Family of Misfits

"D-D-Do we really h-have to be in here?" Flash Quake asked.

                "Yes Flash Quake, we have to." Twilight Sparkle said "You do want to find Zecora don't you?"

                Flash Quake sighed and regretfully walked along the dark dirt path.

Jay Sky was over taken by the new sights. It was all mysterious and amazing to him, every sound scared him and compelled him to find out what it was at the same time. Flash Quake kept an eye on Jay Sky since he knew that he had the tendency to wander. Twilight Sparkle led them through the Everfree Forest, she didn't show her fear as often but she flinched at the occasional creak of a tree or smack of a rock falling and hitting another rock.

Flash Quake had begun to have thoughts that maybe it would've been better if he just took the capsule home and left it a mystery. But even he was a bit curious as to what was inside it, so he kept walking silently.

"How much longer until we get there?" Jay asked Twilight.

"It's not that far now, we'll be there in a few minutes." She looked back at Flash Quake "Do you think you can handle that?"

He nodded and looked around wearily.

Twilight chuckled a bit and looked back in front of her to see a ditch. "Uh oh, looks like we're gonna have to take a different route..."

Flash Quake glanced a worried look at the ditch "We can't just go through it...?"

"Of course we can't! Don't you see the blue flowers down there?" Twilight backed away a bit so Flash Quake could step forward and look into the ditch.

Sure enough, there they were. Poison Joke, these flowers weren't deadly but they had some weird effects. Flash Quake sighed and looked back at Twilight Sparkle.

"So where do we go now?" He asked.

"We might have to go off the path and into the forest to get to a safer path or find a bridge of some sort. That means we're gonna be out here longer..." She looked at him with a bit of worry "Do you think you could pull through for a few more hours?"

Flash Quake shuddered "I'll try. I have to, I can't just leave Jay Sky here because of my own fears."

Twilight smiled encouragingly "Don't worry, you'll be alright as long as you stick with me and do what I tell you to do."

"Okay, that should be easy" He smiled, feeling a bit more comfortable.

She nodded and looked at Jay Sky "Sorry Jay, we're gonna have to find another way through. It's gonna take a bit longer"

Jay's eyes widened with excitement "Does that mean more  adventuring!?"

Twilight giggled "I guess it does."

He squealed with glee and jumped up and down "AWESOME!!!!"

"Shhh!" Flash Quake hissed "We don't want to attract attention to us!" He looked around with a scared expression, his hooves were shaking.

"Stop being a scaredy pony Dad." Jay teased "We're out on an adventure! It's time to be brave!"

Flash Quake sighed and looked at Twilight for help. She laughed and began to walk away from the ditch.

"Let's just go find a new path" She said and flicked her tail, signalling them to follow.

The three ponies traveled through the forest, looking for a new path. Flash had to keep Jay from straying too far from them multiple times. Jay complained about this but kept following Twilight Sparkle without back talking. Twilight told Jay about the many plants in here that were good, she even showed him some as they came into view. Jay Sky loved to see all the plants that Twilight found. He asked a lot of questions and soon began to stop wandering away from their small group. Flash Quake sighed with a bit of relief at this and walked a bit more relaxed.

It was about mid-day and the sun was high up in the sky, but in the Everfree Forest nearly everything was dark besides a few patches of sunlight that just made the place look even creepier. After a while Jay began to get bored and started to wander a litte bit but not far. Flash Quake began to trust him more as they kept walking and eventually he trusted Jay enough to where he wasn't watching him twenty-four seven.

Jay Sky noticed this and started to count how long Flash looked away and how long he watched him.

Okay, so he watches me for about thirty seconds... Then he looks away for about five minutes... Jay Sky thought. He smiled a bit and waited before he went off to wander again.

After Flash Quake looked at him again and then looked away, Jay Sky slipped into the nearest bush and wandered around for a bit. He loved to see all the weird looking bugs scatter when he came near him. Jay nearly forgot to come back before he heard Flash Quake call his name out. Jay Sky slipped out of the bush behind him.

"I'm still here" He said.

"Good, if you're gonna wander please don't wander too far" Flash Quake gave him a worried look and continued to walk.

Once Jay Sky got his chance again he slipped into another bush and wandered deeper into the forest. This time he came out of the other side of the bush and stood in a small open field. Curiosity suddenly took over him and he wandered out into the open a bit. No wind blew over the field, and the air was stale. Jay Sky wandered to the center of the field and looked around.

"Wow.... This place looks pretty cool...." He smiled and took a step forward, suddenly he was stumbling and he fell onto his side.

Jay grumbled and sat up, rubbing his side. He wondered what he tripped on and moved the grass away with his hoof. There in front of him in the grass sat a strangely shaped stone, half buried. He moved some more grass away and blew dust off the stone. It truly was odd, it had really weird symbols on it.

Why does that look so familiar....?Jay Sky thought about it for a moment, once he found out where he had seen it before he nearly gasped so deep that his lungs almost exploded. It has the same symbols as the time capsule!

               Jay studied the stone for a bit longer and noticed that it was hoof shaped. A sudden spark of interest filled his eyes as he compared his hoof to the stone. He then had the thought of what would happen if I put my hoof in there? and held his hoof above the stone, trembling a bit with excitement.

               Then, in one swift moment, he put his hoof into the stone and closed his eyes. After a few seconds he peeked open one of his eyes and looked around.

               "What the?" He said as disappointment filled his mind and he opened both eyes. "What're you broken or something?"

               He tried to pull his hoof away and found out that it was stuck. He kept pulling back until he finally turned his hoof to the left and felt the stone turn with it. His curiosity slowly returned as he kept turning the stone. From deep within the ground below him he heard a click and felt the ground shake. Suddenly, the grass below him disappeared and he was falling into a dark, deep pit. Before he could scream for help the ground above him closed, like it was a mouth and he was being swallowed by the Earth. He hit the floor with a loud thud and went unconscious.