Alternate Perspective

Chapters

Acclimated
Kaleidoscope
Prism
Refraction

Acclimated

"I've gotten way too used to this."

It suddenly occurred to him, standing in his kitchen with hands wiping away the still fresh sleep from his eyes. Ahead were two tiny horse-like creatures, covered in coats of bizarrely colored fur, apparently having a nice breakfast with food and coffee placed before them. One was a kind of mint or sea-foam green, with alluring golden eyes, while the other sported a milk-white coat and a two-toned pink and blue mane, done up in an almost burlesque style curl.

One of the creatures used her hooves to prop up a newspaper, thoroughly entranced by a particular article, while the other used literal magic to poke at a plate of scrambled eggs with a levitated fork. They sat upon chairs clearly too big for them, next to a comically large dining table and looking closer to stuffed animals than living beings.

To the uninitiated, such a sight was about as surreal as it was laughable, akin to a child's cough-syrup-addled fever dream. The most likely and expected response would be a shout of surprise, perhaps some double-takes while muttering in confusion. Anything to acknowledge the absurdity.

And he would have...if any of it was the least bit surprising.

The mint-green one, Lyra, perked up from her breakfast to see him standing under the kitchen archway. "Oh, Jayden, good morning!" She said with a surprised smile. Lyra, full name Lyra Heartstrings, was the first to welcome him to the magical tiny-horse kingdom known as Equestria. She found him when he stumbled into town, unsure of where he was or even how he got there, and gave him a place to stay. A generous and much appreciated gesture, despite the fact he almost couldn't get through her home's front door.

She was also human-obsessed and absolutely fucking insane.

And Rich.

It helped balance things out.

"Good...morning." He greeted back in between sudden yawns. He shuffled over to the kitchen counters and grabbed his coffee cup, intent to take his fair share of caffeine. As he reached out for the percolator it was suddenly enveloped in a golden glow, with a chime-like hum accompanying it. He looked back to Lyra and saw that her horn was was doing the same. The percolator was then lifted into the air and tipped, with coffee flowing freely into his mug.

"Thank you." Jayden said, gripping his now full cup. He turned his attention to his other housemate. "Morning Bon Bon."

The white mare responded with a 'good morning' of her own but refused to look up from her newspaper.

Nearby to his cup was a plate of untouched scrambled eggs, likely meant for him. Unlike other days, this time he was awake early enough that they were stilll warm. He grabbed the plate and joined the two at the table. "You know, I respect AJ's work ethic, but I don't think the farmer's life was ever for me."

"Why do you say that?" Lyra asked.

"It's the reason I'm up so darn early." He took a sip from his mug. "She asked if I could come by and lend a hand this morning. And considering I'm human and probably have the only pair of hands in town, I agreed. Well, that and the fact I actually like Applejack."

That seemed to puzzle Jayden's unicorn friend. "But Applejack doesn't ask for help."

"I know, but this time I think even she realized she couldn't do it all on her own."

"What do you mean?"

"The princess has asked Applejack and 'Sweet Apple Acres' if they could be the ones to set up the banquet for the Summer Sun Celebration. And, of course, it's on the same day as their planned family reunion."

"So...today?"

"Yup. As you can probably guess, it's all a bit more than she's used to."

"Why didn't they just decline the princess' request? Or move the reunion to a different day?"

"Because you know how that family is." He swallowed a bite of food. "I'd say they're as stubborn as mules, but in this world that might be racist." He looked over to the kitchen window, noting how dark it still was outside. "She told me to show up early, but I'm sure AJ won't mind if I'm not actually there at the ass-crack of dawn."

Bon Bon finally looked up from her newspaper. "Speaking of dawn, this will be your third Summer Sun celebration with us, right?" She asked.

Jayden nodded. "Yeah. Hard to believe I've only been here for three years. It actually feels longer."

There was a pause. "Do you still think we're lying when we say that Princess Celestia can control the sun and moon?" She gave him an almost smug look.

Ah...that.

He wondered when that would come up today. Most of the time they were happy to let his disbelief slide, as it didn't really matter. However, on this particular day, they felt they had enough justification to poke at his sensibilities. A fair enough assessment, considering what the holiday was all about.

Didn't stop it from sounding like crazy talk, though.

For a second, Jayden thought over his response. "Well, I never really thought you girls were lying. But that doesn't mean it's true, either." He said, trying to be diplomatic.

"How so?" She raised an eyebrow, curious as to what he was implying.

"I mean, the princess could just be making it up."

"Why would she do that?" Bon Bon appeared genuinely shocked by the notion, as if such a concept was unfathomable.

"Power? Influence?" He shrugged. "Where I'm from politicians and leaders lie all the time, for various reasons. Monarchs in particular have a bad rap, so much so that we've pretty much gotten rid of them."

"But the princess wouldn't lie to us." Lyra butted in. "At least about things not related to humans. But that's like, you know, the one thing. Besides, I've been to the Summer Sun Celebrations where Celestia showed up and I've seen her raise the sun."

Jayden gave her an accusatory look. "You've seen her do this? Or did she show up, at around dawn, and then the sun came up?"

"No, she actually did it." There was a pause. "If you want proof why don't you just ask her tonight. She'll be at town hall for the celebration."

"Oh yeah, I can see that going really well." He laid the sarcasm on thick. "Hello, your highness, I'm the local furless monkey monster and I don't buy the royal propaganda. Can you take time out of your busy schedule to prove you aren't a fraud?"

"Princess Celestia isn't like that." Bon Bon deadpanned, the smallest amount of agitation evident in her voice.

Sensing some rising tension, Jayden chose to drop it, having learned early on just how much Equestria's inhabitants trust and adore their nigh-immortal monarch.

"My point is, while I've gotten used to a lot of Equestria's...eccentricities, magic included, the ability to move the sun, or anything else like it, is a tad far-fetched. Even for this place." He thought about what to say next. "Look, it's not like I have anything against the princess. If even a fraction of what they say about her is true then she's practically a pony-shaped saint. I just have a slight distrust of authority figures. Especially when it comes to them making some pretty crazy statements."

He gave a sigh and relented. "I'll ask her, alright? I'll ask her, she'll prove me wrong and you two can lord it over me for all time. Is that better?"

"Much." Lyra replied, grinning triumphantly.

Jayden stuck out his tongue, a final act of defiance before focusing back on his food. His house-mate's trusting, almost innocent, nature was pretty much the standard of behavior for not just them but all of Equestria's inhabitants. And while he'd love to chastise them for their naivete, he knew they had every reason to not view things the same way as he did.

The world, or more specifically the country, they were from was called Equestria. A goofy combination of a medieval fantasy land smashed headlong into the saccharine sweet mentality and aesthetics of a little girl's cartoon. It was a peaceful and happy place, inhabited by small colorful horse creatures actually called ponies (their term, not his), ruled by a princess, and with an obnoxious amount of the color pink spattered on the architecture.

The ponies were naturally friendly, if somewhat skittish around those they didn't know, and often went out of their way to welcome others. Violence was quite rare for them and there haven't been any major conflicts between Equestria and its neighbors for decades. The concept of harmony was practically venerated, and the fact that they all got along so well was a point of pride for Jayden's newfound countrymen.

In short, ponies were innocent and trusting...because they could afford to be.

And Jayden absolutely hated it.

Not the ponies living in peace and happiness, that was fine and he was very happy for them. What he hated was how it all made him feel. Instead of being in tune with that 'harmony', all he felt like was a lone sour note. Equestria was such a great place, one he felt didn't need his dour, cynical opinions tainting it. He still stuck up for his beliefs and what he thought was correct, but more often than not, he had to remind himself that he shouldn't automatically think the worst of every situation.

Maybe the mare that works the carrot stall in the market actually was running out of stock, and wasn't just bumping up the price to be greedy.

Some days, if he was unlucky, he'd be taking a stroll through the park or look outside his window, and see the town where he currently lived just...getting along. Ponies giving away treats just because they want to, neighbors offering to help each other during a rough time. Constant smiling faces and friendly attitudes.

Sometimes...it felt wrong for him to be there.

Like it wasn't right.

Whatever cosmic, multi-versal entity decided that he, of all humans, ought to be tossed into pretty little pony land should get the bad end of an aluminum base-ball bat. There were obviously so many other people who deserved to be here far more than he did! It couldn't grab a suicidal person who could really use all the hugs the ponies pass around? No starving African kids who'd probably love visiting the local bakery on toss-out day? A child from an abusive home? Orphans?

And yet, here he was. The moderately happy twenty-something rando from the American Midwest. What made him so special? So worthy? Deserving?

Nothing.

"You okay?"

The voice almost startling him, Jayden looked up to see Lyra staring at him, concerned.

"You've been glaring at your plate for the past couple minutes." Lyra continued. "Was it something we said? You know it doesn't actually bother us if you don't believe the princess, right? We're just teasing you a bit."

He shook his head and replied. "I'm fine. Just...still waking up. Might get some more coffee." He held up his mug, as if it somehow made his lie more credible.

She watched him for a moment, clearly unconvinced, before shrugging and returning to her own breakfast.

The group ate and chatted for a few more minutes before Jayden stood up and placed his plate in the sink. "Alright, guess I should stop stalling and get going." He walked over to the front door and put his shoes on. "See you girls later!"

Just when he was about to leave, Lyra called out to him. "Hold up." She trotted on over to him. "Mind if I tag along? Don't really have anything else to do." She gave him a smile. "And I'd rather spend time with you anyway."

Jayden shrugged. "Sure. I don't see why it would be a problem."

The pair stepped out of the house and onto the cobblestone streets. The sun was just starting to crest the horizon, giving the world a slight blue tint and the temperature was mild, with a cool breeze grazing their skin and fur every so often. Looking around, they saw no one else and the area was quiet, save for the random bird singing somewhere off in the distance. The pair began walking.

Ponyville, despite the atrociously stupid name, was quite the charming little village, located decently close to Equestria's capitol city of Canterlot. While not the most rural place Jayden had ever been to, it was also a far cry from any modern city back on earth. Most of the houses were of the wattle and daub variety and were two stories at best. The roads, while sometimes being paved with cobble, were usually just dirt. Its outskirts were surrounded by farmland, with them fueling the bulk of the local economy.

Beyond that, though, was the intimidating Everfree Forest. A place of danger, monsters, and ferocious creatures.

That was the funny thing about Equestria. As naive as its people might behave, it was still a medieval fantasy land come-alive. The usual trappings were all there: Princesses, knights, dragons, towers, castles, magic, and pretty much anything else one could come up with that fit the theme. It had history, with its own share of villains, conflicts, dark times and golden ages.

Say what you want about all the pink...at least it was painted on something interesting.

"So, Jayden..." Lyra said, tired of the quiet, "how close are you to... you know." She wiggled her eyebrows, trying to imply something.

Jayden sighed, knowing what she was asking. "I'm...close."

"How close?" She watched him intently from the corner of her eye.

"...Pretty close."

This caused the golden-eyed unicorn to squeal and quickly stamp her hooves in excitement. "Yes, yes, yes! " She suddenly turned serious. "And you remember your promise, right?"

"Trust me, when I'm finally ready to do...that with a pony, you will have first dibs."

"Oh, I'll be getting more than just first dibs that night! I might even need to go for seconds or thirds!" Her voice deepened at the tail-end of her sentence before she broke out into an almost manic giggle.

He gave an intentionally dramatic sigh. "Congrats, Lyra, ya wore me down."

"I still don't understand what the problem is." She said, returning to normal. "Ponies have relationships outside of their species all the time. You even said that you find us attractive, so what's the big deal?"

"Well, being from a world where one's own species is the sole sapient life form tends to put a sour taste in the mouth at the thought of doing anything past the platonic with things outside of it. And, of course, old habits (and viewpoints) die hard." But he was close. Close to getting over it and finally throwing past hangups to the wind.

He could only push away the grip of loneliness for only so long.

And, as much as he hated to admit it, Lyra was right. He did find ponies attractive. Crazy, considering he found horses back on earth to be downright ugly.

But, Equestrian ponies were just built different. Large, expressive, mostly forward facing eyes gave them a natural cute factor and an incredible range of emotion. And their muzzles, adorable and stubby with a slight angle when meeting the rest of their skull. The stallions more often had straighter muzzles than the mares, but it was still far better than horses back home. There were also their legs, which mostly kept to a single size until bottoming out to appropriately sized hooves. Ponies, despite being much smaller than him at least looked sturdy. Overall, they were aesthetically pleasing to the human eye, despite not looking human.

Realizing he had been spacing out and had not answered Lyra's question, Jayden spoke up. "I...it's complicated. But the point is it's almost not an issue anymore. I'm almost there."

Lyra grinned. "Can't wait."

As they traveled, the pair passed a circular building, about two stories tall with a white, purple, and yellow color scheme. At a glance it almost looked like a circus tent. A sign near the door read 'Carousel Boutique'.

Jayden stuck his middle finger out, hoping the unicorn who lived there was awake to see it.

Lyra noticed. "Still not on good terms with Rarity?"

"What was the first clue?" He grumbled.

"Do you think she even knows what that gesture means?" Lyra continued.

"No, not specifically. But, considering the bad blood between us, I'm sure she can figure it out. It's not like I'm subtle."

Lyra chuckled. "Oh, Jayden. You and your intense and passionate human aggression. You should find something to take it all out on. Preferably something willing, pliable. Perhaps, even, a mare with the right opinions, one who knows her place under humanity's boot? A mare with gold eyes." She winked at him.

He stared at her.

She kept winking. Repeatedly.

"Stop that...you four-legged gremlin."

"Does it make me sexy?" She replied.

He shrugged."Is having a stroke sexy?"

"I'm sure it's somepony's fetish." She looked up at him. "Is it your fetish?"

He shook his head. "Can't say it is."

"Dang it." She dramatically kicked the dirt with a hoof. "Have to cross that off the list when I get home."

They walked for a few minutes longer until finally reaching 'Sweet Apple Acres', a decent chunk of farmland near Ponyville's outskirts, owned and operated by the very aptly named Apple family. At the entrance, Lyra turned to Jayden. "Well, looks like this is where we part ways."

"Not gonna stick around?"

"Sorry, I have to go and help Bon Bon with her sweet shop. Because of the celebration tonight there's a lot of orders." She got on her hind legs and gave his thigh a tight hug. "Have a good day!"

He squatted down and hugged her back. "You too."

She turned and started walking away. "I'll see you back at home!"

After waving to his departing friend, Jayden made his way onto the Apple family's property. Around him were the usual signs of farm life, such as animal pens and several barns. Though they only used the chickens for eggs and the pigs...well, they didn't really use the pigs at all. Similarly, the barns were used just for storing equipment and excess crops.

One thing he noticed early on about not just Equestria but the world, in general, was just how it played fast and loose with what was sapient and what was an animal. Normally, the rules said hooved creatures were sapient, meaning things like ponies, cows, donkeys, etc, were just as smart as humans, with their own society and culture.

However, pigs were still just as dumb as they were back on earth and goats were in this sort of grey area. Numerous other hooved creatures were also still animals, making Jayden wonder just what the rules really were. Why does one species become smart enough to make a country and the other still prefers to roll around in the mud for fun?

Questions for later.

A dirt trail led from the main gate, past the pens and barns, and stopped at the Apple's home. Beyond that lay the farm's namesake. Row after row of a seemingly endless number of apple trees. Walking further onto the farm, Jayden saw Big Macintosh, Applejack's older brother, coming back from the orchard. The stoic red stallion had a harness wrapped around his chest, with it being connected to the large wagon he was pulling behind him. Piled high upon the wagon were several wooden bins filled to the brim with apples.

"Hey, Mac, what's up?"

Big Mac gave a nod.

"AJ told me that you guys were going to be busy today and asked if I could help out. Do you know where she's at?"

Again, the tall red stallion motioned with his head, this time with a jerk to the right, directing Jayden's attention to that particular part of the farm. Squinting, Jayden could see a moving orange blob in the distance.

"Thank you kindly."

He moved deeper into the orchard, eventually finding the pony he was looking for already hard at work. The orange-colored mare currently had her back to one of the trees, her hind legs pulled inward and poised to strike. Suddenly, they shot out and she bucked the tree, the apples hidden among the leaves falling down from the shock and piling themselves nicely into the bins placed below. Pleased with her progress, she swiped her trademark stetson from her head and wiped away the sweat from her brow.

"So, you do this every day?" Jayden asked, noting how early it was. "From sun up to sun down?"

"Pretty much." Applejack responded, placing her hat back upon her blonde-maned head. She smiled at him, warmly. "Thanks for coming."

"Well, it sounded like the princess put you in a bit of a bind. I figured the least could do is haul apples for a bit. And I don't mean the currency."

She kicked another tree. "Ain't her fault. She didn't know about the family reunion."

"You could've said no, ya know?"

She sighed. "True. But it's just a bit more work, that's all." She defended. "And since when has an Apple ever shied away from work?"

Jayden shrugged. "I guess never. Surprised you still asked for help, though. No offense, AJ, but you don't do that."

She looked away, slightly embarrassed. "Somepony important...may have had to talk me into it." She quickly shifted the conversation. "Well, you're here, ain't ya? If you're gonna help then get to it. Ain't your first rodeo." She flashed a grin, letting him know she wasn't serious.

Jayden rolled his eyes and picked up one of the bins before marching over to a nearby tree. Gripping the sides, he gave it a good shake. The tree top wobbled a bit from the force before several ripe apples fell into the bin placed below. Jayden never was able to figure out just how the trees only sent down ripe apples, and nothing else. Or how they always fell right where they were supposed to.

Not that he was about to start complaining. It certainly beat picking them all by hand.

He worked for several hours, the sun soaring higher and higher and the temperature matching what was expected of a mid-summer day. Once in a while the orange country mare would trot by with a pitcher of cold apple cider and the two would have a friendly chit-chat about something or other before they'd have to get back to work.

Over time, more of Applejack's family arrived for the reunion, with the mare herself slowing down on farm work to mingle with her folks. At about noon, Jayden figured he'd been there long enough that leaving wouldn't be viewed as inappropriate. Wanting to let AJ know he was going home, he sought her out one last time, finding her back near the farmhouse.

Almost the whole Apple family was there, swapping food and chatting among themselves. Some, like Big Mac, he already knew. Others, though, were total strangers.

One pony, in particular, stuck out. A purple unicorn, whom Applejack greeted eagerly and brought over to a table which she started piling food on top of. Now, the Apple family came in all colors of the rainbow, as most ponies did, but their coats tended to stick to more grounded colors. This new pony, however, was quite purple, with a lavender mane and pink stripe running through it.

She was also the only unicorn there. He guessed there wasn't really anything saying that they couldn't have a unicorn in the family, but the Apple clan seemed to be earth pony stock through and through. Of course, he could be completely wrong and she could just be a friend of theirs. It wasn't so much of a stretch that friends of the family would show up too.

There was something else he noticed as he got closer. A small, bipedal reptilian creature was standing beside her, a plate of apple pie in one hand and a fork in the other. Even without knowing what it was, Jayden had the feeling it was pretty young, with a short and stubby body and a pair of large green eyes. Like the pony sitting next to it, the little thing was all purple, save for some rounded fringe that decorated its head, which was colored green.

As interesting as the story about the lone unicorn and her scaly companion might have been, it was still time to go. Walking over to the group, and ignoring the wide-eyed stairs from those ponies that didn't know him, he informed AJ he was heading home and that he would see her at the celebration later. The unicorn seemed to squirm in her seat at the sight of him, but a mouth stuffed with apple-themed baked goods stopped her from speaking.

He left the property and was a little ways down the dirt road when he heard a commotion behind him. A voice calling for him to wait. Turning around, he saw it was the purple unicorn from earlier, with the little lizard thing riding on her back.

She slid to a halt in front of him as a brief, awkward quiet ensued, with both sides waiting for the other to say something first.

"...What are you?"

Author's Note

Hey there, it's been a while. Bet you thought this story would never be touched again. Unless this is your first time seeing it, in which case you might be a bit confused. Though you can't tell anymore, the last chapter I made for this story came out in early 2016.

Seven years ago.

It was around that time that I really, REALLY, fell out of love for the show. I didn't like the direction it was heading in, didn't like the writing, didn't like some of the new characters (especially a certain unicorn who's name rimes with Gaslight Grifter). It was because of this falling-out that it became increasingly hard to work on my story. Sure, some people lose interest, but at least they don't go on to actively hate the thing they're working on.

Eventually, I just dropped the story and labeled it canceled. My time on Fimfiction slowly dwindled, with me no longer participating in groups or commenting on stories, and only showing up every other week or so to see if any good porn was uploaded. For the most part, I moved on from 'Friendship Is Magic'.

Then, a few months ago, I was browsing Steam, and just for shits-and-giggles I typed into the search bar 'pony'. What I got was, well, alot of trash titles and one or two official MLP games, most of them centered around G5. But, there was one that caught my eye.

A porn game called 'Friendship With Benefits.'

I must have been in a good mood, because I said 'fuck it, why not' and bought it. It had a cute art style and positive reviews, and although they weren't named correctly due to copyright, I could tell what characters were supposed to be which.

I was expecting some wank material and not much else. What I got was wank material...and a good story. In between the fetish fuel lied some sweet and wholesome moments with those anthro, offbrand ponies. It reminded me of what was great about the show, specifically its characters.

Maybe that game thawed a bit of my cold attitude towards MLP, because a while later I was browsing Youtube and, despite not really watching any videos related to it, Youtube decided to recommend something. Something I'm sure alot of you already heard. And I clicked it.

I'm talking about Jyc Row and Princewhatevrer's song 'Together, Against The Sisters'.

As I listened, I was instantly sucked back into those early days, when there was so much about the world to figure out and explore, so many stories to create and experience. It's honestly a beautiful, moving piece of music.

If 'Friendship With Benefits' reminded me of MLP's great characters, this song reminded of the shockingly good world building. It's a world so unique and exciting, yet warm and peaceful, that it practically begs you, with open arms, to enjoy it.

Once the song ended I just sat there, staring at the screen, taking in what I heard. Then, I went over to the search bar and typed 'Fimfiction'.

It feels good to be back.

So, what is 'Alternate Perspective'? It's my attempt to take my first story, a popular but ultimately terrible self-insert (don't worry, I hate myself appropriately) comedy I posted all the way back in 2014, and use the writing skills I've acquired over the years to actually make it worth a damn. I contemplated making a completely new story, but a few things made me decide to come back and work on this. For one thing, the original, called 'Three Years' because I literally chose a name at random and went with it, was nothing more than a collection of "funny moments" (heavy quotations right there) with chapters often being less than a 1,000 words. There was no real story there. Though there were some moments I was proud of, most of the characters just acted like assholes to each other and that was it. At the time, I thought it was funny.

But this is different. I finally have a story I want to tell, instead of haphazardly throwing together scenes of "comedy" so bad a chatbot could have written it. I didn't take the original seriously, but now I want to make something out of it.

There's no reason why I can't take what worked and redo what didn't and make this into an actual story, something with real purpose, meaning, and themes (hint-hint, they revolve around perspective). While some scenes will return, they'll likely be moved around a bit and not feature the toxicity that rubbed me the wrong way upon review. I want this to be good and I'll be treating it as, for the most part, a story that should be able to stand on its own without anyone having to know about the characters or the show. That means explaining concepts and characters instead of just assuming that you all know who or what they are. (Of course, if you're here, you already do. :derpytongue2: )

This will also be my way of coming to terms with what happened to MLP. As stated above, I quit the show because I really didn't like where I saw it going, and some of the characters they introduced. The lore they broke (or more accurately pounded down to a paste with a meat-mallet) became increasingly infuriating. I aim to correct what I believe to be mistakes, plotholes or pitfalls in the show through this story.

Yes, this will be, in a lot of ways, a fixfic. I'm sorry if that upsets you.

As a final word, the cover. That isn't a random picture I ripped from somewhere. That's commissioned work, by the great artist Puss Puss, and I would love to make use of it instead of just letting it stay attached to a dead fanfic.

TLDR: Former Fimfic author came back to work on his garbage-ass story and make it not suck giant horse peepee.

I hope you enjoyed what you read above and look forward to more. For those that want to see the original version, DM me. Just, be warned, it is both very bad and I have lost the first chapter. Seriously, it was on my desktop and then suddenly, poof, it's gone. I have no fucking idea how I did it.

Let me know if you see any errors.
Also, did not know that deleting chapters also deletes the comments. Sorry, that's my bad.

Kaleidoscope

"...What are you?" There was an uncertainty to the mystery mare's voice, as if she shouldn't be asking the question at all. She watched him, cautiously awaiting his response.

The mare's words took a moment to settle in Jayden's head. "Oh, that. I probably should've guessed." He replied, more to himself than his new acquaintance.

"Do...you get that question often?"

He shook his head. "Not so much these days. Happened a lot when I first got here, though."

She took a tentative step forward, glancing off to the side to avoid meeting his eyes. "I hope I'm not bothering you. It's just-"

"You've probably never seen anything like me before, right?" He gave her a smile, hoping to ease the atmosphere into something more friendly. A smile she nervously reciprocated.

"Well...yes."

Jayden had to admit, whoever the girl was, she was endearing. In a sort of nerdy, intellectual way. She seemed like the type to raise her hand, or hoof, during class and remind the teacher that she hadn't given them homework. Even had that one kind of haircut that just screamed 'dork'; bangs cut to a perfect geometric fringe across the forehead.

"So, miss...?" Jayden prodded, wanting to know the name of the mare that chased him down, seemingly out of nothing but raw curiosity.

"Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." She motioned with her head to the little reptile creature on her back. "And this is Spike." The reptile gave a wave.

Jayden returned the gesture with a nod. "Nice to meet you." His attention went back to Twilight. "Well, Miss Sparkle, what would you like to know?"

Twilight sucked in a breath, a million questions ready to be raised. But she was not the one to speak next.

That would be Spike, peaking out from behind her head. "Um, Twilight, not to ruin your fun, but remember? Nightmare Moon?"

Well, that sounded interesting. "Got something going on?" He asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," She responded with a wave of her hoof, as if the subject was as malleable as the breeze. "Just trying to save the world from the clutches of a millennia-old villain bent on shrouding the world in eternal night while also making sure the celebration planned for later goes off without a hitch." Twilight replied, her words moving faster and faster as the sentence concluded. She was clearly anxious, and a little frustrated, despite how much she tried to hide it.

"And how's that all going for you?"

"...Currently sidetracked." She hung her head.

"I see. And what does saving the world entail?" Perhaps he could get something worth while out of the conversation. Or, at least something more engrossing than the usual 'where are you from' and 'what do you do' that usually comes with meeting new people. Or ponies, in this case.

Twilight's eyes shifted to the ground. "I, uh, don't actually know yet. The Princess doesn't think my concerns are valid, so she sent me here to work on getting preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in order. I haven't had much time to, well, plan."

Now there was something. "The princess doesn't think your concerns are valid?" He repeated. "You say that like you know her personally."

"I do, actually." She stated matter-of-factly. "I'm one of her personal students. We talk all the time, sometimes in person and other times through letters." Twilight didn't seem the bragging type, but there was clearly some pride in her connection to the princess. She smiled, chin held up high.

He rose an eyebrow, impressed. "You're her personal student? Didn't realize I was chatting with someone who had a bit of prestige and authority."

Twilight's humility instantly deflected. "Oh, it's not a spot of authority and I'm not the only one. She even has a whole school dedicated to magic where she visits and teaches regularly."

Jayden brought up his hand to his chin. "Hmm, yeah, I think I remember Lyra saying she went there when she was younger."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "You know Lyra? She was one of my classmates growing up."

Jayden nodded. "More than know her, actually. I live with her."

"Really?" She sounded very intrigued, like when you spill a bit of saucy gossip to a co-worker.

"Twilight!" Spike whined, waving a piece of paper.

"Oh, right." Twilight then glanced nervously from Jayden to something far down the road, likely imagining whatever task she was supposed to be doing. She let out a whine of indecision.

"What's that?" Jayden asked, curious about the paper.

Twilight sighed. "It's my list. When I told the princess I thought Nightmare Moon was coming back...she just dismissed me. Politely, of course, but the action was still the same. Which is why I'm here, instead of being back at the royal library, trying to gather as much information as I can. No, the princess wants me to go to Ponyville and make sure that the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration are all going to plan. Well...that and one more thing." She grumbled.

"What is it?"

"She wants me to...I'm supposed to...wow, this is really embarrassing."

He shot her a concerned look, unsure as to what she was going to say.

"She...told me to get out of the library and make some friends..."

Jayden couldn't hold himself back from chuckling. "Are...are you sure she's your teacher and not your mom?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh about it."

He calmed down. "Sorry, that was mean of me. So...the princess thinks you're a bit of a neet and wants you out of the basement, eh?" He joked.

She looked at him, confused. "I don't know what a neet is. And I was living in a library."

"A neet is a term from my home that means you're pretty much a constant shut-in. I really need to start remembering that ponies don't get my references or slang."

"I see..." Again, she stared off into the distance and gave a sigh. "Wish I had more time. There's so much I want to ask you...."

Suddenly, Jayden had an idea. Twilight was clearly as curious about him as much as he was about her whole 'save the world' thing. But, as she stated a moment ago, was preoccupied with something else. However, he had no current obligations. Perhaps he could go with the young unicorn while she went about her work and he could answer any questions she might have about him. And in return she could spill the beans about 'saving the world' and 'Nightmare Moon', whatever that was. This way, everybody wins.

He relayed the idea to Twilight who, after thinking in over, gladly accepted the offer. With that out of the way, the newly formed trio wasted no time and started walking, with Twilight immediately prodding Jayden for information. She wanted to know everything: What he was, who he was, where he came from, ect.

Twilight's appetite for knowledge was voracious and Jayden did what he could to answer some of her questions, explaining what a human was and what they ate, as well bits of collective human history. He made sure to shy away from some of the darker aspects of humanity, figuring there wasn't much point in sharing that anyway. Why put himself in a bad light if he didn't have to? He also steered clear of mentioning that he was from another dimension, with him being unsure as to how Twilight would react to the idea of aliens on her planet. She seemed to be under the impression that he was from some uncontacted part of the globe, which is why she didn't know anything about his kind. For the moment, he wanted to keep it that way.

One thing that impressed him was Twilight's shocking acceptance of the human diet. Most ponies, when they find out Jayden liked to eat meat, were a bit put-off by it. Just talking about it often made them visibly uncomfortable, even a little nervous, as if he would suddenly turn feral and start mauling them. But Twilight took it in stride. More than anything, she was fascinated by it, her logical side winning out over any instinctual fear response.

Once he felt that he explained enough about himself, Jayden switched the conversation, now desiring to have his own curiosity sated.

"So, what's a Nightmare Moon?" He asked.

The smile on Twilight's face disappeared and her expression turned almost melancholy. She'd been so caught up in interviewing Jayden that she almost forgot. "Not a what...a who." She turned and looked up at him. "First, what do you know of Equestrian history?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not much, really. Just bits and pieces that I've gained from skimming the random history book. Never heard of anyone called Nightmare Moon, though."

Twilight used her magic and pulled a very old looking book from her right saddlebag. She opened it and flipped through several pages before finding the spot she wanted and began to read aloud.

"Once upon a time...in the magical land of Equestria..."

"Really? That's how the story actually starts?"

"Hey, I didn't write it, I'm just reading what's on the page." She defended before turning her attention back to the book. "There were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects..."

Jayden listened quietly as Twilight kept reading. "But, as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. Their subjects relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The eldest tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness...Nightmare Moon. She vowed she would shroud the land in eternal night."

Twilight continued. "Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom...the elements of harmony. Using the magic of the elements, she defeated her sister and banished her to the moon. The eldest then took on responsibility for both sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained for generations since." She closed the book.

While the story itself was nothing special, very much a standard fable, one word caught Jayden's attention. "You mentioned something called an alicorn. What's that?" Jayden asked.

"Oh, well an alicorn is, um...difficult to explain. It's like if somepony took a unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony and put them all together and gave them immense power. It's what Princess Celestia is."

So that's what she was. He'd seen pictures and paintings of the Equestrian ruler and wondered if there was a term for the horn and wings combo. "I used to just call her a pegacorn."

"Those do exist, but they're quite rare and only superficially similar. An alicorn is so much more."

"Hmm.." Jayden brought his hand up to his chin, thinking over the story Twilight read. "Alicorns are incredibly powerful, huh? Is that what makes Celestia immortal?"

"Yes, though it's somewhat debated on whether she's actually immortal, or just very long-lived. Even she doesn't know."

He was starting to think he knew what was going on here, at least if story was true and not some fable. Aside from from her control of the sun and moon, which he still didn't fully believe, Princess Celestia was known for another miraculous feat: Her millennia-long life span. She's been ruling and guiding Equestria for well over a thousand years, and the ponies treat her with an almost god-like reverence. Though immortality or a long life was certainly more believable than flinging the sun across the sky at a whim, he still was rather suspicious. But, if she really was that long-lived...she could be that 'eldest sister' from the book.

Though, if Celestia had a sister, why didn't anyone talk about it? Maybe she didn't want her connection to Nightmare Moon being known and had the whole thing covered up. It Wouldn't be that hard for royalty. Maybe he was right to be suspicious of her.

Or, the more likely scenario, it was just a story. A fable or myth. One perhaps inspired by Celestia, but fictional none the less. A thousand years is a long time to make up stories about someone, after all.

Though, that didn't explain why Twilight was so upset about it.

"Okay, so you've told me who Nightmare Moon is, but not why that bothers you."

"Because, she's coming back...tonight."

He gave her a look. "You can't be serious."

"I am."

"How do you know this? Why would you even assume it?"

"On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars themselves will aid in her escape...and she will bring about darkness eternal. The book 'Predictions and Prophecies' was very clear on the signs. And tonight marks a thousand years after her banishment."

It was kind of surprising to see someone so intellectually driven as Twilight put any stock to things like prophecies. She didn't seem remotely the type. "Twilight...I don't want to crap on your ideas... but I'm pretty sure that Nightmare Moon stuff is just a story. You know, like an old fairy-tale?"

"You mean an old pony's-tail?"

He swore, the puns here killed him sometimes. "Yeah, something like that."

"I know how it all sounds, but I really think I'm right about this."

In a lot of ways, this was just like earlier, with him being asked to believe something ridiculous while the other party watched him intently, waiting for confirmation on his opinions. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but I think it's all just a myth or something. And, even if Nightmare Moon did exist and the prophecy was made in good faith, I don't think it will come true."

Twilight gave a depressed sigh. "But there's something there, I can feel it. I can't explain it, and for me not being able to explain something logically physically hurts my entire being, but I feel it."

Jayden could sense that there was no more to say. She had her views and he had his, and the only way to know who was right was to wait until later.

Wanting to change the subject, he asked about Twilight's current task. She informed him that she was supposed to go around and meet various ponies on a list and see if they we're doing their part, with each one having an important assignment. Applejack and 'Sweet Apple Acres' were asked to work on the banquet, something he already knew, and were crossed off. Up next was a pegasus mare named Rainbow Dash, who was supposed to clear the skies of clouds. After that was Rarity, in charge of decorations, and finally, Fluttershy, whose songbird choir was going to perform for the ceremony.

Upon hearing Dash's name, Jayden offered some advice and directed them to where she could likely be found, with the group eventually stopping near a small cloud floating just a few feet off the ground.

"And you're sure this is her?"

"Unless someone stole her napping cloud, yeah."

Twilight took a few tentative steps toward the small cloud. "Excuse me, are you Rainbow Dash?"

There was a yawn, then a bit of movement. Suddenly, hanging over the cloud's edge, was a rainbow-colored tail swishing back and forth. "Depends. Who wants to know?" Replied a slightly gravelly voice.

Twilight put on her best authoritative tone. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I've been sent by Princess Celestia to check up on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. I was told you'd be clearing the clouds." She let a bit of disappointment seep into her tone, seeing the sky still pop-marked with the white, fluffy creations. "And it looks like that hasn't been done yet."

Picking up on Twilight's tone, Dash went on the defensive. "Look, lady, I got all day to do that. The party ain't till later and it will only take me, like, ten seconds to get it all done anyway."

"I'm sure the princess would appreciate it if it was done now more than later."

Rainbow huffed, hauling herself over the side to look at the mare grating on her nerves. "The princess isn't even here, she doesn't-" She froze when she saw Jayden. "O-oh, hi Jayden!" She shouted, a little bit louder than she meant to.

Jayden waved. "Hey, Rainbow. What's up?"

A redness began to spread on her blue cheeks. "Oh, y-you know. D-doin'...stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

She looked down at the cloud she was sleeping on. "Napping stuff."

"Neato. So, could you please get rid of the-" He was cut off as Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air, the force from her wings almost sending Twilight tumbling over. The small group watched from the ground as Rainbow Dash blitzed across the sky at ludicrous speeds, ramming headlong into the clouds looming above, dispersing them with a satisfying 'puff', all before landing back down with a triumphant grin.

"Woah." Spike whispered.

"H-how!?" Shouted Twilight, stunned by the impromptu performance.

Jayden chuckled. "Dash here is probably the fastest flier in Ponyville." He said, watching Rainbow puff out her chest, the blush returning to her grinning face.

Dash gave a snort. "Ponyville? Try all of Equestria! Gotta be if I'm gonna make it into the Wonderbolts."

"The Wonderbolts?" Asked Twilight, a little surprised by the colorful pegasi's ambitions. "That's quite the elite group. They don't let in just anypony."

"Oh, I know it. It's why I'm always training, always working out." She stretched out her legs, almost like a cat, and unfurled her wings, trying to show off her body.

"We found you napping on a cloud." Twilight stated, dryly.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah, even I need a rest. Workin' hard takes a lot out of me."

"Thanks for clearing the sky, Rainbow." Jayden interrupted.

She waved a hoof. "I-it was nothin'. I'd do ANYTHING for you." She gave him another intense look.

"What?"

"I-I mean my friends! I'd do anything for my friends! Never leave them hanging."

"Well, we appreciate it." He looked around, unsure of how to continue the conversation. "Uh, that's really all we needed. Sorry to bother you about it, Rainbow, you can go back to napping." He turned to leave but Rainbow called out to him.

"Hey, Jayden! A-are you, like, going to the celebration later?"

"Uh, yeah, I was planning to. Why?"

"Just wanted to know if I'd, you know, see you there. Was thinking I'd skip the party and get some good rest for the practice I'm doing tomorrow. But I figured if all my friends are going, maybe I'd go too."

Jayden gave a thumbs up. "Cool. Guess I'll see you there." He looked down at Twilight, then back to Rainbow. "Not that chatting isn't fun, but we gotta get going."

"Oh, sure." Her mood seemed to deflate a bit. "Go ahead. We'll talk at the party!"

He gave a nod. "Will do."

As the trio departed from the napping-inclined pegasus, Twilight gave Jayden a look. "So, did you not notice or are just playing innocent?"

He returned her look with one of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"That she was looking at you...you know."

"Well, yeah she was looking at me. We were standing in front of her." He paused, giving time for bewilderment to flash across Twilight's face.

"She was blushing."

"And? It's the middle of summer. It's hot out."

Twilight could feel the aneurysm beginning to form. In the end, though, she chose to drop it. Some random pegasi's crush, a pegasus she'd likely never see again, was irrelevant to her plans anyway. Besides, why talk about that when she could talk more about the mystery creature right next to her.

"You know, you haven't told me much about your home yet." She said.

"Not much to tell. Earth isn't too different from this planet."

Twilight gave him a confused stare and he instantly realized his mistake.

"Are...are you implying that you're-"

Spike interrupted her. "He's an alien!"

" Ah crap, guess the cat's out of the bag on that one." He muttered. "Yeah, you could call me an alien, of sorts." He shrugged. "Unfortunately, no spaceship"

"Oh, that's so cool!" Spike's eyes were wide, an expression of pure awe.

Twilight scanned Jayden's features for any hint of deception. No shifting eyes, no strained facial expressions. He seemed to be telling the truth.

"You can't expect me to believe you. That's crazy, impossible." She said, letting her doubt seep into her words.

"You're not expected to believe anyone about anything, much less me." Jayden replied. "But, it's the truth all the same."

It dawned on Twilight that Jayden was actually serious. She took a step back, as if she were suddenly terrified. "But that's- no, it can't!" The implications took root in her mind. "So much could change, would change! Our world, our society, our technology! The entire planet...altered, transformed!" She began to hyperventilate, eyes scanning the world for something to anchor herself to as her mind shattered and she babbled to herself.

"So..." Jayden said, looking at Spike. "Who's next on that list thingy?"

Spike glanced at the parchment in his claws. "Rarity for assistance in decorations."

Jayden's mood instantly soured. "...Oh. Great. Goody."

"What's wrong?"

"Just a mare I don't get along with. Really ugly, too, with an awful personality. Not looking forward to popping by and saying hello."

Spike looked at the list again, suddenly concerned. "Well, is she at least good at decorating? I don't see why the Princess would ask for her help if she wasn't."

He crossed his arms. "I don't know about decorating, but she owns a dress-making shop in town. I guess her dresses look...fine. If you like gaudy and pretentious. And garbage."

"Aliens!" Twilight shouted. Her mane had, somehow, become frazzled in only a couple minutes and she appeared on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"She gonna be alright?" Asked Jayden.

Twilight lifted Spike with her magic and brought him to her face, looking him directly in the eyes, her own twitching uncontrollably. "Aliens!"

"Just give her time." Spike replied.

Jayden shrugged. "Well, let's get this over with. Come on, Twilight, this way." He motioned for the mare to follow.

"Aliens." She muttered, trailing after him.

"Very good, you know your A's. Next, let's work on our B's. Can you say Banana?"

The list informed the group know that Rarity could be found at town hall and that's where they went next. Jayden always liked the town hall. With its very high ceiling and large, round main room it was one of the few buildings in Ponyville where he didn't feel cramped. Most places just didn't have the space for him.

Heading there and going inside, they found Rarity currently hanging up banners and streamers of various colors, not yet noticing the trio as they walked in.

Jayden could sense his blood pressure rising as he watched the white unicorn mare. He had to remind himself that he was here to help Twilight and not start shit with his nemesis. Just introduce Twilight and let her do her job and then they can leave. No fuss.

"You lied to me!" Spike shouted, turning to Jayden and giving him a glare.

"How so?" The human responded, somewhat offended, looking down at the baby dragon.

"You said she was ugly!" He turned his head back to the mare again, watching intently. "But she's beautiful. A goddess"

Jayden mentally swore he could almost see hearts forming in the kid's eyes. Great, the kid's got a crush.

"Well, I think she's ugly on the inside." Jayden offered up his explanation."So, what I told you was true, from a certain point of view."

"A certain point of view?" Spike crossed his arms.

Jayden squatted down to Spike's level, as if they were about to have an intimate heart-to-heart conversation. "Spike, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of vie-"

"What do YOU want?!" Rarity shouted across the room, eyes glaring at Jayden, probably hoping laser beams would suddenly shoot out, severing his head from his shoulders. She snipped a yellow streamer with a pair of scissors before hanging it up on the wall and walking over to the trio.

"It's not enough that I have my hard-earned day off taken from me, by royal decree no less, but now I have you, of all creatures, mucking about while I work! Can I not just have one break today!?"

"Hey cunt, how's it going?" He ignored her outburst. "Got someone who wants to meet you."

"Sorry, but I don't feel like meeting the fleas you picked off those greasy strands you call hair." She glared.

Jayden sighed and turned from her before he motioned over to the purple mare. "Twilight, just do what you need to do so we can go."

" ...What? Oh, right." Twilight muttered. She'd gotten over most of the shock about aliens on Equestrian soil, but it still weighed on her mind. That, along with Nightmare Moon, meant her brain was no longer functioning at its peak. She was lost in her own little world when Jayden spoke and it took her a moment to realize she was being talked to.

Rarity looked Twilight over, suspicious of her, as she was with anything related to Jayden. She couldn't rule out that this was all some sort of ploy. "Can I help you with something?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. I've been sent here from Canterlot to-"

The change in Rarity's expression, and trust, were immediate. "Canterlot! You're from Canterlot?! Oh, I've always wanted to go! The style, the sophistication, the glamor! You must tell me what it's like to live there." She gushed.

Jayden resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't really have much time to chat today." Twilight responded. "I'm just here to make sure everything for the celebration later is going according to plan." And last thing she was yet more social interaction getting in the way. "And specifically, I'm checking up on how the decorations are coming along."

Rarity's excited and open demeanor deflated a bit. "Oh, I see." She floated over several kinds of banners and streamers. "I did what I could, especially since the scroll I was given, one that was rather out of the blue, made no mention of requests or themes that the princess would like. Going with my gut, I chose colors relating to the princess's own palate. You know, yellows, whites, blues, etc. Things that would complement not only her but the sunrise as well." She paused. "I hope this is acceptable?"

Twilight wasn't one to gush over aesthetics, but even she could see that Rarity put in the effort to make the room pop. All around were banners and streamers and ribbons, all fitting a warm summer theme. "Looks great! I'm sure the princess will love it." Looking around, something on the wall caught her attention. It was a particular gem embroidered onto the middle of some of the ribbons. Starting off totally white in the middle before branching out into ever bolder shades of yellow before reaching the edges of the gem. "Wait, are these-"

"Gryphonic sunstones?" Rarity interrupted. "Yes, they are."

"Aren't those incredibly rare?"

"Indeed." She smiled, clearly proud of having acquired something so uncommon.

"How in Equestria did you get them?"

"Oh, a lady has her ways." She waited for Twilight to speak.

"Then I won't-"

"Well, if you must know." She interrupted, eagerly wanting to spill the beans despite her faux reluctance. "I'm proficient in a very unique spell that allows me to find things like gems and diamonds. And, if I know what I want, I can even locate specific types. Such as these gryphonic sunstones."

"You found them yourself?" She said, impressed. "I can't imagine how long that took."

"True, it was an all-day affair, but it was worth it in the end. I get to show them off decorating for the princess, after all."

"Oh my god!" Jayden shouted, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "We get it! Colorful rocks, really fuckin' pretty, are we done yet?"

Rarity maneuvered her head around Twilight to glare at the offending biped. "Please be quiet, the mares are having a discussion. One about decor and beauty, something quite important regardless how little your dung-flinging monkey brain understands of it." She snapped.

Jayden firmly clenched his fists. "......"

"What's the matter? No adequate retorts in that empty head of yours? You know, besides how much you want a banana?"

"Just... suppressing my all-consuming rage."

Twilight placed herself between the two, obscuring Rarity's vision, and spoke. "As impolitely," she shot Jayden an disapproving glance, "as he worded that, he is right that we need to get going."

"Oh...and I was so enjoying your company too!" Rarity replied, looking genuinely hurt. "But, if you have work to do I shall not keep you."

"Thank you for your time. We'll be heading off now." She turned to leave the building.

"Oh, and Twilight?" Rarity called out to her.

"Yes?"

"I wasn't kidding about Canterlot. If you're ever in Ponyville again, stop by my boutique. We can chat over tea. I'd love to hear all about it."

"Will do." She ground her teeth at the thought of more social interaction. "Spike, Jayden? Let's go." The pair followed the mare out the door, leaving Rarity to her work.

Jayden waited till the group got a decent distance from town hall before speaking. "Have to admit, that went a little better than normal. A bit less screaming than I anticipated. Still hate her, though."

"Alright, so I don't get it. Why do you hate each other?" Asked Twilight, a bit concerned at what she just saw. To her, Rarity seemed a perfectly nice mare, if a tad shallow, and only acted aggressively at Jayden's instigation. There had to be a reason for the bad blood.

"We just...do. You know?" Jayden responded.

"No, I don't, that's why I'm asking."

He sighed before slumping his shoulders and giving in. "She made fun of my clothes."

"That's what that was about? She made fun of your clothes?"

"I mean, when you say it out loud it sounds kinda dumb. But it was the way she did it. So patronizing and above it all, as if she were the pinnacle of sophistication. It reeked of someone desperately trying to be something they're not. And don't even get me started on how rude she was to Hayseed Turnip Truck at the Ponyville hoedown." He paused. "So, I called her out on it and we've been fighting ever since."

"There's got to be more to it than just that."

"Hey, you can go back and ask her if you want. I'm sure she'd love to keep talking with you." He gave her a grin. "Maybe she'll even give your mane a makeover while you chat. Doesn't that just sound fun?"

Twilight resisted the urge to cringe. "I think I'll pass. Besides, we just have one pony left."

With Rarity done, the final target was Fluttershy, off somewhere practicing with her birds. If Jayden had been paying attention, he might have noticed that every pony on Twilight's list was one he knew personally. However, the day was starting to drag on and he was about ready for a nap, so paying attention was slowly becoming a non-factor.

Finding the yellow pegasus was rather quick and Jayden was able to explain why they sought her out. Twilight tried doing it herself, but the mare almost refused to talk to her. Not from impoliteness, though. More like she was living up to her namesake and was just too shy for the two to interact.

She did open up a little more when Jayden did the talking and introduced them, with Fluttershy squeaking out a greeting, eyes looking around at anything other than Twilight's own. Fortunately, despite the reluctant communication, Twilight could confirm that, yes, the music situation for later that night was taken care of and that Fluttershy's birds were thoroughly trained. Though, it did seem odd to her that someone so clearly in need of help with their social anxieties would be asked to perform for a crowd at an important national event.

What really brought the mare out of her shell was Spike. Seeing the baby dragon caused a total shift in her demeanor. She gushed over him, her reticence to communicate flying out the proverbial window.

Also, Jayden didn't know Spike was baby dragon until it was brought up.

Also also, he got to meet a dragon today, so that was pretty cool.

Jayden cast his gaze away from the two ponies and baby dragon and looked to the sky. The sun wasn't setting yet, but it would pretty soon. He was tired and Fluttershy was the last pony on the list, meaning he'd been with Twilight through most of her tasks. While he didn't really help, as Twilight was just checking off boxes, he was glad he could follow along and chat. But, with that all done, and his growing tiredness being too much to ignore, he figured it was time to head home.

He approached the purple unicorn, who was currently rolling her eyes at Fluttershy, who in turn was absolutely fawning over Spike, constantly asking the baby dragon questions. In a way, it was a sort of humorous mirror to him and Twilight.

"Fluttershy was the last one on your list, right?" Jayden asked, just making sure.

"Yes. Now I should be free to go to the library and do at least a little research on Nightmare Moon. No guarantees that I'll actually find anything useful, but it's all I can think of right now. Fortunately, I won't have to go all the way back to Canterlot as the princess has set aside Ponyville's old library for me to stay the night in."

"So that's where you're staying. I was wondering about that."

"Just for the night. Though, if Nightmare Moon gets her way, that won't mean much very soon."

"That's a shame. Would be nice to have the old library up and running again. Have you seen it, yet?"

Twilight shook her head.

"I think you'll like it. The whole library is inside a giant hollowed-out tree. It's pretty neat."

"That does sound...nice." It was clear her mind was on Nightmare Moon again, and all the danger she thought would come with her.

"Hey, Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"Don't worry about it too much, okay."

"Easy for you to say. You think I'm crazy, just like the princess." She hung her head.

"I don't think you're crazy, just incorrect."

Twilight snorted in derision. To someone like her, being called incorrect might as well just be an insult.

"Look, I..." He thought about what to say. "If it makes you feel better...if she actually comes back tonight and the world is actually in danger...I'll help."

"You would?" Twilight's mood visibly improved. "Why?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Why not? I don't even think she's real, so what do I have to lose?"

Twilight smiled, just a little bit. "You may come to regret that."

"Nah, I don't think so." Again, he looked to the sky, the sun getting closer and closer to connecting with the horizon. "Not that this day hasn't been fun, but I've been up since before dawn and I am absolutely exhausted. This is probably where we part ways."

Twilight gave a nod. "Goodbye, Jayden. Thank you for your time today. Learning about you was fascinating."

He responded a wave and started the trek home. With no companions to talk to, and the warmth of the setting sun providing a soothing atmosphere, he let his mind drift and wander over the day's events. Twilight Sparkle and Spike were certainly an unexpected addition, though not unwelcome. Certainly made for interesting conversation partners. And they both seemed nice enough, even if Twilight was clearly a little too concerned about evil miss Moon-And-Doom.

The girl actually thought the world was going to end that night. You'd think someone so intelligent wouldn't take mythology and fables so seriously.

She'll see. Nothing will happen, the 'Summer Sun Celebration' will go off without a hitch, and no millennia-old villains will pop up out of nowhere to wreak havoc. Life in Equestria would go on as it always had.

With no changes what so ever.

Prism

Twilight Sparkle sat quietly in the Canterlot royal library, the room dark save for the few candles magically hovering around her, giving her the light she needed to work. Her eyes astutely scanned the book on the desk below as she went from word to word, taking in everything, until she reached the end of the last page. Closing the tome, she placed it next to the rest, having acquired a small mountain of them in her research, before standing up and walking over to the nearby window. Looking out, Twilight stared at the moon above.

The sun hadn't rose in more than a month.

Princess Celestia, her mentor and ruler, was missing.

Twilight wished she could say she knew what to expect with Nightmare Moon's return. That having predicted it meant she somehow knew what was coming and what to do. The unfortunate truth was that Twilight was just as much in the dark, both figuratively and literally, as everypony else. While the world being engulfed in perpetual night was, of course, anticipated (it was the villains' main goal, after all) she was not ready for just how Equestria would react. Nor did she think she'd actually see the mare in person.

A coat of midnight black and eyes like a cat. Mane and tail an ethereal dark blue, flowing from some imperceptible wind. She stood tall and, when she interrupted the celebration with claims of eternal night and taunting that they'd all never see their princess again, was every bit as imposing as Twilight had feared.

Nightmare Moon's effects on the world were immediately felt. The sun vanished, the princess disappeared, likely abducted or worse, and nightmares plagued everyone. Every night was a exercise in futility as ponies laid their heads down for bed, only to be woken up screaming moments after. There was, seemingly, little one could do in rebuking whatever dark magic was at play. The nightmares were ceaseless and it played havoc with every pony's nerves, from the most meager of subjects to the ruling hierarchy, which was now in disarray.

Princess Celestia was their sun, their hope. Her disappearance hit the ever-emotional ponies hard and most of them just couldn't take it. Local economies slowed to a crawl, with nopony wanting to work as they were too scared or disheartened to care. Mistrust ran high. Ponies began hoarding food and butting heads, and she'd seen more than a few fights break out over the past month.

And dropped right into the middle of it all was Twilight Sparkle, doing what she could to save her home within the confines of her expertise. Which, of course, was the procurement of knowledge. Tomes, books, scrolls; anything related to Nightmare Moon she requested access to and nothing was off the table.

If she found a slip of ancient paper that stated Nightmare Moon was deathly afraid of mangoes Twilight would make sure the royal guard knew about it.

Alas, not even such a pathetic tidbit of information like that made itself known to Twilight. Any records from Nightmare Moon's last time in Equestria looked almost intentionally vague, sending the studious unicorn all over the place in her search for something that could help.

And she was very close to her wits end.

Until just now.

"I have you. I finally have you." Twilight muttered, a wide grin forming on her muzzle, before she turned away from the moonlit window. Though she considered herself a bit more logical than other ponies, Twilight adored the princess just as much as her fellow subjects. More so, actually, given just how close the two were. Princess Celestia was like a second mother to her. As such, even she was hard pressed to not find some smug, vindictive satisfaction in the thought of taking part in Nightmare Moon's soon-to-be downfall.

Despite her attempts to remain objective.

And what was it that cause such a surge in bravado? This increase in hope? The certainty of victory?

The 'Elements Of Harmony', powerful magical artifacts used to defeat Nightmare Moon the last time around, have been found.

Well...maybe.

She was, like, 90 percent certain.

It was practically a given.

Though Twilight's excitement was palpable, and she'd love to break out into a fit of victorious squeals and hoof-stomps, she made an effort to reign in her exuberance and keep quiet. Glancing over to the corner of the room Twilight saw Jayden, sleeping rather soundly thanks to a potent anti-nightmare spell she found just a few hours ago.

The large alien biped was absolutely fascinating to interact with. It was unfortunate that her meeting him coincided with Nightmare Moon's return, as she would much rather have spent the last month picking his brain than worrying about the end of the world.

But, such was her lot.

That's not to say she wasn't able to glean anything from their time together. Far from it. Every pop culture reference she didn't get, every utterance of something going on back in his dimension was another piece of an exceptionally intriguing puzzle.

And Twilight loved her puzzles.

Speaking of puzzles, it was time to inform the higher ups that the final piece of another has likely been found.

"Spike, I'll be back in a few minutes, alright?" She whispered to the drake, who was currently reading through a rather large book about dragon history. The scaly boy looked up from his comfy chair and nodded quietly, not wanting to make too much noise and risk waking the slumbering human.

Leaving the room, Twilight walked the marble and gold halls of Canterlot Castle, the ornate candles and torches pulling triple duty as they kept the constant shadows at bay. She passed a few royal guards stationed at various parts of the castle, the bags under their eyes evident that they too were suffering from Nightmare Moon's psychological attacks.

Twilight proceeded to head to the Royal Canterlot Garden. The garden was an immaculately kept and expertly designed menagerie of plants and wildlife, taken from all over the world. It was the pride of the castle (aside from the princess herself, of course) and the location for many of the more prestigious events in the city. Several pristine white stone pathways snaked around bushes and trees, all connecting in the middle of the garden at a large fountain, accessorized with benches for visitors to rest their hooves.

A tall unicorn stallion with a white coat and sandy-blonde mane, dressed in a well-pressed dark blue suit, stood by the fountain, watching with tired eyes as the water fell relaxingly from a series of elevated dishes and then into the bottom basin.

He was Prince Blueblood, Princess Celestia's nephew and, in her absence, the current regent of Equestria.

Always respectful to authority, Twilight gave a bow as she approached. "Your highness."

Blueblood jolted to his senses and turned from the fountain to see who was addressing him. "Oh, it's you." He visibly relaxed. "Come to bask in the tranquility of the garden as well, Sparkle?"

"No, your highness, not quite." She raised her head.

Blueblood turned back to the fountain, admiring its expert architecture. "Then...are you here to report something?"

"I am, your highness."

This caught Blueblood's attention. "And?"

"The Elements of Harmony. I know where they can be found."

Blueblood took a moment to let Twilight's words settle in his mind, then spoke. " The 'Elements of Harmony'? I seem to recall that we already went that route. And it turned up nothing." He replied, his tone returning to one of exhausted disinterest.

"I know..."

"Then why, pray tell, are we going through this entire rigmarole again?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I just couldn't let it go."

Blueblood sighed. "Explain, Sparkle."

"I tried to, I promise. I know you told me to drop it, to focus on other things that could help us. But every time I'd get to work on them, a tiny voice in the back of my head was calling me back to the 'Elements'. To try again, that I missed something."

"So...you deliberately disobeyed me?" Blueblood hung his head. The stallion didn't even look angry, just annoyed. "You ignored me and kept working on what we both agreed was a dead end."

"I...yes." Embarrassment and anxiety coalesced together into an emotion Twilight couldn't really pinpoint, settling somewhere in her gut. She was caught off guard by Blueblood's words, having expected praise for her revelation. Instead, she was being chided for her insubordination. Something she only realized she did in hindsight.

Blueblood gave a slow shake of his head and turned to Twilight. "Fine. What do you have for me, Miss Sparkle?"

"As I said, I think I know where the 'Elements of Harmony' are."

"You think or you know?" Before Twilight can stumble out an answer Blueblood waved a hoof. "Doesn't matter. Just continue."

"Um, right, well, when I first started searching for the 'Elements' it didn't seem like it should be that difficult. All I had to do was follow the trail. You know, match up their last documented location with the most recent publishing date. But that lead to a lot of simultaneous 'last known locations,' most of them conflicting." The unease she felt before slowly began to fade away as she entered her patented lecture mode.

"Forgeries?" Blueblood summarized for her.

Twilight nodded. "Likely common jewelry that the lower nobility at the time decided could pull more weight. Easiest way to increase a house's net worth. 'Hey, everypony! This thing I already have? Yeah, it's actually a priceless artifact!'" She gave a slight pause. "Well, that or outright data errors."

"If an 'Element of Harmony' is on the mantle of some fireplace and hasn't been authenticated, I can assure you it has been, and it wasn't." Blueblood's tone was flat.

“But then, I had an epiphany." Twilight continued. "It occurred to me that I had the right process, just in the wrong order! So, I started over, but instead of looking at the most recent documentation of the 'Elements' and working my way back through the past, I went and found the earliest mention of them and moved forward from there."

"And what did you find?"

"I can trace the 'Elements' back to a party at the capitol in the mid 200's! About 800 years ago when they were exclusively in Princess Celestia's vault! Treated with respect, always with the princess, only one set in existence. Any later mentions of the 'Elements' start to get tangled from there, so I discount those as the fakes."

"800 years ago in a place you've already checked, I see." The prince turned back to the fountain and Twilight could feel the condescension dripping from his words.

"What? No!" Twilight trotted to face Blueblood, craning her neck over the fountain's lip to be in the prince's field of view. "When I said they were in the capitol, I meant the Castle of the Two Sisters. Ruins in the Everfree Forest. Likely untouched since the exodus! I would just need some security, rations, and if I can get them, a team of archaeologists-"

"No"

"Alright. Just some guards-"

"No." He shook his head.

"Please, Blueblood? A small cadre of guards will be that missed?"

There was a long pause before Blueblood took a deep breath and responded. "...I've been able to maintain a sense of normality here in Canterlot by pulling royal guard legions from other areas of Equestria to reinforce the capitol. We've been lucky, so far. It seems, despite the moon constantly above us, and the abduction of my aunt, Nightmare Moon has made no attempt at an overthrow. Yet."

Twilight didn't know what the young regent was getting at. "No disrespect, your highness, but what does that mean?"

"It means I can't help you."

It took a brief moment for the sentence to register. "But sir, please, you have to!"

Blueblood hung his head. He looked almost...ashamed? "I'm sorry, Sparkle, but I just can't authorize it. Not on something as loose as this."

"But the royal guard would have no problem in getting them." Twilight replied, attempting to plea her case.

"It's not about ability, it's about numbers. Equestria has no army, not a real one. Our main defense is the royal guard and their numbers are not infinite. I need everyone at the ready and in position for if, or when, Nightmare Moon makes her move. Especially here in Canterlot." He gave a slight chuckle. "And you want me to send them gallivanting through the forest, to an old castle that hasn't been touched in some 800 years?"

"Your highness, please-"

"No, Twilight." Blueblood cut her off, his way of firmly signifying that the topic of discussion had reached finality.

Any hope or optimism the young unicorn had been feeling before heading out to meet Blueblood slowly evaporated. "There's no way I can convince you? No way to make this work?"

"I'm sorry, Sparkle. Truly." The prince dipped his head.

"I see." Dejected, Twilight began her slow shuffle away from the regent. "Alright...I guess I'll just get back to work. Maybe look into ways to bring the sun back."

"No, you will not."

She stopped and turned back to the prince. "Sir?"

"Make no mistake, your hard work in helping the kingdom research Nightmare Moon, and any weaknesses she might have, is appreciated. And commendable. The 'Elements of Harmony' were a fine enough subject to look into. But, when that yielded no results, I ordered you to pursue other leads. You willfully ignored that order and continued on, regardless."

Twilight's heart began to race and she could feel her chest tightening as she realized the implication.

When Twilight didn't immediately respond, Blueblood continued. "It's been a month and your time using the library has little to show for it. I'll be assigning somepony else to your position. Hopefully, they can make better use of the resources than you did. Please, take your companions and vacate the library."

"I...ok." Her eyes clamped closed to halt the tears forming and she choked back a building sob. She turned to leave, head low and hooves plodding along at a sloth-like pace. She made it a few feet before stopping. "Oh, um, here's this." She used her magic and floated over a rather lengthy piece of paper from her saddlebag. "It's an anti-nightmare spell. One that seems to work against Nightmare Moon's magic. You'll probably find it useful."

Blueblood took it with a nod. "Thank you."

With that, Twilight left the garden and returned to the castle proper. Instead of going back to the library immediately, however, she wandered, her mind replaying the conversation she had with Blueblood over and over again. Could she have said something different? Done something different? It was almost bewildering just how quickly the mood changed.

Finding the 'Elements' was supposed to be her triumph, yet she felt more defeated than ever.

By Blueblood, no less.

Her anger slowly rising, Twilight's mind focused on Blueblood. Of course the pompous brat was taking his role as nobility seriously now that it impacted her. Of course! How could it have gone any other way? Any other time he would have likely signed off on anything Twilight wanted, so long as it didn't affect his own coffers.

"Blueblood." Twilight muttered under her breath, her teeth grinding the more she dwelled on him. She didn't like him. Never did.

And she wasn't the only one.

Blueblood had a rather distasteful reputation amongst the rest of the nobility as an incredibly haughty and self-absorbed stallion, one who seemingly adored the perks of royalty with no real desire to endure the responsibilities that came with it. To him, being a prince meant enjoying the finer things in life. The best food, the best wine, and all the top-tier accommodations the castle could provide. Any actual decision making was Princess Celestia's domain, allowing him to loaf about in excess.

She recalled a time, a couple years ago, when Princess Celestia was hosting some kind of conference involving Equestria and its neighbors. It was meant to bolster the trust between various nations, as well as incentivize increased cooperation in their economies. Twilight, despite not being a dignitary or any other pony of political importance, was allowed by Celestia to be a part of the event as her guest.

It was there she met Blueblood for the first time.

And she wasn't endeared to him in the slightest.

Blueblood, when he eventually showed up, did so late and looking none too interested in the affair. He accidentally mistook the griffon diplomat as a serving girl and didn't even bother talking to the mintoaur ambassador (probably for the best, actually). His attitude throughout was obnoxious and only got worse as the night went on. The whole thing became a political debacle and it was one of the few times Twilight had seen Princess Celestia genuinely upset.

Funny how things can so easily change. Princess Celestia's disappearance and the pushing of responsibilities onto him must have sobered the lout up quite a bit.

The focus of her mental musing then switched over to the 'Elements of Harmony'. She didn't know why she was, recently, so obsessed with them. Yes, they'd be powerful weapons against Nightmare Moon, if found, but there were other things that could be useful. Something was making her fixate on them.

Maybe it was desperation. She was so sure that finding them would be Equestria's big break and that the awful state her home was in would soon be coming to a much needed close. It was almost soul-crushing to think that, without the 'Elements', she was all the way back to square one.

And that the foreboding dark of night would go on for a while longer.

After a few minutes of slowly trodding back through the castle's halls, her mind awash with disappointment, Twilight finally returned to the library. She gave a sigh and a shake of her head to clear her thoughts, before pressing against the handle and heading inside.

"So, what are you reading?"

Twilight raised her head as a voice instantly wormed its way into her ears upon entering. Ahead, she saw Jayden hanging around Spike, the titanic biped leering over the little dragon's shoulder. It would appear his nap was over and he was taking an interest in the book Spike was holding.

"Oh, it's a book on dragon history." Spike held the book up with a wide smile, happy to show it off.

The unicorn drifted over to her workstation in a mental fog. Jayden gave her a slight nod in recognition. Rather than clean, her eyes stared through the desk, ruminating on what to do.

"Cool. Looks absolutely ancient, though." The human replied to young dragon.

"It is." Spike concurred. "I think it's the oldest book on dragons in the whole library!" If the boy's tone was any indicator, he seemed quite proud of having found such an antique.

Twilight's magic weakly enveloped the closed tome cluttering her desk. It had all been so promising.

"Read anything interesting in it?" Jayden began picking up several of the books that Twilight had been using a while ago, lining them up on the desk to form neat, tidy columns for her.

Likewise picking up after herself, Twilight's gaze shifted to Spike, observing his clawed digit tapping his chin. One of his exclusively draconic mannerisms.

Spike jolted up in realization. "Oh yeah! A long, long, long time ago us dragons were almost hunted to extinction!" He exclaimed, likely with more excitement than such a morbid fact should warrant.

Twilight wished the library could be quiet for a moment.

Jayden stopped, his eyes widening slightly. "By who? Couldn't have been ponies."

"No, it wasn't them. It was a group of creatures called..." Spike stared down at the book, making sure he was reading it right, before giving a slight tilt of the head. "Slayers?"

She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

Jayden chuckled. "Wow, how exceptionally edge-lord of them. Why'd they do it?"

The young dragon shrugged. "Dunno. The book doesn't say. They just liked doing it, apparently."

Twilight let out a lungful of exasperated air as 8 books simultaneously slid into their proper spots. The shelf-on-paper sibilance managed to mask her frustration to the other two in the room.

"Oh, so they were unrepentant assholes on top of being cringe, then? What a winning combo."

"Jayden." Twilight interrupted. "I've asked you to not curse around Spike, remember. He's still just a kid." She knew it wasn't right, but she used Jayden's social slip-up as justification to be snippy. It was supposed to help her vent, but it did little.

Jayden put up his hands. "Sorry Twilight. Though, is it really any worse than the stuff he's learning in that book? Genocide isn't the most family-friendly subject."

"Learning the nitty-gritty of history is one thing, necessary even. But you don't have to curse." She stated, looking over Jayden's neat pile of books. And now she felt guilty, remembering just how much he had helped her over the past month. Jayden had thrown himself into stopping Nightmare Moon even more than Twilight had, often working when the other two were trying to sleep. His nap from earlier was the first bit of sleep he'd gotten in a while, and it only lasted a few hours.

"Fair enough." The human paused. "And where did you head off to? You weren't here when I woke up."

Now it was Twilight's turn to pause as she was reminded of her disappointment from only a few minutes prior. "I went to tell Prince Blueblood that I think I know where the 'Elements of Harmony' are."

Jayden's eyes widened and his lips curved upward into a victorious smirk. "You do? That's great!"

"Not as great as it could be." Twilight muttered, looking away, her ears flattening against her skull and a sour expression forming on her face.

"What do you mean?" His head tilted a bit in confusion.

Twilight then set about explaining the outcome of her chat with the prince. About his reluctance to send someone to go and gather the 'Elements', repeating to him what was told to her. She also brought up the fact that they were going to have to find a new place to stay, as the library was no longer theirs to use.

"But we DO know where they are, right? Getting them could end this whole thing." Jayden said.

"Maybe. Probably." Twilight shrugged her shoulders.

"Good enough for me.” The human gave a clap. "When are we going?"

"Going?" Twilight arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah. To get the 'Elements'."

Twilight gave a light, exasperated giggle and shook her head. "We're not. Look, Jayden, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but even if I'm right about where the 'Elements' are, that doesn't mean we're heading out to get them. We can't go get them ourselves."

"Why not? If Blueblood won't send somebody after them, why shouldn't it fall to us? Heck, at this point, what do we have to lose? We're already being kicked out of the library."

"It's not like they're just left lying around in the local wine cellar, Jayden. They're in the Castle Of The Two Sisters, located deep within the Everfree forest. Going there would be almost four days worth of travel if we were to do it ourselves."

"And?" He shrugged. “I'm up for it.”

"We would need help. We would need bits. We'd need food! We would need to outfit a whole group to head...there..." Twilight's speech began to slow as feint flashes of various ponies appeared in her mind. They were obscure, but familiar and Twilight knew she met them somewhere before. A cacophony of colors. An assortment of smiles.

"Well, what kind of help?" Jayden responded, not noticing Twilight's look of concentration.

"Like someone who knows the area." A flash of yellow. "Or somepony who knows how to locate gems and jewelry." A flash of white. There it was again. That feeling, like something she couldn't possibly explain pulling her towards the 'Elements of Harmony'. The more she thought about them, the more that feeling would tug, and the more it tugged the more going after them sounded like a really good idea. "Besides, the closest point of civilization we could use to get there is..." She glanced over to a nearby map, hanging on the wall. "...Ponyville."

Her eyes widened as that feeling suddenly surged stronger. It was like somepony had order her to assemble a puzzle blindfolded. She could distinctly feel the pieces clicking together, but she wasn't yet allowed to see the image they were meant to form. It urged her, implored her, to trust that everything was being put into place.

And, despite her strong rational side telling her to think it through before making any brash decisions, she did.

"We're going!" Twilight shouted, her horn activating as she magically began shoving various things into her saddlebag.

"What?"

"I said we're going. You've convinced me. Come on!" She stood by the library door, waving a hoof at them.

"Oh...alrighty then." Jayden scooped up Spike and put the youngster on his shoulder as he followed Twilight out of the library. "But what about the help? What about all the supplies you mentioned. Not that I'm backing out now, but that all seemed pretty important a minute ago."

"We can get them all in Ponyville."

"We can?"

Twilight didn't elaborate further, instead choosing to usher her two bipedal companions out of the room and get them going to the nearby train station. Faster than even she could process, the group was purchasing tickets to Ponyville and boarding their transport. Fortunately, the train car was empty, save for them, and Jayden had enough room to relax against the back wall while Twilight and Spike took the real seats.

"So, uh...what are we doing?" The human asked, his tone uncharacteristically anxious. "I get we're going into the Everfree, but what else?"

"Well, like I said, we're going to get supplies and help for the trip!"

"Yeah, but from who? And how?"

She hesitated before reaching into her bag an pulling out a list. It was the same one she and him used more than a month ago, the one that directed them to various ponies that were setting up the Summer Sun Celebration back in Ponyville. Jayden took the paper into his hand and studied it for a moment, before his gaze turned back to Twilight.

"Alright...what's this got to do with anything?" He inquired.

"They are the ones we need to speak to."

"My friends?" His eyes landed on Rarity's name. "...and one not-friend." He added. "Why them?"

"Because they each have something we need." Twilight's tone was confident and she spoke as if she saying blatantly obvious facts about life.

Jayden looked the list over in his hand, before glancing to Twilight. "They do?" He flipped the list around, as if the blank side of the page would fill in the gaps of his understanding. “Am I missing something?”

Twilight took back the list, reading through the names and explaining her reasoning. "Applejack. She runs a very successful farm. We'd most likely be able to get a large number of foodstuffs from her. They probably have it preserved in some way, too. Canning and jarring, things like that. Things that can last a few days, at least."

Jayden nodded along. "Fair assumption."

"Next up, Rainbow Dash. The weather in the Everfree is untamed, wild. It doesn't work the same way as the rest of Equestria. A pegasus can come in handy in staving off the more radical parts of the elements. Not only that, but she can act as a scout, keeping an eye on our location in the forest as well as keeping watch for the castle, when we start getting close to it."

"Again, logical." Jayden concurred.

"Fluttershy, better than anypony else, knows the area. And definitely knows animals. If we're to trek through the Everfree, a guide of some kind is a must. The last thing we need is to barge into the home of some beast while trying to navigate shadow-beset woodlands, or take a wrong turn off some cliff."

Jayden brought his fist up to his chin, thinking that last one over. "Hmm...I don't know how much time Fluttershy actually spends in the Everfree. Probably not much considering that the Everfree is a big, scary forest and Fluttershy is, um..." Jayden paused as he thought about what to say next. "What's a polite word for coward?"

"Scaredy cat?" Twilight offered.

“ Eh, still sounds kinda insulting.”

“Cautious?” she tried again.

“That's better.”

"I'm not expecting her to be a rugged adventurer with decades of experience. Just a pony with a moderate amount of knowledge on what we might come across should be enough."

“Well, I suppose that could work, then. And she IS the one to talk to regarding animals. I'm impressed, Twilight. You got this all planned out rather quickly."

"Thank you." She beamed.

“What about basic supplies? We could get food from Applejack, but that still leaves it up to us to get things like tents, sleeping bags, torches. Those kinds of things.”

“Ponyville has a market. I figured we could get them there.”

"Alright, yeah I think we can do that. And that's it, right? Nobody else?" He asked, his voice suddenly a little nervous, as if he were verbally wading into a swamp filled with crocodiles.

The purple unicorn gave him a deadpan look. "Jayden..."

"Yes, Twilight?"

"We need Rarity too."

"...no.” He stated, shaking his head then staring forward and refusing to look over at her.

"Did somebody mention Rarity?" Spike asked, looking up from his book.

"Nope." Jayden replied. "Now go back to reading."

"I know you two dislike each other." Twilight kept the conversation going. "But, she's just as important as the others on the list."

“Dislike is such a weak word. I prefer hate. Or loathe. Loathe is a good one.” Jayden huffed. "The others made sense. What could that cu-" He stopped himself when he remembered that Spike was still there. "I mean, what could she possibly be useful for?"

"Gems."

"Rarity makes dresses and clothes. She's an over-rated seamstress, not a jeweler."

"While her work is one of fashion, fabric isn't the only thing she knows. When I met her last month, I was amazed at how many rare gems she was able to use for her decorating. My initial thought was that they couldn't have been easy or cheap to get. But then she mentioned knowing a surprisingly powerful spell for locating gems." Twilight paused to collect her thoughts before proceeding. "The Elements of Harmony are, as best I could tell in our research, pieces of jewelry. And, considering their power, it is very likely that they're hidden. Maybe placed under some hidey-hole or behind a room with a secret entrance. Whatever the case, we might need that spell to find them."

"Why can't you learn the spell?"

"Because we don't have the time, Jayden. Do you really want us to waste time with me trying learn it, while the pony we know can do it is already there? You actually want all of this-" She pointed a hoof out the window, gesturing to the night sky "To keep going just because of somebody you don't like?"

"...no. I don't."

Though it wasn't her intent, Twilight's words seemed to have a stronger impact than she anticipated, as Jayden slumped back against the train's wall.

"Dang, Twilight, way to make a guy feel guilty." He chuckled.

Her eyes widened. "Wait, I didn't mean it like that!"

He waved her off. "No, no, I get it. I was being selfish. If you think we need her, we'll get her."

Now it was Twilight's turn to feel guilty. She really hadn't meant to insult him like that. She mentally chastised herself. Maybe the princess was right and she did need to learn to make friends. Her socialization skills were atrocious.

Twilight suddenly felt something touching her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Jayden, arm extended, patting her like one would with a sad child. "Relax." He said. "I was joking. Mostly." He flashed a smile. "You don't have to worry about making me feel bad. God knows I do it enough to myself."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. It's fine."

With that conversation more or less ended, Twilight turned and stared out the train window, watching the scenery pass by. Spike was still engrossed in his dragon history book and Jayden began tapping his knees out of boredom, his own eyes glancing around to find something to occupy his time with. Soon, though, he reached over and began fussing with Twilight's bags.

"Need something?" Twilight asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Actually, yeah. If you don't mind?" The human responded.

Twilight gave a light shrug and maneuvered the bags so they were easier to get to. "Sure, by all means."

Eventually, Jayden pulled out a book. It was the same one she showed him the day they met, the one explaining Nightmare Moon's backstory. What could he want with that?

The human opened it up and skimmed through it, his face one of consternation.

"What are you looking for?" Twilight asked.

Jayden didn't respond right away, instead he kept reading for a few more seconds before closing the book and giving it back to her. He looked deep in thought. "Nothing, or more accurately, it's nothing important. Not right now, at least. I'll tell you later when I feel more sure." He slumped back into his spot against the wall.

What was that all about?

Twilight eyed him for a moment or two before turning. He clearly wasn't going to explain, so there was no point in pushing it. Twilight went back to daydreaming.

That was how most of the train ride went, with the next couple hour or so passing in relative silence, broken up by brief instances of small talk and discussion. Eventually, the train reached its destination, Ponyville, and the group was free to embark. As the trio stepped out onto the train station platform Jayden extended his limbs and stretched, sighing in relief as he did so. Twilight took notice.

"You alright?"

He waved away her concern. "Yeah, I'm fine." Jayden replied, rolling his shoulder. "The train was just a bit cramped. Remember, everything in this world is built for ponies, not me."

"Sorry." Twilight said, sheepishly.

"Hey, it ain't your fault. It just is what it is." He took a few steps forward then stopped, his expression souring. "Well, that doesn't look good."

"What is it?" Twilight followed his line of sight, her own eyes landing on Ponyville.

Ponyville...had clearly seen better days. The once upbeat and and bustling village was practically a ghost town now, with the streets quiet and empty. A far cry from how she saw them when she first arrived in Ponyville almost a month ago.

It would seem that Blueblood's assertion that he'd maintained normalcy in Canterlot was correct. Though Canterlot had just as dour of an atmosphere, at least ponies felt comfortable walking about and tending to their businesses.

Here?

The market was abandoned, stores closed, and everypony had their home's door locked.

She looked back to Jayden, who was currently glaring at the awful situation his village was in.

"We'll set it right." Twilight whispered to him.

"Damn right we will." He whispered back, his tone exuding an obvious twinge of anger. Jayden gave a sigh and calmed down. "Look, I'm going to go check up on Lyra and Bon Bon, make sure they're ok and tell them what's up. Want to come with?"

Twilight shook her head. “You go catch up with your friends. I think I need a quiet moment to rehearse what I'm going to say to four strangers that will get them on board risking their lives to find a set of mythological shiny rocks.”

Jayden grinned. “Good luck with that.” He glanced over to town hall. “How about we meet back up at town hall in about half an hour and get this quest of ours moving.”

Twilight nodded her head. "Understood. See you then."

The human parted from his comrades as Twilight and Spike began wandering Ponyville. As she stated, Twilight used the monotony of the slowly passing scenery and repetition of her hoof-steps to ease her into her own mind, imagining meeting up with the ponies she needed and rehearsing her speech to them.

But, as she walked, something started grabbing her attention. It was incredibly feint, at first, and all it did was make her ears swivel. A light series of sounds, just barely noticeable. Slowly, though, it grew and Twilight had to stop and focus. “Do you hear that?”

Spike looked around. "Hear what?"

Twilight's head tilted in confusion. "I...think I hear singing.”

Spike looked around at the dark, lonesome town. "Who would be singing at a time like this?"

"No idea." Twilight let her ears guide her to the source, slowly moving along through the streets of Ponyville until she was standing at the doorstep of a rather odd looking building. One gussied up to appear like a giant gingerbread house. The singing was definitely coming from inside.

Heading on in, the pair took a look around. The place was even warmer and more inviting on the inside, with what looked like family pictures hung up on the walls and the paint color, a mixture of yellows, tans and whites, just exuded positivity and comfort.

It was a kind of bakery, from what Twilight could tell, with a counter top stationed directly ahead of the front door, with a small glass section to show off the various treats the establishment could whip up.

While the selection of delectable morsels looked absolutely top notch, the real eye opener was what was going on in the rest of the building. To the right of the counter lied what used to obviously be a small dining area, for those ponies who wished to eat their snack there instead of taking them to go. However, the decor had clearly been shuffled about, turning the dining area into a makeshift stage.

Complete with an eager performer.

Refraction

As Jayden departed from the purple unicorn and baby dragon he broke into a light jog, not wanting to waste too much time. Dark shapes he knew were shops gave way to dark blobs he knew were homes, all passing by as an indistinct dark belt of contours. While, yes, he did have a time-frame of about half an hour to reconnect with Lyra and Bon Bon, he wanted to use as much of that half hour as he could. It already wasn't fair to his girls that he'd been away for so long, especially with how the world was right now. He owed them as much time as he could get.

Echoing back at him, his own boots and a low wind whistling over obstacles were the only sounds in the environment. All these streets were empty.

Where the hell were his neighbors?

A pang of guilt wormed its way into his chest as he realized just how much Lyra and Bon Bon could have used his help over the past month. He knew Equestria outside of Canterlot was having a rough time with Nightmare Moon's return, but he didn't know that Ponyville had gotten this bad. Lyra certainly hadn't mentioned it in her letters.

Canterlot, while tense, still functioned like a city. Candle light coming from some windows, patrols of guards and the occasional passerby on thestreets.... Probably all normal for the capitol. He never visited before all this, so it was up in the air on what was normal for horse aristocracy.

Ponyville, though, felt damn near derelict, with the streets listless and quiet, and the only signs the town was still occupied were the randomly colored very dim lights penetrating some closed curtains. Oh. The unicorn third of the population.

Jayden's brisk pace slowed to a stop, leaving him standing in the middle of the cobblestone street. He looked around, taking in the scene of the once bright and happy town, now reduced to oppressive silence. Jayden could almost picture the ponies he knew, going about their day, remembering what it was like before Nightmare Moon.

He balled his fist.

Hot, righteous anger began to rise within Jayden as he forced back his body's desire to sneer at the wicked mare's name. Seeing the village where he lived in this state made everything hit just a bit closer to home, and soon his mind wandered into the realm of fantasy, one where he was viciously cold-cocking the bitch on the cheek with a hard right-hook. Or bashing her muzzle in with a baseball bat.

Or...or...

Jayden took a deep breath. He needed to calm down. He was about to reunite with Lyra and Bon Bon, right? His friends. Likely living in crisis like the rest of Ponyville.

It'd be wrong to greet them still wearing a scowl.

Getting back into a jog, he recalled the moment her first saw Nightmare Moon. It happened exactly when Twilight predicted, the same night as the 'Summer Sun Celebration'. Though, he was pretty sure neither of them expected that her return would involve crashing the very celebration the two were participating in.

He remembered being near the entrance, enjoying the banquet set up by the Apple family. Twilight was walking about, checklist in her magical grip. As the celebration's designated coordinator, it was up to her to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be and ready at the right time, even after the party started. She wore a pensive look on her face, but whether that was from nervousness over her duties or her fears about Nightmare Moon's return, he couldn't say.

Probably both.

Lyra and Bon Bon were beside him, just as eager to enjoy the banquet as they were to see Princess Celestia, likely hoping they could goad him into getting her to prove her powers over the sun and moon were legit. Lyra was, of course, her usual beaming self but even Bon Bon was wearing a smile for once. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were chatting by another banquet table, with the blue pegasus glancing his way every so often.

He had no idea what that was about. It's not like he was pounding down all the food. Which he could. Easily. His biomass needing more calories than knee high horses.

When it came time for the main event, Ponyville's little beige mayor walked onto the stage and, after a very short preamble, motioned to the balcony above her. When the curtains parted, and Fluttershy's songbird choir sang their tune, Princess Celestia was supposed to be standing there.

Instead, the balcony was empty.

After a moment of concerned whispers from the crowd, a kind of dark blue smoke began to form on the balcony, swirling aggressively before dissipating. When it did, the sight before them all was not of Equestria's solar monarch, but of Nightmare Moon's malevolent visage. Sort of a dark inversion of Celestia. Like a photo negative. As she played host to the view of the gatherers, she sneered back down at them from her place of elevation, taunting and monologuing, and Jayden recalled averting his gaze from the dark-coated party-crasher to meet Twilight's own mortified expression.

In that instance, three things made themselves crystal clear to the lone human in horse land.

He had been wrong.

She'd been right.

And the world was about to be flipped upside-down.

Rounding a street corner, Jayden's thoughts then focused on the aftermath of that night, how he went with Twilight to Canterlot and acted as some kind of helper or assistant for the better part of a month. With resolve that even surprised him, he threw himself into their goal of stopping Nightmare Moon.

At first, he had trouble finding his place between Twilight and Spike, seeing as the little dragon was already her (self-proclaimed) number one assistant. But he eventually found his groove. Spike's efforts focused more on the domestic side of things; Cooking and tidying up after his unicorn sister.

With Jayden, his help revolved more around debate and hypothesis, helping Twilight to figure out what Nightmare Moon's goals and weaknesses were, as well as enduring hours of tedious research through, seemingly, countless books.

And now he was back home, if for a moment, seeing it like this.

Speaking of home, Jayden was steadily approaching his, the rather large house standing out quite a bit in comparison to the others around it. He bounded up to the front door, smile on his face and key in hand, ready to fling it open and shout to his two favorite mares that he was back.

“~infinitely deep coin purse~ …. ….. …. ~table~ …. …. ~the markets are empty, Bonnie!~”

His hand stilled over the handle.

“~weren't yours! I'm~ ….. ….. ….. ~MY OWN Property! Those are products of MY business~”

“Girls?” He whispered to himself.

He still hadn't pushed open the door. The walls of THIS house in particular were Thick, part of a suite of customizations that allowed him to live indoors.

He gripped the wrought iron, pushed, and stepped from cobble to lacquered planks. With no barriers left in the way, the full force of Lyra and Bon Bon's screaming match was left unmitigated as it reached his ears. He couldn't pick out, specifically, what the two were arguing about, as both seemed intent on talking over the other.

Long legs, swift steps, surging around a wall, into the kitchen, he yelled. “Girls!”

Instantly, the house went quiet. It stayed that way for a couple seconds before being replaced by the tell-tale clip-clopping of pony hooves on hardwood floor.

A moment later and the heads of Bon Bon and Lyra poked around opposite sides of the door frame, both of them looking exhausted, with deep bags under their eyes. “Jayden?” Bon Bon muttered, laying eyes on him.

“You're back!” Shouted Lyra as she bolted from her spot near the door, leaping into Jayden's arms and snuggling her muzzle into his neck and cheek. “I've missed you so much!”

He responded to the affection with some of his own, pulling her into a tight hug. “Missed you too.” His attention then turned to the other pony, who had walked towards him and was now standing by his knees. “Hey, Bon Bon.”

“Welcome back, Jayden.” Bon Bon replied, the barest hint of a smile on her usually frumpy face.

“Want a hug too?”

She shook her head. “No, thank you.”

Jayden smirked before reaching down. “Well, too bad, it's happening anyway.” He scooped her up.

“Jayden!” She huffed, her muzzle scrunching as he pulled her in. She eventually relented and just took the hug, even hugged back.

After a moment or two, he put them back down onto the ground. “So...” Jayden said, looking down at the two ponies now staring up at him. “What was all that shouting about?”

Instantly, the jovial mood evaporated. The two frowned and glanced at each other, before Lyra spoke. “We were just having a disagreement.”

“Must have been a pretty serious disagreement. What about?”

Lyra gave another tired glance over to Bon Bon, who looked away, before walking over to the house's pantry. The door to the pantry swung open, revealing the shocking bareness of the shelves. Hard cheese, gone. Sugar, gone. Notably, no eggs, a Jayden staple.

“There's not much food left in the house.” The unicorn groused.

And it would seem the two had been forced down to using the essentials.

“I don't know what Canterlot was like,” Lyra normalized her voice, “but here things have gotten bad. Really bad. Ponies don't want to work and the market isn't being stocked. Farmers aren't selling, and those that do give only a little at a time, making sure they've got enough for their families. And this mare,” Lyra pointed her hoof at Bon Bon, who glared back at her, “Has been getting on my case for eating.”

“I told you to only eat when you have to!” Bon Bon shot back, stomping her hoof.

“I did have to! It's called being hungry, Bon Bon! Something you clearly understand when you sneak off to munch on that box of candies you have hidden in your room!”

Bon Bon blanched at Lyra's words. “Th-that's different!”

“How so?”

“Because I made those.”

“So? I made that oat pancake your chubby plot's all upset about.”

“I mean I made them before all this.” She deadpanned.

“And the oats I used were bought months ago! So why do you get a pass?!”

Sensing this would only continue, if not get worse, Jayden stepped in. “Alright girls, come on. Let's calm down.”

Lyra turned her head away from her candy-maker friend and grumbled, while Bon Bon looked up to Jayden and spoke. “Sorry. It's just been...a rough month.”

“But, you're home.” Lyra interrupted, an exhausted smile replacing her frown. “That means this is about to all be over, right? Was Nightmare Moon stopped?”

“Not yet.” Jayden replied, watching that smile fade. “I'm actually just here to catch up with you girls and grab some things, before heading out.”

“You're going back to Canterlot? How long will you be gone this time?!” Lyra looked heartbroken.

“Not Canterlot, the Everfree Forest. And hopefully for only about a week. Give or take a few days.”

“The Everfree?” Bon Bon said, raising an eyebrow. “What in Equestria do you need from that place?”

“There's something out there, at least we think it's out there, that can stop Nightmare Moon. But we gotta find it. So, Twilight and I are gathering a group to go out and look for this thing. Like a little expedition.”

“So...” Lyra whispered, her shoulders sagging and head hanging low. “You're leaving us again?”

“It's only for a little bit longer.”

“You've already been gone a month! Why is helping Twilight so important to you? You don't even know her. I knew her before you did!”

Jayden was briefly taken aback by Lyra's intensity, her question having no immediate answer. Why did he care about helping Twilight that much? It's not like he was the only one who saw Nightmare Moon return. The entire village was there to witness it, all in the same room, and nobody else decided to take it upon themselves to do what he was doing. Despite Nightmare Moon being everybody's problem, apparently she wasn't everybody's responsibility.

And yet she was his?

“It just is, ok? I don't know why this is such an issue for me, but it is. And I'll be damned if I don't do something about it.” He crossed his arms, his tone rising slightly.

Lyra looked away, her gaze connecting with the kitchen window, the world outside ominously dark. Then, her expression softened and she sighed, turning back to Jayden. “We missed you, you know? A lot.” Tears began to slowly form in the corners of her eyes. “Things have been crazy here...and we didn't have our big, strong human to act as our rock.”

Jayden knelt down to her level and embraced her in yet another hug. “I'm sorry. That I wasn't here. That I was gone.”

“It's alright...I get it. You were doing something important.” Lyra wiped away the growing tear with the back of her hoof. For a moment, the two stare at each other. But then Lyra's expression suddenly changed, morphing into a bit of a thinking pose; eyes gazing off up into the corner, before it changed again to one of mischief. “You know, it really doesn't matter anyway.”

“It doesn't?”

“Nope! Because we're not going to let you out of our sight again.” She backed up and placed her leg around Bon Bon's shoulder. “If you're going into the Everfree, then we're heading with you!”

“You are?”

“We are?”

Bon Bon and Jayden spoke in unison, looking at Lyra with a combination of wide eyes and arched eyebrows.

“Jayden's right. He's out there doing something about this while we've been huddled up in our homes, waiting for somepony else to solve our problems.” Lyra replied.

“Uh, that's not really what I meant by that.” Jayden muttered.

“And I'm not going anywhere!” Bon Bon huffed.

“But Bon Bon-” Lyra whined before being cut off.

“No, Lyra! You always do this. You always jump into things without thinking them through. And then you rope me into them too!”

“Think about it, Bon Bon. We could save the world!” Lyra extended her hoof and slowly swiped it across Bon Bon's line of sight, as if revealing something hidden behind a curtain.

“Good for you. YOU go do that.” The usually grumpy-faced mare removed her friend's hoof from her shoulder. “Look, I know you really missed Jayden, and you don't want to lose him again, but I'm not going to go waltzing into the Everfree with you. You're welcome to go do that, but I'm staying home.”

“Yeah, I missed him. And so did you.” Lyra gave a pause. “Bonny, what did staying home even do for us? What would doing it again accomplish? He left and we got stuck here in a dark house for a month. And that whole time we were miserable. You want to go through that again, but this time be all alone?” Lyra watched as Bon Bon grit her teeth and looked away, the signs of her resistance waning. She pressed her advantage. “Don't you want to get out of this house? Isn't being here driving you crazy?”

Bon Bon grumbled, her muzzle scrunching as Lyra stood beside her once more. “If you do go with-” Lyra brought her lips to Bon Bon's ear and began to whisper. Jayden couldn't make out what was being said, but Bon Bon glanced over to him, blushing, before turning back to Lyra.

“You...you promise?” Bon Bon muttered.

“Of course!” Lyra replied, grinning from ear to ear. “I would never lie about humans.”

Bon Bon closed her eyes and sighed. “You know, I don't know what I hate more. The fact that Lyra knows every button to push, or that I keep letting her do it.”

Jayden's eyes shifted from Bon Bon to Lyra, suspicious of the whispering, before speaking. “Everything good?”

She looked back to Jayden. “Yeah, everything's fine.”

“What was the whispering about?”

Bon Bon shook her head. “Nothing.” She quickly changed subject. “So...the Everfree? What are we getting? And why?”

Jayden was curious, but not curious enough to pry further. Whatever secrets the two mares had were theirs to keep. Instead, he went about explaining what he knew of the situation. He got them up to speed on his time at Canterlot with Twilight, the Elements of Harmony, and the overall plan going forward.

Oh, and to sweeten the deal, Lyra's old classmate knew the 'no more nightmares' spell.

While Bon Bon had several critiques about the entire plan, and she wasn't afraid to make them known in her usual sardonic manner, she was glad to finally be getting a good few hours of sleep. The knowledge that Twilight had found a spell that could get rid of the constant nightmares, where no other spell or potion seemed to work, had won her over rather quickly. She was eager for an undisturbed nap.

Lyra, for her part, suggested that they should all go to the library once everyone was gathered and use it like a temporary base. There, everybody could eat, sleep, learn the plan and get to know each other a bit more, before heading out into the forest.

Which all sounded fine to Jayden.

What didn't sound fine was something mentioned by Bon Bon, something he had subconsciously recognized right when he stepped off the train. How were they going to get supplies for a whole quest into the forest when there were no stores open? “Do you girls wanna see if we can borrow expedition supplies from our neighbors?”

“Uh-uh,” Tired earth pony eyes met Jayden's, “Door to door bartering has gotten bad by now. Ask me how I know.”

“I just jogged through town. It's not like we can walk on down to the market and purchase tents and torches. I think it'd be the middle of the day if we still had those.”

So, they'd either have to get very lucky or scrounge what they could from what they had. It looked like Twilight's plan of buying what they need when they reached Ponyville hit a bump in the road. Might even have to go all the way back to Canterlot for it.

Not ideal.

On the heels of that, there was something else nagging at Jayden. He didn't voice it on the train, but he thought about asking Twilight what she had in mind if the ponies they wanted to recruit for their excursion decided to say 'no'. They had no reason to agree, to go with them. What was the plan if they refused?

But Twilight just seemed so confident, so sure, like she knew something that he didn't. Either that or she was so caught up in what she so desperately wanted to be a breakthrough that Twilight was ignoring any sense of pragmatism. Regardless, he kept his concern to himself. He'd already been proven wrong about Celestia's powers and Nightmare Moon's return.

He was down 2-0, and he wasn't going to rock the boat a third time only to be wrong again.

After a few more minutes of light chit-chat, the trio was out the door and heading towards town hall to meet up with Twilight. As they walked, Jayden turned his head down to Bon Bon and spoke.

“You know, Bon Bon, it is alright if you wanted to stay home. I don't want you feeling pressured or feeling like you have to come with us.”

“Thanks, Jayden, but it's fine. I'm good to go.” Bon Bon replied.

“You seemed pretty adamant in the house.”

“I was just upset that Lyra tried roping me into yet another scheme. Besides, we can't leave that”-She points to Lyra, who somehow has already conjured a stereotypical explorer's outfit, complete with pith hat and binoculars. ”By herself without supervision. At least, not with things that are actually important. And saving the world is about as important as it gets.”

“Fair enough.”

The group walked a bit further before Lyra stopped, suddenly. “Hey, what's that?” She pointed a hoof to something about a block away, swaying back and forth over the rooftops. It was a bit hard to see, the darkness of the night shrouding much of its detail, but it was certainly tall.

“Yeah, good question.” Jayden muttered, narrowing his eyes, hoping that would help clear up the image.

“Probably another monster.” Bon Bon whispered. Despite the acknowledgment of a monster rummaging around Ponyville, Bon Bon's tone was one more of annoyance than fear.

“Another monster? There have been others?” Jayden responded, looking over to Lyra. “You never mentioned monsters in your letters, Lyra.”

Lyra looked away, sheepishly. “Sorry. It's just that I didn't want to bother you. You were already working so hard, trying to deal with this whole situation in Canterlot that I figured you didn't need anymore stress being heaped on you. Besides, the militia got pretty good at scaring the monsters off.”

“There's a militia? Since when?”

“Since you left, actually. When the monsters started wandering into town, we asked for help from Canterlot, but all we got were apologies that royal guards couldn't be spared. So, a small militia formed.”

“Would this militia be up to helping us in the Everfree?”

Lyra winced. “Not likely. The militia fizzled out the longer this night went on. There's really only one member left.”

Jayden was about to ask who that final member was when Bon Bon interrupted. “Hey, isn't that thing near town hall? Where you said Twilight would meet us?”

Jayden's eyes widened and a pulse of worry formed in his stomach as the realization struck. He broke off into a sprint, running towards town hall, with Lyra and Bon Bon calling out for him to wait. He ran down the cobblestone path as fast as he could, only to come to a skidding halt as he took in the sight of town hall ahead of him.

Lyra and Bon Bon caught up with him soon after, panting as their much shorter legs couldn't match Jayden's longer strides. “What is it? What kind of monster?”

“It's...pink.” The human muttered.

“Pink?” Bon Bon replied, looking up at him, before her eyes followed his line of sight. “Oh...no.”

There, standing beside Twilight and Spike as they nonchalantly loitered around town hall, was a mare who's mane and tail was such an obnoxiously loud shade of pink that it likely would physically strain the eyes to look at, were it not for the darkness of night dulling its intensity. Strapped to the mare's back, in a massive tower with taut ropes keeping it all together, was what appeared to be...camping supplies?

Alas, Jayden had little time to come to terms with that last detail, as the mare's bright blue eyes spotted him out of the corner of her vision. She turned, quickly, to face him and took off running. The tied down tower of tents lurched back from the force and Jayden only had the briefest of moments to shout before the pink mare was launching herself at his torso.

The mare's legs clamped onto his chest, giving him the most intense hug one could endure. Her blue eyes peered up at him as an audible crack came from somewhere in Jayden's body. “Jayden!” She shouted. “You're back!”

The human grunted as the embrace, somehow, became even tighter. “Y-yup. Hi Pinkie.” He replied, his voice some mixture of whisper and a cough, his lungs crying out for mercy. “Please let go. I kinda need lungs to live.”

Slowly, the pony known as Pinkie slid down his body, landing on her hind legs. The column of equipment she'd been hauling now lying along the ground, acting as an anchor. Suddenly, she lurched forward, planting all four hooves while bucking her hips. The tower swung skyward, arching back and forth, cartoonishly, before settling again.

Jayden took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

“Pinkie, what are you doing out here?” Asked Bon Bon.

“And why are you with Twilight?” Added Lyra.

Pinkie, smiling warmly, turned to the two mares and replied. “Obviously, I'm waiting for you three.”

From over Pinkie's shoulder, Twilight could be seen snapping her book closed and walking towards the group. “We found her at a nearby bakery, singing to a bunch of kids.” Twilight explained.

“She was also giving out cupcakes!” Added Spike, peering around Twilight's head from his perch upon her back, shoving a cupcake into his maw.

“She had quite the stage.”

“Since when does Sugar Cube Corner have a stage?” Asked Jayden.

“Since I built one, silly!” Pinkie replied, her tone implying her answer should have been obvious.

“Ah, I see. Why?”

Pinkie's eyes widened and she took a step back, placing a hoof on her chest in incredulity. “Jayden, I am insulted, nay, offended!” She shouted. “I am Pinkie Pie. Everypony's friend. And you know who needs a good friend in these dark, scary nights?”

“No, I don-”

“The kids! What kind of friend would I be if I did nothing, NOTHING to help the scared, crying colts and fillies of Ponyville? So, I asked Mr. and Mrs. Cake if I could set up a show in Sugar Cube Corner. Something to distract them from all the stuff happening right now. A little party, every night, to lift their spirits!”

That actually did make sense, considering what Jayden knew of her. Pinkie was Ponyville's premier party animal. Not only enjoying them, but setting them up, too. Holidays, birthdays, completely made up lunacy, it didn't matter. Pinkie would throw a celebration for any occasion. She was a pony committed to making others smile, and that's just how she worked.

Didn't explain why she was with Twilight.

As if reading his mind, Bon Bon ground her hoof into the cobble underfoot, “Is this a 'welcome to Ponyville' party because Twilight's new?” Bon Bon's condemning eyes searched up and down Pinkie's 2 story pillar of trussed up... yard sale refuse. “And no, I'm not ignoring the tents. It's just that a party is usually what she's about.” Her gaze swept back down to re-initiate eye contact. “What's your angle?”

Lyra walked between the beige mare and the pink one, “Alright, that was a bit hostile.” Lyra turned a more sympathetic face to Pinkie, “You said you were waiting for us three...”

Bon bon frowned at being body blocked. “I didn't say anything rude! I was cutting out the small talk and getting right to the part that mattered. I was promised a good nights rest.”

Jayden looked down and over to Twilight. “Twilight, do you mind?”

It took a moment for the mare to register the request before acting. Purple light. Out like a sack of potatoes. Everyone stared at the collapsed Bon Bon, passed out in the center of the road, before Jayden picked her up and flung her onto his shoulder.

“Thank you.”

“She seems grumpy.” Spike concluded.

“No, she's not. Bonnie's been on a hair trigger since we started rationing. And not sleeping.” Lyra's voice was quiet, her mind elsewhere. All at once, she seemed to realize something. “Pinkie, I'm guessing Twilight recruited you too?”

Twilight's dark-purple bangs swished as she shook her head 'no'. “Actually, she somehow recruited herself. As in, I didn't get an word in edgewise before she zipped off to grab...” Twilight's head craned skyward, “All that.”

“Enough bedrolls and bandages and lanterns and matches and pillows and tents for 8 ponies plus a really small not-pony.” Pinkie beamed. “All the things a group needs to enter a forest and save the world! Minus food, for some reason.” Pinkie Pie brought her hoof up to her chin. “I wonder what that's about?”

“So, the expedition's supply issue suddenly got fixed, but we still need to visit Applejack for food.” He suddenly stood straight, a thought coming to him. “Wait, you said you got stuff specifically for a small not-pony? What about a big not-pony?”

“Nope. Sorry.”

“So everybody else gets a tent and I'm just supposed to sleep lying up against a tree?”

Pinkie blinked in a brief second of confusion before gasping. “You're coming too!?” She cheered.

“Of course. Why else would I be here?”

Pinkie's ears folded down, her remorse genuine. “I'm sorry, Jay, I didn't know.”

Jayden was about to ask why when Bon Bon stirred, letting out a whimper. She didn't wake, fortunately, but Jayden realized the group might be talking a little too loud. “How about we continue this somewhere else.” He whispered, looking over at Twilight. “Before we showed up, Lyra was thinking we could use the library as a temporary base. A place to gather and prepare everyone for the trip.”

Twilight thought it over for a moment before grinning. “That's a good idea. I wanted to head there, anyway, as there are few things I left behind when we hurried over to Canterlot. So, that works out.”

Jayden nodded and turned in the library's direction, motioning with his hand for the rest to follow. The trip there was quick, quiet and uneventful, with only light whispers between them. After only a couple minutes and soon Twilight was unlocking the door and welcoming them in. Jayden, after letting Twilight use her magic to pull Bon Bon inside, placing the sleeping pony on a nearby couch, crawled on his hands and knees to get through the door. Most doors in Equestria weren't a problem, as they were usually taller than the ponies that used them. This one was just particularly small. He wondered why, but then tossed the thought aside. It wasn't important.

Once everybody was inside, Twilight spoke. “So, uh...” She motioned to Pinkie with her hoof.

“Pinkie Pie.” The mare in question replied.

“Pinkie Pie, right. Not to sound accusatory, but it's awfully convenient that one of the first ponies I meet coming back to this village just so happens to have everything we need for a journey she couldn't have possibly known about. And is quite eager to attach herself to that journey.” She eyed Pinkie suspiciously. “Care to explain?”

Jayden chose to step in. “Actually, I can maybe help with that. You see, Pinkie is...special.” He looked over to see Pinkie nodding aggressively. “She has something she calls Pinkie sense. It's a weird, nebulous, incredibly unreliable form of precognition.”

“So, she saw the future?”

“Not exactly. It doesn't work like that.”

Pinkie stepped forward. “My Pinkie sense is when I get these wiggly, twitchy feelings that tell me when something is going to happen.”

Twilight tilted her head. “So, what, you get a crick in your neck and suddenly you need to go buy tents and rope?”

“Yup!”

“That's ridiculous. How would you even know what these feelings mean?”

Pinkie shrugs. “Repetition. Get a twitchy tail every time something falls from the sky, you take notice.”

“Wait...” Lyra muttered. “Doesn't that mean you've done something like this before?” Referring to the collection of camping supplies that now lied leaning against the treehouse.

“Yup!”

Twilight's left eye twitched. “...that is absurd.”

“Oh, trust me, I know!” Pinkie replied. “If I had a bit for every time I had to get bedrolls and bandages and lanterns and matches and pillows and tents for 8 ponies plus a really small not-pony, I'd have two bits. Which isn't a lot, but crazy that it happened twice.”

Lyra grinned. “Well, now I'm curious. What was the last time like?”

Jayden stepped in between them. “Regardless...” He looked over at Twilight. “This is just how Pinkie is. When you get to know her, you get used to her taking everything you thought you knew about reality and throwing it out the window. Trust me, I know her. She's no spy, if that's what you're worried about.”

Twilight's gaze shifted between Jayden and Pinkie. She shrugged. “Alright, if you vouch for her.”

“I do.”

With that settled, Twilight peered past Jayden's knees to look at Lyra. “Hi Lyra, it's been a while.”

“About three years, or so.” Lyra replied. “How's Canterlot?”

“Do you mean right now or before all this?”

“Both.”

“Well, it was about the same as it's always been. Of course, right now, it's significantly more dreary.” Twilight looked over to the sleeping form of Bon Bon, then back to Lyra. “Are you two coming with us?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“You know it could be a bit dangerous.”

“That's fine. I couldn't stand being stuck in that house one more minute. And, sun above, Bon Bon could get out and live a little for once.”

“You know, you could have come with Jayden to Canterlot. At the start, I mean. We wouldn't have said no to the extra help.”

Lyra shook her head. “Can't do that. Folks back home wouldn't allow it. Besides, it's good I stayed behind. Bon Bon needed me here at home more than Jayden needed me in Canterlot.” She then looked over to the human and smiled. “But it is great to have him back.”

“And you know the plan?”

“More or less.” Lyra shrugged. “Go into the Everfree, find a castle and some necklaces?”

“They aren't just necklaces. They're powerful magical artifacts called the Elem-”

“I know, Twilight, I know. You don't have to give me the specifics, I already get how important they are.”

Twilight gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry, just wanted to make absolutely sure you knew about everything.”

“Don't worry, I do.”

“Good!”

As the mares chatted amongst themselves, with brief comments from Spike as he made sure to not be left out, Jayden smiled while leaning up against a nearby bookshelf. It seemed like things were finally coming together. After a month of figuratively spinning their wheels they were gaining traction, momentum.

Yet, that smile slowly began to fade as a small, nagging feeling began to grow. It started as a pinprick of a thought, placed in the dark parts of his mind the moment Pinkie Pie explained her involvement. But now, with time to think, he couldn't stop himself from mulling it over.

And he didn't like the conclusions he was coming to.

Before he kept along that line of thought, he slipped off to the kitchen for a glass of water. The conversation continued in a muffled, indistinct form behind the now closed door. The solitude of the unlit room felt good. Tranquil.

Glass of water now in hand, he allowed himself to sit, leaning against the wall, one leg propped up at the knee and giving his free arm a place to rest. His other brought the glass to his lips and he took a sip just as a bought of laughter erupted in the other room.

Laughter. Theirs, not his.

He always knew he didn't belong here, that he never deserved the effortless connections the ponies offered. It was clear since the very first day of being in Equestria. He was a freak, an outsider, a literal alien. Unlike them, his role in this world wasn't obvious, his purpose in life not stamped to his ass by unseen magical forces.

The ponies, bless them, they tried. They never excluded him, even when they could. When they SHOULD. It's why, prior to Nightmare Moon's return, he was always out and about, doing odd jobs for the ponies around town. He didn't have to, as Lyra's absurd wealth meant he could live like a king for the rest of his days. But it was his way of giving back to Ponyville, to Equestria.

Yet, it would seem that the universe was intent on reminding him of how much he didn't fit in, no matter what he did to keep the feeling at bay. If there was a clearer, more obvious sign out there, he couldn't think of any better than what was lying against the tree house library right now.

He didn't know how Pinkie sense really worked, whether it was an actual glimpse into the future or vague hints from fate itself. But it didn't matter. Whatever it was obviously had no interest in him being there.

If Pinkie predicted him amongst the others, she would have gotten things for him just like everybody else. But she didn't. Everyone else was accounted for, even those they haven't recruited yet.

Everybody except him.

“Why am I even here?” Jayden muttered in agitation, swirling the water in the glass. “Why'd you bring me here if you don't want me?” His face formed a depressed scowl. “You rip me from my dimension, drop me in a place that makes me hate my own guts, and don't even have the common courtesy of acknowledging that I'm here?”

The universe refused to answer.

“Yeah...that's what I thought.”

Author's Note

"Shirotora: I can't wait until chapter 4 drops next year."

And I took that personally. :ajsmug:

Also, don't be shy. Reader engagement and comments are what keep me going. Whether it's something about the story you love or something you hate, let me know.