eyes. A small object was surrounded by its aura and was lifted off the ground, and levitated over to him.
"I'm sorry about that Scott... I'm so sorry..." Mitch apologised desperately to his friend.
"As I said, it's fine Mitch. It was my fault for not telling you," Scott replied simply, gently flicking the mirror open, and turning the small mirror to face Mitch.
He gasped as he gazed into the mirror, and into his new equine face. A large set of deep, chocolate-brown eyes stared back at him, and a small muzzle was placed at the centre of his face. His mane was the same colour as his tail, and, though it seemed to be a bit longer than his usual hair, it held the shape of it, even extending down his neck.
"Ok... I... I think I've calmed down now..." Mitch sighed as the plane gently landed, before gently turning to Scott, his eyes wide and apologetic, "I'm so sorry about earlier... I don't know what came over me... But it was certainly not your fault. It was what you had to do, and I accept that... and I'm sorry I put all of my rage onto you..."
Scott gave a soft smile towards his friend, and put his left foreleg around Mitch's shoulders, making him flinch slightly, "As I said, it's entirely fine. You were freaked out by this, and hell, who wouldn't be?" he smiled, taking his hoof out from around him, and began to stand up on four hooves, shaking for a moment as his equilibrium corrected itself, "C'mon, don't want to be late for our show, now, do we?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Mitch muttered, placing his forelegs onto the ground, in an attempt to stand up. Taking a deep breath, he lifted a hoof up, and placed it in front of him. Scott saw what was coming and took a few steps back, and Kirstie couldn't help but giggle, "Hey, this isn't so ba-" his sentence was cut short as he forgot to move his hind legs, and came tumbling to the ground, hitting his chin off the plane seat. He lay there for a moment for dramatic effect, making Scott slightly alarmed, "...Ow."
He grumbled a few curse words under his breath, and tried to stand again, but this time, Scott helped him by levitating any hooves he had forgotten to move, and quickly he got the hang of it by walking up and down the little plane isle, "You can stop levitating my legs now," he said, turning his head back, but was shocked to see Scott's horn wasn't lit.
"I already have stopped for about five minutes now," Scott defended himself, giving a challenging grin towards him.
"Can we go now? My legs are cramped and I want to have a look around," Mitch noticed a deep blue unicorn looking at him with a slightly disgruntled face, and sitting beside him was a deep green pony with dragon wings and two small dragon horns sitting between his ears, and Mitch mentally decided the unicorn was Kevin, and the drago-pony was Avi.
"Oh- oops, sorry," Mitch gave a sheepish grin and quickly went towards the open door leading to the world outside.
As he stepped out of the plane, Mitch instinctively put his hoof over his eyes, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun. He carefully stepped down the stairs, being as careful as possible so as to not trip and fall. As he reached to bottom, he took a few steps to the side, allowing for the others to come down, before grinning and shouting joyously.
“I hope everyone here is ready for the show of a lifetime!”
Author's Note
As for the explanation why the others have been to Equestria and why Mitch had not, is coming soon, to a cinema near you.... not... not actually. But it will be explained. Hopefully. If I decide to not be lazy for once... stay tuned for the next exciting instalment of Dragon Ball- wait.... wrong thing entirely.... Um... the next instalment of World Tour - Extended! ([Insert obligatory celebration here])
Bumpy Ride - Alternative POV (Mini-Chapter)
"Thanks..." Mitch's speech already becoming slurred by sleep as he dropped his head against the seat, allowing his body to finally relax and fall into a deep rest.
Avi gave a soft smile, feeling bad that he had purposely spiked Mitch's coffee that morning with Ambien in order to make him sleep after the caffeine had worn off, but he knew it was for the best. He made a quick mental note to apologise to him later, but right now, he had bigger problems.
He could already feel the soft prickling sensation on his skin as the fur spread across his belly and around and up his back. A soft tingling feeling was present on his stomach, as well as a harsh feeling of dread.
"Kind of starting to regret wearing my jeans..." Avi commented, looking underneath the edge of his T-shirt, seeing a swath of deep-green fur growing fast down his arm.
Kevin chuckled, "Oh well, not much we can do now," he shrugged before continuing, "Though, is it insane for me to say that I kind of like being a pony," Kevin glanced around, seeing Kirstie and Scott raise an eyebrow accusingly at him, "Just me?"
"Depends," Avi replied with a chuckle for a moment, before his face fell. Brushing his hair out of his eyes, already telling it was somewhat longer than usual, and delivered a small frown to his friend as he continued, "Though the fur is disconcerting, to say the least."
"Well, it's not like we have a say, but I dunno," Kirstie admired, flexing her hand which had just been covered in a light pink fur, and was beginning to spread up her arm, "I like it, it's cute, but then again, I'm not sure if your dark green is as cute as my pink though," she continued, sticking her tongue out, pink fur spreading above the collar of her shirt and up the side of her head.
"Kirstie, you have to turn everything into a joke!" Scott shook his head gently, pausing to check if Mitch was alright, before turning back and giving a silly grin, "Though your fur is kind of cute, especially those ears!"
Pausing for a moment, she rubbed the side of her head, feeling where her ears should have been, and colour started draining from her face. She gently reached to the top of her head, until her hand met with soft, fluffy pony ears, and quickly dismissed her fears, "Yeah, I guess they would be cute!" she gave her adorable smile and flicked her newly attained ears forward.
Avi couldn't help but release a tiny "D'aaw", and all of them turned to face him, each of them raising an eyebrow, while Kirstie was barely containing her laughter, "I-I mean... um... cute, I guess."
"Avi, looks tough as nails, but is as sensitive as a new-born kitten," Kevin chuckled, giving him a playful shove, making Avi's cheeks turn a rosy-red colour underneath a coating of green fur, forcing the other two to burst into laughter.
"That's a cute shade of red there, Avi!" Scott choked through his fits of laughter, making him turn an even further red. Rubbing his face, Avi did his best to be rid of the red colour, and quickly, his embarrassment subsided and everyone's laughter died down, and silence ensued for a few minutes, with everyone glancing around awkwardly.
"So...” Avi began, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, the awkward silence becoming too much for him to bear.
"So..." Kevin repeated after him, and gave Avi a challenging glance, narrowing his eyes.
"So."
"So."
"So-"
"So will you please shut up?" Scott hissed with irritation, forcing the others to try to suppress a giggle or two.
Avi forced a small smile, and shifted his legs slightly, feeling the tops of his legs begin to swell up, and he knew it was only a matter of time before his jeans gave way. He had completely forgotten to wear something loose and expandable for his trousers, since the tops of his legs had to expand quite a bit to form flanks, and instead, he wore his least favourite jeans.
'At least I don't have to suffer through losing my favourite jeans and embarrassment... I'll just have to suffer embarrassment...' he gulped, and shifted his legs again, already feeling the jeans beginning to show signs of strain.
"So... um..." Avi started again, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Don't start again..." Scott warned in a semi-serious tone, which he couldn't tell if he was trying to be humorous or not, so he decided to keep quiet for a few moments.
" Hey, Avi..." his newly attained pony ears quickly swivelled around as he heard a small whisper beside him.
"Yeah?" he asked, turning to face Kevin, flinching slightly as he instantly noted his friend's entire body coated in navy blue fur, with two large ears protruding out of the top of his head.
"What food should we get when we land?"
Avi gave a soft chuckle, "Of course you'd ask tha-" Avi's soft whisper was cut short by a rather loud 'Vvvvvvvvvrip!' as his jeans finally gave way, and tore along the seams. 'Oh no...' he thought, his stomach instantly turning to a ball of ice, and his face turned to the heat of flames as everyone turned to face him. Giving a sheepish grin, and avoided eye contact with any of them, and shifted his legs again. Seeing as nothing was holding them back anymore, they swelled up profusely, which didn't help the situation.
"Uh, Avi, what was that?" Scott asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Closing his eyes tight, Avi just wanted the world to delete itself right there and then, instead of letting him suffer this agonising awkwardness and embarrassment.
"It was just his jeans. He forgot to wear something loose, is all," Kevin answered nonchalantly for him.
"Silly Avi!" Kirstie giggled softly, but not in a demeaning way.
He looked down to the strips of torn denim loosely attached by his belt, along with his newly formed flanks, and lifted his hand up, and promptly face-palmed, 'How could I have been so stupid!' he scolded himself mentally, gritting his teeth at his own forgetfulness.
"Don't worry about it, seriously," Kevin reassured him with a short smile, before continuing, "Anyway, how's Mitch doing?"
Scott gently looked over to Mitch, seeing what had become of him, "He's fine, but I don't think he'd appreciate it if his shirt was ruined."
"Well... I guess we're all friends here so..." Kevin began, and Scott gave him a surprised face, "What? It was you who said he'd be upset."
Scott gave a soft sigh, "I guess," before turning to Mitch, and began undoing the buttons on his shirt, and slipping it off, showing his entire body covered in tan fur. He proceeded to remove his own shirt, and paused for a moment, before putting his and his friend's shirts away in a bag. He released a long sigh, staring at the light blue fur which covered his own body, and putting his head in his hands.
"What's wrong?" Kirstie asked, giving a small, curious frown.
"It's just... " Scott released a long, weary sigh, fear obvious in his tone, "... I'm scared, is all. I mean, these changes are happening so quickly, maybe even faster than last time. I mean, look at you Kirstie, you got entirely covered in fur, and got ears all within two minutes!"
Dropping her ears, Kirstie looked away and studied the thought, "I guess... but..." she couldn't find light in this situation, so she found it best just to remain silent.
Silence filled the plane as the four were left with their thoughts. Avi shifted his legs again, a soft pain beginning to rise from his knees, and he noticed Kevin had a horrified look on his face as he stared towards his legs, "What?"
"Your legs..." he simply replied, and Avi looked down to face them, and he noticed they were heavily bowed backwards.
"Oh, dear," he said simply, before a violent 'Crack!' sounded from his left leg, and it snapped violently backwards, with the newly splintered bones of his legs hitting off the flooring, forcing him to release a loud screech of agony.
"Avi!" the other three shouted in unison, as they looked towards their friend gasping for air, leaning heavily against Kevin's shoulder, "Avi, are you alright?!"
He remained still for a moment, his eyes half closed, gasping for precious air, forcing the others start to panicking, "Avi?! Are you alright?! Speak to us!" Kevin exclaimed through his panic, trying to remain as calm as possible. Gently brushing his hand through Avi's hair, Kevin did his best to try and comfort him, but he knew it would be only a matter of time before-
'Crack!'
Violently gritting his teeth through the pain, Avi tried his best to remain conscious, as the entire world spiralled around him, and a black ocean behind his eyes threatened to drown him.
"Avi!" the faint calls of his friends became more and more distant to him. 'I have to stay conscious... I have to stay conscious... I have to stay conscious...' he repeated over and over in his head, desperately trying to keep his eyes open and his brain functioning. 'Think of how worried they'll be... Think of how much they'll worry over you...'
Desperately trying to pull himself out of the depths, he noticed the others crowding around him, their eyes full of panic and alarm. And with one final push, he reconnected himself to the outside world.
"I-I'm fine guys... I really am..." he muttered, blinking his eyes several times as the last of the darkness was expelled.
"Avi!" Kevin pulled him into a tight hug, feeling the soft trickle of his tears drip onto his shoulder, "I was so terrified! I thought I was going to lose you!"
"I'm fine, Kevin, look, I'm fine," Avi stammered desperately, his arms coiling around his best friend in order to return the hug and remained that way for a few moments, before releasing from each other. The other two returned to their seats, both releasing an inward sigh of relief for their friend.
Glancing down to his newly formed legs, Avi noted the new muscle that was forming around the new joint, a dark brown tail already beginning to grow. 'I guess I'm not going to be walking for a while...' he thought, carefully removing his socks and shoes, revealing that his feet were replaced by large, sturdy hooves, forcing a shiver to run down his spine. Taking proper notice of his tail, he noticed it was almost at full length already, with the same thick colour as his own hair, and seemed to curl slightly at the end. He flinched as his hand gently touched the tail, but slowly began to gently weave his fingers through the long, soft hairs. Silence remained between them all for a few moments, before Scott gave a deep sigh, and sat back on his seat.
"My turn next, eh?" he gave a slight chuckle, prompting Kirstie to quickly turn to him, her eyes filled with concern and fear. She gently knelt down, and placed her hand on his shoulder. A few moments of tenseness later, and there was a loud 'Snap!' that sounded through the air, forcing everyone to flinch, with Scott gritting his teeth and grinding his nails against his seat.
"Scott, are you alright?" Avi called over to him, tilting his head to try and see him.
"Never better," he replied sarcastically, gritting his teeth as the pain slowly subsided, only to be followed by another loud 'Snap!', "God, feels like someone just snapped my legs in half!" he snarled though his pain, before releasing a soft sigh once it had declined.
Kirstie sighed, half with relief, half with dread, and heaved her legs as she tried to stand up, but seemed to be unable to. Scott desperately stood up on his new legs, the muscles already beginning to thickly grow around the new joints. With one hand on the chair, the other hand he used to hold Kirstie's hand, and helped her to stand up, "Thanks..." she muttered as Scott guided her back to her seat. Once he made sure she was comfortable, Scott held her hand, and gently rubbed the back of it as tears streamed down Kirstie's face, desperately trying to keep her legs from breaking, but ever so slowly, they stretched out.
'Kirstie....' Avi thought, as he watched as his friend cried from fear, 'Only if there were something I could do...' suddenly, his thoughts were taken away, as pressure was placed on his shoulder, 'Kevin!'
He quickly turned to see Kevin's eyes desperately clenched shut, along with his jaw. Panic shot through his system as Avi raked his brain for any ideas of what to do.
Unfortunately, nothing came to mind, and by the time he had thought of something, it was already too late. 'Snap!' Desperately trying to comfort his pained friend, Avi gently rubbed Kevin's back. 'Snap!' Avi flinched as the other crack sounded, and Kevin dropped his head backwards, gritting his teeth viciously as pain shot through his system. 'So much for the land of friendship...' Avi thought guiltily, dropping his head down in shame as he heard the two 'Snap!'s coming from Kirstie, as well as her agonised cry of pain.
"Kirstie... Kevin...." he muttered guiltily, feeling as though it was his fault they were hurt.
Silence weaved its way in-between them all once more, and a few minutes passed, "Um, Scott?" Avi began, shattering the silence, and making everyone turn to him.
"Yeah?"
"What about Mitch?"
Scott's face dropped and turned pure white. He turned to his friend, confusion filling him as he realised the joint had already formed, "Wait, what the- oh, never mind. If he's still asleep, that's fine..."
Avi sighed gently, removing his shirt just on time to see his own carcass reform. His stomach was heavily distended, making him wonder how he didn't notice it earlier, and began spreading upwards through his ribs. Each rib that broke and moulded back together protruded quite a bit further than the previous ones. Though the loud cracks each brought an intense pain to his chest, he did his best to try and ignore them, though the others did not seem to act so unconcerned. With every snap which echoed from his chest, the others flinched and stole a worried glance towards him.
"Yeesh, doesn't that hurt?" Scott asked as another one of his ribs fractured and reformed.
"Not too much... surprisingly..." Avi replied with a weak voice, the sudden jolts of pain leaving him constantly winded.
"You're not convincing me," Kevin retorted, gently placing a hand on Avi's side, and feeling a rib splinter under the soft flesh and mould back together again, much larger and stronger than the bone before. However, before long, it began occurring to his own rib cage, forcing him to cross his arms across his chest, "Ow!" He wailed, leaning backwards.
Before long, the pain subsided, and the changes seemed to continue up his body. He was suddenly aware of a soft tingling in his shoulders as they became more broad and muscular. Kirstie's body, however, seemed to almost reject the changes, convulsing with every sickening crack of her ribs, but luckily, Scott was there to try and soothe her unbearable pain.
"It's okay, Kirst, it'll be over soon..." he whispered gently into her ear as he hugged her tightly and soothing her when her next rib broke, with her head leaning heavily on his chest. Scott seemed to be so caught up with concern for his friend, he seemed entirely unresponsive to his own breaking bones, "It's okay..." he muttered, gently rubbing her back as more of her ribs broke, and her entire body released another series of spasms and shudders, her face chalk-white under her fur and her eyes clouded with weariness.
After a few moments, their pain ebbed, and Kirstie and Scott returned to their seats. Colour began returning to her face, and she returned to her normal self in a few moments, reassuring them with a big, bubbly smile, before releasing a loud yawn.
Another short silence coiled between them as Avi felt his face reshape as his jaw extended into a muzzle, gritting his teeth and keeping his eyes tightly shut as pain shot through his skull. A moment later and he opened his eyes again, noticing everything seemed to be in a much clearer detail. 'Guess it did something with my eyes as well...' he thought, blinking several times to get used to the new changes to his eyes.
Closing his eyes and dropping his head backwards, Avi took a deep breath, attempting to dismiss a short wave of nausea which hit him, "Some hour this has been! I think this was even more chaotic than last time."
"Nah, did you forget that scream Kirstie had when she first got her fur!" Kevin laughed, "Or when Scott first noticed his ears! That was hilarious!"
"Don't forget the first time you reacted to your fur!" Scott reminded Kevin, leaning backwards and placing his coiled fists onto the corner of his seat. Avi couldn't help but release a soft chuckle, "Avi, don't think I'll leave you alone! Remember how you reacted to your hands turning into hooves!" Scott giggled, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"Hey!" Avi started, but couldn't help but burst out laughing, and quickly everyone was reduced to giggling messes. Lifting up his hand, he wiped the tears from his eyes, "Oh..." Avi breathed, his arm across his chest, "Ow, my chest!" desperately trying not to laugh, he took a few deep breaths and calmed down.
"Haven't laughed like that for years!" Scott breathed desperately, "Let's just hope we haven't lost our voices for the show! Otherwise we would have wasted a trip for nothing!"
"Oh well..." Avi chuckled, looking at his nails. He noticed they were a deep green colour, darker than his fur, and were slowly starting to fuse together, but right now, he didn't care, he was having fun with his friends, "Worth it!" he chanted, thrusting his fist into the air.
"Yeah!" the other chorused, and a mischievous grin crept across Scott's face, "Yeeeeeeaaaah!~ " he sang in the highest tone he could muster up in an attempt to copy Mitch, making the others burst into laughter again.
A few moments later, and the laughter died down once again, leaving Avi with a small question in his head, which quickly devoured all of his other thoughts, "Hey, Scott, can I borrow your mirror please, just for a moment?" Avi asked, attempting to be as nonchalant as possible as curiosity burned through him to see what his new face looked like. He wondered why they didn't use their phones, but then he remembered there was a strict policy of no electronic devices, and the reason for this still baffled even him.
"Oh, sure, one sec," Scott turned his pockets inside out, and Avi noticed he was beginning to struggle with using his fingers, "Urg, where is it... where is it... where is it... Aha! Here it is!" Twisting around to face him again, Scott gently held out his small hand-held mirror.
"Thanks," Avi gently reached out and grabbed the mirror and opened it up, and stared into it, which was a bit of a challenge, seeing as his fingers wouldn't respond much like they used to. 'Good to know my beard is still here.' he thought, giving a short, approving smile. He also noticed his muzzle was a lot larger than he expected, with his beard reaching along it and upwards to his long mane.
As he admired his looks, he noticed two small horns growing on his head, and two small fangs in his top and bottom jaw, 'This didn't happen last time! How much cooler could this place get?!' Suddenly, a great notion entered his head, 'If I'm, like, a drago-pony or something, does that mean I have...' twisting his head back, he noticed two large strips of flesh extending from his back, with short, rigid bones suspending the flesh between them, 'Yes!' his brain began to have a small, mental party and a huge grin spread across his face.
"Uh, Avi? Can you stop admiring your looks for a few minutes? I want to see what I look like!" Scott laughed, holding his hand. Lowering the mirror and giving his classic super-frown, he handed the mirror back to Scott. Keeping on his frown, he brushed his hand through his mane, allowing his hair to slip through what remains of fingers he had left.
"Will you stop acting like such a girl?" Kevin looked at him, and playfully shook his head slowly.
"You're just jealous of my gorgeous mane!" Avi taunted, tossing his head back and flicking his hair at him.
"Children, please!" Kirstie chirped in, laying her chin on her new hooves and stared over to them, with a set of wings bursting from her back, causing her to flinch slightly, but she did her best to brush it off.
"You have no right to speak, Kirstie!" Avi shouted, pointing directly at her, but she simply replied by sticking out her tongue.
"Also, how come you get hooves first, and we get stuck with finger-hoof hybrid-thingies!" Scott demanded, giving a slightly huffy face, before returning to his mirror, staring at a small lump forming on his forehead, which was quickly growing into a horn.
Everyone took a moment just to recognise their new body, with everyone remaining eerily calm for some reason. A shiver ran down his spine as he watched as the last of his former hands moulded into hooves. Avi gently pushed himself up, and dropped onto four legs, with the strangely satisfying clop of his hooves against the flooring.
Wobbling for a moment, before regaining balance, Avi twisted his head back, and gazed at his now equine body. Another shiver of uneasiness passed through him as he looked towards his thick legs and extended neck. Looking to his flanks, he noticed the picture of three bass clefs pulled together at the top to form a spiral. 'Hm, not bad, I guess... the dragon features were a nice touch too, I guess...' he studied his thoughts for a moment, before dismissing them and returning back to his seat, "Everyone alright?"
"We had a few hours to be 'alright' with it," Kevin retorted with a grin.
"Everyone understanding with their new bodies?" he rephrased the question.
"Yup," they all answered in unison.
"Good," Avi replied, letting himself sink into the back of his seat, relaxing for a moment.
"Um, do you think I should wake Mitch up?" Scott asked, looking to the others.
Glancing around for a moment, Avi gave a gentle nod, "Go ahead!"
Author's Note
Scott gave a soft sigh. "I guess." before turning to Mitch, and began undoing the buttons on his shirt, and slipping it off, (...) He proceeded to remove his own shirt
That was purely for all the fan girls out there, and you're welcome
Also, I just realized that as soon as I finished writing this, I forgot to add in a very important person. Esther Kaplan. On the very small chance that you see this, I apologise. It is kind of a big deal because she is Avi Kaplan's sister, and the Pentatonix's tour planner. Again, very sorry for not adding Esther.... I make no excuses other than my own pure forgetfulness, which is terrible, seeing as I should never have forgotten her.
Following Mitch's little shout, he promptly tripped over his own hooves, with his face digging into the ground, forcing the other four ponies to collapse into a pile of giggles after him. Desperately pressing his fore-hooves off of Avi's back in an attempt to stand up, Scott promptly fell backwards onto the rough gravel pathway once again, bowling over Avi in the process.
"Come on guys!" Mitch shouted desperately, his face turning a soft red as he clambered to his hooves. He watched in disbelief as Scott fell backwards, his eyes thus falling blank, "Are you serious?"
"Maybe?" Scott replied sheepishly, tossing his forelegs out to the side for a moment, before giving a huffy face. Rolling over onto his hooves, he quickly stood up, his shoulders slightly scratched from the rough stones beneath them, "Spoil sport..."
"The only sport I'm good at!" he smirked, flicking his tail at him before continuing down the path, leaving the heap a few meters behind him before pausing and looking back.
"No!" Kirstie wailed pathetically, desperately struggling underneath Avi, waving her forelegs about in front of her. "Don't leave me with them!"
"You're not going anywhere!" Scott said, his horn flaring with energy, freezing Mitch in place, and flinging him backwards into a nearby bramble bush, "Heh... oops..."
"Oh for bucks sake!" Mitch hissed as he tugged against the sharp thorns entangled into his fur, before freezing. "Why can't I say buck?!"
"What word are you trying to say?" Scott chortled as he carefully levitated his friend out of the bramble thicket, and rested him next to the group.
"Why can't I say buck for Celestia`s sake?!" he snarled, before quickly covering his mouth for a moment, before drawing his hooves away and giving an exasperated sigh, "Oh, for Faust's sake, not this to!"
"It's part of the deal." Avi grinned as he retrieved his bag and attempted to sling it over his shoulder, which proved quite difficult considering his large wings.
"I didn't sign up for this!" he moaned as he picked a thorn out of his side, and flicked it away, leaving a tiny cut in its wake, "So, are we heading into town, or what?" he sniffed, gesturing his muzzle over in the direction of a small village, with some sort of crystalline castle looming above everything else, the sides shimmering in the light of the Sun as it slid slowly down the sky.
"Forgetting something?" Scott called, tossing Mitch's bag towards him, causing him to clumsily extend his fore-legs out in order to try and catch it, almost making himself topple over in the process. Eventually he managed to get his bag over his shoulder, after some trial-and-error, with much more error than trial, "Not fun." he commented towards Scott with a glare.
"Eh, not fun for you, but extremely funny for us!" he retorted behind a raised hoof, desperately trying to contain his laughter as he watched him fumble about, "But really now, c'mon!"
"Yeah, I want to meet all the ponies again!~" Kirstie sang excitedly, bouncing up and down as she walked.
"I'm just glad I can show these ponies the power of my Beyoncé!" Kevin grinned, gently levitating a large, white case, which held his beloved cello, around his other shoulder but he kept his magical grasp on it just in case something did happen to it.
"Celestia help anypony that tries to take your Beyoncé away from you." Avi chuckled, walking beside his friend along the rough pathway leading into the village.
"Wait, anypony ? Oh, for Faust's sake, I've pretty much had it with this place. I want to go home, now." Mitch groaned as he continued to follow his friends at a slightly slower pace, making him fall back a bit from the rest of the group. Gently, a small, pink butterfly gently landed on his nose, making him halt for a few moments as the butterfly flew up and around his ears, the edges of it's small wings tickling him.
"Hey, stop that." he giggled softly as he held out his hoof, all of his worries melting away from him as the butterfly gently landed on it.
"Hey, Mitch, what's keeping you?" the sudden call from his friends quickly brought him back to reality.
"Nothing." He called back, gently tossing the butterfly into the air and rushing up to his friends, a smile plastered across his face, with the bubbly feeling some sort of new energy rushing through his veins which compelled him to forget about everything.
"What's made you so happy?" Scott grinned, Mitch's aura of joy spreading to everyone around him. He simply replied with a quick shrug, before bounding forward, releasing a gleeful note into the air, and spreading his wings awide.
"What's gotten into him, you think?" Mitch heard Avi ask the others just before he left earshot. Leaping into the air, he desperately flapped his wings, his bag slipping off his shoulder and hitting the ground with a soft 'thud'.
It seemed that just as he caught air, he dropped right to the ground once more. Eagerness churned in his stomach as he pushed himself up again and flung himself into the air once more. He closed his eyes and pounded his wings even harder in an attempt to gain more height, and just as he was about to go plummeting back to the ground, something wrapped around his left fore-leg, and clung onto him, massively slowing his descent. He braced himself for the impact of the rough ground, but it didn't seem to come to him. He gingerly opened his right eye, and saw the ground slowly approaching him, and he quickly set his hooves down.
"Heh, you're pretty good for a newbie." the sudden voice caught him off guard, and he quickly opened both eyes, and searched for the source of the seemingly female voice.
"W-What?" he choked out when he noticed a cyan pegasus standing before him, with a rainbow coloured mane and a storm cloud with a three-colour lightning bolt plastered to her flank. He tried to wrap his head around the fact that it was a pony talking to him. 'I guess this explains why we turned into ponies then...' he swallowed as she began to address him.
"Huh. Thought you would have heard about me by now, seeing as most of Equestria knows me for my Sonic Rain-boom." she boasted, stretching her wings for a moment, before hovering a few feet from the ground.
"A sonic what-now?" Mitch asked, tilting his head slightly.
Her jaw dropped for a moment. "How can you not know what a-" then a wave of realisation passed over her, "Ooooh , aren't you part of that group that was filling in for the Ponytones? What was it, Penta-rockets?"
"Pentatonix ." he corrected the mare, irritation already burning through him. Luckily for him, his friends finally caught up to him.
"Oh, hey Rainbow." He heard the voice of Kevin echoed from behind him, and he quickly turned to face him.
"You know this pony?" Mitch asked, his eyes going wide with shock and confusion.
"Well, yeah. When we came here for a brief time for the music festival, which only comes around every century might I add, we got to meet the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow Dash here, is the embodiment of the Element of Loyalty." Avi explained to him, casting his eyes towards the rainbow-maned pegasus, his eyes glowing with admiration for her.
"Wait, Avi, that's you?" Rainbow blunk in surprise, "You look... different." she commented bluntly, floating around him in circles, observing his new dragon wings and horns.
"Gee, thanks..." he muttered under his breath before continuing, "So, how have things been going around here?" he asked, slowly continuing down the path.
"Eh, fine, I guess." she answered nonchalantly, floating along with her fore-legs folded.
"Are you forgetting the huge, freaking, castle in the middle of the town?" Scott blurted out, making Rainbow look up for a moment, before returning.
"Oh, yeah." she recalled her memories, "Yeah, Twilight's a princess now. She's got wings and everything."
"So you forgot that your own best friend has ascended into royalty?" Scott replied bluntly, astounded by the fact that Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, had forgotten that her own best friend was now a princess.
"I dunno. I guess that not much has happened since she got her new role, and things have been running just like normal. I guess it's that she doesn't want us to think that she's better than us, so she still spends a lot of time with us." Rainbow explained quickly, her eyes flickering into deep thought, leaving her silent for a few minutes.
"So... how's the rest of you guys?" Avi asked gently, trying to not let the conversation die.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Rarity has come down with some sort of disease, and so has the rest of her group but Fluttershy. I guess it's because she's been busy but I can't help but think something fishy is going on." she confessed, her nose twitching slightly with annoyance, "Discord has been nothing but a nuisance ever since he was 'reformed'."
"Wait, your saying you released Discord?" Kirstie gasped, her eyes opening wide with shock.
"The Lord of chaos?" Scott sounded just as stunned as Kirstie at this point.
"Yeah. Fluttershy apparently 'reformed' him, but-"
"Ok, who the flying feather are any of these ponies?!" Mitch shouted in frustration, cutting off what Rainbow had to say.
"Uh, Discord is the thing that turned Ponyville into the chaos capitol of the world, where buildings floated, the land was made of quilts, night and day switched at random intervals, and clouds of cotton candy rained chocolate milk!" Rainbow explained in an irritated tone, continuing when she saw Mitch's deadpan tone, "He's a beast with a ponies head; a lions' paw and a hawks' claw for hands; a goats' leg and a dragons' leg; with a serpents tail; an antler and a goat horn; and a bird and bat wing too."
"Sounds like one ugly mother-bucker." he remarked, scrunching his nose as he tried to imagine such a beast.
"You should see him in the flesh, where he ain't much prettier." she sniffed, gently landing on the ground, "Ah, there they are." she smiled as she noticed a small group of four ponies waiting at the entrance to the town. Avi seemed to rush past the group and embrace a bright yellow pegasus with a long, light-pink mane in a tight hug while releasing a joyous laugh.
"Avi's got a mare-friend!" Kevin chanted playfully, making Avi blush slightly before releasing the mare from the hug.
"No, it's just been so long and I've missed her." he snapped back, his face still lit up by the red hue, with the mare in front of him game a soft giggle.
"Well, it's very nice to see you again." she said with a warm smile, "It's lovely to see friends again." she continued in her soft tone, flicking her light-pink mane from her eye, drawing back from the hug, and turning to face Mitch, "Hello there. Aren't you the other member that the others said was ill to join them when they visited? Mr..." she paused, unsure of his name.
"Oh, uh. The name is Mitch. Mitch Grassi." he answered quickly with an awkward chuckle.
"Well that's a lovely name, Mr Grassi. My name is Fluttershy, and this is Pinkie Pie," she introduced him, gently turning and pointing towards a light-pink mare with a puffy, darker mane, whom was bouncing up and down on the spot excitedly while chatting to Kirstie, "Applejack," she turned slightly, pointing towards an orange pony with a blonde mane, with a trio of apples on her flank, whom was talking to Kevin and Scott, "and it seems you've already met Rainbow." she assumed, glancing up to the cyan pegasus whom was quarreling with Avi about which one of them was closer to their friends.
"You mean big mouth over there?" Mitch grunted, glaring at her.
"I know she can be a little big-headed sometimes, but she's really nice once you get to know her." Fluttershy defended her friend, watching as Avi won the argument, releasing a smug laugh, with Rainbow tossing up her hooves frustratedly, and floating over to join Pinkie Pie.
Gently Avi stood up and sauntered over to them, a satisfied grin on his face, "Sup Mitch, sup Flutters."
"Not much." Fluttershy replied with an affectionate smile towards him, suggesting a close bond between them.
"Kind of odd meeting new ponies, but I guess I can get used to it." Mitch shrugged, stealing a glance of the town in front of him, taking in all the buildings, and their old-fashioned styles. The wooden supports and thatching rooves were reminiscent of old-timey houses from their world.
"So, where's Twilight?" his mind was dragged out of his thoughts and back to reality as he heard Avi's question.
"She said she had to fun a few errands, then she'd be right over." Fluttershy responded with a smile.
"I'd imagine that sort of thing would come with being a princess." Mitch chuckled slightly.
"Yeah... I guess. She's been awfully busy lately though. Since Tirek destroyed her library, she's been going through the wreckage lately, hoping to salvage something- anything, really." Fluttershy sighed wistfully, glancing to the large crystalline castle.
"That's terrible..." Avi sighed in a sad tone, "So much for this being a happy little land of perfect friendship."
"Yeah... She's been growing further and further apart from us ever since Tirek was defeated and sent back to Tartarus..." she muttered barely loud enough for them to hear, "Oh, please don't tell her I said that. If she found out she'd be devastated!" she pleaded desperately, her eyes wide with alarm and fear.
"Don't worry." Avi assured her, "Anyway, I'm just wondering, who is Tirek?"
"Oh, Tirek? He's an evil tyrant from another land, and was intending to take over all of Equestria by stealing all of our magic and-" she was suddenly cut off short by a new voice.
"Sorry I'm late, everypony!" called out a lavender pony with wings and a horn as she gently flew down into the centre of the group.
"Oh, it's no problem at all, Twilight." Fluttershy smiled towards her friend, gently turning towards her.
"I hope so..." the Princess muttered under her breath, before turning to the five new ponies scattered between her own friends, each one of their gazes fixed directly onto her, their jaws hanging open and their eyes full of astonishment and admiration for her, "Can you stop staring guys, I'm just like the rest of you. I'm no more important than any other pony..." she muttered, joining Fluttershy and the others.
"Princess..." Avi bowed before her, his breath soft and full of respect for the alicorn standing before him.
"Avi! I told you to stop it! I'm no more important than anypony else!" she pleaded desperately, taking a step backwards as Avi rose, blinking with surprise.
"I was just..." he gulped, looking away shyly, "...sorry, Twilight..."
Twilight released a short sigh, and shook her head slowly, "It's fine. I guess I just really hate this whole royalty thing..." she replied gently, with the others returning to their conversations, "Anyway, it's nice to meet you..." she paused.
"Mitch Grassi." Mitch prompted, smiling warmly towards her.
"... Mitch." Twilight repeated, replicating his smile, "No need for formalities, and everything." she continued, grinning sheepishly towards him.
"If that's what you want." Mitch shrugged, continuing to beam happily, seemingly oblivious that the pony before him was considered royalty, forcing the other ponies to look at him with shocked stares, "Anyway... shouldn't we be heading towards the town hall?"
"R-Right..." Twilight blinked, suddenly taken aback by the young stallions calmness and composure, "I'll lead you there if you want..."
"That would be much appreciated." Avi replied with a smile.
The alicorn returned the warm smile, and turned to lead the way through the small town. Avi beckoned the others to join them, and they said their farewells to the others, and quickly rushed up to join them. As they walked, Twilight pointed out certain buildings with significance, that they might want to check out later, and one building she pointed out, made Mitch squeal with delight.
Sugar Cube Corner.
"Are you kidding me?! I've heard of gingerbread houses, but this is ridiculous, and I love it!" he yipped, his eyes lighting up as he gazed longingly towards the gingerbread building, the air filled with the sweet scent of cotton candy, "I know where we're going next!~"
"To bed? I think I can speak for the rest of us by saying that I am completely shattered." Avi replied, stretching his jaws in a yawn as he walked past him, nudging him slightly with his wing, "C'mon, we don't have time to stand around loitering."
Mitch hesitated for another moment, taking in another breath of the sweet, sugary scent, before quickly bolting after them, "Oh come on, just one look?"
Avi chuckled, "Just because you got to sleep on the plane journey here, doesn't give you the right to decide what to do next." his tone remained firm with the others nodding with him.
A few moments of silence ensued, before Twilight got the nerve to break it, "So, Mitch are you enjoying Equestria so far? I mean, you don't have to say it's good, just because I'm a Princess and all, just asking for your honest opinion." she gave a wide grin, with Mitch glancing awkwardly at her.
"Uh... it's alright, I guess..." he replied cautiously, his eyes flickering to the others for a moment, as if to ask them if this was what she was normally like.
Twilight returned with a sheepish grin, "Oh, that's a relief, I was starting to think that you didn't like this place, and if you didn't like us, and if you hated everypony and-"
"Twilight, you seem a bit on edge. Is something wrong?" Scott quickly interrupted her rant, his voice brimming with concern and curiosity.
"Oh- I guess I am being a bit overbearing... Sorry..." she quickly apologised, her head drooping slightly from shame, "I guess I was anxious if you didn't like Equestria..." Mitch could tell this wasn't the real reason, but he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Well, the transformation was a bit unexpected, but other than that, this place is nice. The ponies here seem nice enough, so, what would I have a problem with?" Mitch gave a reassuring smile towards Twilight, and she released a sigh of relief.
"Anyway, here we are, the town hall." Twilight stopped outside the tall doors of a large wooden structure, with huge stain glass windows cut into on the walls, with the roof reaching up into a tall spire which pierced the clouds.
"Wow..." Mitch breathed as he craned his neck backwards as he looked the tall, gorgeous structure built before him.
"I forgot just how beautiful this place can be..." Avi murmured in awe, taking in the intricate wood carvings on the supporting beams and small gardens filled with all sorts of little critters.
"Just go through the doors. I'm sure that Mayor Mare will be in there, awaiting your arrival." Twilight explained with a small smile, "I've got a small errand to run for Celestia, so if you need me for whatever reason, I'll just be at the castle." she continued with a more reassuring smile, and spread her wings, "Also, if your lost, just ask for help from the other ponies. They'll be more than happy to help you guys. I guess I'll see ya' later." she gently dipped her head, and clumsily flew off towards the castle.
Scott watched her go, and took a deep breath, and continued towards the doors, "Better get this over with..." gently placing his hoof on the door, he pressed gently, the door swinging open with a loud squeak.
Author's Note
Hey guys!~ Hope ya'll enjoyed! I'll probably wont be able to write for a little while, as I am now in 3rd year, which means RIP half of my time since srs bsns b happnin'. a.k.a- I have maths, art, English and biology homework for Monday, and I've barely started. Life choices validated! Also I have a maths, biology and chemistry test coming up soon... fun times... anyway guys, just a heads up for this. I wont be stopping writing, but it'll take me a bit longer to finish chapters. Wuv u all!~
