Magic Song

Chapters

Chapter Two: Dropping In
Chapter Three: Not In Peaceville Anymore
Chapter Four: Mirror, Mirror
Chapter Five: Dragonnapped
Chapter Six: Small Comforts
Chapter Seven: Magical Misdirection
Chapter Eight: Under Suspicion
Chapter Nine: Zecora
Chapter Ten: Here We Come
Chapter Eleven: On The Road
Chapter Twelve: Spirits and Spells
Chapter Thirteen: Camp Umawe
Chapter Fourteen: Dear Twilight
Chapter Fifteen: Crazy Plans...
Chapter Seventeen: ...That Just Might Work?
Chapter Eighteen: Neighilism
Chapter Nineteen: The Music In You
Chapter Twenty: Between Worlds
Chapter Twenty-One: From the Heart
Chapter Twenty-Two: Aftermath
Epilogue
Prologue
Chapter One: Un-Kin-ventional
Chapter Sixteen: Of Spike and Schemes

Chapter Two: Dropping In

Twilight Sparkle sat in the Golden Oak library, flipping through a book and humming to herself. It was a typical summer day in Ponyville, warm and peaceful, with shafts of sunlight streaming indoors from every angle. The violet-colored unicorn nestled deeper into the cushion of the window seat, making herself comfortable. She still had fifty-seven pages to read, and she wanted to get her assignment done by tonight.

Scrolls and quills littered the floor of the library; Twilight had been too busy to clean them up while Spike – her dragon assistant – was out running errands for her friend Rarity. The essay she had to write was, quite frankly, calling her name. As she delved deeper into the mysteries of spells, history, and unicorn lore, Twilight couldn’t help but feel as if all was right with the world. Nothing could faze her today.

Which just proved how wrong her instincts could be sometimes.

As Twilight turned another page, a sudden rush of cold air overwhelmed her, flicking the leaves of her open book until she'd hopelessly lost her page. It disappeared as quickly as it had come. However, even the lingering feeling chilled her to the bone. She squinted toward the windows, checking for open latches or wide cracks that could let breezes in, but each one was shut tight. The door was closed, too. So what had caused the shiver-inducing wind?

The unicorn stood, stretching the kinks in her withers, then trotted over to the front loft window and shifted the curtains just a tiny bit, gazing out into Ponyville’s main square. It looked the same as ever – small thatched-roof houses surrounding a fountain and bed of flowers, well-maintained to the point of perfection. Nothing seemed to have changed, and to Twilight's mind, that left only one logical solution: magic.

Twilight’s eyes crossed as she attempted to peer up at her horn and gauge the level of magic around her. Her horn always seemed more sensitive when someone performed any type of magic, large or small. The more her horn tingled, the larger the spell was. When she concentrated, Twilight could feel that the tip of the horn was making her lean a little to the right, signaling that the sudden flare of magical energy had originated nearby or inside the Everfree Forest, which did absolutely nothing to make her feel better. The forest was dark, mysterious, and creepy – no place for a pony in most cases, unless there was an emergency. She wondered whether a huge burst of magic was a cause for panic or not. No, she thought, but it’s definitely an emergency in one way or another.

Throwing a few scrolls, quills, and ink into a pair of saddlebags, along with a flask of water and an envelope for samples, Twilight trotted down the stairs into the main part of the library. It was just as messy as the second floor, but the violet unicorn didn’t blink an eye. She went to the bookstand and scribbled a hasty note to Spike on a scrap of parchment, informing him of her location and that she would be back shortly. Then she opened the door and left without a second glance.

The streets of Ponyville were broad and long, and Twilight could easily gallop along the road without being plowed down by wagons or other pedestrians. She passed the outdoor market, pausing only to wave a foreleg at her friend Applejack, who was in the midst of haggling with a customer at the Sweet Apple Acres stand. The cobblestones of the street were warm on her hooves, but Twilight barely noticed. The closer she got to the edge of the town, the more tingly her horn was growing. She was starting to get a little bit nervous.

Okay,a lot nervous.

The small stretch of countryside was quiet and heavy with the scent of wildflowers. As Twilight ran past the faded sign announcing Welcome to Ponyville!, a hard knot formed in the pit of her stomach. The horn’s magic sensor was pulling her down a familiar dirt road, one that led to a certain yellow pegasus’s cottage.

She picked up the pace, galloping harder than before in an attempt to get to Fluttershy’s home and discover what had happened. It wasn't hard to imagine the poor soft-spoken pony cowering in the corner while something large and black loomed over her, magical energy pouring from its body in waves.

It was a crazy thought, and Twilight knew it. But her shy friend could be frightened by the smallest things, and the purple unicorn knew that she might be needed. The cottage was coming into view atop a small hill, and in two seconds Twilight had sprinted to the door, her horn’s sensitivity off the charts. She was usually able to suppress magical auras when the need arose, but it had been a while since anything had required suppressing, and this spell was obviously a doozy. She knocked gently, trying with all her might to keep from pounding on the door with both hooves.

It slid open a tiny bit, and Twilight stuck her eye up to the crack. No one seemed to be answering, but by now the violet unicorn was used to looking down and spotting one of Fluttershy’s animal friends when she was let inside. Today, Angel the bunny was at the door. He looked suspicious at first, but spread the door wider at the sight of Twilight. “Thanks, Angel,” she said to him, a small smile twisting at the corners of her muzzle. “Would you mind telling me where Fluttershy is?”

Angel pointed a paw at the door to the backyard. Nothing seemed wrong inside the house, and Twilight was becoming increasingly confused. What magical energy, powerful enough to reach me in the library, would have come from Fluttershy’s backyard? she thought. It seemed so illogical. Fluttershy wasn’t even a unicorn, for Celestia’s sake.

Twilight pulled the back door open and stepped hesitantly out into the yard. The chicken coop stood in the corner, and a gate led farther out into the Everfree Forest. A pale yellow pegasus mare with a flowing pink mane and tail was hunched over something – no, multiple somethings – that were lying in a heap on the grass. Twilight cleared her throat, and the pegasus whirled around in surprise.

“Oh! Twilight, you startled me,” she said softly. Her muzzle broke into a relieved smile as the violet unicorn trotted over to give her a hug. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today. Did Angel let you in?”

“Yes, he did. I’m sorry I startled you.” Twilight said apologetically. She set down her saddlebags and peered over Fluttershy’s shoulder at the multicolored heap of fur. “What in Equestria is that? Are some of the animals sick?”

“Oh, no,” Fluttershy said, a slight blush creeping across her face. “No, the animals are fine. These are, um…”

As the Pegasus spoke, one of the colored blobs stirred and moaned. Twilight rushed over to it and, grabbing a clump of fur in her teeth, yanked. The orange blob fell away from the rest of the pile and gained shape and definition. Fluttershy let out a slow, timid breath; at the same time, Twilight realized exactly what had made her horn so tingly.

An unrecognizable unicorn pony lay on Fluttershy’s lawn, flanks heaving as he tried to breathe.

Twilight bent down to look at the unicorn, lifting the water flask out of her bag as she did so. “These ponies need help, Fluttershy,” she said. “Run into town and get Applejack and Rarity for me, okay?”

Fluttershy nodded, but hesitated. "Twilight...do you think they're okay? They don't look so good..."

"They're going to be fine," Twilight reassured her friend. She could feel her heart rate going down too, and the scenario she'd imagined with the big black monster was seeming more and more impossible. "It honestly just looks like he's never teleported so many, so far before. A little rest and some water, and they'll get over the headaches eventually."

Fluttershy still didn't look convinced, but after one more lingering look over the pony pile decorating her lawn, gave a quick nod and dashed back into her house. A door slammed, there was an inexplicable crash, then Twilight heard nothing but hoofsteps as her friend galloped up the dirt road back to Ponyville.

Turning back to the pile of unconscious ponies, Twilight reached her muzzle in and started to pull them apart.

Soon, Twilight had managed to separate the tangled ponies and lay them out on the grass. Their eyes were closed, and if not for the fact that they were all mumbling and gasping for air, they could have been sleeping soundly. When they woke up, Twilight remembered, they would be slightly dazed and unsure of their surroundings, all common symptoms for newbie teleporters. Twilight herself had been nauseous for a week after her first practice with the difficult spell.

The unicorn took the time to study each pony as she waited for them to relax. There were two grey Earth ponies; one lighter, one darker, but both the same color. They also both had spike black manes and tails. The bigger (and lighter) stallion had a red bandanna tied around his ears. His cutie mark was a pair of drumsticks, crossed in an x. His counterpart (brother?)'s cutie mark consisted of two connected bronze gears superimposed on a wavering musical staff.

The other two were unicorns. The green one, the smallest of all of them, had a bright red mane held in place by a securely fastened yellow clip. Twilight wasn't sure what her cutie mark - a pair of blue soundwaves - meant. The orange one -

The orange one coughed and stirred, eyes flickering open, so Twilight levitated the water flask to his lips and popped out the cork. “Here,” she said, shoving it into his face. “Drink this.”

The unicorn sputtered, water running down his chin. “What was that for,” he moaned. “I’m fine…”

“Well, you don’t look fine.” Twilight lifted one of the stallion's eyelids and examined his bright blue irises. “I mean, you look normal, but something’s wrong with you. I can’t put my hoof on it, but –”

“Huh? Hoof?”

The unicorn struggled to get up, but Twilight pushed him down.

“You need to rest. I think you’ve just been through the biggest teleportation in your life.” She placed her horn onto his, trying to gauge the level of magic he’d used, but there was no magical residue on him; he hadn’t caused the energy flash. In fact, it seemed like he’d never done any magic in his life. The orange unicorn fell back to the ground, unconscious, as Twilight took a deep breath and lifted her gaze to the others. Can the younger, smaller unicorn possibly have done this?

And if neither of these two performed the teleportation spell on their own, who had done it for them?

Chapter Three: Not In Peaceville Anymore

Corey woke up with a pounding headache and a strange non-feeling in his limbs. He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn’t comply. “Ugh,” he muttered, trying to remember what had just happened. Kon…no, Kin? Kin had pressed the button on the teleportation thing, and everyone had disappeared into thin air.

Where they were now, Corey had no idea, except that they must have landed somewhere outside. There was a fresh smell in the air, like a mixture of wildflowers and freshly washed animals. He could hear birds chirping and some kind of rodent chittering nearby. The teenager opened his eyes, expecting to see Kin or Kon high-fiving and doing their weird little success chant.

What he saw was color.

Well, that was what hit him first - the sheer amount of color that was being processed by his brain. The sky was a cloudless blue, grass was greener than the grass had ever been, and the flowers dotting it were bright splashes of purple, pink, and yellow. Little animals frolicked in the meadow, and behind them, on a tiny hill, was a cozy little cottage with a thatched roof and hundreds of birdhouses nestled in its nooks and crannies. It was the most adorable thing Corey had ever seen.

Then he looked up and found himself staring straight into a pair of luminous purple eyes.

The eyes belonged to an odd-looking violet creature that seemed to be examining him. It was vaguely cartoonish, with a horn sticking out of its forehead. A feather pen and a scroll of paper floated in the air next to it, scribbling notes all on their own. Corey looked at the creature again and blinked. Hard. “Am I seeing things?” he asked. “Or are you really there?”

The creature snapped to attention, realizing that Corey had said something. “Oh!” it gasped in an obviously feminine voice. “Yeah, I’m really here. Are you?”

Corey had to think about that for a moment. He looked down at the thin, soft grass that lay beneath him. He could feel it tickling the skin beneath his fur.

Wait…fur?

Corey tried to propel himself forward, but his body and arms still wouldn’t work. He tried to look anywhere but in front of him, but he was having a hard time maneuvering his neck. “Am I tied down or something? ‘Cause I can’t move,” he said awkwardly. This weird creature staring at him was making him uncomfortable, just like the look he and Laney shared earlier had. Suddenly, the world came crashing down on him. Lanes! The band! Where were they? He struggled to move again, but only managed to twitch a leg. “Where are the others? My friends - have you seen them?”

The creature’s quill stopped writing and she turned to Corey again. “The ones who were with you? They’re over there,” she said, gesturing vaguely with her head. “They’re all asleep, though. I’d let them rest. First teleport spell can do that to a pony.” She focused on the parchment again, leaving Corey on his own to figure out how to move.

He twisted his left leg until it stretched out from under him. He was laying on his stomach, which was usually uncomfortable, but didn’t feel as weird right now. He closed his eyes, strained, and managed to push up with his elbows. Or what had once been elbows.

When he glanced downward, Corey couldn’t see the human body he was so very used to. It took him a moment to process that what he was looking at was even his. Four gangly legs, rather than the usual two, covered in a pale orange coat of fur. A long, bushy blue tail. A small circular mark on his thigh that looked sort of like the skull on his beanie. Corey blinked again, almost not believing his eyes. Something had happened, all right.

The violet creature – a unicorn pony, he realized – had sat down on the ground near a good-sized cottage. She wasn’t focused on Corey, so he tried taking a step. It felt really weird to have hooves; he’d expected it to be like walking on hands and knees at home, but it was totally different. He took another step, and another. I’m starting to get the hang of this, he thought.

To the side of where he had been laying, there were three other ponies. Two, he suspected, were Kin and Kon – they were both grey and had spiky black hair. The other was emerald green and had a soft-looking red mane with a horn of her own poking up through it. If Corey looked closely at it, he could totally see the resemblance to Laney.

The little green unicorn stirred, a breath of air pushing her bangs away from her eyes. Corey leaned in closely, his face over hers, an excited smile spreading across his face. He was tempted to give her a noogie, but after inspecting his new hooves, Corey decided that that might hurt a little too much. Instead, he nudged her side with his foreleg. “Lanes, get up,” he said, snickering. “Wait’ll you see what happened.”

Her eyes fluttering open, Laney peered up at Corey’s happy face. She tried to reach up and rub her eyes, but her brand-new hooves wouldn’t move. “Wha – what’s going on?” she mumbled dazedly. “Did Kin’s teleportation gizmo work?”

Corey beamed wider. “It did indeed, Lanes! Take a look around.”

The unicorn managed to focus on Corey’s head, and immediately her eyes widened in fear. “Whoa! Get back!” she yelled, suddenly alert, all four of her hooves pedaling in the air.

Corey laughed like crazy as Laney tried to scoot away from him on her back. She was failing pretty badly, and her wide movements alerted the violet pony who still sat against the house. She got to her hooves with no trouble at all and rushed to the screaming Laney. “Hey, hey!” she said, soothingly. “It’s all right. There’s no need to be afraid.”

Laney grew quieter as the other pony tried to calm her down. Having another girl nearby seemed to be helping her nerves, but her eyes were still wild and confused. “What happened? Where am I? Where are my friends?” she spluttered.

Corey’s face was hurting from all the smiling. “The whole band is here, Lanes,” he said, gesturing to the still-woozy Kin and Kon. “Look at us! Don’t we look awesome?”

Laney looked confused. “Core? Is that you?” She tried to sit up again, but only managed to faceplant into the grass. “What happened to your face?”

“The same thing that happened to yours, fella,” Corey said. “We’re ponies! And extremely good-looking ones, I might add.” He swished his short blue tail, letting it catch the light. “I’ve already got the hang of it. It doesn’t take long.”

Laney yelped, glancing down at her pony body. Corey suddenly realized that they weren’t wearing any clothes. He panicked for a moment, reaching a hoof up to the top of his head, but his trademark orange beanie was still there, with a hole in its forehead for his horn to poke out. I have a horn! This is the coolest thing ever!

Laney managed to sit up. Corey sat next to her, even more pleased than before. “I hope you’re all right,” the violet unicorn said sympathetically. “It’s hard to teleport for the first time.” She smiled, gave Laney a quick nuzzle, and trotted back over to her scroll.

"Sorry I tried to kick you, Core," Laney sighed once the unicorn was out of earshot. "I kind of expected you to be human."

Corey nodded, grinning. “It’s cool, dude. Hey, wanna surprise Kin and Kon?”

It took a while to get the twins out of their stupor, much more than it did to help Laney stand up - and it certainly didn't have the same results. Kin and Kon were both heavy sleepers, and were extremely drowsy when awoken. “Must…have…cheese…” Kon groaned, trying to sit up, while Kin wheezed his guts out onto the grass. As sick as they sounded, though, it didn’t take long for the brothers to recover.

“So they device worked! Awesome!” Kin said, shaking his head and sitting up. He checked himself out, noting the small set of musical notes that adorned his flanks. “I wonder why it took us here, though…we were just supposed to travel outside of the garage for the test run.”

On the other side of Kin, Kon rolled over onto his stomach. “Maybe our future selves had something to do with it?” he mused, bouncing himself up with his chubby stomach. He was getting used to the pony body much more quickly than the others had, but then Kon had his quirks. “Whoa. I feel, like, really strong.”

Kin wobbled as he stood up to give his brother a high-hoof. “No kidding! I could run a marathon.” He trotted in place, spiky mane flopping all over. “So, any ideas about what happened or where we are?”

Corey racked his brain for a second, but nothing came to him. Who am I kidding? I never pick up on small details, he thought. “We should ask her,” he said importantly, flinging a foreleg toward the purple unicorn, who was sitting and writing once again. She looked busy, but hey, the band needed information, and they needed it now.

Corey and the twins walked over to the unicorn, who looked up as they approached. “Good! You’re all awake,” she said, a look of relief spreading across her face. “I have some questions for you.”

“Um, we’ve got some for you too,” Corey said.

“Like, a lot,” Kin added.

The unicorn looked dubious, but she stood. “What do you want to know?”

Corey thought. “Okay, first things first. Where are we?”

“We’re just outside of Ponyville. Have you been here before?” the purple pony asked. When the boys shook their heads no, she smiled. “Not many have. It’s a nice place though, worth a few visits. Anything else?”

“How far from Peaceville are we?” Kon asked, jumping up and down.

The unicorn tilted her head to the left. “Huh? Peaceville? I’ve never heard of it. Is it in Equestria?”

“Well…no,” Corey said sheepishly. “Probably not even close. So who are you, exactly?”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m Princess Celestia’s student. Who are all of you? And how did you appear in my friend Fluttershy’s backyard?”

Corey was getting more confused by the minute. The pony – Twilight – was looking at him expectantly, so he took a deep breath

“This is Kin, Kon, and over there is Laney. My name is Corey Riffin, and I’m the leader of Grojband.” He stuck his chest out with pride, but deflated when he saw the quizzical look on Twilight’s face.

“Grojband? Is that even a word?”

Corey paused. “Uh, well, we made it up.”

“You should try to be a little more grammatically accurate,” Twilight said, scribbling something on her airborne scroll.

Kin grinned. “She may be dissing our band’s name, but I like this pony already!”

Laney appeared next to Corey. She was smaller than Corey expected. While he stood eye to eye with Twilight, the green unicorn was at least half a head shorter. “What’s this I hear about dissing the band?”

“Oh, it’s no big, Lanes. Twilight here is just getting us up to speed on the lay of the land,” Corey said. He turned back to Twilight. “You said you had some other questions?”

“Yes!” the purple unicorn said. She consulted her scroll for a moment, than looked up at Corey. “Obviously, you teleported here, but –”

“That was my handiwork,” said Kin, holding his hoof out to the sunlight. “My machine must have malfunctioned though, because we were only trying to go to the front yard.”

Twilight frowned. “Machine? What are you talking about? That was a magical teleportation. The energy needed to transport four ponies…the energy I felt just now…how could that not be magical energy? Am I out of practice? Oh, what will Princess Celestia say?” She started pacing back and forth. “I’m sorry, I need a minute.”

As Twilight muttered to herself, Laney glanced at Kin. “It was your machine that brought us here, right?”

Kin nodded, holding his hoof out again. “And I made sure to set it to take us to Corey’s front yard, so I’m not sure why we ended up here.”

Corey stared at the hoof. “What are we looking at, exactly?” Kin’s hoof was a little dirty, but there was nothing especially interesting to look at on it.

Kon slapped Kin’s outstretched foreleg with his own. “High-hoof!”

Laney sighed, a spark of anger in her eyes. “I suppose I have to say it, don’t I? Kin, you’re overlooking something. The device is gone.”

Chapter Four: Mirror, Mirror

Twilight’s mind was racing. The small grey pony – Kin, if she remembered correctly – had told her that the four unusual ponies had traveled to Ponyville with a machine. For one thing, there hadn’t been a machine, at least not one Fluttershy had mentioned. Secondly, there were no machines that advanced in Equestria at all. With all the magic in the air, who needed that much technology?

Anyway, even without all that, that didn’t explain the amazing explosion of magic that had occurred. No machine of any kind could replicate a magical aura that size? Twilight was stumped, and she knew it. But there would be time to unravel that mystery later; for now, she had to worry about other things.

The back door of the cottage swung open, and Applejack burst outside, her flanks heaving, still wearing her market day apron. “Ah ran all th’ way here, Twi,” she gasped. “Fluttershy said somethin’ about weird ponies appearin’ in her yard.”

“Fluttershy didn’t lie to you.” Twilight pointed with her horn at the group of ponies that stood off in a corner, quietly talking amongst themselves. Well, not that quietly; occasionally, the small green unicorn – Laney – would raise her voice, and the other unicorn would have to shush her. “They were accompanied by a crazy burst of magic, but say they were teleported by a machine. Which they don’t have. It seems a little suspicious, don’t you think?”

Applejack wrinkled her nose. “Ah’ll say. Fluttershy and Rarity should be here any minute.”

“Thanks so much for coming, AJ,” Twilight said, a strained smile crossing her muzzle. “They seem really confused, and I thought you would be able to help me out.”

“Aw, shucks, Twi,” Applejack said. “It ain’t a problem.” She adjusted her hat and crossed the yard, a determined look on her face.

Twilight slipped inside, letting out an anxious breath. It took her a minute to chart a path across the animal-covered floor of Fluttershy’s house, her notes flapping around behind her. When she got to the front door, she opened the top half and watched the path. If Fluttershy and Rarity were right behind Applejack, they should be arriving just about…

A cart filled to the brim with gems appeared over the crest of the hill. It was attached to Rarity, who was trotting along next to Fluttershy. Spike reclined atop the jewels, occasionally dropping a sapphire or a ruby down his throat. The butter-yellow Pegasus was talking animatedly and waving her hooves about, which was unusual for her. Twilight let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. It’s time to get to the bottom of this.

The violet unicorn ran out to meet the two ponies as they came to a top outside of the cottage and Rarity unhitched herself from the wagon. “Thanks for coming, Rarity,” she said gratefully. “We may have a crisis on our hooves.”

She quickly explained about the odd ponies that called themselves Grojband, and the magic surge that had accompanied their arrival. Rarity’s face twisted as she listened. “Yes, I do believe I felt a little twinge in my horn not too long ago…but then, I’m not the one with a talent for magic. Where are the poor dears? Are they all right?”

Twilight led them through the house and into the backyard, where Applejack was having a heated discussion with Laney and Corey. Her apron lay forlornly on the grass - the Earth pony appeared to have ripped it off in anger. “Oh yeah? Well, if you’re from another world, than Ah’m a timber wolf’s best friend. Twilight!” Applejack growled. “Tell these here folks about those magic laws you were studyin’ last week!”

“Oh – you mean Starswirl the Bearded’s Mirror Laws?”

“Yep. Them thingies. Now!”

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, visualizing the book that still sat atop her desk in the Golden Oaks Library. “The Mirror Laws explain why alternate worlds can’t be visited or traveled to unless both parties know about them. Interdimensional travel is like teleportation, but bigger and more complex. It can’t be successful unless the right amount of magic is tapped into on both sides, and since we don’t know whether magic exists in other worlds, nopony can go to them. Or come here." She stopped and opened her eyes, realizing that everyone had gone extremely quiet. "Um, does that make sense?”

“No,” Applejack snarled. “Because these ponies right here are tellin’ me that they’re from one of them alternate worlds.”

Twilight gaped like a fish out of water. “Are you serious?” she said excitedly, focusing on the new set of ponies. “Are you seriously trying to tell me that you’re from…someplace else?”

The orange one who called himself Corey nodded. “And we aren’t ponies there, either. We’re human. They’re…" He looked down at himself. "Well, they’re nothing like this nearly at all.”

Twilight wanted to drop everything and start conducting scientific research, but she took a deep breath and let it out. Once upon a time, she’d have scoffed at the very idea of interdimensional travel, but not too long ago she’d had to learn the hard way that there were some mysteries she’d never figure out. And there would be time to ask more questions later. “That would prove some of the most ancient magic scrolls wrong…but it explains your odd names, and why you’ve never used magic before." The unicorn turned to her Earth pony friend. "Applejack, you should have come to me before you started yelling at them, though being cautious was a good idea.”

Applejack snorted and sheepishly dug her hoof into the dirt. “Yeah, Ah know. But you know how Ah feel about lyin’, Twi…and it sure as hay seemed like they were.”

Rarity had been silent for some time, peering at the fraternal-twin brothers, who looked like they had been rolling around in the dirt. “Darlings!” she exclaimed. “Your coats look absolutely dreadful! You need a good bath right away.”

“Rarity, they’re still getting their bearings. Wait.” Twilight took a step in Grojband’s direction. She was starting to get used to the weird word. “In case you haven’t noticed, these are Applejack and Rarity. Over there is Fluttershy –” she gestured at the pink-maned Pegasus, who was barely visible behind a bush – “and Spike.” The dragon had followed the ponies inside, a stack of gems in his arms. His mouth had fallen open during the conversation (probably somewhere around the laws of magic being broken) and tiny shards of crystal were falling out of his mouth. Twilight slipped behind him and used her hoof to shut his mouth, giggling a little. “Sorry, he can be a bit rude sometimes.”

“It’s no problem,” Corey said, experimentally shifting his weight from his right side to his left. “Nice to meet you. I’m Corey and this is Laney, Kin, and Kon. Back home, we’re known as Grojband.”

Rarity tilted her head to one side. “Groj…what? What an interesting name.” She batted her eyes and smiled. If Twilight didn’t know better, she’d think somepony had a crush. Sizing Corey up, she realized that he was a rather good-looking stallion, if she ever had time for that sort of thing.

“What’s th’ matter, Rarity? Got somethin’ in yer eye?” Applejack snickered.

The larger grey pony – Kon – laughed too. “You look kind of funny when you do that.”

Rarity gave a little sniff. “I beg your pardon? I am merely trying to show interest in these newcomers, and that is that.”

“Showing interest all right,” Spike muttered darkly, his tail lashing. Twilight managed to wrap the little dragon in a bone-crunching hug as Rarity trotted off to see how Fluttershy was doing behind her bush.

The violet unicorn cleared her throat. “Um, why don’t we take you all to town? We should show you around before it gets dark, and find a place for you to stay.”

“I, for one, am very interested in taking a look around,” Kin announced. “It just so happens that we may be stuck here until we can get our hands on that machine…which may not be here in the first place…and if it is, it may be damaged…um, let’s just say that we’re gonna hang around for a while.”

Rarity poked her head out of the bushes. “Sounds good to me!”

Corey shrugged. “We’re ponies now, guys. Let’s take a break from freak-outs and scope out the scene!” He trotted forward eagerly. “Lead the way, Twi – it’s okay if I call you Twi, right?”

“Of course, if it makes you feel at home.” Twilight picked up her notes and quills and dumped them unceremoniously into her saddlebag. “Come on, girls! Come on, Spike. We have some new friends to introduce to Ponyville!”

The unicorn mare paced back and forth inside her small cave shelter. It had been almost half an hour since she had broken the magical bubble, and there was still no sign of anything unusual. She knew something big had happened, and that it could be bad, but honestly? Anything that would ruin Twilight Sparkle in some way sounded good to her.

The odd magical aura that had strengthened the mare earlier had made her magic stronger as well. When she had tried creating a spark to light a fire, it had erupted into a roaring column of flame and burned her eyebrows off before she had been able to suppress it. She felt rejuvenated, more important than she had ever felt before, and soon all of Equestria was going to know it. The mare had bigger plans now, plans involving more than just humiliating her worst enemy.

A crackling in the bushes nearby startled the unicorn, and she jumped back, her hind hoof grazing the embers of the fire. “Who goes there?” she rasped, voice rusty from weeks of disuse. “This unicorn has powerful magic, and she’s not afraid to use it!”

“Like, that totally doesn’t sound like a threat, but whatevs,” came the reply. “I am totes stuck in this bush and Mina can’t even HELP ME!”

“I’m underneath you, Trina,” a second voice croaked. “If I wasn’t, I would for sure try to help you.”

“No one cares about your dumb opinion, Mina!”

The mare stepped softly toward the bush, lifting a few leaves out of the way for a glimpse of the faces of the ponies trapped in the bush. A pink muzzle and a pair of magenta eyes glowered out at her. “Get me out of here!” the muzzle growled, twisting to pull the body attached to it free. The unicorn tugged, but the pony wouldn’t budge, so she used her magic. In a twinkling, the bush disappeared, and a pair of mares lay panting on the ground, one on top of the other.

The one on top was the pink one. Her mane was streaked with purple, and tied into a tail at the back of her head; a horn poked out of the feathery bangs that framed her face. The other pony was an Earth pony, with an orange coat and teal mane. Her glasses were broken, and she spit leaves out of her mouth, shaking her head back and forth. “Um, thanks?”

The pink pony blinked, confused. “Um, hashtag: Whaaa? Who the heck are you? Where’s my brother and his lame-o band? And where is Nick Mallory? He was just here…MINA! Details! NOW!”

“There’s no need,” the unicorn mare said, grinning evilly. So there were more? This pair of newcomers could be to her advantage. Any information about what had happened would be useful indeed.

The pony narrowed her eyes. “Oh yeah? And why should I believe you?”

The mare’s grin grew even wider. “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. And Trixie thinks you and she might have a common goal.” She leaned in, reaching out a hoof to help the pink unicorn stand up. “Welcome to Equestria, otherworlder.”

Chapter Five: Dragonnapped

Corey trotted into the airy, bright library with a smile on his face. His hooves were aching like heck, but he was hyped from visiting all the interesting locations in Ponyville. He’d enjoyed the coffeeshop, the Hothoof, the most; the owner, Vinyl Scratch, had some sweet music going on in there. If not for Fluttershy’s obvious discomfort, he totally would have stayed longer.

Fluttershy had obviously been uneasy about being alone with him, considering that he was basically an alien to this world. She had been very hard to talk to, but when Corey had mentioned his pet snake, the yellow Pegasus had begun asking all sorts of questions about the animals in Peaceville. Their conversation had gone all sorts of directions after that, and Corey could safely say that he liked her. Not in the way he liked…some other people…but he liked her.

“Um, this is the Golden Oak Library. Twilight works here, and she lives in the loft above it,” Fluttershy said. The library was well-lit and carved straight into a pale-wooded oak tree, with books scattered all across the floor and the shelves. A table stood in the middle of the floor, littered with scrolls and quills and pots of ink. Kin and Twilight, their backs to the door, were poring over some dusty old textbooks that Corey was sure were extremely boring.

“Twilight?” Fluttershy whispered. “We f-finished our tour…”

Twilight didn’t seem to hear, flicking a page lightning fast, while Kin awkwardly shifted his book in his hooves.

Just then, the front door banged open, and a large, light grey shape bounded into the room. “Hey, guys!” Kon bellowed, smiling as widely as is possible for a pony to smile. “I just visited the best place in the world!”

Applejack followed him in, gently closing the door behind her. “He almost ate the Cakes out o’ stock,” she explained, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. “Had ta’ drag him outta the store by his tail.”

Twilight looked up, watching the Earth pony bounce along the walls, babbling about cheese cupcakes. “Well, as long as he didn’t meet Pinkie Pie…those two together would be an unstoppable force of nature.”

Corey followed Kon around the library, reading some of the titles on the shelves. Equestrian History sounded interesting, but a book about ponies’ music styles would have been more informative. As long as he was here, why not learn?

Pulling out a thin tome called Tunes and Times: Canterlot Edition, the orange unicorn turned to his black-maned friend. “Kon, would you calm down?” he said, using his hoof to flip the book open. “I think some people – I mean, ponies – are trying to study here.”

Kin mumbled an agreement, but didn’t even look up from his book.

A few brisk knocks echoed on the library door, and then Rarity stepped in. “Everyone! Just wait until you see my latest creation!” she exclaimed, gesturing out of the door. “Come on in, darling. No one’s judging you.”

There was a pause, and then Laney entered the library. She was dressed in a frilly red ensemble that matched the color of her mane exactly, with black and green accents that reminded Corey of the clothes she wore back in Peaceville. “It’s not often I get a living model to design on, what with how busy we’ve been lately,” the white unicorn continued, “so I jumped at the chance to use Elaine. She has a lovely figure.”

Laney’s eyes were narrowed in anger at the use of her full name, and she was blushing as brightly as she ever had, but Corey wasn’t looking at her face. His eyes strayed to the way the dress tied, exposing the jagged blue sound-wave marks on her legs. “You look good, Lanes,” he said casually, though inside he was blushing as hard as the green pony.

“I’m thinking of making a whole fashion line based on this one dress. What do you think, girls? Should I do it?” Rarity waited expectantly for her friends to answer.

Applejack rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “Well, Ah ain’t the pony to ask about fashion, but Ah think it’s a mighty fine dress, Rare,” she said.

“It’s very nice,” said Fluttershy softly.

Kin chose this opportune moment to come out of reading mode and looked straight at Corey. “Corey, some of these magic techniques are awesome! I almost wish I was a unicorn. You should get Twilight to teach you!”

Twilight blushed. “I’m still a student myself, but if Corey and Laney want to learn some basic spells, that’d be okay with me.”

Corey was about to accept when a rainbow blur whizzed in through the library’s skylight. It landed on the floor nest to Twilight and Fluttershy and solidified into a sky-blue Pegasus with a multicolored mane. “Hey, Twilight, guess what I just – whoa. What did I miss?” she said, looking around at them all.

“Rainbow, this is Grojband…Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon. They’re from Peaceville, in an alternate world! Grojband, this is Rainbow Dash. She’s –”

“The fastest flyer in all of Equestria!” The Pegasus flapped her wings and hovered off the ground. “Twi, how did they get here? I thought nopony was able to, because of those rule things.”

“That’s what Ah said.” Applejack sat on the floor, tracing circles in the wood grains with the tip of her hoof. “But Ah guess there’s more to it than that.”

“These ponies proved Star Swirl the Bearded wrong,” Twilight said, clapping her hooves together. “I got a chance to examine Kin earlier, and their DNA isn’t Equestrian. There’s a good chance that they’re living proof disclaiming some of the most ancient laws in the book…" Twilight paused. Corey could practically see the gears turning in her brain. "Wait a minute. What is wrong with me? Why haven’t I written Princess Celestia about this? Spike! Spiiiike!”

The little dragon didn’t answer.

Corey looked around, realizing for the first time that the scaly assistant hadn’t been in the room when Corey and Fluttershy entered the library. “I think he left. Is that normal?”

Laney, who’d been shrugging off the dress since Rarity’s attention turned elsewhere, stopped mid-twist and peered behind her. “He didn’t go out the door…I would have noticed.”

The white unicorn gasped, falling into an overdramatic swoon. “Oh, Spikey-Wikey! What ever could have happened, Twilight?”

“Spikey-Wikey?” Kin whispered skeptically.

“This is bad. This is very bad.” Twilight took a deep breath, then let it out. “Without Spike, I can’t send any letters to Princess Celestia. I’ll fail my assignments AND the princess won’t learn about Grojband! This is getting more complicated than I thought. Guys, help me! Where would Spike go if he left the library?”

Fluttershy perked up. “He goes to Rarity’s shop a lot, but no one’s there, so…”

“I locked the shop behind me, and he certainly wasn’t there when I left,” Rarity said, eyes wide with emotion.

“He wouldn’t be at Sweet Apple Acres, that’s fer sure,” said Applejack, tapping her hoof to her chin. “Ah cain’t think of anyplace that little dragon would go. Or a reason why he’d leave ya. How long has it been since ya last saw him, Twi?”

Twilight thought a moment, “He accompanied Kin and me around Ponyville, but I think he was with us the whole time. If I lost track of him anywhere, it would have been at Sugar Cube Corner.”

Rainbow Dash spoke up. Corey jumped a little bit; he’d almost forgotten that the Pegasus was there. “We’ll start there, then,” she said. “Meet you guys at Sugar Cube Corner.” Without a warning, she zipped back out the window and was gone.

Corey remembered Sugar Cube Corner. It was a tall, sweet-smelling building shaped vaguely like a cupcake. The owner, Mrs. Cake, had practically forced a large number of free pastries in Corey’s face when she learned that he was new in town. The one thing that was surprising him the most in Ponyville was how nice everyone was to everyone else. It was like Trina didn’t exist anymore. Corey could get used to that.

Twilight slammed her book shut and stood up shakily. “Spike’s like a little brother,” she stammered. “I-I take care of him like Shining Armor took care of me. What will I do if he’s gone?”

“Hey, sugarcube,” Applejack said kindly, putting a hoof around Twilight's neck. “Ah’m sure he just got left behind at the bakery, and he’s eatin’ a plateful of sapphire cupcakes right about now. Don’t worry too much. It’ll all be okay.”

Laney kicked her frilly dress into a corner of the library, hiding it behind a pile of books. “Kin? Are you coming?”

“I’m gonna stay here and see if I can read up on teleportation and stuff. If we’re going to get back home, we might as well start somewhere,” the dark grey Earth pony said, turning back to his dusty pile of books. “Good luck, though.”

Corey and Laney followed the others out the door, but the green unicorn held the orange one back with her hoof. “Core,” she whispered. “We need to talk.”

She wasn’t feeling so good about some of the ponies they had met. “Rarity couldn’t stop talking about you while she turned me into a life-sized Barbie doll,” she said. “I think she wanted me to set you up with her. And that Rainbow Dash has a way-too-big ego. Core, don’t you see that we can’t trust them? We should find a way out of here on our own.”

Corey sighed and rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding? These guys are awesome! And they have – hello – a library? That we can use to get information? Besides, we can’t leave Equestria without our lyric-writing champion – Trina. Have you noticed that she, Nick, and Mina are nowhere to be found?”

Laney’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought about that. I figured we’d just left them behind.”

“Well, they were touching us too, so they must have been pulled along,” Corey said. He looked around at the perfect little dollhouse buildings, the flower boxes, ponies waving hello to each other in the neat cobblestone roads. “I can’t imagine Trina in this place, though. She’d die from too much niceness.”

“That brings me to something else, Core,” Laney whispered. “The machine. We don’t have it, remember? What if we can’t get back home? What if we’re stuck here…as ponies…forever?”

Corey bit his lip. If anything, he’d figured that Kin would be able to rebuild the machine and they’d be home after a day or two of sightseeing, but he hadn’t taken into account the three months it’d taken to build the thing in the first place. Or the fact that the technology in Equestria didn’t seem quite as advanced as what they had on Earth.

The group ahead slowed down. They had reached the bakery; the tall pink roof of Sugar Cube Corner loomed above them, and the intoxicating scent of freshly baked cupcakes rushed out of the open door. “Relax, Lanes,” the orange unicorn said. “Let’s think about something else. Just wait till you try one of these cupcakes. They’re even better than my dad’s bake-sale brownies.”

Rainbow Dash was already talking to Mrs. Cake inside. Twilight and Fluttershy entered the store, and everyone else waited outside. The shop was big, but with so many ponies inside at one time Spike might get lost again in the crowd. Corey peered into the window, pushing Laney’s head against the thin glass panes. The counter was aglow with light, and tall stacks of baked goods gleamed temptingly in their cases. Kon pressed up against the window too, and Corey could almost hear him salivating.

Twilight raced back out the door, breathing heavily. “Mrs. Cake says she saw him leave with me and Kin. He’s not there.”

“What are we gonna do now?” Applejack said, facehoofing.

“I could do a quick flyby over Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash suggested. “I’m sure I could spot him. He kind of stands out from all of the ponies.”

Twilight nodded, but it was a halfhearted, sad nod.

“Hey, it’s okay, Twi. We’ll find Spike,” Applejack said. “Ya just gotta calm down. You’re the one with the logic and brains in this here outfit. What would Forelock Holmes do?”

Twilight sucked in a deep breath. “Okay…let’s see. Spike is always with me…but when he’s not, he’s either at Rarity’s or at Sugar Cube Corner. Since he can’t be at either of those places, he’s either been dragonnapped, or he got lost. And since we’ve lived in Ponyville at least a whole year, and know the town like the back of our hooves…”

No one finished Twilight’s sentence, but they were all thinking the same thing.

Kon opened his mouth to say something – probably something totally off-subject, like “I like cheese” – when a pink blur appeared in Corey’s peripheral vision.

“Did you see that, you guys?” he said. “Just over there…”

Everyone turned their heads to look -

And just when they least expected it, the pink blur leaped at them from the opposite direction.

“Hi!" it squealed cheerfully. "Welcome to Ponyville! My name is Pinkie Pie!”

Chapter Six: Small Comforts

Trixie sat under her shelter, lifting a rock into the air.

Up, down, up, down – it flew as easily as if the unicorn mare had been performing such magic all her life. Which she had.

But never with a twenty-foot boulder.

Even though the ponies from another world were asleep in the back of the cave, even though they were tired and needed to rest, up and down the stone went, knocking branches and twigs out of the trees and sending them crashing to the ground. “Where are those two little idiots?” Trixie wondered out loud. “Trixie told them to hurry. They aren’t supposed to keep her waiting.”

As if answering Trixie’s call, a small pudgy figure appeared from a tangle of bushes. “We got him, your Great and Powerfulness!” he squeaked, his small red tail bobbing as he ran. “Bring him in, Snails!”

Another figure, this one orange and lanky, dragged a purple dragon out of the leaves. “We told him we found a bunch of gems,” the unicorn drawled, a dopey smile plastered across his face. “He started running after us, and then he ran into a tree.”

Trixie stood, snorting, and stamped her hoof, letting the boulder crash back down into the dusty ground. “You foals! When Trixie found you and asked you to help her, Trixie told you to get him here quickly! You took almost half an hour and Trixie was starting to get impatient.”

“Sorry, your Trixieship,” Snips said, bowing his head low. “You know how honored we are to be your assistants again.”

“Do you think you could vanquish an Ursa Major for us now?” Snails asked.

“Be quiet! The otherworlders are trying to sleep,” Trixie hissed.

“But you just slammed that boulder –”

“SSSSHHH!” The mare flattened her ears and glared at the two colts. “Now, put the dragon down. Trixie doesn’t want him escaping.”

Pointing her horn in the little lizard’s direction, Trixie lifted him into the air and made a birdcage materialize around him, locking the door and tossing the key into another bush. “Trixie will just have to forgive you for all the mistakes you keep making,” she sniffed haughtily, setting the cage squarely on Snips’ and Snails’ shoulders. “You’d better have brought the quill, ink, and paper Trixie asked for, too.”

“Oh – yeah, it’s right here!” Snips gasped, trying to pull a tiny saddlebag out from under the birdcage. Trixie yanked on it with magic and removed the feather pen and pot of ink.

She smoothed out the scroll and placed the tip of the quill in the pot, smiling darkly. Her eyes flicked to the cage, where the purple dragon’s stomach moved up and down in time to his steady breaths. “Here’s something new for you to remember: Once the dragon wakes up, be sure he’s ready to take a letter for Trixie.”

Twilight stood by the door of Sugar Cube Corner, sipping a glass of punch, her eyes rimmed red. Frankly, she couldn’t see how a party was going to help things. Spike was missing! Nopony in their right mind would be horsing around when a friend was in danger.

Then again, Pinkie Pie wasn’t totally in her right mind.

The party was in full swing, the music blaring so loudly that the windows were shuddering. Kin – who’d been pulled out of the library to join the festivities – and Kon were devouring cupcakes, Laney was talking to Applejack, and Corey was rocking out with Vinyl Scratch, who’d brought her mixing table at a moment’s notice. Twilight was the only one who didn’t seem to be having any fun.

And Pinkie Pie was, of course, in her element, mingling with ponies and introducing them to Grojband every other minute. Twilight couldn’t help but smile as the party pony leaped into the air, pirouetted, and knocked Pokey Pierce into a wall.

It wasn’t as if Pinkie had bothered to ask, anyway. She’d been so caught up in the prospect of four new friends that Twilight hadn’t been able to tell her about Spike’s disappearance, or even that Grojband was in a mirror world. The purple unicorn was tempted to sneak off to the library and search for a locator spell, but she felt like leaving the band members was a bad idea. They were still new to Equestria, after all, and if they let something slip in front of an innocent pony, they’d be mobbed by curious and possibly accusatory ponies. Twilight shuddered as she imagined the Flower Triplets screaming in horror, like they did whenever even the smallest thing scared them. Better to stand by and keep the band quiet than let them spill their secrets for all of Ponyville to hear.

Fluttershy squeezed out of the crowd and clopped over to Twilight. “Are you okay?” she said, trying her best to be heard over the thumping beat.

Twilight rubbed her eyes with a foreleg, setting down her punch glass on a nearby table. “Well, no, Fluttershy, not really. I’m just so worried for Spike. Is he lost? Was he dragonnapped? If not, why would he run away?”

“He did try it once,” said the yellow Pegasus, “but I don’t think he would do it again.”

“I just hope he’s all right,” Twilight said, sitting down on the wooden bakery floor. She sighed. “I’m sure Rarity feels the same way.”

“Rarity’s in the bathroom, crying. She doesn’t feel like partying while Spike’s missing.” Fluttershy sat down next to Twilight, extending a wing over her friend's back. “I don’t think this is the time for a party either. But when Pinkie Pie gets out her party cannon…”

“There’s really nothing we can do,” Twilight said, giggling a little through her tears.

"Do you think it would offend Pinkie if we, well, if we left early to look for clues or something?" asked Fluttershy timidly. "I don't want to upset anyone..."

Twilight glanced over at Corey, who was laughing loudly at some joke Vinyl had just told. "I don't think she'd mind. It's just that I'm worried Grojband will let something slip while we're here and terrify somepony with ideas of aliens. I mean, who knows who here has been reading comics like...Spike's?"

The unicorn held in another sob, and Fluttershy's wing tightened over hers barrel in a comforting hug. "It'll be okay, Twilight," she murmured, as if speaking to one of her animals. "There, there."

At this opportune moment, Pinkie Pie bounced up to Twilight and Fluttershy. She had suspicious smears of frosting dotting her mane and coat. “Hi, you guys! Having fun?” she chirped happily.

Twilight took another sip of her punch while Fluttershy answered, “It’s…a very nice party.”

“Thanks! Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon seem like such nice ponies! And they have great taste in music. Vinyl just loves them! Hey, have you tasted the cupcakes? I didn’t make them, Mr. Cake did, but only because I was watching Pound and Pumpkin –”

“Slow down, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “I’m kind of distracted right now.”

“Oh, okay. Is something wrong? Anything I can help with?” Pinkie asked, a worried look clouding her big blue eyes.

Twilight felt herself tearing up again, but she forced herself to relax. Spike wouldn’t want me to cry about it, she thought. He’d want me to do something.

The unicorn opened her mouth to talk, but a loud crashing noise stopped her. A table had tipped, spilling cake frosting and punch all over the floor. “Hold on a teeny-weeny second there, Twilight,” Pinkie said cheerfully. “I’ve gotta clean that up!”

As Pinkie skipped off to get a mop, Fluttershy looked helplessly at Twilight. “I…I guess if you wanted to go out and try looking for Spike, I could keep an eye on Grojband a-and…”

Twilight flicked a tear from the corner of her eye and smiled gratefully. “Fluttershy, that means so much to me. Are you sure you can handle it?”

“I think so.” The pegasus shifted her wings. “Do whatever you have to. I want the little guy home safe and sound just as much as you do.”

“Thanks.” Twilight was almost about to cry for a third time; she could feel the tears threatening to spill over as she hugged her shy friend. “I owe you one.”

“Good luck, Twilight!” Fluttershy said softly as the purple unicorn trudged out of the bakery, leaving the sugary sweetness and pounding bass of the party behind her.

Twilight dashed through the door of the Golden Oak Library and flicked a lamp on with a small burst of magic. The room lit up, illuminating the shelves upon shelves of books that spanned the walls. Any one of these books could hold the answer to saving Spike, the mare thought as she scanned the books' spines, her horn glowing a dark pink. The books shivered, then began to fly, one by one, off the shelves, parading in the air in front of Twilight, and she started reading through titles.

“Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone…won’t be any good…Predictions and Prophecies…don’t think so…Mane-Care Tips for Pony Stylists…not useful at all…”

A teetering tower of books was growing ever taller behind the frantic unicorn, but she kept reading titles. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. This could be it, this next one, this could give me a spell…

No names jumped out at her, and the books kept coming, streaming past her in an unending flow of knowledge - History of the Wonderbolts, The Earth Pony's Guide to Stringed Instruments, Basic Harmonic Magic. Twilight felt like she was going to scream. It’s okay, there are plenty of books left, oh Celestia please let me find what I need…

The line of books shuddered as another rush of cold air swept through the library. It was smaller than the first – the one that had predicted Grojband’s appearance in Equestria – but it was there. Twilight could feel the fur on her neck rising and her sensitive horn begin to tingle ever so slightly. Immediately, she released her magic, letting the books drop to the floor. Something else must have entered the world from outside!

The unicorn rushed over to the entryway, grabbed the saddlebags she’d dumped there, and flung the door open. She cantered across the square, nearly bowling over a confused Granny Smith. “Sorry!” Twilight called over her shoulder. “Gotta run!”

As she ran, Twilight's heart rose into her throat. She wasn’t sure what this new development could have to do with Spike’s disappearance, but the connections between the arrival of Grojband and this new pulse of magic were too great. Maybe, wherever she was going, there would be another clue.

The tingling in her horn wasn’t as strong as the first time, but if Twilight concentrated it was easy enough to follow. She passed Sugar Cube Corner, which was quieter than before, but she was honestly too busy to stop and see what was going on.

Her horn was leading her, once again, past the boundaries of Ponyville and in the general direction of Fluttershy’s house. How odd if it turns out to be the same place, Twilight thought. That would be another connection between the two incidences.

However, instead of turning down the soft dirt road to her friend’s cottage, Twilight’s horn pointed her straight ahead, toward the dark, mysterious, spooky Everfree Forest.

After multiple visits to Zecora’s hut, Twilight had become much less scared of the forest, but with the fading sun behind it, the darkness seemed almost ominous. The path thinned, and Twilight had to slow down or risk falling headfirst into a patch of Poison Joke. She brought herself down into a steady trot, continuing to follow the strengthening magical energy thread.

The forest grew darker every moment, and it wasn’t long before Twilight had to light her horn. She was in a small clearing, full of exotic-looking plants and trailing vines. There was a small rock overhang on the far side of the clearing that looked to be just about the right size for a pony to sit under. But Twilight wasn’t focused on those things.

She was focused on the gaping hole that appeared to be floating in midair at the center of the clearing.

Taking a hesitant step forward, Twilight peered at the hole. Its interior was black, as if someone had painted a dark black dot into the sky. Its edges were tinged with pink, and it flickered softly, twinkling in the cool evening air.

Twilight walked around it, examining it from all angles. Now that she looked at it, it looked more like a disk of black paper somepony had levitated and forgotten to take down - or maybe a glossy, smooth shard of black stone. One edge seemed as if it had been stretched the tiniest bit, pulling the disk into an oval rather than a perfect circle.

The unicorn reached out, as if hypnotized, toward the edge of the hole. Her foreleg trembled. She licked her lips nervously, steeling herself, and then she touched it.

It was an otherworldly magic, the likes of which she had never seen before. Twilight gasped as she felt the odd vibrations ripple through her. There was something vaguely familiar about the energy coating the edges, but otherwise, she recognized nothing. “This proves it,” she whispered to herself, “This really, really proves it. Grojband really is from another world.”

She carefully stood on her back legs, holding onto the edge of the hole with both hooves, like it was a window ledge. She peered into the darkness, but couldn’t see anything; all she could hear was a faint, low humming, which seemed to emanate from the hole itself.

With no warning, her hoofhold twisted under her forelegs, spreading a little wider, and sending out a pulse of energy similar to the one she’d just gotten at the library. Twilight slipped, gasping sharply, then jerked back from the hole, gasping as her horn took in the spell and the edge of the hole turned the same dark pink as her magic.

Other than the chilly breeze ruffling her coat, nothing seemed to happen, so after retreating a few meters away from the hole, Twilight let herself relax.

And then tensed up again. The unicorn could hear a faint rustling coming from the bushes behind her, growing louder with every moment. The humming of the hole still ringing in her ears, Twilight turned around, hoping that Spike would be hiding in the bushes, popping out and saying “Gotcha!” even though she knew that it was an empty hope.

Instead, she found herself muzzle to muzzle with the one pony she hadn’texpected to see.

Chapter Seven: Magical Misdirection

“Oops…sorry about that,” Rainbow Dash shouted over the head-pounding music, wings flapping lightly. “I can be just the teeniest bit clumsy sometimes.”

Corey turned away from Vinyl Scratch just in time to see Laney’s mane disappear under a purple-soaked tablecloth. The punch table had fallen, and Rainbow Dash was hovering above it, a sheepish smile on her face. “I forgot to look where I was going. My bad.”

The table shuddered, and a corner of the tablecloth rose up, Laney’s head underneath it. Besides the gallon or so of punch that appeared to have drenched the poor mare's mane, she also had flecks of cake and globs of icing attached to her coat. “Ow,” she said, trying to rub her head with a hoof and failing. She had a scowl on her face, but Rainbow Dash, flying off to the apple-bobbing bucket, didn’t seem to notice.

Corey excused himself and trotted over to Laney. With a little effort, he nosed the table off of her back and, lifting a dry part of the tablecloth in his teeth, laid it over the wet spot on the floor. “You okay, Lanes?” he asked. “You don’t look so good.”

The little unicorn huffed, blowing a lock of red hair out of her eyes. “Geez, I can’t stand that pony. I kind of think she’s doing it on purpose.”

Corey rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding, Lanes? They threw a party for us. They’re not that bad.” He scraped a hunk of cake off his friend’s foreleg and popped it into his mouth. “And they make really good food.”

“You sound like Kin and Kon! Food isn’t everything, Corey,” Laney snapped. She brushed another frosting blob from her tail and shakily stood. “And neither is niceness. Something’s wrong here. I just know it.”

Corey took a step back. Laney almost never got angry like this. And when she did, it was always for a good reason...at least, as far as he could remember. It didn’t feel like the Ponyville ponies were out to get him, though. They actually were pretty cool. “Chill out and enjoy the party, Lanes, okay? I’m gonna go over and talk to Vinyl some more. Don’t get in any more trouble.”

“Easy for you to say.” Laney whipped around and stormed off in the direction of the kitchen, probably to get cleaned up. Corey sighed. There’s just no pleasing that girl…um, mare.

As he waded back through the cheerful crowd of ponies, Corey spotted Fluttershy sitting near the front door, her eyes hidden under her long pink mane. He changed directions and sat down next to her, folding his legs underneath his body. “What’s up?”

The timid pony jumped. “Oh! I’m sorry, Corey. You startled me.”

“That’s okay.” Corey raised a foreleg to adjust his beanie and felt his hoof bang against his protruding horn. “You just looked kind of lonely sitting over here.”

“No, not at all! I just don’t go to parties very often, unless my close friends are there. Parties can be very loud and, well, I don’t really like that sort of thing.”

Corey nodded. “Makes sense. You wouldn’t.”

The pegasus was silent for a minute, then peered out at Corey from under her mane. “Um…I’m sorry about what Rainbow Dash did to your friend just there. Did she apologize? I know she can forget sometimes and, well, I don’t think it would be a good idea if anypony got mad at anypony else.”

“It’s cool. Lanes wasn’t too happy, but she’ll get over it.” Corey grinned at Fluttershy, and she smiled shyly back.

As Corey turned back toward the action, he glanced down at the skull-shaped mark on his leg. It was made of colored fur, as if the hair there simply grew in a different color, and looked exactly like the skull on his beanie - though where the latter had once been, his horn poked out. What was the logic there? The unicorn nudged Fluttershy with his hoof. “Uh, Flutters?" he asked, indicating the mark. "What’s this supposed to be?”

Fluttershy looked, curious. “Oh, that’s your cutie mark. It tells you what your special talent is. I’m surprised no one’s told you yet.” She paused, then pointed at the skull with a wingtip. “Um, do you have any idea what that means?”

Corey looked at the mark again and made a note to check out his friends’ cutie marks too. “Well…I don’t really know. But one of my talents is playing the guitar. And I’m also the leader of my band back home - maybe the fact that it's our band's symbol means I'm a good leader?” He shrugged, then tilted his head to get a look at Fluttershy’s cutie mark. “I’m guessing your talent has something to do with animals?”

The yellow pony giggled. “Yes, it is! I told you all about what I do with the critters, didn’t I?" When Corey nodded, Fluttershy flicked her tail self-consciously, a tiny smile still quirking at the edges of her lips. "It's not a very flashy job. It's an important one, though. Equestrian vets mostly work with ponies' pets, but I take care of the animals in their natural habitats."

"I've always liked animals," Corey remarked. "They don't always like me, though."

Fluttershy grinned again, but as her eyes fell on Corey's cutie mark again, a guilty look crossed her face. "I guess I didn’t mention cutie marks earlier, then…I probably should have…they're pretty important...”

“Hey, no problem. It isn't like you're used to showing around strangers from alternate worlds,” Corey said.

Without any warning, a sharp pain pushed through his horn, along with a rush of cold wind. “Ow,” he muttered, blinking back tears. “Didn’t know I could feel anything with that.”

“Did something happen? Did I do something?” Fluttershy had risen to her hooves and was looking at Corey, concern and fear filling her eyes. “Do you need help?”

The orange unicorn squinted and looked around. Some of the other unicorns were shaking their heads repeatedly, but most had just gone back to partying. They’re probably used to that kind of thing happening, Corey thought. Downside of being an alien. “I’m all right,” he gasped. “Do you see Laney anywhere?”

Fluttershy craned her neck to search for the green pony. “No…wait! I think that’s her, in the kitchen,” the Pegasus said. “Come on.”

They weaved through the crowd of ponies, trying not to step on any tails, and slipped through the kitchen door. Laney had slumped to the floor, holding her head in her hooves and sobbing softly. “Lanes? Are you okay?”

"Is there anything I can do?" Fluttershy asked anxiously.

“Ow…my head…” Laney squeezed her eyes shut and let a single tear leak out. “What's going on, Core…”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, let it out, and promptly panicked. “Oh! Um, I…I think…" she gasped, eyes wide, "I think we should go talk to Twilight! She’ll know what to do. Um, let me take you to the library…I just have to tell Pinkie where we’re going...You two st-stay here…” She nervously opened and closed her wings a few times before dashing out of the kitchen.

Corey grabbed Laney’s hoof and pulled her up off the floor. “Come on, Lanes. We’re gonna be okay…I think.”

There was no one in the library.

Fluttershy had run to tell Pinkie Pie, but only Pinkie had come out of the bakery. When Corey asked what she was doing, the party pony would only tell him that Fluttershy had explained everything and that everypony else was coming, too. Not that that was a bad thing - in fact, the party was a little more subdued without Pinkie Pie, and Corey could have sworn that the decibel level went down a couple of notches. A few minutes later, Fluttershy brought the rest of Twilight’s friends out, along with Laney, Kin, and Kon, and the group had run all the way back to the Golden Oak. But when Applejack had knocked on the door, no one had answered.

“I told her it was okay if she left to look for a spell to help Spike,” Fluttershy squeaked in apology, her eyes cast down at the wooden floor. “I didn’t know she’d just disappear like that.”

“Do you think...it had s-something to do with the magical f-flare?” Rarity asked thickly. She was still finding it hard to relax after learning about Spike's disappearance; her forehead was furrowed in concern, and tear tracks matted the fur on her cheeks. “I f-felt another tingle in my horn at the party, but I thought it might just...be Vinyl moving the records.”

“You’re lucky you only felt a tingle,” Corey muttered. His horn was still throbbing a bit, as if the cold air was barely being kept off of him by a thin jacket. “Lanes and I were practically knocked out on the floor.”

“Probably comes with bein’ new to Equestria and stuff like that,” Applejack said, shuffling through the pile of books that littered the floor. “That’s why newborn foals have weird freaky power surges, ain’t it?”

“I b-believe so.” Rarity self-consciously twirled a few strands of her mane around her hoof. “I think I could follow...Twilight’s magical trail to wherever it is she went, if I can get a s-sample of it. Such a spell can’t be much h-harder than my signature gem-finding enchantments.” She picked up a well-worn book and held it near her horn, eyes closed in concentration.

Rainbow Dash flapped up into the air. “So let me get this straight,” the pegasus said, warily pointing a foreleg at Corey. “This morning, Grojband shows up in Fluttershy’s backyard. Then Spike disappears, and Twilight gets all messed up. Now Twilight’s missing." She threw up her hooves, and her eyes narrowed as she glared at Corey. "Does anypony else get the feeling that it might be their fault?”

“Um…well…now that you mention it…but…” Fluttershy whispered.

Laney growled a little bit from her seat in the corner of the room.

Pinkie smiled brightly, looking up from the coloring book she'd apparently found. “I don’t think they did it! Corey and Laney and Kin and Kon are the nicest ponies ever! It doesn’t matter that they came from a world with no magic and stood on two legs instead of four and wore clothes all the time and stole Corey’s sister’s diary to get lyrics for their band’s songs!”

Corey stared. “How did you know all that?”

“Know all what?” Pinkie asked, expertly balancing a crayon on her nose.

“Never mind.”

Rarity chose this moment to open her eyes. “I’ve got it! It’ll be tricky...but I should be able to p-pick up Twilight’s aura.”

“Thank goodness," Applejack said. The farmpony let out a huge sigh of relief, pulled her Stetson down more securely on her head, and galloped to the library's front door. "Come on, y'all. We’d better get going before she gets too far away.”

“Can I…stay here?”

Fluttershy cowered near a bookcase, but Kon patted her softly on the back. “She can’t have gone anywhere that bad," the grey Earth pony reassured her. "It’s not like she woke up a bunch of zombies with a magic amp!”

Laney, Corey, and Kin snickered. Pinkie Pie grinned at Kon. “I like you!”

“Come on, Fluttershy. We ain't got much time.” Applejack opened the library door, then galloped out. Rainbow Dash followed her on quickly flapping wings, shooting a suspicious glance at Laney and Corey as she left.

Once everyone else had departed, Corey reached down a foreleg and pulled Fluttershy to her feet. “You want to help Twilight, don’t you, Flutters?” he grunted as she stood on shaky hooves. “We can’t do this without you.”

The pale yellow pegasus trembled. “I-I think you could do it w-without…”

Laney’s head appeared around the door. “We’re waiting on you!”

“Flutters, Twilight’s in danger. We seriously have to go.”

“I…I…okay…”

And with that, the shy pony took a deep breath, flapped her wings softly, and disappeared through the door.

Corey immediately felt the difference when he started to run. His new body was more streamlined and powerful, and even sprinting was hardly an effort. Kin was right – running a human marathon would be no sweat as a pony.

Rarity was at the front of the pack, with Applejack close behind. The white unicorn’s mane whipped glamorously in the wind and her horn glowed with an intense blue light.

“We gettin’ any closer, Rarity?” Corey heard Applejack yell.

“Not…yet,” Rarity replied, concentrating on her magic.

The group ran through the streets, which were beginning to fill with ponies again as the party drew to a close. As they passed, Pinkie Pie and Kon shouted greetings to everyone, bouncing as they did.

“Hi, Vinyl! Your music at the party was great!”

“Ooh, your flowers are really pretty!”

“Keeping an eye on those crazy fillies, Big Mac?”

Corey was so focused on the feeling of the wind in his mane that he didn’t notice the ground shift from cobblestone to dirt. Before he knew it, the nine ponies were standing, panting lightly, outside of a thick line of trees. Fluttershy’s house was a short distance away, but Ponyville was nowhere to be seen.

Rarity didn’t stop running. Her horn was still leading her forward, into the forest’s thick undergrowth. “Well? Don’t just stand there!” she screeched, kicking crumbs of dusty dirt into the air. “Help me!”

Rainbow Dash was the first to act. She grabbed the unicorn’s tail with her teeth, pulling backward as hard as she could. Even with her strength, Rarity’s horn continued to yank the duo into the trees.

Applejack leaped forward, but too late – Rarity and Rainbow had disappeared into the forest.

“C’mon! After them!” The Earth pony reared, then charged after her friends. The others followed, and Corey pushed Fluttershy, who had fallen face-first into the dirt and was attempting to take root.

The forest definitely had a creepy-and-weird vibe. The trees grew crookedly, there was a thin mist distorting the edges of the path, and even though it was early evening, it seemed as dark as midnight. Corey felt a soft body brush his left side – Laney, her eyes shining in the blackness. He dropped Fluttershy’s tail and stood upright. “Um…”

Laney took a step away. “Oh, sorry, Core. I wasn’t thinking.”

Another furry mass bumped into Corey’s other side. “What’s going on?”

Thump. “What are we talking about?”

Kin and Kon had slammed into Corey too, not wanting to be left out of the fun.

WHAM.

“I love dog piles!” Pinkie Pie giggled.

Corey squirmed his way out from underneath his hyperactive friends, then dusted himself off. “Uh, it’s no biggie, Lanes. I wasn’t really thinking either.”

“Hush up!” Applejack hissed, a leaf-covered branch between her teeth. “There’s Rainbow and Rarity!”

The two were still being dragged across the forest floor, albeit much more slowly. Their coats were stained with clouds of dirt, and Rainbow had her hoof plastered over Rarity’s mouth, probably to keep her from screaming out loud. Suddenly, they slid to a stop between a clump of bushes.

Applejack cautiously stepped toward the bush, poking her head inside. Faint whispering noises came from inside, and then the farmpony popped her head back out. “She managed to stop the flow of magic, and just in time, too. Cone ‘n look at who’s out there.”

The ponies crowded into the bush, making as little noise as possible. When Corey peeked through the leaves, he saw the most majestic pony he’d seen today. She was tall, with white fur and a flowing, multi-colored mane. A golden crown was perched on top of her head; she had a horn, but she also had wings. Twilight Sparkle stood before her, hooves planted firmly into the ground, a black vortex swirling behind her.

“It’s Princess Celestia,” Applejack whispered.

“She looks grumpy!” Pinkie Pie said.

“Oh…m-my…” Fluttershy gulped.

Author's Note

Sorry it's been so long! I'll try to get more out as soon as I can, but I can't promise anything because of school, rehearsal, and other unfortunate circumstances.

Chapter Eight: Under Suspicion

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise as she took in the appearance of her beloved teacher. “Princess…is everything all right? How did you find me?”

“I did not come here to find you.” The alicorn took a step in Twilight’s direction. “I was tracing an influx of magic back to its source. This is the source.”

“Oh…wait! You’re saying you felt that…all the way in Canterlot?”

“Indeed.” Celestia pursed her lips. “Twilight…just finding you here is bad in the first place, but when you are already under suspicion…”

Twilight blinked, not quite sure she understood. “Under sus – Princess Celestia, are you suggesting that I made this…hole in the world…happen?”

“I got a letter from Spike not an hour ago,” the Princess said, conjuring a scroll out of thin air and unrolling it. “Read it.”

Twilight took the letter with her magic and began to scan the scribbled paragraph.

Princess Celestia,

I found Twilight the other night looking up Starswirl the Bearded’s mirror laws. She didn’t say why – just that she suddenly was interested in them. Then, this afternoon, she went to Fluttershy’s house. When I got to see her again, she had four ponies with her. I didn’t know them, and they seemed really strange. Then, at Pinkie Pie’s party for the new ponies this afternoon, she ran off. I don’t know where she went, but Rarity said she felt a funny tingling in her horn. I think something’s up with Twilight. I really need your help.

Signed,

Spike.

Twilight couldn’t breathe. Had Spike really been so suspicious to her involvement in the appearance of Grojband that he’d ask the ruler of Equestria for help? She felt her breaths starting to come faster and faster, tears starting to build up in her eyes. Was that the real reason that Spike had disappeared?

“Is your assistant right, Twilight? Did you do these things?”

Twilight hesitated. “The letter is very accurate, but –"

“Then you see why I have reasons to suspect you, my student. Reasons that even I can’t overlook at this point in time.” The alicorn’s voice hardened, but her eyes remained soft. “I must ask you to come with me.”

“Princess Celestia, you have to understand, I –”

“I don’t like this any more than you do, Twilight, but there will be time for questions and answers later. For now, you will be taken to Canterlot so that I can ask you about the circumstances leading to the creation of - well.” Princess Celestia glanced at the hole, still hovering in the center of the clearing. Twilight had never been able to read ponies easily, but she could have sworn there was a look of fear in the Princess's eyes.

The unicorn shook her head in confusion. “How have I done anything that compromises the peace of –”

“Twilight, I will not tolerate any more of this!” A pair of bushes rustled at the edge of the clearing as Celestia took a deep breath and composed herself. “There is no other way to know the truth about this matter, and if you have learned…secrets…you are not yet meant to learn, then I will do everything in my power to help you understand them. But if you do not come to Canterlot with me for questioning –”

“Hold it right there!”

A blast of rainbow-colored energy blazed into the clearing and planted itself in front of the small purple unicorn. “She’s not going anywhere, Princess!”

Celestia sighed grimly. “Rainbow Dash, I understand your feelings of loyalty, but –”

“Twilight’s not going anywhere where she’ll be locked up! I may be loyal to you and to Equestria, but I’m also loyal to my friends. And if the ruler of my land plans to put my friends in prison, then I’m gonna stand against her, whatever it takes!”

Applejack galloped out of a bush and stood with Rainbow. “Sorry about this, Princess, but Rainbow’s right. We aren’t gonna let anypony put Twilight in jail. There have been too many times when we all lost faith in her, only to be proven wrong when she saved us at the last minute. It’s time we trusted her a little more.”

“That’s as may be, but if she has nothing to hide, better to prove it where she cannot be disbelieved.”

The bushes twitched, but stopped before anypony could notice.

“Girls, I -” Twilight choked out, her head a mix of good and bad feelings, between Spike’s and the Princess’s betrayal of trust and her friends’ belief in her. She wished she’d remembered to write to the princess earlier, when everything could have been explained easily, but now it was too late. No matter what she said, with this much evidence there was only one logical route Celestia could take – taking custody of the prime suspect. Who just happened to be Twilight.

“If I must, I will bring you all to Canterlot. I don’t want it to come to that, but if my suspicions are correct…” The Princess closed her eyes, lost in a silent reverie. “At the very least, Equestria is in mortal danger.”

Twilight took a deep breath, prepared to submit to the Princess’s request. It was the simplest solution, and she really had nothing to hide, since she was planning to reveal the existence of Grojband anyway. But as she opened her mouth, Rainbow Dash flew up into Celestia’s face.

“Over our dead bodies.”

That one little phrase thickened the tension in the clearing until Twilight was sure it had frozen everypony to the ground. Applejack’s eyes flickered from alicorn to unicorn to pegasus; Rainbow Dash’s wings seemed to flap in slow motion. Twilight’s heart slammed out an ominous rhythm in her chest, her tongue glued to the roof of her mouth, somehow unable to take back Rainbow Dash’s claim. Oh, Rainbow Dash, you’ve done it now…

Celestia blinked at the unicorn, her expression unreadable. “Very well; I will offer a proposal. Twilight, you have one week to apprehend the true culprit of this incident and prove your own innocence. If you cannot…” The Princess turned away. “You will be brought to Canterlot and made to tell us anything you know about this incident. And I assure you, if it was your doing, you will be banished from Equestria, like those before you who have threatened our gentle peace.”

Twilight opened her mouth again, but Rainbow Dash had already answered. “Challenge accepted, Princess. Twilight will make it happen, even if she has to leave Equestria to do it!”

“I hope so, Rainbow Dash. If she cannot, the Elements of Harmony will be compromised, and Equestria will be without its greatest protection.” Celestia turned, glancing at Twilight over her shoulder. “Remember that harboring fugitives is, on its own, a punishable offense. Choose wisely, my most faithful student.” Then, bending her knees and unfurling her wings, the Princess leapt into the air and soared into the budding evening sky.

Twilight stared at her friend for a moment longer as the Princess’s form vanished into a patch of clouds. “R-Rainbow…”

“Aren’t you gonna thank me? I saved you from a quick one there. Can you imagine? Prison? If I were you I’d climb the walls! Thank goodness I was there to get you out of tr–”

“RAINBOW DASH!”

Rainbow stopped mid-sentence. Twilight’s eyes had narrowed, steaming with anger, and magic glowed at the end of her horn. “I was going to submit to the Princess. I didn’t have anything to hide. I was just going to tell her about Grojband in the first place. I would have been declared innocent.”

“But Twi…”

“And then you had to go and ruin everything! Now I’m in bigger trouble than I was before, and you’re all involved! You’ve just managed to make the problem worse!”

Applejack stepped forward. “Twilight, sugar, listen –”

“I know you thought you were doing the right thing, but –”

“Twilight!”

“It really didn’t help the situation at all –”

“Twilight Sparkle!”

Applejack’s hoof slammed straight into Twilight’s mouth. She took a deep breath. “Ah’m sorry about Rainbow’s impulsiveness. But you know that’s just how she is! She wasn’t tryin’ to do anythin’ but keep you safe. We all were.”

Rarity emerged from a bush, towing Pinkie, Fluttershy and Grojband with her. She put on a brave face, but Twilight could see that she was still shaken about Spike’s disappearance - there were long tear tracks indented in her white-furred cheeks. “What was so wrong about Rainbow’s actions? She simply stood up to the princess to keep you from incarceration!”

Twilight dislodged Applejacks’ hoof from between her lips. “Actually, the Princess was going to ask me about some mysterious circumstances regarding this hole in the fabric of Equestria.” The unicorn gestured at the black disc hanging behind her in the air. “I didn’t have anything to do with it, so it would have been no pressure to let her question me.”

“Actually, Twilight, did you hear what she said there at the end? About harboring fugitives being against the law?” Rainbow Dash pointed a foreleg at the confused members of Grojband, then flew over to the hole. “Technically, if they came outta that thing, they’re fugitives. You actually could end up in jail if we’re found with them.”

Twilight opened her mouth, but realized that she couldn’t come up with a retort for that. Rainbow was right; the Princess had said that, and Twilight and her friends could be in serious trouble if they were caught hiding four ponies from a mirror world. It was true that she knew the Princess personally, and that they were the Element Bearers, but that didn't really mean that they were qualified for special treatment. If Grojband posed a danger, what would that mean for Twilight and her friends?

“So, are you saying that we’re…illegal aliens?” Kin asked, grinning mischievously. When Twilight nodded, he slapped Laney a high-hoof. “Oh yeah!”

“Look, we’re really sorry, Twi,” Applejack said, patting the unicorn’s shoulder, “But Ah really think we should get to Fluttershy’s and talk this all over. Together. We’re goin’ ta back you all the way, y’hear?”

Twilight looked up at her friend through teary eyes. “Thanks, girls, for calling me out on my mistake and everything. I really would have screwed up there, huh.” She sniffed and, knees trembling, stood. She turned to Grojband. “Endangering Equestria is one of the worst things a pony can do, and if the princess thinks you’re really that dangerous, I think it’s safer if we keep you out of her hooves and get you home.”

Fluttershy set a steaming kettle and two sets of chipped ceramic cups on a tray. “Anypony want some tea?” she asked, carrying them into her tiny-but-cozy living room.

With a grateful smile to the yellow pegasus, Twilight poured out a stream of piping hot tea into one of the cups. “Thanks, Fluttershy,” she said, blowing on the tea to cool it off. “And thanks for letting Grojband and me stay in your house tonight.”

Fluttershy took her own cup of tea and sat with Twilight and Rarity on the sofa, trying her best not to nudge the unicorns off and onto the floor. “Really, it’s no trouble. It’s more secluded than the library or Sweet Apple Acres, and it’s closer to the…um, hole. In the forest.”

“Speaking of which...” Laney was pacing back and forth along the edge of the worn green carpet. “What are we gonna do about that? How will we get home before the week is up? And if we can’t, how will we figure out who actually brought us here?”

“I was going to ask that,” Corey asked, looking up from the voracious belly rub he was giving to an unusually complacent Angel Bunny.

Rainbow Dash stood up from her spot by the fireplace and looked Laney straight in the eye. “On the same note...Hypothetically, what if Princess Celestia is right?"

Twilight paused in her tea-sipping and, coughing, had to spit a few leaves back into her cup. "What do you mean?"

"You know." Rainbow flicked her tail nonchalantly, but the look on her face was completely serious. "What if they are dangerous – spies that are here to scope out the territory before they take over Equestria?”

Applejack stood. “Rainbow…”

“Excuse me," Laney butted in, "but that’s a complete and total lie. We didn’t ask to come here, we just showed up!"

“But you could be lying!" Rainbow retorted, her wings lifting slightly in anger. "We don’t know you well enough to know if you’re telling the truth or not!"

“Oh, is that so?” Laney snarled as she pushed her forehead against Rainbow’s, eyes blazing.

"Yeah, it is so!" snapped the pegasus, pushing back all the harder. Laney took a step back, surprised, then leaned in for another -

“Girls!”

The two mares separated, guilty looks on their faces, as they turned to Rarity. The snow-white unicorn nursed a teacup between her hooves, her white-furred cheeks still stained from crying and tail still disheveled from her trip through the Everfree Forest's undergrowth. “Now is not the time to be arguing. We have to work together if we want to keep everyone safe.”

Twilight stood, setting down her tea, and turned to her rainbow-maned friend. “She’s right, Rainbow. I don’t think Grojband is going to hurt Equestria -" Laney huffed pointedly at Rainbow Dash "- but something else from their world might. We have to send them home and close the hole so that nothing else dangerous can get through.”

Rainbow and Laney glared at each other, but exchanged a curt nod. "As long as they don't try to rip out our insides while nopony's looking."

"Spike's been lendin' you his comic book collection again, hasn't he, Rainbow?" Applejack asked, taking a slightly amused sip of tea.

At the mention of Spike, Rarity screwed up her eyes and burst into tears, leaning into Twilight for a rather messy hug. “Oh, Twilight…I just c-can’t stop thinking about p-poor Spikey-W-Wikey! I do hope he’s all right…”

Twilight patted her distraught friend on the back and allowed the mascara tracks to drip into her fur, even though she knew they'd be trouble to wash out afterwards. She was still having mixed feelings about Spike's letter - unsure if it was really his opinion, but unwilling to believe that he would want to hurt her - but that didn't mean she couldn't comfort Rarity. "Take a few deep breaths, Rarity. I'm sure he's all right...wherever he is."

Pinkie Pie looked up from the floor, where she sat across from Kon, playing continuous games of tic-tac-toe. “Don’t worry too much, Rarity! Spike always comes back. We’ll find him really soon!”

The unicorn sniffled, sending grateful glances at Twilight and the pink Earth pony.

Applejack set her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Ah think the first thing to do is to talk to someone who might know somethin’ about weird magic. Someone who might have some information we could use.”

“I couldn’t find anything that useful in the books at the library,” Kin said, adjusting his glasses. “And I looked through all of the books about mirror world theories and unusual magic.”

“Who do we know who could help us?” Fluttershy asked as she stirred a spoonful of sugar into her tea. Twilight thought for a moment, considering all the possibilities. Princess Celestia was out, and probably Luna by default. There wouldn’t be time to contact Cadance before the week was up. That left only one pony who could possibly be of assistance.

“Get some sleep, everypony,” Twilight said, trotting toward Corey and Laney and the still mysteriously calm Angel Bunny. “Tomorrow, we’re going to Zecora’s.”

Chapter Nine: Zecora

Corey fumbled at his muzzle, pushing away whatever was poking him in the face. There was a whisper of turning pages, and the murmur of people trying to stay quiet so others could sleep. He opened one eye fuzzily and saw a blurry pink blob staring at him.

“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!” the pink pony giggled, nudging Corey once again. “Good morning, sleepy head! Who’s ready for an early morning hike?”

A deep sigh, and more turning pages. “Pinkie, he’s out cold. Let him sleep for a little bit longer.”

“Oh, he looks so sweet, sleeping like that.” Fluttershy’s voice. “But are you sure we should wait any longer? It’s nearly ten o’clock.”

“Yeah. I’m ready to split. If you’d just let me leave earlier, I could have told Zecora everything by now –”

“Rainbow, darling, we really should go all together.”

“Corey?” Another hoof prodded the orange stallion in the back, its touch slightly softer. “Um…do you think you could wake up now, maybe? It’s getting kind of late and we really need to go…”

“Mmmgh.” Corey rolled over and clamped his forelegs over his ears.

“That’s that answered, then.” Corey determined that the soft ruffling of pages came from his right. “We’ll try again in a little bit.”

“Okay!” The pink blur faded out of Corey’s line of vision, the sounds faded just after the quiet snick of a closing door, and he drifted back into a dreary haze.

The next thing he knew, the door had slammed open and he was being slapped around with the brim of a hat.

“Up and at ‘em, Grojband. We’ve got a week, and if we don’t get some information from Zecora fast, we’ll all be in more trouble than a worm in an apple. Move it!” Applejack barked. She leaped over Corey and whacked at Kin. “Let’s go!”

“What the heck…?” Corey slowly sat up, rubbing his head. “Applejack, what was that for?”

The mare looked up from a drowsy Kon and glared at Corey. “Maybe th’ others are willin’ to let y’all sleep in, but Ah’m not. We’ve got less ‘n a week now, and Ah don’t think it’s worth it to waste too much time sleepin’. Now get a move on!”

Corey pulled himself to his feet and dusted his flank with his tail. “As if sleeping on the floor wasn’t bad enough…”

“Th’ others are waitin’ outside. Ah told them Ah’d knock some sense into you crazy colts as soon as Ah got here.” Applejack tugged at Kon’s mane. “Uh...would ya help me with this one?”

Between the two of them, they managed to at least stand Kon up, though he was still a bit wobbly. Kin had to be splashed with a bucket of water, but it worked well enough, and he’d run out the door to see what was going on as soon as he’d shook himself off. “Thanks,” Applejack panted, pushing her hat back on her head. “We’d best get out there now. Don’t want to miss anythin’.”

The others were talking in small groups when Corey stepped outside. Kin and Twilight were standing nearest the door, and when she saw Corey the mare grinned broadly. “So the great dragon finally comes out of his cave! Do human males always sleep this long in Peaceville?”

“When there’s no school, yeah,” Corey said, grinning back.

Twilight’s expression turned into one of confusion. “A stallion your age…still in school?”

"Wait...don't you...?" Corey asked. He'd assumed that it was summer vacation here, too. After all, the ponies didn't look that old. "I mean, you said the princess was your teacher, and..." Twilight's expression didn't change, and Corey decided to give up the subject. “Anyway, Applejack said that we’re going to Zecora’s?”

“Yeah, just a minute.” Twilight clapped her hooves together and waited for everyone else to fall silent. “Um, well, it seems that everyone’s awake, so we can get started.”

Pinkie Pie bounced around the backyard, humming a few catchy bars of a song. “What are we waiting for? We have a quest!” Leaping in between Corey and Laney, she wrapped her forelegs around their necks and whispered, “Operation Go-to-Zecora’s-so-she-can-give-us-information-to-send-Grojband-home-and-save-Twilight-from-going-to-jail is in…” she took a deep breath “…play!”

Laney blinked. “Um, that sounds like –”

“Sounds like what?” Pinkie asked, dancing off across Fluttershy's sun-drenched yard.

The forest wasn’t quite so dark in the daytime, although the fog that encircled the trees made it dimmer than a normal forest would have been. Applejack walked ahead again with Rainbow Dash just behind, following the well-worn path to wherever the zebra they were visiting lived. Kin, Rarity, Pinkie, and Kon followed them; Rarity was fitting earplugs into her ears while Pinkie led the other colts in a rousing rendition of Giggle at the Ghosties (which she’d assured Corey was of her own composition). The orange stallion came behind them, leaving Laney, Twilight, and Fluttershy to bring up the rear. Corey heard snippets of their conversation as he trotted along. He knew it wasn’t polite to eavesdrop, but he couldn’t help it. They were speaking a bit loudly, after all.

“No, I really don’t hang out with other girls back home. It’s kind of nice to have some girl time. The band is great and all, but sometimes guys just don’t understand.”

“I grew up with a brother, so I know what you’re talking about,” Twilight said. Corey could hear the laughter in her voice. “How did you become friends with Corey and Kin and Kon, anyway?”

“Well, I kind of was bullied as a kid, so I didn’t have many friends in the first place. One day these girls were really slamming me, and before I knew it, this dorky little kid in an orange hat came over to me and started telling them off. I didn't know him, and he didn't know me...but he stood up for me, and the rest is really history.” The green unicorn sighed, like she always did when she remembered something happy. “Sometimes I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t met him…I mean, them.”

“Oh, I don’t believe that. You’re so nice! Why would anypony want to bully you?” Fluttershy asked.

Laney hesitated. “People back home are not as nice as the ponies here. They can be really rude and mean. Actually, Core’s sister Trina is one of the most awful people I know.”

“Why? What’s she like?”

“Well, do you know anyone who is arrogant and stuck up and believes the world loves them no matter what?"

Twilight choked back another laugh. "Yes, actually."

"Trina's kind of like that. Ask Corey about it if you want more details. Anyway, after we’d been friends for a while, he asked me if I knew how to play any instruments. I didn’t really, but my dad had an old bass, and he’d taught me a few chords on it. Core said ‘It’s perfect!’ and we started playing.”

“That’s so interesting…I could never play an instrument. The animals might be afraid of it,” Fluttershy said.

Crack.

"Eep!”

“What was that?”

“Somepony stepped on a twig,” said Applejack as she turned around and picked up the broken stick. “And Ah think we all know who it was.”

Everypony looked at Rainbow Dash.

“What?" the pegasus said, incredulous. "I'm flying half the time! How did you know - I mean, why'd you think it was me?"

Everypony continued to stare. Applejack even rolled her eyes.

"Okay, fine, it was me,” Rainbow shrugged, tossing her multicolored mane.

The group ahead started walking again, and Laney let go of Fluttershy, surreptitiously smoothing down her own mane as she did. “See, Flutters? Nothing to be afraid of.”

“We’re almost there, anyway.” Applejack said, speaking over her shoulder at the others. "Let's get a move on. We ain't got all the time in the world."

“Thanks, Fluttershy. I have a reputation to keep,” Laney whispered.

“Oh, it was nothing. I was actually scared, anyway,” the yellow pony said softly.

“You were saying about the band?” Twilight prompted.

“Oh, yeah…well, we didn’t really get popular until we played at a talent show in the next town over. There was another band playing there, the Newmans, who were hoping to make it big, too, and they tried to sabotage our act, but we still managed to beat them. And hey, every good band should have a rival, shouldn’t it?”

Corey smiled to himself. He remembered the win – bright lights, the scowls of the Newmans as they received the small medals of second prize, the huge shiny trophy Grojband had won…the first fangirls they’d ever had…how angry Trina was…

“We do all sorts of crazy stuff, all in the name of music. You should have seen Corey’s face when we got asked to be a jug band. He’ll do almost anything for a good gig.”

“I wonder if Kin told Corey about any of the music books in the library?” Twilight mused. “I wish I could get some to you before you have to go.”

“We’re here!”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash had stopped before a large, gnarled tree. There were strange symbols carved all over it, and jugs of liquid and strings of beads hung about the branches. Corey figured that there would have been an almost spooky air about it, if not for the comforting glow that shone from the windows.

Pinkie Pie came to an abrupt halt, causing Kin and Kon to crash into her. “Oh! Oh! Remember that one time, when we came here, and I was all –” she stuck out her tongue and made a bleeeah noise. “And Twilight’s horn was all –” she flopped her hoof on her forehead, as if it was a horn. “And Zecora was an evil enchantress but actually not, and –”

“If my ears do not tell a lie, I hear the voice of Pinkie Pie!” A figure stepped into the open doorway of the tree house. She had a tall-cut mane, almost like a Mohawk, with gold bands wrapped around her neck and forelegs. Her eyes were slanted and foreign, and she was covered all over with a pattern of black and white stripes. “You have brought some friends, that much is true. These six I know, but who are you?”

Corey looked down at the hoof that pointed straight at his chest, then brought his eyes back to the zebra’s. “Do you always speak in rhymes?”

The zebra smiled. “I do indeed, it is my way. Now tell me all of your names, I pray.”

Twilight stepped forward. “Zecora, sorry about barging in on you like this, but we need your help. These are Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon. And – well, it’s a bit hard to explain. May we come inside?”

“Step into my home, and do not fear. Although you may not all fit in here.” Zecora ushered the ponies through the doorway and into the hollow tree.

There was a lot to look at. Brightly colored masks decorated the walls, and more jugs and bundles of herbs swung gently from the ceiling. Shelves stood at rakish angles, a dreamcatcher hung from the door, and a large cauldron bubbled in the center of the room. Twilight sat facing the cauldron, and everyone else followed suit, until they’d made a large ring around it. There was plenty of room; the tree was bigger than it looked.

“I apologize, but if I may? I have something important to say. Twilight Sparkle, have I heard right that the Princess was in the forest last night?” Zecora said, closing the door gently behind her.

Corey stared. Twilight dug a hoof into the dirt floor. “How did you know?”

“The whispers of trees and the winds tell all. Now, this argument. Was it something small?” The zebra sat next to the purple unicorn, her eyes full of concern.

“Zecora…” Twilight said, fumbling with her words. “I’m not exactly sure how to tell you this, but Grojband…aren’t from Equestria. They’re from a mirror world.”

“Ah.” Zecora watched the steam rise from the soup in the cauldron in convoluted twists and turns. “So she has knowledge of this Grojband, that they are not from this land?”

“Wait, wait, hold on just a minute. Why are you so calm? Like it’s totally natural that there are four ponies from an alternate world in your house?” Rainbow Dash asked, her expression skeptical. Corey had just been thinking the same thing. The six other ponies in the room had freaked out when they learned where Grojband came from, but not this zebra. What was so different about her?

The zebra gave a small smile to the Pegasus. “In my native land, it is not so rare for ponies to visit from we know not where.”

Twilight's ears perked up. "Oh, Zecora, really? Wow! If today's magic scholars knew about this...How does it work? What kind of magic is involved? How -"

"Now is not the time to share my tale. We must hear of the task at hoof without fail," Zecora said. Her tone was gentle, but even Corey could tell that there was something of Zecora's past that she didn't want to think about.

“Anyway, Zecora, Princess Celestia doesn’t really know about the band exactly. She just knows about the hole that we think brought them here,” Twilight said. “It’s somewhere in the forest, maybe fifteen minutes from here. And she thinks I made it, which is bad for all of us, added to the fact that we’re possibly harboring dangerous fugitives –”

Corey got to his hooves. “What we’re trying to say is, we need to get home and put a stop to all this trouble. Can you help us?”

Everypony looked at Zecora expectantly, but the zebra wouldn’t meet the orange stallion’s eyes. Pulling out a cloth pouch, she dropped a pinch of fine green powder into the cauldron before she answered.

“I am sorry, but I fear there’s nothing that I can do here,” she said softly.

“What?” Applejack’s face fell as she stared at Zecora. “What about all th’ magic you’ve helped us with in the past? We couldn’t have gotten rid of that poison joke without yer help!”

“Or the cutie pox,” Rarity put in.

“Zecora, we wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t something we really needed. Not only would we be in trouble if Grojband were found in Equestria, so would they. And it’s unfair to put them through that,” Twilight said pleadingly. “If there’s absolutely anything at all…?”

The zebra took a deep breath, then let it out. “There is little I can do. In this land, I cannot help you. But…" She paused, and Corey could practically taste the reluctance in her voice. "In my homeland there may be a way to get you home and make sure you stay.”

“Um, are you suggesting that we leave Equestria? Because I wasn’t really serious when I said that yesterday,” Rainbow began.

“I know you did not create the rip, but to fix it we must take this trip. Although it is against my heart, I will also do my part. Who will go and who will stay? Choose wisely, for I see no other way.” Zecora’s eyes flashed as she surveyed the group that huddled around her pot.

At first everyone was silent. The awkwardness in the room like it was an entity in itself. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared at the ceiling, while Fluttershy hid behind her curtain of a mane. Corey’s insides were chilled to the bone, but he knew what had to be done. He cleared his throat. “Well, we have to go, so it’s really only a question of who’s coming with us.”

“It was practically decided already,” Laney said, grinning at Corey. It was good to see Laney happy again. Normally a new experience would make her uncomfortable for days.

Twilight smiled. “I’ve never been outside of Equestria, but if it helps you get back to Peaceville, I’ll come. It’s sort of my responsibility anyway.” She dragged her hoof in the dirt again, drawing a star shape with quick, strong contours.

“We might as well all go. I don’t see the harm in closing the shop for a few days,” Rarity said, “although I’m still worried about Spike. He’s our next priority, I expect.”

“Ah think Big Mac and Caramel can handle the farm without me for a little while,” Applejack agreed.

“And so can the Cakeses!” Pinkie squealed. “Although they’ll have to find a foalsitter for Tuesday since I’ll be off on a magical quest! Ooh, that sounds so exciting!”

“I…I…okay,” Fluttershy mumbled, still hiding behind her hair, though Corey saw a bright eye blink at him through the pink strands.

“And what about you, Miss Rainbow Dash? Will you follow the path or burn and crash?”

Rainbow snorted, her wings ruffling on her back as she shot the band another suspicious glare. “I’m still not sure I trust these ponies. But I’ll go. For my friends.” She stood and trotted over to Twilight giving her a hug with one wing. “I’d never leave you guys hanging. Or let you go on an adventure without me!”

“It’s settled then,” Twilight said, standing abruptly and walking to the door. “We’d better run back to Ponyville and get our things. We’ll have to leave right away.”

“We’ll be back in about an hour, Zecora.” Applejack pushed the door open and began to usher everypony out. “Everypony, just get what ya need from yer houses. Ah’m sure the Apple family can spare a few blankets and saddlebags for y'all. C'mon, Kin, Kon.”

“Thank you, Applejack!" Rarity said. “Why don't you come with me, Elaine – er, Laney? I’m sure some of my old things can be altered to fit you."

“Can I go with Fluttershy?” Corey said quickly before anyone could claim him. Maybe I can make her feel better about this whole thing, he thought.

“Sure…come on, Corey,” the Pegasus said, galloping after the others. Corey followed her, head spinning with nervousness and excitement. Maybe, when he got home, he could somehow write a song about all this. It would be crazier than the one they’d gotten out of Trina’s dream.

Chapter Ten: Here We Come

CHAPTER TEN: Here We Come

Twilight scooped up a hairbrush, a quill, and a few blank scrolls that she’d found lying on the floor of the library. Coming back into it had made Spike’s disappearance hit her like a ton of bricks. Again. He’d always managed to keep the place so neat, and now…the unicorn blinked back a few more tears, trying to stay calm. Spike, if you’re still there, and that letter is somehow a mix-up, I’m coming for you as soon as I can.

A few seconds later, Twilight was headed back in the direction of Zecora’s house, anxious to talk to the zebra in private. She’d seemed almost reluctant to mention the place she had grown up, as if there were things she didn’t want to remember. Twilight didn’t mean to pry, but she had a feeling some background on zebra territory would be useful. After all, not too much was known about the lands outside Equestria – not to the average Equestrian citizen, anyway. Even as Princess Celestia’s star student, Twilight only had limited knowledge of the exotic places beyond the border.

Princess Celestia. Twilight couldn’t pretend that sending Grojband home was a way to permanently solve her problems. She could still get in trouble for keeping them a secret from the princess; they would be all right, but Twilight might not. And there was still a threat out there, one that had the magic required to open portals to other worlds. But it’s a temporary solution, one that makes sure our new friends are safe. And that’s the important thing.

She galloped past Fluttershy’s house, did a double take, and skidded to a stop, taking in the scene. Three small figures had approached the Pegasus’ door and were knocking determinedly: “Hello? Fluttershy? Are ya home?”

Twilight facehoofed. Of all the days the fillies had to show up… Sighing, she turned and trotted up the path to the front door of the cottage just as it opened, almost causing Scootaloo to fall face-first on the welcome mat.

“Oh, hello girls. I certainly didn’t expect to see you today,” Fluttershy said. She had a few crumbs of birdseed in her mane and seemed a bit hassled.

Twilight trotted up before any of the fillies could say a word. “What’s going on here?”

“Oh, hi Twilight! We were just going to ask –” began Sweetie Belle.

“– if Fluttershy would lend us a basket –”

“– to do some herb collectin’ fer Zecora today,” Apple Bloom finished, brandishing some broken pieces of fiber. “Ours broke.”

“We tried basket weaving yesterday,” Sweetie Belle added.

“Oh, I have just the thing. Excuse me,” Fluttershy said, trotting away from the door.

“Actually, Fluttershy, Zecora’s a bit busy today,” Twilight supplied, dragging the Pegasus back to the door with her magic. “I was up there just now and she said that she’s going on a trip for about a week and won’t be back until next Friday.”

“What? Oh, yes,” Fluttershy said, prompted by Twilight’s vigorous nodding. “That’s right. Sorry, girls, but maybe you could try again when she comes back.”

“Awwwww,” the fillies chorused.

“What if we were gonna actually get our cutie marks this time? We’ll never know!” Scootaloo pouted. She was still wearing her helmet, and her ever-present scooter was propped up against the cottage wall.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Twilight said. “Why don’t you try your hoof at…” She grasped for a suggestion. “…playing musical instruments! I’m sure that with some practice you’d make a great band.”

Apple Bloom gasped. “That’s a great idea, Twilight!”

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ROCK BAND! YAY!” the fillies cheered.

“Well –”

“Did I hear someone say rock band?”

Corey appeared behind Fluttershy, his mane messy from all the running he’d done. “What are we talking about?”

“Oh, nothing,” Twilight said, mentally facehoofing for what felt like the fifth time today. “Cutie Mark Crusaders, I think you’ve met Corey Riffin?”

“Not necessarily.” Scootaloo said.

“But we know who he is,” said Sweetie Belle, giggling.

Twilight looked over her shoulder. Farther down the path, she could see the bouncing form of Pinkie Pie, accompanied by Rarity and Laney. They’ll be here any minute, she thought. Maybe they can convince the Crusaders to get out of our manes.

“We saw you with that mare yesterday,” Scootaloo blurted out, pointing a forehoof at the small group headed in their direction. “You were fighting.”

“Um…were we?” Corey said, cocking his head quizzically. He peered at the ponies until he recognized Laney, then nodded. “Oh, yeah. That happens sometimes.”

“Ah think you like her,” Apple Bloom said, snorting.

“I what?” Corey sputtered, his eyes growing as wide as dinner plates.

“Ha-ha! We got him! We got him! She’s his special somepony, he’s her special somepony,” Sweetie Belle cheered, jumping up and down. The fillies burst out into another peal of giggles; Scootaloo leapt onto her scooter while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle climbed into the wagon attached to it. As they buzzed off past Pinkie, Laney, and Rarity, laughter still echoing from their disappearing forms, Corey yelled after them.

“She’s not, though! We’re just friends!”

“Who’s just friends? Who were those ponies? What’s going on?” Laney asked, trotting up the path to the front door.

“Oh, nothing,” Corey said, the skin on the back of his neck turning a soft red. Twilight smiled when she saw it, but didn’t say anything. If he hadn’t told his unicorn friend yet, better to wait.

“My sister and her friends can be a bit reckless,” Rarity mused. “I assume they simply said something odd to Corey and he didn’t know how to reply.”

The stallion dipped his head gratefully. “Yeah, that’s it. Those girls are crazy. What did they call themselves again?”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Fluttershy explained. “They go around and try to find their special talents. They aren’t always very safe about it, either.”

Corey shrugged. “Herb collecting doesn’t sound too dangerous.”

“There’s a cutie mark for herb collecting?” Laney scoffed.

“You wouldn’t believe half the cutie marks ponies have,” Rainbow Dash said, dropping out of the sky. “We about ready to go?”

“Nope!” Pinkie beamed. “We’re still waiting on Applejack, Kin, and Kon! But they should be here any minute now!”

Sure enough, the Earth ponies galloped up moments later, toting a large number of full saddlebags. Kin had managed two, handing one to Corey. Applejack had been able to carry three, but Kon had five slung over his wide back.

“How were you able to do that, Kon? Six saddlebags is a lot to carry, even for Big Macintosh,” Fluttershy asked, picking up a bag emblazoned with green apples.

Kon shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard. I’m big.”

“Ah told him Ah’d carry most of ‘em, but he insisted,” Applejack said, letting her luggage fall to the ground. “Take one. Fresh cider in there for everypony.”

“Cider? YES!” Rainbow Dash dove headfirst into her bag and pulled out a slim bottle of amber liquid. “Applejack, you’re amazing!”

Laney sized up her yellow saddlebags. “How do we put these on?”

“Oh, that’s easy. Just get yer head in like this –” Applejack poked her muzzle underneath the straps of her own bag and flipped it onto her back. “– and then ya just kinda fling it on. It comes natural after a while.”

“Here, I’ll help you.” Fluttershy picked up the saddlebag and placed it on Laney’s back, tightening a loose strap under her belly.

Twilight checked the road, making sure nopony else was on their way to Zecora’s for a potion or bag of tea leaves. “Did you all tell ponies that we were going somewhere? I don’t want anypony to freak out because we’re suddenly gone.”

“Ah did,” Applejack said. “Big Mac and Caramel are goin’ to handle the North Field prunin’ without me. But it’s not a hard job. They’re gonna be fine.”

“The weather team is good for a little bit,” Rainbow agreed.

“Angel is going to watch the house,” Fluttershy said, “but I was worried that he’ll just keep all the food for himself, so I had Hummingway take a note to Lyra and Bon Bon. They’re going to keep an eye on Angel.”

Rarity rummaged through her saddlebags, probably checking to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. At least she hadn’t brought a huge pile of suitcases like she usually would, Twilight thought. “I simply closed up the shop until further notice.”

“And the Cakeses didn’t mind, as long as I baked extra cupcakes for the time I’d be gone!” Pinkie said. “And I did!”

“Good. I made sure to lock up the library, so we’re all set.” Twilight levitated her necessities into the saddlebag Applejack had provided and then placed the bags onto her back. “Zecora’s probably waiting for us. We need to hurry.”

“Twilight, we can’t forget our time limit, either.” Rarity cautioned, laying a hoof on the purple mare’s shoulder. “As of this morning, we have a week to get Grojband home. Then you’re free to answer Celestia’s questions without their being in danger.”

“Yep.” Twilight closed Fluttershy’s front door and stepped forward. “As long as they’re safe, I can freely take any punishment the princess might give me for harboring them.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get a moooove on!” Pinkie sang, a burst of confetti and balloons exploding from her saddlebags.

“I’m going to guess that that’s pretty normal for her,” Kin said, scratching his head.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “And you’d be right. Let’s go.”

Zecora was indeed waiting for them outside her house. She didn’t have saddlebags, but an intricately carved wagon filled with bundles of ingredients and supplies. A trio of circular charms hung from the spokes of one wheel, jingling in the forest breeze, and a thin, patterned cloth was folded over the front. Twilight suspected that all were from the land that the zebra once called home.

“I hope you’re ready to travel far. My home is miles from where we are,” Zecora said, placing a final jar into the cart. “But Equestrian ponies are hardy and strong. Perhaps the trip will not seem so long.”

“Zecora, we can’t thank you enough,” Twilight said gratefully. “This really means a lot.”

“Especially for us,” Kon piped up.

“If Twilight will protect strangers with her life, I am willing to go through some strife,” Zecora said, smiling grimly. She still seemed anxious, but since Twilight had gotten held up at Fluttershy’s, there was no way she would be able to catch Zecora alone for quite a while. Maybe she’ll choose to tell us without anypony asking her, the unicorn thought.

“So which way are we headed?” Rainbow Dash asked, flicking her tail back and forth excitedly. “North? East? West? South?”

“I have not been home in many years. My first journey brought much sweat and tears,” Zecora said. “But I did not have a place to go. Now, with my bearings, I think I know.” She closed her eyes and breathed in the air, spicy and thick with the smell of past potions, then extended her hoof towards the south. “This is the path that we must take. Of that there can be no mistake.”

Twilight pulled a map out of her saddlebags. “In the direction of Appleloosa or more towards Las Pegasus? Because I have a feeling that settler territory –”

“It’s not past Appleloosa, Twi,” Applejack said, chuckling. “Trust me.”

“Las…Pegasus? Are you serious?” Laney said. She shared a look with Corey, and the two burst out laughing.

“I have a feeling that there’s a story behind that,” Rarity guessed.

“We have no more time to waste. If you have but a week, we must make haste!” Zecora interrupted, taking a few steps forward.

Twilight shoved her map unceremoniously back into her bag. “Zecora’s right,” she said. “We need to get a move on.”

“So…to Las Pegasus?” Fluttershy whispered.

“To Las Pegasus,” Twilight confirmed. She was almost as scared as Fluttershy was. For Spike, for Grojband, and even for herself. She just hoped that everypony would make it back home before it was too late.

Author's Note

Sorry it's been so long! I'm going to edit and post multiple chapters today, though, to try and make up for it!

Chapter Eleven: On The Road

CHAPTER ELEVEN: On The Road

“All aboard!”

The whistle screeched, then the train let out a puff of smoke and began to roll off down the track. Corey watched it go. It had been an interesting two days, but he’d been glad to leave the Friendship Express. For one thing, what kind of a name was the Friendship Express? And for another, he’d barely seen Laney during the entire trip.

Sure, he knew she was starved for girl time. Peaceville girls barely talked about anything but their favorite bands, boys, their clothes and hair, and stupid movies made by stupid movie stars like Cherry Grapestain. But Laney was his best friend! He missed her.

Could it be he was jealous?

Corey shook the thought off. Kon was waving him over to join the group, and he didn’t want to miss a single thing.

As he approached, Twilight unfurled another giant map, this one of the city of Las Pegasus. “So we’re here…at the train station,” she said, pointing with a hoof at a small red square at the edge of the scroll. “And Zecora says the best town exit for our purposes is…here.” She moved her hoof to a shiny-looking image of a fence.

“The Golden Gate! Oh, Zecora, don’t tell me we’re going through Applewood!” Rarity gushed, her eyes growing wide. “It’s another town with a night life! Why, before I wanted to be a dressmaker, I wanted to be a movie star! All the great theaters and films in Equestria are made here…”

“Almost as good as Bridleway,” Twilight agreed.

“The biggest, bestest performance district in the whole wide world!” Pinkie crowed, doing an incredible twirl that would have left Corey dizzy for a month.

“Zecora, can we have some time to explore the city before we leave? Please please pleeeease?” The white unicorn leapt forward and grabbed Zecora’s forelegs, staring up at her like a starving child. Zecora smiled, but gestured to Grojband.

“Miss Rarity, that all depends. Can you do that and still help your friends?”

Rarity groaned, but got up, carefully dusting herself off. “Well, I suppose when you put it that way…”

The ponies wound through the narrow streets, following Twilight, who had the map, and Zecora, who seemed to know the city very well. Corey walked with Kin and Kon, who stared in awe at every building they passed, albeit for very different reasons.

“Wow! Look at the structure of that one! It’s a feat of technological genius! And they don’t even have hands…” Kin marveled.

“I wonder if that one’s a restaurant,” Kon wondered.

Corey flung a foreleg over his large friend's back. “I feel you, bro. We haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

“Thirty minutes ago,” Laney called from in front of them.

“I know!” Kon yelled back. “It’s torture!”

Rainbow Dash, who’d been walking with Applejack and Fluttershy, flew back to where Corey, Kin, and Kon were. “I need to keep an eye on you,” she said, landing and giving Corey a suspicious glance. “Can’t have any of you aliens sneaking off to tell the mothership, now can we?”

“Someone’s been reading too many comic books,” Corey whispered to the short Earth pony next to him.

“Not necessarily,” Kin whispered back. “We’ve dealt with aliens before and they were pretty hostile.”

“True.”

“IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS?”

Rarity had suddenly made a huge bid for freedom, and Fluttershy, Zecora, and Laney were holding her by the tail. “Don’t…even think…about it!” the yellow Pegasus squeaked.

“It’s Gentle Forest, the MOST up-and-coming female star in Applewood! You wouldn’t let me pass up my one chance to meet her!” Rarity pleaded. “Careful with my tail!”

“We’ve got more important things to worry about right now!” Applejack grabbed Rarity’s head, swiveling it toward Grojband. “Eye on the prize, sugar cube.”

Rarity stopped struggling, and gulped as her eyes met Corey’s. “Eye on the prize.”

For some reason, Corey felt extremely tingly, right down to his hooves. He cocked his head, smiling at the white mare. No one moved, for another awkward second.

Then Laney appeared on Corey’s right and pushed him out of Rarity’s gaze with her head. “Awesome! Why don’t we keep walking that way? Looks good to me,” the little unicorn said cheerfully. Well – not exactly cheerfully; Corey could almost hear a touch of malice underneath the wide smile spread over Lanes’s face.

But it didn’t matter, because a moment later it was gone, and they were off down the pony-filled street again. Through Applewood, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash practically had to tie Rarity up and drag her along behind them so she wouldn’t run off into the winding maze of streets and theaters, which were tempting Corey himself. I wonder what it’d be like to get a gig at a place like this, he wondered as they passed a blindingly lit marquee advertising NOW HIRING: EXTRAS NEEDED FOR SUNSET, MOONRISE!

Thinking of gigs made him think of Peaceville, and he let out an unconscious sigh. Sure, he liked Equestria, but he was feeling a little homesick, too. He turned to Laney, who was still trotting at his side, and blurted, “Lanes, how do you think Kate and Allie are doing?”

Laney blinked at her friend, confused. “Kate and…”

“Kate and Allie. Our adorable groupies? How do you think they’re doing? They’ve gone concertless for about three days now.” Corey shook his head. “And what about Trina and Mina and Nick? They’re still somewhere in Equestria! Once we figure out how these zebras can help us, we should talk to Twilight about looking for them, too.”

Laney scoffed. "Trina. One of the nice things about this place is that we haven't had her bothering us every twenty minutes."

"True," Corey said, pulling his friend back until they were out of the group's earshot. "But if we're ever gonna get home, what will we do if she's not around? Think about it - no more lyrics for anything, ever."

The little mare gasped. "You're right! I hadn't thought of that."

"And if Nick's not around, what can we bother her for lyrics about? Face it, Lanes, they're just as important to the band as we are, in a really weird way."

"I guess you have a point," Laney conceded.

Corey didn't want to explain to Laney, but he'd always had mixed feeling about his sister. Even though he annoyed her - a lot - and even though she was usually a huge jerk to him and his friends, Corey had a hard time hating her. She was family, darnit, and somewhere under her stupid image, the old version of her that had played with him when they were kids was still there.

He was also kind of worried that all the nice ponies would drive her even further off the edge.

He hadn't noticed how lost in thought he was until Laney shook his shoulder with the force of a max-volume amp. "Corey! Earth to frontman!"

“You two! C’mon!”

Both band members started and looked ahead, where the group had wandered ever farther ahead - except for Applejack, who was waiting by a streetlight for the pair of unicorns. “Some ponies are gonna start to wonder what in th’ hay you’re doin’. Now let’s get a move on.”

The sun was only halfway across the sky when the band of friends made it to the Golden Gate. Corey had to squint to look at it through all the glitz and sparkles; even the buildings surrounding the Gate were draped attractively in shimmering gold leaf.

“This is where all the really famous stars live,” Rarity said excitedly. “I bet one of these mansions belongs to Gentle Forest!”

“Oh, Rarity, I wish we could stay for you! Maybe on the way back?” Fluttershy fiddled with a strap on her saddlebag.

The unicorn swooned. “You’re telling me! I could book so many fashion orders with all of the…celebrities…”

“This is really not the best time to lose focus,” Twilight said, though Corey could tell she was amused by Rarity's dramatic display. “Once we get out of the city, we’re going to have to make good time if we’re going to get out of Equestria tonight. I don’t expect we’ll make a stop to sleep until we get there.”

“WHAT?” Rainbow Dash, Kin, and Kon all exclaimed at the same time.

“I am risking my life to take you to my home. Do you wish to turn back? We don’t have to take this road,” Zecora said, calmly looking at the ponies before her.

“We can’t turn back now! We have to get home!” Laney said stonily, with a glare in Kin and Kon's direction.

“Yeah, and we’re a few days behind as it is. If we don’t hurry up, our week’ll be over quicker ‘n a seed to weeds, and Twilight’ll be in even more unnecessary trouble!” Applejack said, brushing cobblestone dust off the brim of her Stetson. “Ah don’t know about y’all, but Ah’m stickin’ with Twi and the band.”

“Me too!” Pinkie sang joyfully.

Fluttershy nodded her head. “We owe it to them.”

Corey smiled at the show of the support from his new friends, feeling his chest swell with pride. “Well, what are we waiting for?" he exclaimed, breaking into a run. "We have a zebra tribe to find!”

The dusty San Palomino desert slowly segued into the drier and more cracked Samarea. Corey couldn’t believe how large the arid landscapes were, going on for miles and miles before small oases interrupted the terrain. Sometimes there were cacti, but they weren’t plentiful. Applejack said there were more of them across the Macintosh Hills. “Lots of Apple Family out there,” she remarked to Corey. “’Specially in Appleloosa.”

The sun was sinking fast, and soon it would be dark, but Twilight was determined to keep the group going. “It’s going to get cold, so I hope you all brought something to help stay warm,” she said during their latest water break, yanking a thick woolen scarf out of her saddlebag.

“Silly Twilight! It’s the desert. It’s always warm!” Pinkie giggled, rolling in the sand.

“Actually, the desert gets freezing during the night,” Rainbow Dash said, flapping imperiously into the air. “In ‘Daring Do and the Search for the Raven’s Eye,’ Daring has to spend weeks in the desert excavating the ancient Egyponian tombs, and has to bundle up at night because temperatures drop below zero.”

“Wow,” Fluttershy said to Laney, in awe. “I never would have guessed.”

“You’re all lucky I brought so many scarves, then.” Rarity produced a number of brightly patterned fabrics out of her bags. “Take one! I designed the majority of these myself. Sorry, boys, they’re not the most masculine, but I suppose the point is to keep warm.”

Corey chose a soft scarf striped in blue and green and tied it around his neck. “Eh, they’re not that bad.” He picked through the pile until he'd found one with exceptionally fluffy tassels and trotted over to Zecora. “Need one?”

“Thank you for your generosity, but I have brought my own, you see?” Zecora showed him the thin swatches of cloth she had brought from her home, one of which she wrapped around her head. “It helps when traveling in the night, and keeps out sand and scorpion bites.”

“S-scorpions?” Laney jumped, dancing about on her hooves. It seemed like she was too scared to touch the ground. “Ack! Those hurt!”

“She should know,” Corey remarked, turning to Kin and Kon. “Remember when I still had Tex and Ralph? And Laney –”

“– reached into the tank and tried to hold Ralph,” Kin continued.

“And she got stung in the face!” Kon finished.

“I had to wear a patch for three weeks,” Laney said nervously, still skipping over the sand. “All because Core dared me to touch one of his pet scorpions.”

“Hey, you took the dare,” Corey laughed, pulling the fluffy scarf over his ears.

“I think the best thing to do out here in the desert is to take buddies, so that if we get lost, we don’t get lost alone,” Twilight said thickly. She had two scarves and one of Zecora’s patterned fabrics covering her muzzle. “There’s going to be one odd-numbered group, but that’s okay. Who wants to pair up?”

Rainbow Dash stuck her hoof up high in the air. “A Ponyville pony needs to be with each member of Grojband,” she announced, voice muffled behind a red scarf, “so they can’t run off or anything. I still think they could be dangerous.”

“Ah don’t think they’re goin’ to run off anywhere, but that’s still a good idea, since they ain’t Equestrian in th’ first place,” said Applejack as she placed her hat back on over an appropriately apple-embroidered headwrap.

“So why don’t you go with Kon, Pinkie Pie?” Twilight suggested. “You two seem to be close friends anyway.”

“You can say that again!” Pinkie cheered, wrapping a huge hug around the robust Earth pony.

“I’ll go with Fluttershy,” Laney volunteered.

“And I with Corey. I have some questions I want to ask him about his hometown,” Rarity said, ignoring the evil-eye death glare Laney threw her way.

“Perfect! I’ll go with Kin, and Zecora can walk with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. That way we’re all accounted for.” Twilight blinked. “Uh, is that okay with everypony?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Corey looked at Laney, Kin, and Kon, who nodded their agreement. “We’d better hurry.”

“This time of year, the camp is past the desert’s edge. We must run fast,” Zecora warned.

“That ain’t gonna be a problem, if we keep our heads turned toward the goal.” Applejack looked pointedly at Rarity between her scarves, then pointed a forehoof towards the stars that had begun to twinkle in the southern sky. “Zecora, is there anythin’ we can keep an eye out for? So we know when we’re gettin’ close?”

“Watch for flickering campfire light. The tribe will be celebrating on this night.”

“What will they be celebrating exactly?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Tonight is the eve of the Spirit Dance, a coming of age ritual trance,” the zebra explained, re-hitching herself to her wagon. “Young zebras perform a dance for all, then receive their cutie marks, big and small.”

“And that’s different than what happens in Equestria,” Corey guessed. He could already feel the chill from the evening air through his exposed fur, and was glad Rarity had broken out the scarves.

“We should not be lingering here. Our water is low and the night is near,” Zecora said, nodding to Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “We will go ahead to prepare the way. Follow our tracks and do not stray!”

As groups repacked their saddlebags and began trailing after the wagon in twos, Rarity walked up to Corey and tugged the fluffy scarf over his beanie with her magic. He felt her breath on his shoulder as she tied the tassels firmly together. “We have a lot to talk about, darling,” she said, smiling widely. “Tell me more about this Peaceville place.”

Trixie concentrated, letting a thin stream of magical energy slip out of her horn and collect on the pebble in front of her. She then levitated it to eye level, held it for a moment, and set it gently back down on the forest floor.

“Now you try. More power this time.”

The pink unicorn, Trina, closed her eyes, but almost immediately opened them again. “Ugh! This is so hard. I don’t think I can do it.”

“You aren’t trying!” Trixie stamped her hoof, leaving a circular imprint in the mist-dampened dirt. “Trixie has been showing you this simple spell for hours and you haven’t gotten the pebble in the air once! If you don’t work your heart out, it will never happen. Understand?”

Mina, who was watching from the side of the clearing, nodded vigorously. “You can do it, Trina!” she shouted.

“Again. You will keep trying until the pebble reaches your eye level. And if you stop trying…” the blue mare let a threatening grin split her face. “Trixie will know.”

Trixie left the otherworlders with their ridiculous pebble and pushed aside a tree branch, exposing a small tarnished cage flanked by Snips and Snails. Inside was a purple and green dragon, spitting mad, his eyes burning with hatred at the mare who stood in front of him. “Trixie.”

“Hello, dragonling.” Trixie straightened the cage and poked Snips in the stomach. “Been keeping busy?”

“Not much to do in a cage.” Spike turned away, keeping his eyes averted from his unicorn guards. “What do you want now? Need me to write another letter for you?”

“Not quite yet.” Trixie spun the cage so that the dragon faced her again - she needed him to see her. She needed to break his spirit. "What Trixie needs to do is make a few adjustments to your letters’ destination.”

Chapter Twelve: Spirits and Spells

CHAPTER TWELVE: Spirits and Spells

Twilight was starting to get a little sore from running all night, but she was determined to press on. The Samarea Desert was one of the largest deserts in the world – that much she knew for certain – and she’d calculated that, galloping at full speed, it would take about ten to twelve hours to cross the thinnest portion. Luckily, the zebra tribes’ traditional summer campsites were across that thinnest portion, in the exotic savannah.

“How…much…farther?” Kin panted beside her. Twilight felt bad that Grojband had to test their strength this much, and so quickly. They’d barely been ponies for three days, and the exertion was getting to them faster than it was to any of the Equestrians.

“I think just a couple of miles before we reach the plains,” Twilight called back, the words faint through her face cover and over the wind. “Hang on. We can rest when we get out of the desert.”

Rainbow Dash dove from overhead, checking in with Twilight again. “Nothing ahead yet,” she yelled. “Not a single light. Twi, seriously, please let me fly farther ahead than Zecora and Applejack! I know I could see it if I just went a little faster –”

“We have to stay together, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “If you can’t fly farther ahead, why not just fly farther up?”

Rainbow Dash was silent for a moment. Then, muttering “Why didn’t I think of that?” she swooped into the starlit sky, presumably to get a Pegasus-eye view of the surrounding country. Twilight hoped she wouldn’t decide that it was a good time for a nap while she was up there.

After a few more minutes, Rainbow Dash came back down and landed, running, next to the unicorn. “There was something in the distance,” she said, “but I couldn’t get a good look at it from that height. I’m gonna go back up in a couple of miles.”

“Great! Go and tell Zecora, will you?” Twilight replied. “She’ll want to know.”

As Rainbow Dash zipped off again, Twilight’s mind turned to the zebra encampment. Zecora had only made fleeting mentions of her homeland, even on the train, where they’d had two days to come up with a plan. Therefore, Twilight had very little idea of what the savannah, or even the zebras living there, would be like. Would it be small? Large? Quiet or bustling? I wonder if they all speak in rhymes, like Zecora does, she thought absently. I should have asked her before.

She was also worried about how a large number of foreign ponies would be accepted in the zebra community. Sure, they were accompanied by a zebra, but Zecora had lived in Equestria for years. Would they just welcome an estranged member of their tribe back at the drop of a hat, one accompanied by strangers from a distant land?

Twilight was shaken out of her thoughts by another sudden appearance from Rainbow Dash. “She says that we should stop and regroup outside the desert, before we get there,” Rainbow reported, slowing down. “She has something to tell us, about a custom or something.”

“She said that?”

“No, she said something much more rhymey. I paraphrased.”

Twilight grinned and rolled her eyes. “Thanks. Try and pass it along,” she said. The scarves she was wearing were also making it harder to breathe, but at least they kept out sand that she could choke on. As Rainbow Dash disappeared for the third time, Twilight gave the news to Kin, who seemed extremely grateful. With the thought of stopping for a break in her mind, the rest of the dash across the desert seemed miraculously short.

Gritty sand gave way to thin, soft grass, and Twilight’s strides shortened until she was trotting, then walking, then standing by Zecora’s intricate wooden cart. Kin collapsed on the ground, murmuring something to himself that sounded like “I will never run long distances again.” Applejack was talking a long gulp of cider from one of her remaining bottles, and the remaining ponies were running in from behind them while Rainbow Dash flew overhead, offering unnecessarily angry encouragement.

Eventually, everypony had made it to the grassland, and was seated or lying down for a short rest. “How’s everypony doing?” Twilight asked, measuring out her breaths to calm her body down.

“I’m fine. Got another hundred miles left in me,” Rainbow boasted. “Can’t say the same for Grojband.”

“Well, cut us some slack. We don’t run that far or that often back home in Peaceville,” Laney snapped back.

“Why? Don’t you ever want to exercise?” Rainbow said teasingly, flapping up a couple of feet into the air, just out of the tiny unicorn’s reach.

“Calm down already!” Corey said, yanking on Laney’s tail to keep her from leaping up and strangling Rainbow. “We’ve got bigger problems. Where’s Zecora?”

“I am right here, so have no fear.” The zebra emerged from behind her wagon, an old-looking scroll between her teeth, and Twilight had to repress the urge to snatch it and study it for science. Zecora set in on the grass in the middle of the group and unrolled the paper, exposing ancient ink to the open air. “The grounds we seek are west of here,” she said, pointing with a forehoof. “But worry not, we are quite near.”

“Good! How much longer will we have to run?” Kon asked.

“Not much farther, my little friend. The camp lies at the river’s end.” Zecora drew a circle around a thin blue line on the map. “We have less than ten miles of ground to cross. We must move on before more time is lost.”

“Are we ready to keep goin’?” Applejack asked, standing back up and flexing a leg. “’Cause Ah think Ah can run fer a little longer -”

"Wait." Zecora's gaze alone stopped the farmpony from dropping into a running crouch on the grass. "I have one more thing to say. Formality is the zebra way. If you are courteous and fair, expect help to be offered there, but please be warned - if you are not, they may just leave you here to rot."

There was an uncomfortable pause. Twilight felt a shiver snake down her spine.

"Well, that was cheerful," said Kin. "Mind your p's and q's or die!"

"Anypony else feel just a little bit insulted by that?" Rainbow Dash muttered.

"It was a fair warning, Zecora," Twilight broke in, sending a pointed glance at Rainbow herself. "Being polite is important anyway, but we just need to be extra gracious to our hosts if we want them to help us. That should be easy enough to remember."

The sky-blue Pegasus huffed. "Fine, I'll be on my best behavior."

"Pinkie Promise?"

Rainbow groaned louder, but reluctantly performed the motions: "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"That's the spirit!" Pinkie squealed, hoof-bumping Kon.

"Well, if'n we're ready to move on now..." Applejack's eyes were greener than usual in the darkness. "Ah'm pretty sure Ah can see th' campfire light over that way. We'd better giddy-on-up."

“Hold on!” Corey had been staring at Laney all through the conversation, but something seemed to have finally occurred to him. He looked around, worried. “Lanes, where’s your hair clip?”

The green unicorn looked up at the curtain of reddish hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. “Oh! Heh, I didn’t even notice. I guess I’ll just have to go without –”

“No, wait!” Corey said, concentrating. “You had it just a minute ago, when we were running. It has to be nearby.”

“Whatever are you doing, darling?” Rarity asked, but Corey didn’t even acknowledge her. He took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, though Twilight could sense them moving behind his eyelids. The earth shifted beneath the orange unicorn, and, suddenly, his horn lit up.

Everyone went quiet in the wake of Corey's magical aura. It cast a blue glow over the smooth grass, and a snakelike tendril curled out from his horn's tip, roving over the ground and back into the desert. After a second of searching, the tendril stopped, wrapped around something in the sand, and arced back cross the night sky, coming to rest at Corey’s hooves. There was no sound until the blue tendril had completely disappeared.

“Whoa.”

Laney’s mouth gaped as Corey opened his eyes, picked the hair clip up in his teeth, and trotted over to her. He swiftly and gently clicked the clip into place and sat back on his haunches, admiring his accomplishment. Then, turning to a certain cyan Pegasus, Corey smiled a cocky smile and said, “Not bad for an alien, huh, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow was speechless. Twilight herself was extremely impressed - she hadn't expected Corey or Laney to pick up on magic at all in the short time they'd been in Equestria, and even though his technique was unusual, it was still something. Not that they had time to focus on it right away. To break the awkwardness of it all, Twilight stood and clapped her forehooves together. “Okay, we’d better get to the river. It’s close to midnight, and at this rate, we’ll never get to the zebras on time. Come on, everypony!”

Zecora rolled her map up and placed it back into the cart. “Twilight has a point, my friends. We must get to the camp before the night ends.”

As the ponies got up and repacked their saddlebags, a few gathered around Corey, congratulating him. “That was spectacular, darling!” Rarity marveled, her eyes fixed on Corey’s horn. “And with not a single bit of practice, either! I am impressed.”

Corey blushed, tugging his blue and green scarf from his face. “It was nothing, really.”

“It was actually very nice,” Fluttershy said, smiling.

“I’m so jealous,” Kin said. “I wish I’d gotten a horn.”

“I’ll be glad to teach you and Laney some more basic spells,” Twilight told the stallion approvingly, “but we’d better get to the zebra camp first, and find out what they can do to help us.”

“Thanks, Twi!” Corey said, adjusting his orange cap. “Hey, I'd like..." He hesitated. “Um, can we break out of our buddies now? Rarity is being kind of…clingy.”

Twilight pushed him toward his friends. “Go ahead,” she said. “You four deserve some time alone.”

As Corey, relieved, trotted off toward the rest of Grojband, Pinkie Pie appeared at Twilight’s shoulder. “Oh, I so ship them,” she sighed.

The unicorn blinked. “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” Pinkie said. “You wanna run with me?”

It took about ten minutes to get to the river, and at least a half hour after that to get to the zebra camp. Twilight’s hooves were throbbing more than ever. Sure she was a born Equestrian, but unicorns were not made as sturdily as Pegasi or Earth ponies. At least she was quiet about it.

“Oh, I am positively achy,” Rarity moaned. “I think I have a stitch in my side.”

“Quit whining, will ya?” Rainbow Dash grumbled. She was still a little sore about Corey's teasing, although she definitely wasn’t sore physically. The Pegasus still flew overhead, occasionally moving higher above to check on the groups’ progress. “We have just a mile or so to go before we get to the campsite. You’re fine.”

“I will complain all I want, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said haughtily. “I have not gotten my beauty sleep, and that is a problem you all will have to deal with tomorrow morning.”

THUD.

Rarity ran face-first into Zecora’s cart, which had stopped only seconds before. “Ouch!” the unicorn cried, rubbing her muzzle with a forehoof. “That was unexpected.”

“Ssh,” Zecora whispered, looking around the side of the cart and placing her own forehoof to her lips. “We must be very wary. When armed, the zebras can be scary.” She unwrapped her headscarf and tossed it gently into the back of the wagon, then disappeared in front of it again.

Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon ran up, followed by Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. “Um…why are we stopping so soon?” the butter-yellow Pegasus whispered.

“We’re here,” Twilight breathed, smiling at her shy friend. “Look.”

In front of them, down a softly sloping hill, was a large array of tents and huts spread in a circular pattern around a central campfire. Torches sputtered at regular intervals. There were small figures moving around the fire, casting huge shadows over the camp, and Twilight had to shudder; the dance was halfway between beautiful and frightening, accompanied by vocals and haunting drumbeats.

Zecora started down the hill, her wagon rumbling softly behind her on the smooth ground. Twilight followed, aware of her duty to be close to the front, since she was technically in charge of the Equestrian ponies. She was excited, but still nervous. The zebras could choose to be extremely hostile, especially because they were intruding on a ceremony that was most likely one of the tribes’ most sacred. It took a lot to keep the Twilight moving forward, but she had to - for Grojband. She just had to.

The closer they got to the edge of the camp, the faster Twilight’s heart beat, until she was sure it was going to push its way out of her mouth. The zebras’ drums pounded in her hooves and vibrated in the ground. She looked back at Laney, who was wide-eyed, and Corey, who was flicking his tail in time with the music. They don’t seem so nervous, Twilight chided herself. Try to act more like them.

As the group neared the village center, Zecora at its head, the drums gained volume and emotion, threatening to drown out the newcomers. The fire flickered more brightly, and the humming of the earth beneath them seemed to expand into the air. With every hoofstep, Twilight could feel the tension building and the number of eyes that rested on them growing. Then, without warning, the dancing and drumming stopped.

A tall zebra that stood near the fire stepped forward and flicked his hood from his head. He had thick, dark-grey stripes and gold rings hanging about his neck and ears. A bone clasp held his cloak together. His eyes were a severe shade of brown, and they looked judgingly on Zecora as she stood before him.

“Little shaman, long since dead, what makes you return to the life you once led?”

What do you know? At least this one rhymes. And speaks Equestrian, Twilight thought.

Zecora, to her credit, didn’t look away. “I come bringing friends who seek your aid. A threat against their safety was made.” The zebra gestured at the four ponies who called themselves Grojband. “Please do not turn them away. They have traveled far through night and day.”

The elderly zebra bowed his head. “Why should we help friends of yours? When you wronged us, we closed our doors.”

“Zahan, this is not the time to wait. We must act before it’s too late.”

“Please.” Twilight could hardly believe it, but she had stepped forward, and was kneeling before the elderly zebra, head bent in deference. “This is really important to us. We have friends from another world who need a way home.” Keeping her eyes closed, the unicorn let out a breath. What am I doing? I should be letting Zecora do the talking. Stupid, stupid Twilight…

She started when the zebra's hoof reached under the chin, lifting her head so their eyes met. “You are brave, young mare. We will assist. But ancient scores must not be missed.” Zahan let go of Twilight and turned back to Zecora, sighing deeply. “Your zebra friend has left behind our ways. For this, she must be fined. Take her,” he said, calling two zebra warriors over to Zecora’s side. “Search her cart, and then she must be purified again.”

The warriors closed in on Zecora, spears held high, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash had latched onto the back of our cart. “What’re you doin’?” the Earth pony grunted, hooves digging into the soft soil.

“You can’t take Zecora away!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

A murmur rippled through the crowd of zebras. Twilight blinked in surprise, fear once again replacing Zahan's reassurances, and she shouldered her way back to the cart. Zecora must have had more reason to leave her tribe than I'd previously thought.

“Zecora?” Another voice shouted in accented Equestrian from near the first row of huts. A male zebra was hurrying forward, a filly on his back, frantically pushing through the crowd. “Zecora? Is that really you?”

“Zamale, yes, I am the one,” Zecora called to him, then wrenched herself out of the cart’s harness. “Ponies, let go – this must be done.”

Applejack gripped the edge of the cart more tightly. “Zecora, no! Wait - Hey, Twi, what're -”

Twilight smacked Applejack’s hoof away from the cart. “We’d do best to abide by their rules if we want any help,” she hissed. Then she whipped her head around to look at Rainbow Dash. “And that goes for you too.”

Reluctantly, Applejack released the cart, and Rainbow followed suit. Twilight realized with a pang that Zecora had known all along that this would happen, from the moment she had suggested bringing the ponies to her homeland. If she came expecting this...wow. She was willing to save ponies she only just met for this.

“Equestrians, I welcome you to our land. You seem to be a merry band. But our ceremony we need to end. You may sit and watch as friends.” Zahan extended a forehoof, pointing at the zebra who had rushed forward so carelessly before. “My son will welcome you tonight; you may stay at his home until it’s light.”

The younger zebra bowed his head to the older one. “As you wish, my father.”

As the younger zebra started to lead the Equestrians away, Twilight mentally dissected what had just happened. We’ve been welcomed as guests into the zebra tribe, the opposite of what I thought might happen, she thought. But Zecora’s definitely had trouble here in the past, and she chose to bring us here despite that. Oh, Celestia, I hope she's all right.

The zebra filly that sat atop their guide’s back turned to stare at the visitors with wide eyes, angled like Zecora’s. “Baba,” she said, tugging on her father’s spiky mane. “Who are they?”

“We shall soon see,” replied the male zebra, pushing aside a worn curtain and ushering the Equestrians into a large hut. “Inside, a moment, please.”

Fluttershy ducked inside, followed by Rarity and Applejack, then Kin and Kon. Pinkie Pie was chewing on something as she bounced inside (Twilight thought it would be better not to ask). Corey and Laney went in together and Rainbow Dash went after them, glancing suspiciously at their backs. “Rainbow!” Twilight hissed, yanking at her friend’s tail. “Are you seriously still worried about the band? They’ve proved themselves trustworthy so far, don’t you think?”

“That’s how they do it, though,” Rainbow Dash said, leaning in to Twilight. “They get you super comfortable with them that you trust them completely, and then, when you’re not scared anymore…”

“Please come inside,” the zebra said, coughing lightly.

“We’ll talk later,” Twilight said, then slipped inside.

The hut was cozy and dark, its walls draped in patterned cloth and decorative masks like the ones in Zecora's hut. With only a little squeezing, everypony fit inside comfortably around a small wood stove. Twilight stood extra close to Rainbow Dash, just in case.

“I humbly welcome you to the summer camp of the Umawe tribe. I am Zamale, son to our shaman Zahan and brother to Zecora Ngela.” The zebra lifted down the little filly and set her on the floor. “This is my daughter Zuri. We are honored to have you staying with us.”

“You’re Zecora’s brother?” Corey asked, sharing a look with Laney.

“Yes, that is right. I thought I would never see my sister again. I thank you for bringing her back to me; you must be very close friends to have convinced her to return here.” Zamale curled his tail around his little daughter. “Do not get too comfortable. Just drop your things here for now. We must return to the Spirit Dance before it begins again.” He hesitated, cocking his head at Twilight. “Unless you are not interested in our ceremony.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I am!” Twilight said, springing up excitedly. She'd been so preoccupied that it really hadn't registered with her that they'd be allowed to watch the dance, even when Zahan had invited them. “I’ve always been curious about other cultures!”

“Then those who wish to see the Spirit Dance may come with me and Zuri.” Zamale brushed through the doorway, smiling at them all, and the filly was close at his heels.

Twilight turned to Applejack and practically squeed. “Can you imagine? Seeing something like this? Probably very few outsiders to the tribe have been able to watch the zebras perform the Spirit Dance!”

Applejack blinked at her friend, confused. “Twi, they just took Zecora away and now they're tellin' us we're honored guests. Are ya sure you're okay with all this?”

"I..." Twilight took a deep breath, then released it, just like Cadance had taught her. Everypony was listening, and she didn't want to look insensitive, even though it was hard to hide her brimming excitement. "Okay, I think it's a little weird that they were so forceful with her. But if they were going to hurt her, she wouldn't have gone with them, would she? Besides, I think she knew this would happen. She never talked much about this place. I think she was trying to accept that she wouldn't be fully welcomed. So...I'm going to trust her for now. And I'm going to watch the ceremony."

The cookstove crackled, and Applejack nodded. "All right, suit yerself. Ah'm gonna stay here and take a nap."

"Me too," Corey yawned.

"Well, I'll join you, Twilight, if you don't mind," Rarity said, though she frowned at Corey's statement. "Maybe I can get some new ideas for a fashion line."

"And I want to listen to the music!" Kin said.

Laney smiled smugly at Rarity. "I'll stay with Corey."

“Well, anypony else who wants to come, the Friendship Express is leaving now! Let's go experience something new!" Twilight exclaimed, diving through the curtain and trotting after the pair of zebras like a schoolfilly on the first day of summer.

Chapter Thirteen: Camp Umawe

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Camp Umawe

Corey jumped as a spark crackled from the small campfire. He’d been nodding off again – that long run had tired him out more than he’d expected it to, being a pony now and all. Yawning, the orange unicorn stretched a foreleg and looked around for Laney.

She was next to him, almost leaning into his chest, her little stomach rising and falling in time with her breath. Corey felt that weird tingly feeling he got whenever he was near her starting up again, and he reached up to tug his beanie more firmly over the back of his neck.

Besides him and Laney, Fluttershy, a dozing Applejack, and a snoring Kon were the only ones around the fire. Corey sat up and blinked, letting his eyes get used to the light. “Hey,” he said.

“Oh, good evening Corey,” Fluttershy said. “Um, well, good morning, actually.”

“What time is it?”

“Around two in the morning, I think.” The yellow Pegasus picked up a small stick with her teeth and poked at the fire. “Everypony else is still at the ceremony.”

“Figures,” Corey said. He rubbed at his cheek; it felt like the scarf he’d been using as a pillow had left imprints on the smooth fur.

Fluttershy dropped the stick into the flames and sat back on her hindquarters. Corey tried the position. It felt pretty good.

The Pegasus was silent, so there wasn’t much else for Corey to do but look around. His short nap had energized him some, and he was able to actually look at his surroundings. The zebra camp was pretty large, full of dark wooden huts and animal-pelt tents. None were very tall, and the only light came from the campfires and torches, so the stars were really visible. Corey looked for Orion, but then remembered that he was in another universe, and the constellations probably weren’t the same.

Behind them, the giant Spirit Dance bonfire had been reduced to smoke and ash. They must be done, or almost done, Corey thought. As if to agree with him, a rainbow-hued tail smacked him across the face, brushing the skin where the scarf had left its pattern.

“Ow,” Corey said helpfully, even though it hadn't hurt. He felt Laney's breathing sharpen next to him - she was awake.

“Is anypony here tired? ‘Cause I’m not,” Rainbow Dash announced, dropping onto the ground beside Fluttershy. “In fact, I’m ready to tell a good, old-fashioned ghost story.”

“Shut up, Rainbow,” Applejack said, struggling to her hooves. “Ah’m gonna go in an' hit the straw. ‘Night, y’all.”

Zamale followed her into the hut, presumably to put Zuri to bed, but everyone else sat in a circle around the fire. Rarity looked tired, and Laney had sat up to rub the sleep out of her eyes, but Kin, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Twilight were all wide awake. “You all missed out on a really interesting ceremony,” Twilight said excitedly, turning to Corey and Fluttershy.

“Twilight –” Rainbow began.

“Zebras don’t get their cutie marks like we ponies do. They have this musical ritual they perform to make the cutie mark appear, only they call them spirit marks, and then the shaman of the tribe translates it for them,” the unicorn explained. "The marks are different, too - instead of pictures of their talent, it's more like a design with a certain meaning. Like a heart could mean you'd be a healer, or a caregiver."

"Sounds cool," Laney said, swallowing a yawn.

Kin blurted, “This one colt’s mark looked like a –”

“Okay, okay, enough nerding out,” Rainbow Dash said importantly. “I’ve got an epic story to tell Grojband.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Oh, this is going to be a long night.”

“You think you can scare us? We’ve seen the great Blade Stabbington in action. We’re not going to be afraid of something you cooked up,” Laney scoffed, sitting next to Corey and giving a knowing glance to the rest of the band (except Kon, who was still asleep).

“First of all, I have no idea who that is, so.” Rainbow looked to either side, then grinned evilly. “And secondly, I didn't make this up. I’m pretty sure anypony who’s ever heard the tale of Nightmare Moon has trembled in fear!”

There was a moment of silence. Fluttershy retreated behind her mane.

“Oh…kay,” Laney said awkwardly. “I don’t think that sounds very, well, fear-inducing.”

“Wait till I get started.” Rainbow Dash spread her wings and assumed what Corey decided to call Creepy Storyteller Position. “Never before in the land of Equestria –”

It was at this opportune moment that Zamale came out of his hut and sat next to Twilight, nodding respectfully at them all.

“Rainbow, I’m sorry to stop you,” Twilight said suddenly, “but I had some questions Zamale said he’d answer after the ceremony, and…”

Rainbow gave the violet unicorn a ‘Really?’ look, then sat back next to Fluttershy with a “humph.” It was all Corey could do to stifle a giggle, and judging by Laney’s reaction, it was all she could do, too.

“Zamale, let me tell you again how grateful we are for your tribe’s hospitality,” Twilight said.

“It is my pleasure, Twilight Sparkle,” the zebra replied in his silvery accent, bowing slightly. “Ask me any question, and if it is within my power, I will answer it.”

“Okay. Okay.” Twilight took a deep breath. Corey could tell that she was extremely excited. It reminded him of a time when he’d taken Laney to an AC/DC concert and she’d practically died from excitement during the meet and greet after the show. “Silly question first. After watching the Spirit Dance, I just have to ask. What does your cutie – sorry, spirit mark mean?”

Zamale looked at his flank. The image on it looked like a stylized flame, drawn in black ink, or maybe really dark pencil. “My mark symbolizes the fire of battle. It means that I am a proud and honorable warrior.”

“Cool beans!” Pinkie Pie said, flopping onto her back. Corey had to agree; such a destiny was impressive.

“Okay. Next question. What happened with Zecora back there?”

The night noises – the wind whistling through the camp, the hiss of the fire, some snoring from a nearby hut – suddenly sounded very loud. Corey coughed to make the moment less awkward.

“Normally,” Zamale finally said, “this would be a question no one asks or answers. But since you are not Umawe…and since you are all friends of my sister’s…I think you should know." He paused again, his face clouded with thought. "When Zecora still lived among us, she was in training to take over as the shaman of our tribe.”

Laney raised a hoof. It grazed Corey’s face on the way up, and he felt a blush starting to creep down his neck again, but luckily the smaller unicorn didn’t seem to notice. “What’s a shaman?”

“The shaman is the spiritual leader of a tribe. Right now, Zahan – my father – is shaman.”

“What sort of spiritual things do you believe?” Rarity asked drowsily.

“I will let Zahan explain when you meet with him tomorrow.” Zamale adjusted one of the gold bangles that hung from his ear. “Zecora was good at the training, but her heart was not in her work. She wanted to be trained as an ambassador to other cultures, traveling the world rather than staying with the tribe. It led to many arguments with our father.”

“Was it his choice to make her the next shaman?” Twilight asked, her face half shadowed by the flickering fire.

Zamale hesitated. “Yes and no. It was also written in her spirit mark, the sun, that she was destined to be a great leader, with much knowledge that would benefit our tribe. By denying it, she was denying fate."

"Oh," Twilight said. "I see. So what happened after that?"

"After a year of apprenticeship, Zecora ran away. She left a note to explain her departure, and a glass necklace that I have since given to Zuri.” Sighing, the zebra stared into the flickering yellow-orange flames. “I thought I would never see her again.”

“Why’s that?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“She left dishonorably,” Zamale said. “She was not meant to leave. It was her future to lead the tribe.”

Corey was more than a little confused. “Excuse me. I don’t totally understand cutie marks and stuff, but where we come from –” he indicated the members of Grojband “– a person can choose what they want to do. If leaving the tribe made her happy, why stop her?”

“Because it was not her destiny,” Zamale said. He bowed his head, and a stick in the fire cracked apart, sending a flurry of sparks into the air.

Twilight laid a hoof on Zamale’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It’s a good thing that she’s come home, then.”

Zamale smiled. “And for that I have you to thank.” He stood, giving a slight bow. “If you will excuse me. I must check on my daughter.”

The group was silent for another moment after Zamale went inside. Then, Rainbow Dash stood.

“Can I tell my story now?”

The next morning, Corey was awoken by Laney’s vigorous yanking at his beanie. “Get up, get up, get up,” she mubmbled through a mouthful of cloth. “We have a meeting with an all-important zebra shaman.”

Corey sat up blearily, shaking his head to dislodge his friend. “Let go of my hat and maybe I’ll get up faster.”

“It’s a stupid hat. I’ve always said so.”

“Hey!” Corey slapped at her indignantly with his hoof, even though he knew she was only joking. “No one insults the beanie.” The unicorn struggled to his feet. It almost felt like one of the sleepovers the band used to have back home in Peaceville, except they were ponies. And Kin and Kon were already awake - something that barely ever happened.

Sunlight streamed in from around the cracks in the door fabric, illuminating the interior of the hut. It was full of stuff similar to what Zecora kept in her tree home; bottles of unfamiliar liquid, jars of herbs, ceremonial and decorative masks shaped like colorful zebra heads. A large number of blankets and mats were strewn around the floor from the evening before, when everyone had finally come inside to sleep. It was actually very homey.

But Corey didn’t get to enjoy it for long, because Laney pushed him outside faster than he’d thought was possible. The little mare was really very strong for her size.

“Hello, Corey darling! Good morning, Elaine,” Rarity said, beaming and batting her eyelashes. She’d tied a large blue sun hat onto her head, but it covered about half of her body. Corey wasn't sure how the thing had fit into her saddlebags. “Have you eaten yet? Zamale prepared some sort of delicious herbal concoction for us.”

“No thanks,” Laney said. “Vegan food messes me up. I’ll just have some bread or something.”

“I’ll try it,” Corey said, grinning crookedly at the white mare. “How long do we have before we meet with the shaman?”

Pinkie bounced by, a spoon stuck into her unruly hair. “Better hurry! Twilight says we’re leaving soon!”

“There’s your answer, darling.” Rarity winked. “Let me get you a bowl.”

As Corey swallowed his generous serving of the soup, everyone gathered around the remains of the campfire and prepared for the visit with Zahan. Applejack dusted off her Stetson, while Fluttershy sat alone taking deep breaths to calm her nerves, and Twilight ran through zebra language trivia with Zamale.

“And to say hello?”

“We say ‘hujambo.’ And the reply is ‘sijambo.’”

“Sijambo.”

“Your pronunciation is very good.”

The little zebra filly was sitting between her father and Corey, humming to herself and braiding a few strands of grass together. Laney smiled at her. “You’re good at that.”

The filly looked up. “Thank you.”

“You speak English? Uh, Equestrian?” Corey said, shocked.

The filly gave them a gap-toothed grin. “I am in training to be the next shaman,” she said. “and expected to be well versed in languages.”

“That’s cool,” Laney said. “Like your auntie Zecora.”

“Yes.” The filly tied off her grass braid and shyly gave it to Laney. “For you.”

“Oh…thanks.” Laney turned it over in her hooves. “Like I said, it’s really good.”

The filly hid behind her father’s tail, but Corey could see her smile.

Suddenly, a zebra warrior holding a good-sized spear materialized next to Rarity. “Goodness,” the unicorn gasped. “You gave me a fright!”

“Mgama bo shaman uwe’e sasi,” the zebra said, directing his words to Zamale.

“The shaman will see us now,” Zamale translated, standing. “We must go.”

It took only a few minutes for the group to travel to the center of the camp, where the giant bonfire (and apparently Zahan’s hut) was located. Corey felt eyes watching him from all sides; the zebras had gathered outside to watch the Equestrians. We're a novelty, Corey thought. How interesting.

Zahan was waiting for them outside. “Hujambo,” he said, bowing his head.

“Sijambo,” Twilight replied, mimicking him.

“You have learned well.” The shaman turned, his bangles clinking together as he moved. “Come inside. I have nothing here to hide.”

They all followed him through another fabric door. Zahan’s hut was larger than Zamale’s, probably because he was the shaman, but the decoration was much the same. The old zebra motioned for them to sit, then took a place at the front of the room. “I wish to know of why you need the help of the zebras that you plead,” he said, looking Twilight in the eyes.

Twilight glanced at Applejack. “A few days ago, four ponies appeared in my friend Fluttershy’s backyard,” the unicorn said. “They claimed to be from another world. We became friends with them, and now we want to get them home.”

“I see.” Zahan rubbed his chin with a hoof. “Tell me, which might they be?”

Corey raised a hoof. So did Laney, Kin, and Kon.

“Zecora said you might be able to help us get them home,” Applejack said. “But Ah have a question. How’re ya gonna do that? There’s no way they can go back without somepony on th’ other side to help with th’ magic, if I understand it right.”

Zahan smiled mysteriously. “You know little of zebra lore,” he said. “Zuri, suma, please tell them more.”

The filly – that was her name, Zuri – stood, as if to recite a poem in English class. “The spirits are one with us, and connect us to many different worlds,” she said. “With their help, our elders may return to nature at the end of their lives, and, with their help, foals are born. We can communicate with them, like we can with each other.”

“We have our ways to talk with gods,” Zamale said, “just as you speak to your princess, Celestia.”

Corey could see Twilight cringe at the mention of her teacher’s name. “So you can help them then?” she asked.

“It will take time to prepare the spell. The ceremony will not work well if not prepared appropriately. Will you help, little Zuri?” Zahan turned to his granddaughter.

“Yes, Iba.”

“If Ngela helps us too, you will be home when the week is through.” Zahan said softly to Grojband.

Kin smiled widely. “Oh yeah!” he crowed, giving Kon a hoof bump. “Magic powers rock!”

“Hear that, Lanes? We’ll be home before we know it.” Corey gave his friend a hug. “We’ll be able to play our instruments again.”

“I know!” Laney squealed. “It’s been days since I got my hands on a bass, not counting the wubs at the Hothoof.”

Kon’s eyes watered. “I think I’m gonna cry.”

“Where’s Zecora, anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around. “I thought she’d be here.”

“She is still being returned to the clan. After many years, she will be Umawe again,” Zahan said.

Twilight's eyes widened. "So she is alright! I knew it!"

"She is merely being re-initiated into the tribe," Zamale reassured her. "Surely I mentioned this last night? When Zecora left, her status as an Umawe was...compromised. To establish it again, she must be purified in a sacred place, and undergo a ritual only known by full members of the tribe."

Applejack let out a breath she seemed to have been holding since yesterday, though Corey knew that was ridiculous. "Thank goodness. Ah'm glad she's fit as a fiddle, and not in any danger."

“Well, this is all going swimmingly, but it’s rather hot in here and I can practically feel my hair frizzing up.” Rarity primped at her mane with a foreleg. “Is it just me, or does anypony else notice the temperature rising as we speak?”

"It does seem warmer in here than usual," Zamale said, stroking his chin. "I wonder -"

“Fire!” Zuri screamed, pointing a tiny hoof at the air above Twilight’s shoulder.

Corey looked. The filly was right – a small tongue of green flame was flickering just to the right of the unicorn’s head, causing her to jump back. “Careful, everypony!” she said, activating her horn. “It could be dangerous.” Corey activated his own horn, with some difficulty. It wouldn’t hurt to try and help.

Luckily, the flame quickly solidified into a neatly tied scroll of parchment and dropped casually to the ground. Twilight cautiously probed it with her magic, picked it up, unrolled it, and scanned it…then promptly dropped it again.

“What is it, darling?” Rarity said, rushing forward to fan Twilight with the brim of her giant hat. "What's wrong?"

Twilight inhaled hugely, then gasped. “I don't believe it...It’s from Spike!”

Chapter Fourteen: Dear Twilight

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Dear Twilight

Twilight –

This is just a real quick message to let you know. Princess Celestia found some weird, broken machine thing at Fluttershy’s house and knows that you’re helping the ponies from another world. Busted!

I don’t know where you are, but if you come back to Equestria, you’re toast.

Spike

P S Twilight no dont beli eve her

Twilight held her head in her hooves and took deep breaths. She couldn’t believe she’d gotten a letter from Spike – Spike could only send letters to Princess Celestia, just like he had to warn her about Grojband. Which had been out of character in the first place.

And now he was sending Twilight letters? The world had gone mad.

“Twilight, um, are you okay?” Even though they'd moved outside, Fluttershy was still next to her, stroking her mane and trying to calm her down. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be fine. I think.”

Twilight looked up. “Yeah. Yeah, sure.” She sucked in another lungful of air. “It’s just…I was expecting this to blow over as soon as we got Grojband home. But now? There’s no escaping it. We’ll all be in trouble as soon as we get back to Equestria. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Twi. It’s theirs.” Rainbow Dash said from overhead. “If Grojband had never shown up, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Now, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said. “They didn’t ask to be brought here, you know. If it’s anypony’s fault, it’s that of whoever sent them.”

Twilight could see Grojband sitting on the other side of the bonfire embers, talking quietly with Zahan and Zamale. They are innocent. It’s all my fault for making such bad decisions, Twilight thought. If I’d just been more careful…

“Let’s not play the blame game, everypony,” Applejack said matter-of-factly. “There’s nothin’ we can do about it now, so let’s just do our best to get Grojband home and worry about everythin’ else later.”

“What’s this part, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked. She had picked up the letter and was reading it intently.

“What part?”

“The part at the end, silly.” Pinkie held out the letter (which was upside down) and let Twilight take it with her magic.

P S Twilight no dont beli eve her

Twilight sniffled, bringing the parchment closer to her face. “Don't believe...who?”

“'Don't believe who' what?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight could feel her brain going from emotional freak-out mode into analysis mode. No matter how worried she was about the consequences she faced for helping Grojband, Spike’s message was extremely suspicious. “I wish I could send a letter back to him,” she said, thinking aloud.

“What’d ya find, sugar cube?” Applejack asked hesitantly.

Twilight set down the letter, allowing her friends to crowd around her and see. “Read the postscript. It’s in a totally different tone than the rest of the letter. Girls, I don’t think Spike wrote this because he wanted to. It might not even be true.”

“So we were right! He didn’t betray us – he was dragonnapped! Oh, how terribly awful!” Rarity cried, swooning.

“Oh…my,” Fluttershy whispered.

“What’re we gonna do? We’re not even in Equestria, for pony’s sake!” Rainbow Dash said.

“We’ll wait for another message,” Twilight said firmly, ignoring the wayward tear that had just escaped her eye.

“WHAT? And do nothing?” Rainbow flapped higher into the air, her expression indignant. “Twi, we have to help Spike!”

“And we will,” Twilight said. “But I need more proof first.” She rolled up the scroll and retied the ribbon around it. “If I get another letter from Spike, I’m going to compare them. And if it’s still looks as suspicious as this, we’ll do something. But for now, like Applejack said, our priority is Grojband.” The unicorn looked over at the band members, who were laughing at something Kon had said.

Rainbow sighed and swooped back down to earth. “All right,” she grumbled. “But this had better go fast.”

“Again,” Twilight said. “Concentrate.”

Corey and Laney’s magic practice was going more slowly than Twilight had expected, especially after Corey’s controlled, if interestingly thought-out, locator spell the night before. I’ve never seen anypony use magic like that before, Twilight thought. I always just think about the item and then summon it. But then again, magic’s different for everypony. Just look at me and, say, Trixie. It also didn't help that they'd stayed near the hut for some of the practice, and the camp grew louder and more crowded as afternoon approached. Twilight eventually had had to bring the two unicorns back to the hill where they at least had a little more space.

Laney’s horn – as well as the pebble she was trying to lift – lit up. Twilight had been surprised to learn that the two Grojband members’ magic was exactly the same color, a pale and shimmery blue. Laney strained, and after another split second her light flickered and died. “Darn! I almost had it,” she grumbled, kicking at the dusty grass.

“You’re doing good. At first, it took me a lot more tries than this,” Twilight said, though she secretly doubted it. They’d been at the simple levitation spell for hours and Laney had managed to do it successfully only once. Corey had pulled it off at least three times.

It could have partially been Twilight’s fault, too. For the whole session, she’d been too busy thinking about Spike’s letter. She knew that she was supposed to be helping Grojband, but the thought of her little assistant in danger was too much to just push out of her mind. Her thoughts kept returning to his postscript:

P S Twilight no dont beli eve her

Who was the ‘her’ Spike was so worried about? The only ‘she’s’ Twilight could think of who would do such a thing were Nightmare Moon or Queen Chrysalis, and both of them were out of the picture. Whoever she is, she’s got to be the one who forced Spike to send the letter, the unicorn thought. I wish there were some way I could find out who it is. She’d tried to analyze the magic that had been used on the scroll, but she'd known it was no use. Dragon fire burned any trace of magical identity away.

Aside from Spike, Twilight spent plenty of time worrying about what would happen to her and her friends when they returned to Equestria. Was the letter telling the truth, or was it a lie to scare Twilight off? As far as she could remember, there hadn’t been any trace of a machine. And even if somepony had found it, it was broken – of no use in returning Grojband home at any time soon.

The unicorn resurfaced from her thoughts just in time to watch Corey levitate his pebble again. “Sweet!” he crowed, spinning it around in midair. “Look at that!”

Laney snorted. “Stupid magic.”

“It’s official – I’m better than you,” the stallion said, bopping Laney on the nose with the pebble.

“Shut up!” Laney said, squeezing her eyes shut to try once more.

“Okay, I think we’ve been at this long enough,” Twilight said, holding up her hooves. “You two can head back to the hut.”

Laney let go of her concentration, then paused. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Not yet,” Twilight said, rubbing her neck. “I have to think for a little bit.”

Corey shrugged, and the two of them took off toward Zamale’s hut, giggling and screaming all the way.

Twilight sighed and pulled the rolled-up scroll from the small stack of books she’d brought. “What do you really know, Spike?” she said, knowing her faithful assistant couldn't hear her but wishing with all her heart that he could. “If you were able to, what could you tell me?”

“Twilight Sparkle, are you all right? You are not yourself,” Zamale said.

Twilight started, then turned to see the zebra stallion standing near one of the huts at the edge of camp. “Oh, hi, Zamale,” she said sheepishly, tucking the scroll back down by the books. “I’m just packing up after my session with Corey and Laney.”

“But you’re troubled,” said the zebra. He walked over to Twilight and helped her shove some books into her empty saddlebag. “If there is anything I can help you with while you are here, please let me know. I would be glad to assist.”

Twilight met his eyes. They were caring, almost fatherly. “Well, um…I have had a question on my mind for the last day or so,” she admitted, unsure if she wanted the truth about Spike spreading around the zebra community.

“If I can answer it, I shall.”

I can’t tell him. I'd have to explain too much. The unicorn racked her brain for something else she’d been wondering since coming to the camp. “Why don’t all the zebras here rhyme when they talk?” she burst out.

Zamale laughed. “That’s a common question from visitors, actually,” he said kindly. “It is tradition that the shaman speak in rhyme once they have completed a certain ceremony, but nopony else is required to.”

Twilight smiled in relief. “So Zuri will have to soon?”

“Indeed. Her ceremony was supposed to take place this week, but your arrival and the importance of your situation pushed it back,” Zamale said, nodding.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Twilight blushed, embarrassed suddenly about the Equestrians’ odd and abrupt arrival. “We didn’t mean to interrupt such an occasion.”

“Not at all. Zuri has been waiting for two years. She can wait a week longer with no trouble.” The zebra buttoned the flap on Twilight’s saddlebags and slid them over to her.

“Zamale?”

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle?”

“The ceremony that will take Grojband home…what exactly does it entail?” Twilight asked, slipping her bags onto her back. She was still worried about Spike, but glad that Zamale had been able to distract her for a short while. The letter had been eating at her for more than a day.

“It is a ceremony used for communication with the spirits,” Zamale said. “I know little about it myself, but I believe that Zahan and Zuri will be having a practice ceremony tomorrow evening.”

Twilight perked up a little more. “Do you think they’d let me come and watch?”

“I do not see why that would be a problem. After all, you will be there for the final ceremony,” Zamale said, “but I will have to ask Zahan. This is a decision for the shaman to make.”

Twilight nodded. “Thanks for answering my questions. I think we’d all be lost here without you.”

Smiling, the zebra picked up a stray quill and began walking back toward the huts. “No. As I have said before, thank you. Without you and your friends, I might have never seen my sister again.”

The two walked silently back to Zamale’s hut, where everypony else was gathered around the campfire. Looks like Rainbow Dash finally got to tell the Nightmare Moon story, Twilight thought as she watched Laney grip Corey’s foreleg in barely-hidden fright.

“And then, with an evil laugh –” Rainbow Dash did a perfect Nightmare Moon imitation “– the wicked mare charged Princess Celestia, powering up her horn for the death blow!”

Twilight just rolled her eyes as she walked by. The legend of Nightmare Moon is more sad than scary, really, she thought. The Headless Horse is a much better ghost story.

Zamale held the curtain open and let Twilight enter the hut. “I am going to go pick up Zuri from Zahan’s home,” he said. “Feel free to eat, go outside, whatever pleases my guest.” With a slight bow, the zebra ducked back outside.

Twilight thought for a moment. I think I’ll stay here and read, she decided. With a burst of magic, she reopened her saddlebag and levitated out the copy of Daring Do and the Fires of Corona she’d brought.

It didn’t take long for Fluttershy to come inside, too. “Hi, Twilight,” she said, folding her left wing onto her back.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. She looked closely at the Pegasus mare; her aqua-colored eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles underneath them. “Are you all right? You look awful.”

“So do you,” Fluttershy replied, sitting on her blanket beside Twilight. “Are you worried about Spike?”

“Yeah,” the unicorn sighed. She shut her book and laid her head down on the thin pillow Zamale had given her. “I can’t get over his message. I’m practically analyzing it in my sleep. And hoping he’s okay.”

“I know how you feel. I miss him too.” Fluttershy placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “But I’ve also been lonely for all the critters back home. I hope Lyra and Bon Bon are taking care of them all right.”

“I’m sure they are.” Twilight hesitated. “What’s going on out there?”

“Rainbow Dash finished the Nightmare Moon story and started another one,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t like scary stories, so I came in here. Besides, it’s kind of weird to sit there and watch Rarity making moony eyes at Corey all the time.”

“Rarity’s doing what?”

Fluttershy twiddled her hooves. “It just seems so weird, when, you know, it’s obvious that Laney likes him and he likes her back.” She looked up at Twilight. “You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you?”

“How could I not? What’s weird is how none of Grojband seems to know it,” Twilight said, giggling.

“And Rarity doesn’t seem to know either,” Fluttershy added, and smiled too.

Twilight took a deep breath so she'd stop laughing, then levitated her book back into her saddlebag and removed Spike’s letter, even though she had it memorized already. Maybe there was something on there she had missed. “Well, it’ll only be a couple of days, and then they’ll be home,” she said aloud. “Then all we’ll have to worry about is getting back to Equestria, clearing our names, and finding out what happened to Spike.”

“But aren’t you curious about how Grojband got here in the first place?” Fluttershy asked, shifting on her blanket.

“Of course I am! And I will. But first, I want to focus on us getting home safely. All of us.” Twilight unrolled the letter, and something twisted in her gut. Oh, Celestia, he’d better be all right.

Dear Twilight,

This is just a quick message to let you know…

Chapter Fifteen: Crazy Plans...

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Crazy Plans...

Corey tapped his hoof on the hard-packed dirt of the bonfire circle. It was midday, and the unicorn was starting to get bored.

Laney had dozed off by his side, but at the movement of his hoof, she stirred and blinked her eyes sleepily.

“Hey, Core,” she mumbled, nestling closer to his leg. “Quit moving. Trying to nap here.”

Corey nudged her back and stood, shaking the noontime siesta-fest out of his mane. It was time to do something. Normally, Corey had learned, one would go to Pinkie Pie if one wanted fun at a time like this. But this wasn’t Pinkie’s home territory. He was going to have to find a zebra.

He had to lure Laney with the promise of a jam session to wake her up, but after he got her moving and then stopped in Zamale’s hut to pick up Kin and Kon, Corey filled them in on his idea. “I mean, come on,” he said, tugging his beanie down a little farther over his forehead. “Everyone from Equestria is out of place here. They don’t know what to do, and neither do we. So it’s time we found out.” He shrugged, then arched his back to look over the twins’ heads. “Who should we invite?”

Kin rubbed his hooves together awkwardly. “Um, well, I don’t know…maybe we could all do something together, just the four of us. I mean, it’s been forever since we did something as Grojband, you know?” he asked, grinning at them all.

“Only about five days,” Laney muttered, poking Corey in the ribs.

Kon nodded at his brother. “Do you think we could get some pie involved?”

“We’ll see,” Kin replied, raising an eyebrow.

“But what will we do? It’s not like we can practice – we don’t have any instruments. And we don’t have hands, in case you haven’t noticed.” Laney held up a hoof, wiggling it around for emphasis.

“Who around here could help us think of something?” Corey wondered, scanning the center of the clearing for anypony who might be around. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small grey-and-white set of figures peeking out from behind a nearby hut. He grinned. “Bingo.”

It didn’t take much to convince the foals that it was okay for them to come closer. As they did so, Corey noticed that one of them was the daughter of Zecora’s brother. “Oh, hey Zuri,” he said, proud that he’d remembered her name. “What’s up?”

The filly smiled. “Hello again, Corey Riffin. My friends were just curious about you. Not many of us are privileged enough to meet otherworlders.” She gestured to the foals that were with her.

Kon waved at them good-naturedly. “It’s okay, we don’t bite!”

“We aren’t afraid of you,” one of the fillies spoke up. She had a pretty accent, a short-cut mane, and two gold rings in each ear. She also had a daring look in her eye that reminded Corey of someone he saw in the mirror every day.

“Sure you’re not,” Laney said, scrambling to her hooves so that she stood over the foals, though it wasn’t that effective since she was so short herself.

Kin stood too. “What was that about not meeting otherworlders?” he asked, obviously interested.

Zuri was happy to answer. “Normally, only zebras who have need of it are allowed to sit in on a spirit ceremony, such as the funeral ceremony, where we trade dead with the spirits. Also, the spirits we call usually only stay during the ceremony and then return home. And even fewer of us have been to their world.”

“I see,” Kin said, murmuring. “Your culture is fascinating.”

“Our spirits are not from your world, though,” Zuri continued, “so it is taking more time to perfect the songs and rituals needed for your return.”

“Zuri!” Zamale’s voice came from the direction of the central bonfire. It sounded like he was coming closer. “Sema, shu kudi m’bela ibatu nai gawa.”

“Baba, we are talking to Grojband! Please give me a moment longer with my friends!” the filly pleaded in the direction of her dad’s voice.

“There is no time. Your iba has been waiting for you.” The zebra stallion appeared between two huts nearby.

“Hey, it’s okay, kid. We’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Laney said, ruffling the little zebra’s mane softly.

Zuri perked up. “Yes, that is true. Thank you,” she said to Laney. To her friends, she said something else in the zebra language, then disappeared behind the rows of huts with her father.

It was just Grojband and the foals.

Corey was the first one to break the silence. “So you’re Zuri’s friends, huh?” he asked.

The filly who could speak Equestrian stepped forward. “Yes,” she said, twirling her tail softly. “My name is Zema, and these are Zula and Zaran.” Zula was a filly, and Zaran was a colt. Both of them waved shyly at Grojband.

“Well, we have a question for you,” Corey said. “Are you up for the challenge?”

Zema glowed. “I hope so,” she said, grinning.

Corey turned to Kon, who turned to the foals. “What do you do for fun around here?” the grey Earth pony asked.

Immediately, Zema’s happy smile turned adventurous. “Well, there is a place we like to go,” she said, eyes narrowing. She seemed to have forgotten that she was talking to fancy-schmancy otherworlders. “It is sometimes scary, but also beautiful. I hope you are brave enough to come with us.”

Corey shot a smirk at Laney. She glared back at him with a Don’t-even-think-about-it-Corey-Riffin look on her face, but he didn’t pay attention. Usually Laney’s looks just meant that she was planning to ruin something awesome. “I think you’re underestimating us,” he said, his own gaze returning to the foals.

Zema bounced in place excitedly. “It’s settled then. We will take you to the Spirit Yard! The Sha Iha, in our language.”

Zula reached out a hoof to her friend. She was smaller than the other filly, but bigger than the colt; she also was more adorned with bangles than either of the other two. “No, Zema,” she said, her Equestrian halting. “It is too…dangerous.” She flicked her mane, which was quite long, out of her eyes. The movement strangely reminded Corey of Rarity.

Zema huffed and pulled the other two foals into a huddle. They were whispering in their own language, so Corey couldn’t have understood if he’d tried.

Laney stepped toward Corey and the twins. “Look, Core, if little kids aren’t allowed to go there, I don’t think this ‘Spirit Yard’ is a place for us either,” she began. But Corey was prepared. He flopped onto his back in front of her and brought out the Bambi eyes again. They were starting to become a useful weapon.

“Please please pleeeeease?” he begged.

“No. We’re going home tomorrow, hopefully. The least we can do is go back in once piece.”

“But Laaaaaney!” Corey pouted, motioning for Kin and Kon to help him. They swiftly squished Laney between them and made their own Bambi faces. “PLEEEASE?”

“Fine! For Celestia’s sake!” the green mare shouted, throwing a hoof into the air. “Some stallions you are!”

“You’re one to talk,” Corey said, sitting up and wiping the pathetic look off of his face. “We wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t acted like such a Newman.”

"Uh, 'scuse me?!" Laney shot forward and immediately pinned Corey back to the ground, her eyes dangerous. "What did you just call me?"

Corey gulped. "Uhhh..."

And that's how he ended up getting his tail twisted in the middle of the zebra camp by his best friend.

"AAAAHHH! I have made a terrible mistake!"

"Serves you right!"

"Kin - Kon - help me!"

"Sorry, bro, but you kind of deserved it."

"AAAAOOOWWWW! IT HUUUUURTS!"

At that opportune moment, the three foals broke their huddle.

It appeared that Zema had sweet-talked the others into the Spirit Yard trip, because as nervous as they looked, they were still behind her. Zaran in particular was blushing like nobody’s business.

“Are you ready? The Sha Iha is not far from the camp,” Zema said, giving them an extremely Rainbow Dash-like smile.

Corey smiled back from beneath Laney's unceasing glare, his eyes still watering from the pain in his tail. “Let’s do this,” he said, standing awkwardly and poising himself to run. I'm gonna be feeling that even when I get home and don't have a tail anymore...

Zema took the lead, winding through narrow alleys and cracks between huts that Corey had to stoop to fit through. He was right behind her; the twins followed him, and Laney trailed at the back with Zula and Zaran. After a little while, the group left the camp. Soon Corey could only see the bleached-white linen of tents and soft brown of the huts in the distance, and even though his butt was numb, it didn't hurt anymore, which was a plus.

Zema stopped at a line that seemed to be gouged into the ground. “Here we are,” she said, smiling at everypony. Even though the sun was up, looking at the land before him was making Corey shiver.

The place was definitely spooky. A thin layer of dust coated the ground, which was scuffed and weathered to make an intricate design rise up from the landscape. Sticks and stones littered the dead, brittle grass. Corey looked back at Laney, who had a foreleg around each of the other foals. The twins were standing rigid in one spot, as if moving a single hoof would cause an earthquake or an avalanche.

“This is pretty cool, actually,” Corey said, turning back to the Spirit Yard.

“It is where we bury the dead,” Zema said simply. Corey picked up the hoof he’d just set over the border. Now that she’d mentioned it, the gouged-out line didn’t look so carved into the earth any more. Peering down, the unicorn noticed that the trough of the line was made of bone.

“So we’re standing on dead zebras?” Kon asked, to confirm. When Zema nodded, a huge grin appeared on the large twin’s face. “That is SO WICKED!” he crowed, springing into the air. He didn’t seem to see Zema flatten her ears and narrow her eyes.

“Wait, though. Zuri said something about trading dead with the spirits,” Kin recalled.

“Yes,” Zula spoke up in her hesitant Equestrian. “The dead of the spirits are buried here. Our dead are buried in their world.”

Zema took a step into the yard. “We have nothing to fear, unless the wolves come,” she said. “There is a special thing to show you here.”

The group, one by one, stepped over the border. It felt almost sacred, and Corey hated to disturb it, but at the same time, he couldn’t stop thinking about what an awesome adventure this was turning out to be. He felt the urge to tiptoe across the whorled ground. If you can call it tiptoeing without any toes, he thought. That’s a question to ask somepony later.

They hadn’t walked for long when Zema stopped again. “There,” she whispered, aiming a foreleg in the direction of a spiraled column of earth.

For lack of a better word Corey could think of, it was amazing. It looked like the ground had been pulled up into thick, curved spikes and frozen before it collapsed, then burned with magic or something until it shone a glossy black. When Corey looked in between the four swirling spires, there was a central hollow where at least ten ponies – or in this case zebras – could stand. The ground around it was decorated with intricate drawings rendered in bone, showing zebras communing with the spirits and the rituals necessary to bury the dead. “Wow,” he breathed. “It’s so cool.”

Kin rushed to examine the feat of architectural genius while Corey, Kon, and Laney stood with the foals. “I told you it was beautiful,” Zema said proudly.

Finally, Laney managed to tear Kin away from the tower and start the group on their way back to camp. “It’d be good to get back before anypony starts looking for us,” she said. “We can think of something else to do for the rest of the afternoon.” They’d just reached the Spirit Yard's border when little Zaran tugged on Corey’s leg.

The colt was small, with light grey stripes rather than dark ones, and a small scar near his left ear. His eyes were huge, whether with fear or excitement Corey wasn’t sure, until the colt opened his mouth. “Bata,” he said, his voice trembling. It was the first thing he’d said all day. “Bata, bata, bata, BATA!”

Zema froze. “What is it? What is he saying?” Corey asked nervously.

“Wolves,” Zema breathed.

It was then that they started to howl.

Corey grabbed Laney and the colts and practically flung them over the border. “Get them back to the camp,” he called, jumping back into the Spirit Yard. “Kin and Kon and I will hold them off.”

“Corey, no!” Laney cried.

“Just go!” The orange unicorn watched as three large wolves stalked out from the misty yard of bones, their tails lashing in what Corey guessed was anger. Laney nodded and slung Zaran onto her back, grabbing Zula with a hoof and calling Zema’s name. It was up to Corey and the twins now.

Corey stared at the lead wolf, hoping it would be cowed by his authority and go back into the Yard. Unfortunately, it perked its ears and snarled. Okay, that was stupid, Corey thought. Plan B?

The wolves bolted across the dusty plain, each of them darting toward one of the colts. Corey ducked; his wolf sailed over his head and landed hard, smudging a section of the beautiful artwork the zebras had drawn in the dirt.

Kon picked up a huge dried-out stick in his mouth and leapt at his wolf, prepared to bash him over the head with it. As he jumped, a screaming war cry echoed from around the stick. Kin pelted his wolf with rocks, as it seemed too jumpy to make a move. Corey’s wolf had gotten back to its paws, and it didn’t look happy. The stallion had less than a second to make a move.

Running as fast as he could, Corey headbutted the wolf in the side, careful to keep his horn from hitting it head-on. The wolf snarled and turned on him; Corey panicked and reached out with his magic to the nearest item, a good-sized rock that lay on the ground. It smacked the wolf in the eye.

As Corey ran back toward the Spirit Yard, he glanced back at Laney and the foals. She still had Zaran on her back, and Zula was running right beside her, but where was Zema? In a flash, Corey realized that the filly was standing at the bone border, holding a stick like Kon’s, but petrified with fear. Kin’s wolf had not been distracted enough by his rocks, and now it was growling at Zema with strings of drool trailing out of his mouth. Not on my watch, Corey thought, and yelled, “Kin, cover me!” Trusting his bandmate to get his wolf off his back, the unicorn lunged at Zema’s wolf and socked it in the face with a hoof.

The wolf’s head slammed into the hardened dirt, and it lay limply in front of Zema. “Run,” Corey urged the filly, looking back to see how Kin and Kon were doing. Kon had his wolf cornered, but Kin wasn’t doing so well. “On second thought, no time for that. Get on my back,” he ordered Zema, kneeling down to let her climb up easily. In a flash, they were back in the fight.

Corey grabbed Kin’s wolf’s tail in his mouth and yanked with all his might. It yelped and turned to him, giving Kin a space to get a few pebbles in its ear. It scratched at its ear, and Corey launched himself onto its back. It took him a second to dig through the fur and find skin, but when he did, Corey scraped his hoof against it. It drew blood.

The wolf screamed and tossed Corey, who wrapped himself around Zema to protect her from the fall. With another howl, the wolf dashed back into the mist of the Spirit Yard, tail between its legs. “It’s going for help,” Kin yelled, dropping another rock. “We’ve got to get out of here. Lucky we’re not too near the camp.”

Kon had brained his wolf with the stick enough times that it was dazed, so with Zema on his back, Corey and the twins raced back toward the zebra camp. His heart was pounding. I think I’m running on nothing but adrenaline, he thought. The landscape seemed to fly by, and in no time at all, they were dashing through the huts, on their way to the bonfire pit in the center.

Twilight smacked Corey in the face.

“Ow! What was that for?” he cried, letting Zema slide off his back and run to her friends. “I've been hurt enough today! And I just saved these foals from three monstrous wolves!”

“Which never would have attacked you if you hadn’t gone out of the camp in the first place,” Twilight said. Her face had turned an interesting shade of red. “I mean, thank Celestia you’re all okay, but that was a very stupid thing to do!"

“Twi, don’t yell at them,” Fluttershy said softly. “They saved the foals. And they aren’t from this world. Maybe where they live, fighting three wolves is really easy. Though it wasn’t very nice to fight them…but they did what they had to.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “I’m just more than a little stressed out right now. Don’t leave the camp again, okay?”

“Sure,” Corey said, sitting down to catch his breath. “I’m not planning on it.”

Twilight softened. “Anything I need to heal?” she said, picking up Corey’s hoof to examine it.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared from a few huts away. “Oh, we were so worried!” the white unicorn cried, racing to Corey’s side. “Are you all right, Corey darling? We heard you were missing, and then Elaine rushed in saying something about wolves –”

“Yeah,” Corey said, extremely aware of his face being squashed between her forelegs. “But we made it out okay.”

“Darling, you have…blood on your hoof!” Rarity exclaimed. “I…oh…” She swayed, then fainted dead onto the ground, her blue hat coming undone. Twilight quickly levitated her out of the way.

“Well, looks like we were missed,” Corey said.

“Of course you were! It’s not a real party here without you!” Pinkie giggled, ruffling the bit of mane that poked out from under his hat.

Corey smiled. It was good to know that people cared about him and the other band members here. He was sure that Laney, Kin, Kon, and the foals were in good hooves.

As Pinkie Pie began to hop away, Corey remembered something. “Hey, Pinkie!” he called. “Do you think you could help me with something?”

“Sure!” Pinkie said, turning back to the orange unicorn. “What do you need?”

“Well, while we were over at the Spirit Yard, something occurred to me, and well, I just had to ask.”

Corey gestured to the pink pony, and she scooted in closer. “Yeah? Tell me, tell me!”

Turning both ways, the stallion put his mouth up to Pinkie’s ear and whispered, “What’s the Equestrian phrase for tiptoe?”

Chapter Seventeen: ...That Just Might Work?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: …That Just Might Work?

Corey dashed around the dying fire, a huge grin on his face and a feathery ceremonial cape around his shoulders. It was very late, and he’d eaten so much food it was getting a little hard to walk around.

But right now, he had to find Laney.

Last he’d seen her, she was hanging around with the zebra foals they’d saved. The kids had really taken a liking to Grojband, especially the petite green unicorn, who – it turned out – was really good with children. Corey had been confused, since it wasn’t like the Lanes he knew to be all that compassionate, but it was cool.

“Lanes!” he called. She was dancing with Zema, Zula, and Zaran, just like he’d thought, and they looked like they were having a really good time. “Can we talk for a little bit?”

The green mare looked up, then started toward Corey, glancing back to reassure the foals. “What’s up, Core?” she asked, pausing to readjust her hairclip.

Corey suddenly felt his insides go numb for some strange reason. “Uh, well, I just wanted us to talk for a little, about what we’re gonna do when we get home,” he said, trying to stay nonchalant. It was something he’d been wondering, anyway.

“I guess it depends on what’s happened already when we get home, like, if any time had passed or anything,” Laney said. “But Kin would know all that stuff, not me.”

Corey blinked. “Well, where’s Kin?”

“Somewhere,” Laney said, shrugging. She craned her neck to look past the softly smoking embers. “I think Kon is playing the bongos. What’s this really about, Core?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all. Hey, are you feeling tired yet? ‘Cause I am.” Corey faked a yawn. “I think I’m gonna head to bed.” He hitched up his cape and turned toward Zamale’s hut. “You coming?”

Laney blushed very obviously under her green fur. “Uh, yeah, sure, why not?” she mumbled.

If Corey was being totally honest, it was kind of cute.

The two started back to the hut, and as they walked, Corey kept an eye peeled for their friends from Ponyville. He knew Twilight was probably still watching the zebras’ ceremony preparations, and Fluttershy had left the party early, but it had been at least ten minutes since he’d last seen the overly conspicuous Rainbow Dash. Rarity hadn’t been stalking him for a while, either, and as relieving as that was, it seemed a little suspicious. Thinking about it almost drowned out the awkwardness he was experiencing with the mare by his side.

They brushed past a (possibly) drunk old zebra and squeezed into the clearing where Zamale’s hut was. No one was there, which confused Corey. Flutters should at least be here, he thought, then said aloud, “Where is everyone?”

“Probably still out partying. Relax, Core.” Laney lifted the door-curtain and went into the hut, leaving the orange unicorn to investigate. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up.

The grass around the campfire was tamped down, with hoofprints overlapping as if someone, most likely Twilight, had been pacing. A few blue feathers indicated Rainbow Dash, and a bit of Rarity’s magical residue lingered by the place where the saddlebags had been stored.

Had been being the key phrase. Corey did a double take when he found the most important evidence of all: every last saddlebag was gone, even the ones Grojband had carried to the zebra camp. They were on their own.

He opened his mouth to call Laney’s name, but she beat him to it. “Core, look at this!” the unicorn shouted as she ran out of the hut, a piece of parchment clutched between her teeth. She spat it out in front of him and blew a stray strand of hair from her eyes. Something’s got her riled up, Corey thought as he carefully levitated the bit of paper and began to read.

Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon,

We’re sorry we didn’t get the chance to say goodbye in person, but we received urgent word from Ponyville and had to return right away. As such, we couldn’t stay for your return ceremony. Again, we’re very sorry, but we know you’re in good hooves with the zebra tribe, and we’ll all miss you very much.

Your friends,

Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity.

It took a minute for Corey to process what he had just read. “I knew it,” he breathed. “They’re gone.”

“What do you mean, you knew?” Laney shrieked.

“Look.” Corey aimed a foreleg at the missing saddlebags. “They took all the stuff with them. They really aren’t coming back.”

“Well, that’s not very fair of them!” Laney huffed. “It’s not like they wanted us or anything, but the least they could do is to make sure we get home safely!”

“They are right, though,” Corey pointed out. “The zebras know what they’re doing. And Twilight and the others got us this far! We’re gonna be fine.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that we got ditched.” Laney flopped down onto the ground and dragged her hoof into the dusty dirt.

“There is one thing…it isn’t like them to leave us, especially not Twilight. Remember how freaked out she was this afternoon when we came back with the foals? Remember how Rainbow Dash told us that they were the Elements of mother-freaking Friendship or whatever? It isn’t who they are. They must have had a really good reason if they had to go.”

“So what do you suggest, then?” the green unicorn asked, looking up tearily. If she'd had eyeliner on, it would definitely have been running.

Corey’s small smile widened into a devious grin. “We’re gonna help them.”

“What? Core, not to be rude or anything, but are you CRAZY?” Laney stood and kicked at the fire. “We’re giving up our chance to go home for the ponies who left us behind?”

“They’re our friends,” Corey said, sticking the scroll into his beanie, shrugging off his cape, and getting to his own hooves. “We owe them. And hey, we haven’t had enough crazy plans in this adventure yet!”

Laney rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

While Laney went to get Kin and Kon from the party, Corey scoped out the hut a little more. He knew that Twilight had gotten another letter from her dragon, Spike; maybe she’d left behind some clues as to the nature of their leaving, or their plan for going home, but there was nothing in the hut. He tried to use his magic to sense the spells she’d done, but it had all been little magic, like levitation, and it was hard to get a lock on what exactly had moved.

He could, however, find a sort-of path where the six must have sneaked off, both through magical aura and crushed-down grass. By the time Laney, Kin and Kon returned, Corey had tied up a few of Zamale’s supplies in a blanket and was studying the parchment one more time.

“We’ve been briefed on the mission, Sir, and are prepared to move out,” Kin said, saluting.

“Awesome,” Corey said, hoofbumping his friend. “And you agree with my reasoning?”

“It’s nothing we wouldn’t do for you, old buddy,” said Kon.

Laney rolled her eyes again, but Corey pretended not to notice. “In that case, we’d better get this show on the road. We’re headed back to Ponyville!”

It was harder than they thought to follow the hoofprints and wheel tracks over the desert. Wind had blown sand over them until there were only the faintest impressions left on the ground, so Corey was mainly following by magical aura, a feat that was just as hard with his limited magical skills. Luckily, Twilight’s magic was very easy to distinguish, and they were getting along pretty well. I just have to follow this for a little bit longer, and we’ll be all right.

“How long have we been running?” Laney yelled over the thumping of their hooves on the sand.

“Half an hour-ish?” Kin yelled back. “We’ve still got a long way to go.”

“Oh god,” the green unicorn said, stumbling. “’Cause I feel kind of sick…”

“Whoa!” Corey stopped. “You okay, fella?”

“Yeah,” Laney gasped, holding a hoof to her temple. “It feels like what happened at that party in Ponyville.”

“There must be one of those crazy magic things going on,” Corey said. “You think Twilight did it?”

“Maybe,” Laney choked.

Kin frowned. “She must be really sensitive to magic. I wonder why.”

“I’m going to try to replicate Twilight’s spell,” Corey said. “She mentioned one time that you can copy magic by reading the aura.”
Kin nodded. “What should we do?”

“Keep an eye on Lanes,” Corey said. “She doesn’t look so good.”

Kon hefted Laney onto his back while Corey activated his horn. The magic looked really complicated, and it was a teleportation, which Twilight had said was very hard for a beginning magic student. But Corey was determined to help the purple unicorn and her friends, so he started to perform the spell.

“Grab hold!” he yelled to Kin and Kon as his horn started to light up, its bright blue aura swirling around Grojband. He didn’t want to lose anyone; he wasn’t sure if magical transport was any different than mechanical teleportation. Once he was sure the twins and Laney were all connected, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let the magic out.

And just like that, they were somewhere else.

Corey blinked and coughed a bit of ash out of his mouth. His head felt fuzzy, and the fur on his face was standing up like nobody’s business. He carefully got to his feet and looked around.

There was Las Pegasus, the Golden Gate less than a hundred yards away. The Pegasus-exclusive part of the city floated above the unicorn and Earth pony houses, and a large waterfall fell from the clouds and down a cliff that Corey hadn’t noticed before.

I guess I was too preoccupied with the trip to the zebra camp to notice all this cool geography, he thought. Heck, I didn’t even see the cloud city before.

Or the cliff. Corey suddenly saw how close they were to the edge of the rock wall. He didn’t want to get any nearer, but he could tell that the steep drop ended in water. We definitely don’t want to fall down there. Man! How did I not see this last time we were here?

Kin, Kon, and Laney were all as charred as Corey, but he was a lot more alert than they were, and was able to pull them farther from the cliff than they already were. This must be where Twilight and the others landed, he thought, turning toward the Golden Gate. I wonder where they are now.

“That was a lot faster than running would have been,” Corey panted. He charged up his horn again and tried to sense Twilight’s aura. “And we’re that much closer to the others. They can’t have too huge of a head start now!” He turned back to his friends, but stopped cold when he saw who was with them.

A pink unicorn with a purple-streaked mane had Laney trapped between her forelegs; the little green mare was too weak to struggle. Next to them, a pair of small unicorns, one teal, one orange, were holding Kin down by his forelegs. Kon was trapped in a magical cage – not that he was going to escape anytime soon; he was knocked out cold with an egg-sized bump forming on his forehead. An orange Earth mare stood nervously next to the cage.

Corey immediately took on a defensive stance, ready to fight. Not that magic would help him – he felt very drained – but his hooves could still kick really hard.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the otherworlders who travel with Twilight Sparkle,” a haughty voice echoed from Corey’s right. Corey whipped his head around, eye wide as he peered into the dark to find its source. The voice laughed, and then a torch appeared out of thin air, illuminating the darkness and, by extension, the speaker.

She was a light blue unicorn, her mane and tail silvery in the torchlight. Her eyes flashed evilly as she lowered the torch and stuck it into the ground; she magically removed her dark cloak and draped it over Corey’s head. “Oh, my little human. You have no idea who you are dealing with.”

“I know you’re a threat to my friends,” Corey growled, shaking the thick material onto the ground. “And they were willing to leave us behind to fight you. I can feel it.”

“Hmmm. More knowledgeable than Trixie expected.” The unicorn – Trixie – examined a hoof as she drew nearer to the trapped members of Grojband. “Well, I expect I can get these ones to come quietly, but you…”

“I’m not going down without a fight!” Corey said hotly.

“Excellent.” Trixie activated her horn. “Trixie is going to enjoy this.”

Corey dodged as she sent a glowing beam of pink energy at his head. It whizzed over him, but was quickly followed by a barrage of feathery darts. As one flew past Corey’s face, he saw that they were quills, their sharpened tips gleaming. Not even Twilight can just create stuff out of thin air! Corey thought. I’ll have to be really creative if I’m gonna get out of this one.

He whipped one quill away with his still-sore tail and snatched another in his teeth, trying to stay calm. I just need to knock her out. That’ll keep her from using magic long enough for us to get away. Dodging a second round of quill darts, Corey inched closer to the sky-blue mare, looking for a break in her defenses.

Unluckily, she saw him moving and sent a rope straight for his forelegs. Corey tripped, the impact knocking the quill from his mouth and onto the ground. Trixie laughed. “You see? There is no way that a loser like you can beat the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The rope snapped out in Corey’s magical aura, hitting Trixie squarely between the eyes. She reeled, but didn’t fall; instead, her horn glowed more brightly, and a boulder appeared above Corey’s head. He just managed to roll out of the way before it dropped.

This isn’t going anywhere, Corey thought. He glanced up at Trixie, who was tugging the boulder out of the ground with her magic, and fired a weak blue energy bolt at her head. It missed, just barely, and the mare hefted her boulder. “So you’re going to keep fighting? Impressive. Trixie has time to play for a little bit longer.”

She advanced toward him, the boulder trailing menacingly behind her, when Laney stirred and moaned. Corey’s head immediately snapped in her direction; Trixie’s eyes followed. Crap, Corey thought. What’s she gonna do to Lanes?

The boulder floated over toward the little green mare, still in the grasp of the pink unicorn. “Trina,” Trixie said, “let her go.”

Corey’s mouth fell open. Oh my gods of Rocklympus! How could I forgot about Trina? We were about to go home without her! But she’s working for the bad guy? How did that even happen? What the grilled cheese sandwich is going on?

“If you don’t surrender and come quietly, Corey Riffin, your friend dies.” Trixie gloated. “And I will take extreme pleasure in letting the boulder fall.”

Corey gulped. Lanes wouldn’t want me to give up. Grojband never quits. I just have to knock Trixie out…but then the rock will land on Laney’s head…oh God, what do I do?

“Core…” Laney shifted, and in that moment, Corey made up his mind. He charged.

Trixie’s reaction was faster than he expected, but she didn’t drop the boulder just yet. In midair, Corey’s mouth was zipped shut, his legs hog-tied with the rope, and his entire body stuffed into a burlap sack. His head was the only thing that poked out, but he couldn’t move a muscle. The unicorn dropped like a stone, landing at Trixie’s hooves.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie has thought of something more fun than something falling on your little friend,” Trixie said. Her already wide smile threatened to meet in the back of her head. “She’s going to be the one falling instead.”

The boulder moved a few inches forward as Laney stirred again. Corey saw that it wouldn’t hit her, but she was really close to the edge of the cliff. Corey’s panic spiraled. If Trixie slams down the boulder hard enough, Laney might...

“Trina, Mina, Snips, Snails, take the other two to the transport. Trixie and Corey will be there shortly, after we finish attending to this business.” Trixie flicked a hoof in their direction, and her minions – Corey could see the resemblance to Trina and Mina now – dragged Kin and Kon around the side of the city wall. It was just she and him now, and Laney. Who still lay motionless on the ground twenty feet away. And Corey couldn’t move to help her.

He tried to twitch, but the ropes around his hooves and the neck of the bag tightened. “Don’t even try,” Trixie said in his ear. “Trixie isn’t letting you get free anytime soon.” She took a step forward, then let the boulder drop a few inches.

Corey frantically tried to think of something to calm him down. Thrash, bash, burn and crash…okay, not helping. Stuck in Peaceville Zoo…nope. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. How about…?

Trixie let the rock slip a few more centimeters. “Aren’t you going to beg for mercy? Try and get Trixie to save your precious friend?”

Going Down…

“You’re going down,” Corey muttered. He was mad and sad and confused, knowing that Trixie was going to hurt Laney, unsure of what Trina and Mina were doing and sorry that he’d forgotten about them and Nick…he was so full of wild emotions, only one thing would help him to relax and organize his brain: singing.

Trixie blinked. “What was that?”

“You’re going down,” he sang, a little bit louder. “I’ll close your page, you’re going down…back to the stone age...”

Trixie laughed. “That isn’t going to help Laney now, is it?” The boulder jerked down again. It was getting closer to breaking the shelf Laney lay on, closer to making her fall off a freaking cliff…

“Sit right down and let me dial you up,” Corey continued, gaining confidence. “A big kick for your sorry butt.”

“This is getting ridiculous.”

“I’ll do a blitzkrieg on your wires…” Deep breaths. You can do this, Corey Riffin.

“Stop that!”

Corey’s horn crackled. “Transmit you back to das techno fires, you’re going down…”

Trixie scored a line in the dirt with a hoof, her eyes flashing in anger.

“You’re going down…” Almost there…

“One more time, and you will be sorry,” the blue mare snarled, stamping her hoof so hard it made a crack in the ground.

Corey could practically feel his bonds loosening. It’s like my singing is helping me gain control of my magic! Gotta keep going, for Laney and all the others. This is my last chance. He stretched out a leg, directing all his feelings at Trixie, hoping against hope that he could finish the song before she let go. “You’re going down…I’m filled with rage! You’re going down…your foot and my face will engage…you’re going –”

Trixie dropped the boulder.

And the cliff cracked, and Laney fell.

Chapter Eighteen: Neighilism

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Neighilism

The bars of the cage shook as Rainbow Dash slammed into them for the umpteenth time.

“Rainbow,” Twilight sighed, “give it a rest. We’re not getting out of here anytime soon.”

BAM. “There’s no use in –” WHAM. “sitting around here –” SMACK. “doing nothing!”

The violet unicorn rolled her eyes. It had been hours since Trixie had ambushed them, trapped them in a giant glass fishbowl, and teleported them back to the Everfree Forest. Rainbow had been trying to escape for practically the entire time, and she hadn’t gotten anywhere.

“At least my Spikey-Wikey’s okay,” Rarity sniffled, scooping the little dragon up in a big bear hug. She was putting on a brave face, but Twilight could tell that she was worried about Grojband’s safety.

Everypony’s attitude was dark, even Pinkie Pie’s. The normally excitable party pony was sitting in the farthest corner of the cage, dragging her hoof across its floor; her bright pink mane and coat seemed duller and more deflated than usual.

“Nobody panic,” Twilight said. I’m getting tired of repeating myself. “We’ll think of something to get out of this mess. We always have before.”

“Well, before we didn’t have a super-powerful Twilight-hatin’ monster to deal with,” said Applejack, pacing in tight circles around Fluttershy. “Without Spike’s letter-sendin’ technique workin’ like normal, and without the spell to fix it, Ah don’t see how we can get a letter to the Princess askin’ for help. And nopony else will hear us from where we are.”

“Then we’ll just have to escape by ourselves!” Rainbow Dash yelled, kicking the ceiling with her hind legs. “Busting out is our best option!”

“This is not the time for arguments!” Twilight shouted. Infighting was what had gotten them into so much trouble in the past – having it start now would only escalate the problem.

But it was too late now. “Much as Ah hate to say it, buckin’ the cage isn’t helpin’, just like Twilight said. We’re gonna hafta think our way outta here.” Glaring up at Rainbow, the farmpony slammed her hoof down, causing a metallic clang to reverberate through Twilight's whole body. In return, the Pegasus flew down and pressed her forehead against Applejack’s.

“Well then, what’s your bright idea, Miss Smarty Pants?”

Applejack opened her mouth, but suddenly a nearby bush rustled. Snips, Snails, and the pink unicorn and orange Earth pony from before came through it, carrying three colorful furry forms on their backs.

Twilight let out a gasp. They were Corey, Kin, and Kon.

Corey’s head stuck out of a burlap sack, and his eyes were wide in horror and shock; the pink unicorn dragged him along with a rope. Snips and Snails were groaning under Kon’s weight, while the orange pony lugged an unconscious Kin. None of them looked too happy to be carrying a member of Grojband.

“Where’s Laney, d’ya think?” Applejack whispered, but she quieted down when the pink unicorn – who seemed to be Trixie’s second-in-command – glared at her.

“Like, shut up and junk,” the unicorn snapped. “I already have to carry my gross little brother! I can’t deal with stupid talking ponies right now.”

“But you're a talking pony,” Rainbow Dash said.

“I said, SHUT UP!”

Twilight thought for a minute. Little brother? Corey did mention having a sister. What was her name? Something starting with T...could this be her?

The bush rustled again, and Trixie stepped out, a triumphant look on her face. “That was easy,” she remarked. “Trixie won’t need to worry about her plans being ruined now. Get them in the cage.”

There was no time for Rainbow Dash to react; in an instant, Trixie magically unlocked the cage, made her minions toss the Grojbandians inside, and slammed the door closed. Corey skidded across the slick metal floor, coming to a stop just in front of Pinkie, who didn’t look up. That looked painful, Twilight thought, but Corey didn’t even react. I hope he’s okay.

“You’re all very privileged, you know,” Trixie said, tossing a swatch of fabric onto a nearby rock. “You’ll be here to watch the beginning of Trixie’s conquest of all the universe.”

“So your ego’s gotten too big for Equestria, has it, Trixie?” said Rainbow Dash hotly, forgetting all about the pink unicorn’s command. Twilight could practically see the smoke coming out of her friend's nostrils.

“Oh, that. Trixie’s ego isn’t big, it’s realistic. With the power Trixie has now, she could take over any empire with the blink of an eye!”

“Prove it,” Rainbow started to spit, but Applejack shoved her hoof over the cyan Pegasus’ mouth.

“Don’t go sayin’ nothin’ you’ll regret later,” she whispered.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Trixie continued, eyeing everypony inside the cage distastefully. “Trixie has more important matters to attend to. Snips, Snails, Mina, you stay here and guard the…prisoners. Trina, come with Trixie.”

The pink unicorn trailed after Trixie, while the Earth pony stayed behind, stationing herself at the front left corner of the cage while Snips and Snails took the right-hoof side. So now we know who they are, sort of, Twilight thought. Trina and Mina. I remember them now, or at least, I remember Grojband talking about them.

Kon began to stir; there was a huge lump on his head, and it looked like he might have a black eye. “Whoa, where am I? I feel awful.”

Pinkie Pie’s mane inflated the tiniest bit at the sound of the drummer’s voice. “Kon? Is that you?” she gasped, perking up. Then, “Oh, hi, Corey, I didn’t see you there.”

Corey didn’t budge. Twilight almost thought she heard him whimper, but decided not to mention it. Instead, she turned to Kon. “What are you guys doing here? We left you back in the zebra camp so you could go home, not get caught in the same trap we did.”

“But we wanted to make sure you were okay,” Kon said, sitting up gingerly. “Corey said –”

Twilight held up a hoof. “I can guess. And I’m grateful you tried, really, but now you’re stuck here, too, and that doesn’t help anypony.”

Rarity cut in, crushing Spike even more tightly to her chest. “Oh, I am so glad all of you are all right. I wasn’t expecting to see you ever again!”

“There’s no time for a sappy reunion!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, taking to the air once again. “We’ve gotta get out of here!”

Twilight quietly got up and walked over to Corey. The stallion still hadn’t moved a muscle; the look on his face was one of utter despair. “Kon, what’s wrong with Corey? What happened?” the unicorn asked softly.

“I’m not sure,” Kon replied. “Kin and I got knocked out.”

“We’ll just have to surprise him, then!” Pinkie whisper-squeaked as quietly as she could, flicking the bobble on Corey’s beanie with a hoof. “I think I’ve got a paper bag here somewhere –”

“We can just shake him,” Rainbow suggested, swooping in to do so.

“No,” said Twilight, pushing Pinkie away and lowering Rainbow Dash to the ground with a neat motion of her horn. “I’ll try and magic him out of his shock. Something must have really horrified him, and more trauma will just make it worse.” Closing her eyes, Twilight leaned in and placed her horn against Corey’s, tip to tip. Then she performed the spell.

It was a quick nudge, not all that much, but Twilight suddenly felt herself swept headlong into Corey’s brain. She lay on the ground, at the very cliffs where they had been ambushed, only this time Corey, Trixie, and Laney stood near her. Corey’s mouth was moving defiantly, but no sound came out of it, and Trixie’s aura held a giant boulder above the little green mare’s head. Twilight covered her mouth with a gasp. Is that what Trixie had done? Squashed her with a rock? How bloodthirsty could a single mare be?

She was sucked out of Corey’s head before the thought could continue, but her magic seemed to have worked. Corey shook his head, then blinked, eyes going from empty to panicky. “Twilight! She got her! She’s gone!”

“Laney?” Twilight crouched down by the struggling stallion. “What happened exactly?”

Corey gulped, then the words flew out of his mouth as if on wings: “Trixie pushed her off the cliff!”

Fluttershy, who’d been very quiet up until now, burst into wet and messy tears.

“No,” Applejack whispered.

“And I couldn’t save her,” Corey muttered, pounding a hoof halfheartedly against the floor. “Twilight, there was nothing I could do…”

Twilight’s head was pounding. On top of everything else that had gone wrong…Laney was dead? Trixie even worse than any of them had thought?

Rarity sniffed. “That’s just horrid. What an awful thing for Trixie to do! I didn’t expect she’d ever go as far as…” She didn’t finish, but everypony knew what she was thinking.

“We’re so sorry,” Twilight said, patting Corey on the back. She felt a tear trickling down her face, but she quickly brushed it away. I have too many stored up tears and worries right now. I can grieve after we get out of here and stop Trixie.

Gears whirring in her head, Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, I never knew I’d say this, but…keep testing those bars.”

The Pegasus shook her head incredulously. “Wait…what?”

“Just do it,” Twilight said firmly. “We aren’t just doing this for Equestria anymore. She’s killed somepony, and I bet she’s planning to conquer more universes as we speak. This is so much bigger than us, and we need to fight. We need to work together as a team again.” Twilight’s head snapped toward the Earth ponies. “Kon, AJ, you two help her.”

Rainbow Dash saluted, then bolted into the air. “Yes, ma'am!”

Twilight would have grinned if she hadn't been so torn up inside. “Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Kin, if he ever wakes up – I know you’re upset, so am I, but you need to provide the distraction. Bother Snips, Snails, and that Earth mare as much as possible.”

“Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie said, gently pulling Fluttershy to her hooves.

“Rarity, Spike, you’re with me. We’re going to try and loosen some of the magic that’s keeping these bars so strong.” Twilight faced the bars, summoning every drop of power that was inside her and condensing it into her horn. She could feel the thick strength of the metal beneath her and above her and all around, the electric zing of the magic surrounding it, and the heavy breathing of everypony inside as they prepared to do their duty. Celestia on high, can we do it?

Rarity’s horn activated, and she and Twilight immediately began to suck some of the power away from the cage’s bars. Spike added a spurt of green fire, which Twilight knew would soften the bars and make them more susceptible to bending, if not breaking. “Go!” Twilight yelled.

BAM.

“Again!”

BAM.

“AAAAH THERE'S AN URSA AND TRIXIE'S NOT HERE TO SAVE YOU RUN SNIPS AND SNAILS RUNNN!"

BAM.

A crack appeared in the metal, just a hairline crack, but it was progress –

BAM.

“We’re almost there! Just a little more force might do it!” Twilight panted. “One – two – three – and –”

CRASH.

Everypony was thrown back into the middle of the cage and stuck fast, completely frozen except for breathing and blinking. Twilight tried to move her foreleg, but she couldn’t – it was as if somepony had glued it to her body.

“Nice try, all of you, but Trixie knows better than to leave the cage in the hooves of these incompetent fools without putting a silent magical alarm on it,” the pale blue mare said, snapping the cracked bar back together without the tiniest bit of effort. “Trixie supposes you thought that she was an idiot. Well, you were very, very wrong.”

Someone, most likely Rainbow Dash, let out a muffled mmmph. Trixie whipped toward the cage and narrowed her eyes. “Trixie will appreciate some silence while she monologues, thank you,” she snapped, horn flashing pale pink in a way that Twilight found much more threatening than it had before.

“Breaking this hole in the fabric of time and space did something to Trixie’s magic,” the mare continued, turning slightly to include her minions in the conversation. “When it happened, Trixie gained the ability to perform any spell she so desired. Her powers rival the princesses’ now.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as much as they could through Trixie’s immobility spell. If she could have moved, she would have been hyperventilating. Anypony with more power than Celestia and Luna would be more destructive than even Discord, and that was saying something. How could Equestria fight back against such a threat?

“Oh, Great and Powerful Trixie,” Snips said hesitantly, “what are you going to do now?”

Trixie stepped nearer to a black disc that hung, suspended, in the middle of the clearing. She reached out a hoof to stroke the edges of the circle, which rippled like fabric caught in a breeze. “Oh, not so much really…Trixie’s just going to use her newfound abilities to put on a show for the entire fabric of reality.” Smiling nastily, the unicorn began to charge up her horn. “And for the opening act, Trixie thinks she’ll start with – what was it called? Earth?”

Corey and Kon’s eyes bugged out. Twilight could tell what they were thinking: She’s already taken our best friend – not our universe, too!

Trixie shot a beam of energy straight into the heart of the vortex. It began to shimmer through all the colors of the rainbow, stretching at the edges with an awful tearing sound until it was big enough for a full-grown stallion to fit through. Without warning, a beam of light punched through the clearing, bright as the summer sun. Twilight couldn’t see anything. It was if Equestria, the cage, the dim amd misty forest - everything had simply disappeared from beneath their hooves.

A melody, soft and quiet as a cloud, drifted past Twilight’s ears. Then the light faded.

Twilight and the others were back in the cage. Mina and Trina stood beside it, as if they had never left. And Trixie herself was staring at the portal, in which swirled an image of a blue-and-green globe suspended in a maze of stars.

“Trina,” she called. “Come here.”

Twilight could only watch helplessly as the pink unicorn trotted over to stand by the blue one. “As Trixie promised, the Earth will be yours,” Trixie said. “And if the creatures that live there ever defy you, they will have Trixie to answer to. Including the ones that are caged over there right now.”

Corey whimpered, but Trixie and Trina didn’t seem to hear him. “Finally, Nick Mallory will be mine!” Trina squealed, jumping up and down. “OMG, you have NO idea how much this means to me! Like, thanks and stuff!”

“Don’t mention it,” Trixie smirked, her eyes flashing with what looked like a red glow. “Now, which world does everyone want to see Trixie take over next?”

Chapter Nineteen: The Music In You

CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Music In You

Corey stood frozen as Trixie went to take over another universe. This was his fault. He should have done something to stop her – and save Laney. Laney… The name still haunted him. Her small stature, her red hair, her fiery personality, all of that was gone. And it was all his fault.

He was stuck in place, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Twilight struggling to pull her hoof off of the floor of the cage, and watch Pinkie Pie and Kon communicate with just their eyeballs. Maybe I can try to get free, too, he thought. Not that it’ll help things. Laney’s not around to keep me on track anymore. I’ll just goof up.

Corey?

The orange unicorn twitched his eyes to Twilight again. She was staring straight at him. If you can hear me, Corey, blink twice.

Corey blinked twice.

You should be able to talk back now that the connection is established. I was reading about this spell just before I studied the mirror laws! I can't believe it didn’t come back to me until just now.

How…?

Listen, I need you to tell me exactly what happened after Trixie threatened Laney with that boulder.

How do you know about –

Just tell me.

Corey thought for a moment. I was trying to figure out what to do, and I was getting a little panicky, so I started to sing.

Sing?

Yeah. What else? And it felt like the rope was getting looser, but before I could break out, Trixie…

Twilight’s body shuddered. I know. I’m sorry… Singing…that’s very odd, and very interesting…keep thinking. I can feel Trixie’s spell getting weaker.

Why?

She’s so focused on keeping up the portal spell that she’s losing focus on this one. Corey, can you try to wiggle your tail?

Corey bunched the muscles in his butt (something he’d never really thought about until he suddenly had a tail) and twitched with all his might. His eyes widened as he felt the long blue fur sweep against his flank.

Good! Keep trying. Once everypony else sees us moving they’ll start to, too.

Corey saw Twilight’s ear flick, then her nose wrinkle. He copied her and started to peel his hoof off the ground again. It felt like it was stuck in caramel, but Corey kept trying until it was loose. He pried his teeth apart next, then swiveled his head to glance at Trixie. She wasn’t facing the cage. In fact, the only ponies close by were the two little drippy ones and Mina.

Twilight, is it safe to talk yet? he asked with his mind.

I think so, the unicorn responded. But whisper. Just in case.

Pinkie, Rarity, and Kin were completely free, but Spike was having trouble and Rainbow Dash was still struggling to fold in a wing. Corey walked toward them slowly, like the air was full of Jell-O, but he figured it would just make their movements less conspicuous. “Guys, I don’t think I can help with anything. I’m too messed up to do anything. Laney…”

“I know, Corey,” Twilight murmured, putting a hoof on the stallion’s shoulder. “But the best way to honor her memory is to get you safely home, and the first step to doing that is ridding Equestria of Trixie. With her in control of the multiverse, and Trina in control of your world, you’ll never get a chance to let your feelings out.”

Fluttershy wrenched her foreleg from the bar it was wrapped around. “Corey, I’m sorry about Laney, really I am, but – but I’m glad you’re okay,” she whispered.

“Thanks, Flutters. I was just as worried about you. All of you. I’m happy to see that you guys aren’t hurt,” Corey said, smiling just the tiniest bit. “I just…”

Twilight squeezed Corey’s shoulders. “Let it out.”

The orange unicorn looked helplessly into the purple one’s eyes. “Twilight, I…I think I loved her.”

Twilight opened her mouth, but as if on a Let’s-Torment-Corey schedule, a mocking voice issued from beyond the bars.

“I’ve never seen you this miserable! Like, yay and whatnot!” Trina cackled, her mane tangling in the soft breeze of the vortex. She looked about to explode with glee.

Pinkie Pie growled and zoomed up to Trina. "You're just a big dumb meanie-McMeaniePants! It isn't nice to be happy when other ponies are hurt! And Corey's ten times the pony you are, anyway!" she yelled. Corey jumped. He had never seen the party pony this angry before; it was actually kind of scary.

Trina flicked her tail, eyes narrowing. “Um, no. Corey and his band are, like, über-gross. And he’s always ruining my ideas to be with Nick Mallory and have MY turn in the spotlight!” she hissed.

“Whoever this ‘Nick Mallory’ person is, I see no way he could be attracted to you,” Rarity scoffed, turning up her nose. “Your attitude isn’t deserving of any noble stallion.”

"No offense, but you seem a little clingy," Spike said from his perch on Rarity's back.

“Nick Mallory LOVES me!” Trina shrieked. Her mood had completely flipped from joy to pure anger. “Right, MINA?”

“O-of course, Trina!” the orange Earth pony piped up from the side of the cage.

The pink mare tossed her mane and smiled evilly. “It doesn’t matter what you think, anyway. Soon I’m going to rule the Earth, and EVERYONE is going to love me, whether they like it or not!” A tiny spark issued from her horn and shocked Corey in the muzzle, then Trina stomped away, leaving a cage of confused ponies and a quailing Mina in her wake.

Corey swallowed and took a deep breath. He felt his insides churning, but he knew now that he couldn’t just sit back and watch Trixie take over every single universe ever. Or watch Trina get her crazy hands all over the Earth. “Guys, I never thought I’d say this without…you know, the whole band here…but I’ve got a crazy plan…”

“…that just might work!” Kin and Kon finished together, their eyes lighting up. “There’s the Corey we know!”

Corey wanted to smile, but his heart still wouldn’t let him. “Fluttershy and I are going to pump Mina for information. Everypony else, Twilight will give you the lowdown on what happened with Trixie, and then we’ll meet with everything we’ve got to figure out how to escape. This is about both our worlds now.”

He turned toward Mina’s corner of the cage, and Fluttershy followed him. Her eyes were still wet from her meltdown at Corey’s news. “Do you really think this will work?”

“Mina’s given us information before,” Corey said. “I’m not sure if she knew it was relevant, but she did it. And if she doesn’t, well, that’s what you’re here for.”

He tapped a hoof against the bar by Mina’s head. She leapt about a foot into the air, but turned around, pushing up her glasses. “Oh…Corey. You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Corey apologized. “Hey, just out of curiosity, how much do you know about this Trixie mare?”

“Not a lot, really…she doesn’t tell us much - well, not me, anyway - except that she wants her revenge on Twilight Sparkle and the ponies that mocked her…” Mina said cautiously. “Why?”

“Do you know what it is she and Trina are planning to do with us?”

“I don’t think they’d like me to say anything –”

“Oh, come on,” Corey said. “What are we gonna do about it, anyway? We’re trapped in here. Magically locked in. And don’t we deserve to know how we’re going to…” A picture of Laney’s broken body flashed through his mind, and he faltered for a moment. “…how we’re gonna die?”

Mina gasped in shock. “No! Trixie and Trina wouldn’t…would they? Oh, no, is that what happened to Laney? But they couldn’t have!”

“Don’t you remember all the horrible things Trina did to us back in Peaceville? So much could have backfired,” Corey said firmly. He kept imagining Laney dead and the only way to keep the image out of his head was to stay tunnel-vision focused on what he was doing. “And you helped her with all of them.”

“I didn’t want to! I’m so sorry about everything! I just can’t do anything or Trina will hurt me, too!” Mina wailed, covering her eyes with her hooves and sinking to her knees. “I can’t do any different with her always in my way…”

“Um…excuse me?”

Fluttershy, who had been hiding behind her mane, had spoken up. “I just wanted to say, if you don’t mind, that…that’s my problem too.”

Mina sniffled and looked up. “It is?”

“Yes,” the yellow Pegasus nodded. “It took me a lot of tries, and pushes from my friends, to finally stand up for myself and what I believe in. And now I can pass what I learned on to you.” She smiled, then reached through the bars to place her hoof on Mina’s. “You’ll figure it out.”

“B-but won’t Trina be angry with me if I try to fight her?” the Earth mare whimpered.

“Probably,” Fluttershy said, her voice shaky but strong. “But you’re your own pony – I mean, person – and you deserve to be free of such a rude and unkind mare. Do what you want to do.” She blushed. “Um, if that’s what you want, that is.”

Mina lifted her glasses and wiped her streaming eyes. “Okay…I’ll tell you. But that’s all I’m gonna do,” she whispered, glancing at Trina and Trixie to make sure they weren't looking. "Trina and Trixie have been practicing magic, but Trina's no good at it, so you won't have to worry about her much...is that helpful?" Corey nodded. Mina beamed and continued, “Trina’s also really worried about Nick because we haven’t seen him anywhere this whole time.”

“I personally forgot about Nick,” Corey said. “But then I didn’t have Trina constantly reminding me about his existence all week.”

“You already know that only Trixie can open the cage,” Mina said thoughtfully. “Oh! She really likes to be flattered. And you might be able to use her anger against her.”

“Thanks, Mins,” Corey said. Fluttershy squeezed her hoof one more time, then the two captured ponies trotted back over to the huddle in the middle of the cage.

“Corey,” Twilight said immediately, turning away from a still-yawning Kin. “Tell me again what you said about your world that one night on the train. Besides the fact that you walk on two legs and have, um, hands.”

“Um, we don’t have magic there,” Corey said hesitantly. “What about it?”

“And what did you tell me just now about singing?”

“When I sang, it felt like my bonds were loosening…”

“Exactly!” Twilight clapped her hooves as quietly as possible. “We’re gonna have to sing our way out!”

“And we have the perfect song already,” Kin said, tired but grinning like a maniac. “What song did we write about being trapped in a cage?”

“Stuck in Peaceville Zoo!” Corey said. “ And we don’t even need to worry about new lyrics.”

“There’s only one small problem, sugarcube,” Applejack chimed in. “We don’t know these lyrics.”

“Don’t worry, fair damsel,” Kon said importantly. “We got this.”

The Earth pony began to tap out a rhythm on the metal floor and Kin started humming, but suddenly Corey’s throat was all choked up. There was no way he could be expected to sing. Not anymore.

Grojband didn’t exist without Laney.

A horrible thought flashed through his brain. I'm having mood swings, like Trina. He tried to calm down and go back to his hyper-focused tunnel-vision mode, but it was too late: images he really didn't want to see had already buried him in a wave of pent-up sadness. “I can’t do it, guys,” he gasped. “Not like this.”

Rainbow Dash huffed. “I knew he’d cop out,” she muttered. “All his fault, and I knew he’d cop out.”

The lyrics to Stuck in Peaceville Zoo, at least the beginning ones, suddenly seemed extremely relevant. I’m feelin’ all distraught, held captive in this cage…

How was he going to live without his best friend?

“A little down, Corey Riffin?” Trixie shouted from across the clearing. The portal was still flashing rainbow colors, but now instead of the Earth, Corey saw a blue box flying across a weirdly shaped galaxy. “Missing your little friend? Don’t worry, she’s in a better place now – at the bottom of the ocean!”

Rarity gasped. Fluttershy began to sniffle again.

Corey’s head pounded. For the longest time, he’d been unable to imagine his life without Grojband, but now he was faced with that very problem, as well as a Trina-controlled Earth…he was breathing heavily, he could feel an arm closing protectively around him, then a lot of arms…the others were wrapping themselves around him like a shield…

“Nopony talks to our friend that way,” Twilight said. Corey could tell just from listening that her eyes were blazing. “Nopony.”

The clearing was silent, except for the faint pulsing of the portal in the background.

And then, from a distance, a beautiful melody began to play, one that Corey immediately recognized. It was the song that had played when Trixie had first re-opened the portal. Corey closed his eyes and lost himself in the beautiful music as it came closer and closer. It was probably the last he’d ever hear now that Trina was in charge of Earth forever, so he tried to commit it to memory and make it count…

And then, with the hugest bush-rustle of them all, the music burst into the clearing and karate-kicked Trixie across the face.

Chapter Twenty: Between Worlds

Twilight's mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe her eyes. Twilight, you're dreaming, she thought. You've been dreaming this whole time, and Spike is about to wake you up for breakfast before you read those sixty pages for Princess Celestia.

But she didn't wake up, and she didn't stop seeing what was in front of her.

It was Laney.

Her mouth wasn't moving, and she didn't have an instrument. It was more like the music was leaking out of her pores and melding perfectly with the air all around her, making the very fabric of the forest thrum in time to the melody. What's more, it continued to play as she decked Trina with a blast of energy from her horn, tossing the prissy mare into a tangle of rather prickly-looking vines.

"You?" Trixie snarled, spitting out dirt. "Trixie got rid of you ages ago!"

"Didn't do a good enough job then, I guess," Laney said. Her eyes and jagged sound-wave cutie mark were glowing the same blue as her magical aura.

"Ha!" Trixie powered up her own horn, unleashing a barrage of - were those quills? - at the smaller green mare. "There's no way an otherworlder who hasn't had enough time to learn any truly potent magic can defeat the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Laney didn't even bother with another comeback. She shot another energy blast, then ducked under Trixie's volley of quill-darts to roll behind the portal.

Trixie was back on her hooves, manipulating a drove of vines and thorny branches in an attempt to trap Laney. In contrast, Laney was a blur of fluid motion, the music trilling and pulsing in time with her every movement. "Trina, you idiot, get over here and help Trixie!" the blue mare panted, her eyes hot with fury.

Twilight almost couldn't look away, but Rainbow Dash distracted her by flapping back up to the top of the cage. "Come on! We need to get out of here and help her!" she yelled, giving the metal a good solid buck with her hind hooves.

"She's right," said Applejack. "Trixie's still in Princess-mode, and Ah'm pretty sure distractin' her with the fight is the perfect time fer us to figure out how to shut down that portal."

Rainbow let loose another kick. "I didn't say it was time to stand around and chat! Get your flanks in gear NOW!"

Twilight’s mind raced, piecing together a plan. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Corey gently pushed her out of the way and stepped forward. The stallion who’d been lying and sniffling on the ground mere moments ago had a new fire in his eyes. He looked like a leader.

“Rainbow’s right. There’s no way Trixie will let Laney live again if she beats her. We need to break the cage, and we need to shut that portal down.” He turned to Kon, a smile spreading across his still-wet cheeks. “Kon? Count us in.”

“One! Two! Three! Four!”

Twilight ran to the bars and took up her position again, grabbing them with her magic and pulling them apart as hard as she could. Pinkie followed suit, and one by one the other mares joined them as Grojband sang with renewed strength and hope: “I’m feelin' all distraught, held captive in this cage…All I wanted was a party, now I'm filled with rage! I'm stuck in Peaceville Zoo…where I don't belong…"

The music issuing from the battle grew more intense, pounding and flashing as hard as Vinyl's dubstep and matching up with Corey's tune. Twilight forced her magic to its limits, widening the gap between bars even as Applejack pushed and Mina pulled and Spike breathed flame and Rainbow flapped her wings.

"If I could bust right out of here, I'd show them that they were all wrong!"

In the clearing, Trixie let out a furious scream and conjured a jet of fire that hurtled toward Laney. The green mare only just managed to escape from catching her leg in the multicolored flames. As Trixie’s magic became more and more focused on the battle, though, Twilight could feel the magic holding the bars of the cage together weakening. “One more push…should do it!” she gasped, sending magic through her horn with all her might.

"I tell you it ain't right, to lock a good man down…All I wanted was a party, someone bust me out! I'm stuck in Peaceville Zoo…where I don't belong…"

The top and side of the cage burst apart in a flurry of pink sparks that shimmered in midair and settled on the floor of the clearing. "We did it!" Rainbow Dash yelled over the roar of the music and the wind that had started to pick up. "We really, really did it!"

“It’s not over yet,” Corey shouted back. “That portal’s gotta go! Is there any magic weapon or something that could get rid of it?”

Twilight’s brain was in a fog (for once) but Fluttershy piped up, her voice barely audible over the crunching of rocks against trees. “The Elements! Of course!”

“The Elements…” said Rarity, trying to keep her tail from blowing up above her flanks and mostly failing. “They’re still back in the library, in town!”

Corey nodded. “I figured! Pinkie, Dash, you’re the fastest! Mind running back into Ponyville and getting the Elements back while we give Laney a hoof?”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!”

Rainbow swept up into the air and gave Corey a salute before flying after Pinkie Pie. Twilight’s jaw dropped in shock. What happened to ‘we can’t trust them?’ Corey’s ability as band leader is stronger than I thought!

“Okay, so remember the crazy plan from a minute ago?” Corey said, glancing over Twilight’s head into the clearing. “I have an even crazier one. But I think it’s gonna work too. Kin, Kon, and I are gonna keep providing a soundtrack while the rest of you sneak over and take out Trixie’s minions until she’s fighting Lanes alone. Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike will check out the portal and see if there’s anything else we need to know about it in order to close it up. When the Elements get back is when we start our last stand. Sound good?”

“As good as it’s gonna get,” Applejack said, picking up a vine that Trixie had flung in her direction and coiling it into a lasso. “Dibs on Trina.”

Corey turned to Twilight. “You’ve got this, right?”

Twilight nodded, determined. “Yes, sir.”

Kon struck up another beat, and the group split, leaving Twilight and Spike alone. “Spike, did Trixie mention anything about the portal while she had you prisoner?” Twilight asked, turning toward the portal and feeling the strength of the wind immediately push her backward a few tail-lengths.

“Not much,” Spike said. Twilight could feel his claws digging faintly into her leg – not enough to hurt, but enough to keep him from being blown away. “She didn’t seem to know much about it herself, except that it opened into another world and she could use it to get pretty much anywhere she wanted.”

“What about you? What have you noticed?”

The little dragon thought for a moment. “It seems like that’s normal unicorn magic going through it. If you let me breathe on it, I think I could connect it with Celestia, and you could tell her what happened and ask for help!”

For a split second Twilight froze, remembering her meeting with Celestia in this very clearing. Would the Princess really come if she confessed right now? Would there be any hope of Grojband getting home?

But as she looked out at the clearing – at Applejack, who had Trina in a headlock, and Rarity, who appeared to have hit Snips’ pressure points, and Fluttershy, who was politely asking Snails to continue cowering in the bushes – at Corey, Kin, and Kon, who were singing about “going away” – at Trixie, who was flinging bladed wheels at her target, and Laney, the center of a tornado of white-hot music notes - and at the portal, glowing a thousand colors and tearing at the seams – she realized that if they didn’t stop Trixie, there would be no home for Grojband to go back to anyway.

“Let’s go, Spike,” Twilight said. “We do need the princess right now.”

It took the better part of ten minutes to struggle over to the portal, and by then Trixie had gotten wind of the plan and was fighting Laney plus the other mares all at once. At this point the hole was as wide as a door and as tall as a full grown stallion, with tiny cracks around its edges like it could break apart reality at any moment. It was beautiful and terrifying, and Twilight suddenly felt very small.

“Are you sure you can do this, Spike?” she called over the howling wind. “Since Trixie made your mail come to me, I’m not sure if you can even contact Celestia!”

Spike nodded. “She enchanted the cage, not me! Now that I’m outside, Celestia will get the message for sure!”

“All right.” Twilight planted her hooves and aimed her horn at the portal. Without prompting, Spike took a deep breath and sent a stream of flame into the portal’s heart, turning the magic surrounding it from pink to green.

Nothing happened.

“Seriously? That’s it? No message to Celestia?” Spike scoffed, folding his arms. “We’re doomed!”

“That’s…disappointing.” Twilight leaned forward, studying the swirling lights and colors but seeing nothing of value. “I really hoped there, for a second…”

BAM.

Twilight’s vision went dark. Her head ached like she’d just looked right at a thousand suns, and the sounds of rushing air and distant singing shut off like they’d never been there in the first place. Tiny images, fragments of details of bigger pictures, slipped through Twilight’s brain like water through a sieve, a seemingly endless rush of information coming in through the tiny tip of her horn. It was like she had a library streaming behind her eyes, but she couldn’t actually see it, and she couldn’t hold on to any of the images for more than a second.

If she could have felt her body, she’d have noticed that her head was still leaning in closer and closer, until her muzzle brushed the surface of the portal and she was thrown headlong into nothingness.

Actually, it wasn’t really nothingness. It was a bluish void filled with tiny stars and galaxies, all of them thrumming with a quiet, otherworldly music. Twilight looked around. The only thing there was a path of light that wound around in spirals and went on forever in either direction.

Twilight took a cautious step backward. “Hello? Is anypony here?”

Her voice echoed, but nopony answered.

Her head had stopped hurting, too.

Twilight peered over the edge of the starry path. It looked both as if she would immediately hit solid ground and keep falling forever if she slipped. With careful hooves, she walked forward, trying to make sense of what had happened. She couldn't see any way out, and she couldn't see anywhere to go but forward or back.

It had been hours, or maybe only seconds, before the stars had coalesced into a shape Twilight knew well: that of Princess Celestia.

"Princess?" Twilight whispered, lifting a foreleg in wonder and a little bit of fear. She expected the alicorn to be angry or at least annoyed with her, but the Princess looked calm and serene and not at all inclined to lock Twilight in any Canterlot dungeon.

"My most faithful student," Celestia said kindly. She folded down her wings and stood motionless on the path, her hair flowing as ever in a nonexistent breeze. "Of all the ponies in Equestria, Luna, Cadence, and yourself are the only ones I ever expected to join me in Ouranos."

“Ouranos? That’s Minoan for ‘sky’, isn’t it?” Twilight said automatically.

“That is correct, my little pony. It is nothing and everything at once. It is the dome that holds the entire multiverse, and acts as a bridge for those who wish to travel it. Many have used it to seek power or glory.” Celestia closed her eyes and turned her head upward. If it could be called upward; Twilight wasn’t really sure which direction was which. “Right now, we are in a moment separate from Equis. Time has stopped there. We are here, and we can discuss what you and your friends must do.”

Twilight took a step forward. "Does that mean…you know I'm innocent? And that Grojband is harmless?"

"Indeed I do." The alicorn smiled sadly at Twilight. "But that knowledge came at a great cost. Trixie has trapped myself and Princess Luna in the sun and the moon."

"What?" Twilight gasped. "How is that possible? She only just now started taking over worlds, and she started with Earth, not Equestria!"

"That doesn't mean that she did not prepare," Celestia sighed. "With her heightened power, your disappearance, and the element of surprise on her side, Trixie was able to imprison us in the only places where we might be out of her way."

A horrible wave of guilt washed over Twilight. She and the other Elements hadn't been in Equestria to protect the Princesses, and they'd been incapacitated before the true war could even start. "So you found out that she was at fault when she imprisoned you."

"Yes. That mare does have quite the talent for monologuing. But now, we must defeat her, and return every world she has already conquered to harmony before her imbalance brings down Ouranos and every world it holds along with it."

Twilight stepped closer to her teacher, her ears flattened on her head. "Princess, I have so many more questions. How do we stop Trixie? How did she get so much power in the first place? Was Starswirl the Bearded really wrong? What exactly can Laney do – I mean, not just any pony can survive a fall down a giant cliff!"

"Hush, my student. All will be revealed," the princess said softly. "Unfortunately, we don't have much time, so I must be brief with my explanations.

"You know already that Grojband is from another world." An image of Grojband's planet, Earth, appeared next to Celestia, suspended in the air a little ways off of the path. Twilight stared. It was blue and green, hanging in a starry black space, with swirls of white surrounding it like tiny clouds.

The princess continued, "For them, music is like magic. When it is used well and wisely, millions listen. When it is mistreated, everyone suffers. All have the ability to make it, and Grojband has a special affinity for it. A bubble of it appeared in Equestria, most likely because some of our magic exists through song as well."

"So Starswirl was right after all," Twilight said in awe. "You can still travel from world to world by connecting them with magic from each side. It’s just that magic is different in every world.”

"Indeed," Celestia nodded. "When Trixie allowed the song-magic into Equestria, she created a portal that brought the creatures at the music's source into our world, as well as an imbalance that gave her incredible powers."

"Grojband was the source! And that explains Corey and Laney's sensitivity to magical activity!" said Twilight. She felt giddy, like she always did when she suddenly understood a new theory or tested a new spell.

"Their connection to song-magic is one of the strongest in their world," Celestia confirmed.

"Then how did Laney survive falling off the cliffs by the Golden Gate?" Twilight asked. "It always seemed like Corey was the stronger unicorn until she appeared in the clearing just now."

"She is the heart of Grojband," Celestia said, and a picture of a small red-maned human appeared. Twilight could almost see the creature's resemblance to Laney. "She inspired Corey to create it, and though she lets him take the lead, the band would fall apart without her. She truly is one of the most powerful magicians on Earth. It just took the fall to awaken that talent."

"But how did she survive?"

Celestia banished the pictures with a flash of golden light. "That, I do not know," she said. "You will have to ask her when you return to Equestria."

With a deep breath, Twilight let her mind process everything she'd just learned. It was a lot to take in, but luckily, the unicorn had had a lot of practice with last-minute studying. "Next question. How do we defeat Trixie?"

"Trixie's magic is currently a mixture of Equestria's and this particular version of Earth's," Princess Celestia said, walking down the path the way she had come and beckoning for Twilight to follow with a wingtip. "If left unchecked, her power will continue to grow and widen the imbalance between worlds. To defeat her, you must also combine Equestrian magic and song-magic. By canceling out Trixie's magic, it will restore order to the multiverse."

Twilight nodded. "I'm sure Grojband will have a song we can use."

"No," Celestia said. She stopped and knelt, looking Twilight straight in the eye. "This song must come from the heart."

The unicorn opened her mouth to ask another question, but the starry pattern swirled in Celestia's eyes like she'd already asked too much already and suddenly she was falling, falling through eternity – flashing past castles and evergreens and sunsets and so many other things she lost count, and then she was back in the windy clearing with her face millimeters away from the portal.

Chapter Twenty-One: From the Heart

Corey was beginning to feel exhausted.

He knew it had only been about ten minutes, but their shows were usually pretty short, and it felt like they’d gone through their setlist at least twice (even though it had probably been more like one and a half times). As much as they played and sang, though, Laney’s fight was starting to lag. Corey could see little cuts all over her coat now, the red blending with the green in a grotesquely Christmassy way, her mane blowing out of control in the breeze she herself had created. The music that had been leaking so beautifully out of her was warping into something confused and jumbled.

The girls had tried to help, honestly they had, but fighting an ultra-powerful god-pony without any magical amulets or swords of justice was proving kind of difficult. They’d gotten Trina and the colts, but then Trixie had quickly imprisoned them, one, two, three, four, in thick clusters of crystal and left them to struggle as she returned her attention fully to Laney. “Had enough yet, music mare?” the blue unicorn hissed.

Laney didn’t answer, but the blue of her eyes dimmed a little, and Corey realized that he’d stopped singing. Was there even anything else to sing? They’d exhausted everything with lyrics pretty darn fast.

Small plants shaped like the ends of drills exploded up from the ground beneath Laney. She dodged, but not enough, and one of them caught her in the leg. Corey gritted his teeth as Laney let out a horrible scream, dipping in the air and coming to hover just above the dirt. My magic isn’t powerful enough to help, and our songs aren’t doing anything anymore! What do I do?

Laney wasn’t moving, and Trixie knew an opening when she saw one, because she let out a pulse from her horn that wound a thick green vine around Laney’s neck. Laney gasped for air, her eyes fading from blue to their usual green. "C-Core," she choked, reaching a foreleg out…

There was a wild look in Trixie’s eyes and a triumphant grin on her face. "I told you there was no way you could beat Trixie," she breathed, "and now she'll make sure there's no coming back for you!"

Corey felt himself running, suddenly, toward Trixie and Laney in the center of the clearing, his own horn charged with a pale blue aura. I’ve lost her once, he thought, realizing as he did how cliché it sounded, and I’m not gonna lose her again!

At the same time, Twilight was streaking toward them from the direction of the portal. The two locked eyes, then leapt at Trixie, catching her by surprise. The pale blue mare let out a shriek as Corey shot his tiny energy beam at her, allowing Twilight to knock Laney out of the vine’s grasp. With her magic the violet unicorn pulled the green one out of the way and yelled, "Don't just stand there, get her!" at Spike and the girls, who were shaking free from strands of burnt plant fiber.

Applejack was the first to charge, followed by Rarity. Corey didn't stop to watch them, though. He galloped over to Twilight and let her drape Laney across his back, feeling the little mare’s heart beating in time with his own.

“Did you learn anything?” he asked, keeping an eye on the renewed battle. It probably wouldn’t be long until the others needed their help again, though he did see Kin and Kon holding huge sticks again.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, and not what you’d expect, either. I talked to Princess Celestia in there, and she gave me some really important information we need in order to stop Trixie’s plans.”

Corey stepped a little nearer to the edge of the clearing and knelt, sliding Laney onto the cool forest floor and letting her massage her throat for a moment. “Tell me.”

Twilight quickly explained where she’d been and what the Princess had said. Corey listened as well as he could; he could feel Laney twitching next to him, coughing lightly, breaths coming hard and fast.

“So we were right to get the Elements, anyway. All we need is a heart-song and we’ll be golden,” Twilight finished, eyes blazing almost as brightly as Laney’s had.

“A heart-song is one you write as you go, right?” Corey said hesitantly. He’d been cool with his plan up until now, but honestly, this was a major setback. “Uh, not to burst your bubble, but I am literally the worst at lyrics. I’ve never written anything good in my life.”

“There isn’t time to worry about it,” Twilight said. “I need to go help with Trixie until the Elements get here. I’ll send Kin and Kon over and I know you can work something out. You have to.”

Corey sighed. “Okay. We’ll do our best.”

“That’s the spirit.” Twilight flicked her tail and ran back into the fray, ripping a branch from a tree as she did.

Corey turned to Laney. “How you doing, fella?”

"Let me rest…" Laney mumbled. "I feel dizzy…and sick…"

“I know,” Corey said. “But try to get your energy back up. We have to do this one more time. And I…” he gulped, “will have to write some, uh…killer lyrics.”

“Won’t be able to take them from Trina this time,” Laney murmured.

“Plus they have to come from the heart, and I’m not sure Trina has one.” A large boom resonated through the clearing, courtesy of Twilight; Corey flattened his ears. “But the thing is, even the crappy lyrics I’ve written took ages to think up! How am I supposed to make some pop out of my brain in just a few minutes to fight Trixie?”

Kin, his stick broken down to barely a twig, came rushing over with Kon at his heels. “Twilight just gave us the rundown!” he said, tossing the twig into a nearby bush. “She says you have to make up some lyrics – and fast!”

Kon stepped tentatively over to Laney. “You okay?”

“Don’t feel too great, thanks,” the unicorn said, squeezing her eyes shut. “Just almost died for the second time today.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Kin blurted out, running in place nervously. “Try to think of some words, any words!”

“Uh…I wish away my wishes!” Corey yelled, panicking.

“Already wrote that one,” Laney said.

“Giggle…at the…ghosties?” Corey tried.

“Not even ours!” shouted Kon.

“Come onnnnn!” shrieked Kin.

“I am trying! It is hard to think under this kind of pressure!” Corey snapped.

“You’re usually great at thinking under pressure!”

“This is different!” Corey glanced up again at the battle – Applejack was distracting Trixie with her vine lasso while Twilight and Rarity sent magical blasts at the pale blue mare – and then squeezed his eyes shut. Come on, Corey Riffin, think think THINK…

His mind stayed, unfortunately, blank.

Rarity sent another spear of blue energy at Trixie, then came galloping over to the band. “Twilight told me everything! How’s the song coming?” she asked as she hefted a good-sized rock in her aura.

“It’s not,” Kin growled.

“I suck at this, okay? Lyrics are something I suck at,” Corey retorted. “I’m trying my best though. Now shut up and let me think!”

Rarity lobbed the rock in the general direction of the action. “Try to calm down! I understand, a heart-song is no easy task. You need have the right emotions at the right moment to make one happen. My friends and I are only so good at it because we’re connected to the Elements of Harmony,” she said, giving Corey a quick pat on the shoulder. “You just give it a few moments and something’s sure to come along.”

“Yeah, Corey! You’ve got this!” Kon cheered.

Corey felt a trickle of sweat drip down his face and glanced back at Laney. She was smiling crookedly at him. He could tell she was still hurt, but she was trying to encourage him nevertheless.

“You can do it, Core,” she whispered. “I believe in you.”

Corey strained his brain again, but nothing jumped out at him. He kept getting distracted by other thoughts; thoughts of being utterly destroyed by Trixie, thoughts of submitting to Trina’s diabolical will, of never playing music again… Sweet mother of grilled cheese, how the heck am I gonna do this?

“We’ll try to help, dear,” Rarity said quickly when Corey stayed quiet. “Twilight said the song had to come from the heart of the band, so try thinking about what’s at the center of the band that connects all of you!”

Something sparked in Corey’s mind. A memory, of himself and Laney sitting on a bench in sixth grade. Hey, Core, she’d said. What if we started a band?

“I’ve got it,” he said.

Kin jumped about ten feet into the air. “Got what?! Whatdidyoufigureout?!?”

“It isn’t about the heart in a mushy way,” Corey said, eyes glittering, “It doesn’t mean that the lyrics have to come from my heart. It means someone else. The actual heart of Grojband.”

Rarity’s jaw dropped. Corey swore he heard an audible squee as she realized what he meant. “Of course! The pony – er, person – who brought your band together, and who keeps you in harmony together as a team!”

“There’s only one person like that,” Corey said, turning to his best friend. “Only one person I trust to be like that. So…Lanes, do you have some lyrics in you?”

Laney coughed in surprise. “What? Me?” she said. “Look at the condition I’m in! There’s no way I could sing a note, let alone a whole song. And lyrics? Forget it!”

"Lanes, we can't do this without you," Corey said firmly. "This fight's not over yet. Our world needs you! Plus, everyone else is getting creamed out there.” (He was right; Applejack was wheezing so hard she had to stop fighting, Fluttershy appeared to have fainted, and Kin’s stick was now basically a twig.)

Laney blinked and stared Corey down with the look she usually used to try to convince him that one of his plans was bad. "No you don't. Didn't you see me out there? Trixie already beat me. I'm useless."

“No, Lanes! You’ve actually held out the longest against her!”

“What if I’m worse at lyrics than you are? What if I just make Trixie stronger and she demolishes the universe instead of conquering it?” Laney was on the verge of tears. Corey was suddenly aware that he’d never seen her really cry. “I can’t do it. I just can’t…”

"Yes, you can," Corey said firmly. He felt butterflies in his stomach. Laney hadn’t ever looked at him like this either, like she didn’t have any confidence left, and it was painful. She looked washed out and wrong and sick. Corey’s brain was working faster than he could process, trying to make sense of it all but failing horribly, so he fell back on the one thing he’d secretly wanted to do for only the gods of Mount Rocklympus knew how long:

He brushed a lock of Laney’s mane from her injured face and kissed her, tenderly, on the lips.

When they broke apart, Corey’s face and neck were bright red, and Laney seemed like she’d become out of focus with the rest of the world. One of her cuts had opened back up, and Corey bent down to brush a trickle of blood away with his foreleg. "You know…it isn’t just the universe that needs you right now,” he murmured in Laney’s ear. “I need you.”

Laney gulped, eyes shut again, hiccupping a little like she’d lost the knowledge of how to breathe correctly. For a second Corey thought Oh no, I broke her. Then she calmed down, and something was different – Corey wasn’t sure what.

"Corey…"

"Yeah?"

The eyes opened. They were glowing blue.

"I need you too."

Corey couldn’t look away. At least, not until Kin let out a little, awkward cough. “Not to ruin the moment, but SHE’S KIND OF BEATING THE OTHERS!”

Sure enough, Trixie had Fluttershy, Mina trapped in a web of pink lines, and Applejack was hanging by her hind legs from a tall tree. Twilight was still engaged in a magic duel, but Trixie clearly had the upper hand and was using twists of rainbow to stab at Twilight, laughing like it was some kind of irony. What’s more, Trina had woken up, and stood groggily next to Trixie as if trying to look intimidating too.

“It’s all right! I’ll hold them off for a few more minutes. You four collect yourselves and get a good song going, all right?” Rarity said, stamping her hoof like a bullfighter and hefting her rock. “Once the Elements get here we’ll have an even bigger advantage, so let’s make every second…” The unicorn paused, looking straight into Corey’s worried eyes, and took a deep breath.

“Corey, I – I’m sorry I’ve come on so strong to you this past week. You and Laney…are perfect for each other…” Her own eyes welled up with tears, and she took a deep breath, composing herself. “And I apologize for not realizing it sooner.”

With a loud CRUNCH, Rarity uprooted another rock and began to run back to the still-raging pony battle. “Good luck!” was her final comment before she was out of earshot.

Corey watched her go, then smiled as reassuringly as possible at Laney. “Do I need to set up an inspirational hum for you?”

“No thanks,” Laney said, rolling her eyes. “I just, you know, hope I’m good enough.”

“You will be,” Corey said, cutting her off. “The fate of the multiverse rests in our hooves, but Grojband never quits –”

“Ah-ah-ah!” Kin said. “You were just about to give up yourself!”

“Okay, Kin…” Corey facehoofed. “Now is not the time! I’m trying to give a speech!”

“Point taken.”

“Okay, the thing is, we all have stuff we’re good at. Kon’s a drummer, Kin’s a genius, and I’m the front man. But Laney – you’re the heart. You keep us together, even when we fight or get a little too crazy. And, well, we love you for it.”

Laney’s eyes flared blue. “Um, I…”

“I already had this conversation with you, like a minute ago. So, let’s do this!” Corey said, putting a hoof on Laney’s shoulder.

The green mare hesitated, then nodded, once, a smile and a blush creping across her face at the same time. “Yeah. Let’s shred.”

“And have no fear, because we’re here to back you up!” Kon said excitedly.

Everyone looked at Corey. “Well?” Kin asked. “Are you going to say it or not?”

Corey knew exactly what they were talking about. He grinned. “By the power of rock –” A flare lit up the clearing just about as brightly as it had lit up when Laney had first appeared, but the light was blue and came distinctly from the band instead of all around. “GROJBAND UNITE!”

When the light faded, Corey realized that there was a weight hanging from his chest. He looked down and saw a shiny red guitar, just like the one he had at home, strapped onto his shoulders. “Sweet!” he said, looking around. Kin’s keyboard, Kon’s drums, and Laney’s bass had also appeared around them. “I wasn’t sure that was gonna work – but it did!”

“Do your thing, Laney!” Kin said, setting his hoof on the keys and proving that he could play chords just as well as if he had hands.

Laney gulped and pulled a pick out of the guitar’s neck with her magic. “Hey, Trixie!” she called, her voice sounding way more confident that she probably was. “Leave them alone!”

“Or what?” the blue mare taunted. Even Rarity and Twilight were trapped now, bridled by rainbows and struggling as hard as they could. Trina smirked next to her and echoed, “Yeah, or what?”

“Or you’ll be in for a world of hurt, ‘cause I’m not letting you walk free this time!” Laney strummed an E minor with the pick, and a huge blue sound wave rippled out and distorted the air. “Ever heard of a heart-song?”

“Of course Trixie has, but those are one of the most pathetic forms of emotional magic. They’re unreliable, never happen when one wants them to, and aren’t a weapon whatsoever! Surely you don’t think a heart-song is going to stop Trixie from her conquest of the multiverse?” Trixie cackled.

“Not the song, exactly,” Laney said, strumming the guitar again. Corey could tell she was sort of improvising, but she didn’t falter. “More like the lyrics. Count us in, Kon!”

The drummer, somehow clutching the sticks easily in his Earth pony hooves, pounded out a simple starting beat. “Go, Grojband! You can do it!” Rarity called encouragingly, until Trixie silenced her with a zipper to the lips.

A soft tune wormed its way into Corey’s brain. It sounded familiar, though he couldn’t quite place it, but somehow he knew exactly what he was expected to do with it. Heart-song magic, maybe? he thought as he began to pluck out the melody on his guitar with his own pick. Whatever it is, it’s probably best to roll with it. Especially since Kin’s playing along too. And Kon’s drum line is getting stronger…

“Louder,” Laney whispered out of the side of her mouth to the band, then turned back to Trixie. The unicorn had conjured a humongously poofy couch to recline on, apparently thinking that the song would be a laugh before she finished taking over every single world ever created. Trina clambered up next to her, ponytail flapping in the breeze that had started up.

Laney’s eyes still shone blue, and the rich tone of her bass joined the rest of the band’s playing. There was something comforting about the music, even though it was upbeat; it made Corey want to dance, but just sit and listen at the same time. He poured all his love for Grojband, for his new pony friends, for Kin and Kon and Laney into his playing until he was totally into it.

It was still a surprise to him when Laney started to sing.

“It might sound like a lie, but I have never been too brave

I hide behind a tough-girl shell, my reputation’s saved

I’m always searching for a way to let my true self free

Something has been missing but I’ve finally found the key…”

Corey saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie peek their heads out of yet another bush, their eyes wide. Belatedly, he looked down and noticed that arcs of blue electricity and sound waves were pounding off the instruments as the band played. Trying to ignore it, he mouthed to the hidden ponies, “Get over to the others while she’s distracted!”

Laney kept singing: “Dear Princess hear my song

I’ve righted what was wrong

I’ve found a place to turn

I told the truth

So lesson learned…”

Rainbow’s eyes widened, but she and Pinkie didn’t stop moving stealthily toward the portal, a number of golden necklaces hanging around their necks and a big crown thingy perched on Pinkie’s head. In contrast, Corey slid back into the music’s spell, letting the tune and lyrics wash over his senses as both intensified. Chorus must be coming up –

“I can’t let me hold me back anymore

Love and friendship mean so much more

Those you care for will always hold your hands

They’ll follow you and all your crazy plans

And so, with the magic that I’ve gained

Now I say:

You no longer reign!”

A larger wave of sound blew out of the drum set on the final word, pushing Trixie and Trina deeper into the fluffy confines of their couch. Across the clearing, the ponies (except Mina) were all wearing their necklaces and surrounding the portal, waiting for the right moment to harmony-blast it. He wasn’t sure how Pinkie and Rainbow had freed them from Trixie’s traps, probably something to do with the Elements, but it wasn’t important right now. Corey slid his hoof down the neck of the guitar and moved back into the melody of the verse.

“I might get scared and try to slip behind my fragile mask

To be myself is such a difficult and daunting task

But my friends will always be there to help me when I’m down

They’ll pick me up and dust me off and wipe away my frown.”

Laney tossed her mane and fixed her glowing blue eyes on Trixie, who seemed to be frozen in her seat. “Dear Trixie did you know –

To learn you have to grow

You can’t just have it all

Pride always comes

Before a fall…”

Corey played a huge and impressive riff, then realized where he recognized the song from. Laney had been playing the instrumental version in the hot garage just before they’d arrived in Equestria.

“I can’t let me hold me back anymore

Love and friendship mean so much more

Those you care for will always hold your hands

They’ll follow you and all your crazy plans

And so, with the magic that I’ve gained

Now I say:

You no longer reign!”

Corey found himself remembering more things as he played, like all the times he’d had his own crazy plans and Laney had supported him, even when the idea had seemed kind of stupid. He remembered when they’d been little kids and goofed off together in Laney’s front yard, when they’d played their first gig at the Ashton Town Talent Show, when they’d pretended to be in love so that they could play the wedding at Barney’s Cake Barn...

He remembered how he felt when that stuff happened, but he remembered how Laney felt too, as if the music was letting him know her true emotions. She was always the tough one, which was why they picked on her and called her a dude all the time, but she had a soft and brave and loving center that would never allow her to let the band down. Her determination washed across the clearing like a wave of water.

“Honesty, kindness, generosity–”

Corey gasped aloud. When Laney sang the words of the bridge, the necklaces around the ponies’ necks – the Elements of Harmony – began to light up. Applejack’s was glowing orange, Fluttershy’s pink, and Rarity’s purple. Their eyes were glowing too, exactly the same color as their necklaces.

“Joy and laughter, loyalty…”

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash’s necklaces lit up. Behind Corey, a thud and a sound wave erupted from Kon’s drums; when the unicorn turned, he saw that Kon’s drumsticks and eyes were glowing blue.

“Magic, brains, the skill to lead,

And the heart that beats for all of these…”

Twilight and Kin’s Element and instrument exploded with light, and then Corey felt an odd sensation around his own eyes, as if everything had dimmed and the only thing that mattered was continuing to jam out on his guitar. Another huge flash of light radiated out from Laney’s body, along with a rush of music in different languages and styles that, rather than hurting the tune, added another beautiful layered tone to it all…

“Dear Princess, I just wanna say

We’re gonna fight the Grojband way!” Laney shouted.

“I can’t let me hold me back anymore

Love and friendship mean so much more

Those you care for will always hold your hands

They’ll follow you and all your crazy plans

And so, with the magic that I’ve gained

Now I say:

You no longer reign!”

With the last word, a column of rainbow light burst out of the Elements of Harmony and slammed into the portal, wrapping around it and then zapping over to Trixie and combining with the dozens of sound waves that already held the mare captive on her couch. If Corey’s eyes weren’t alight, he didn’t think he’d have been able to watch as the rainbow encircled the blue unicorn, dancing when the music made disturbances in the air and whirling like Laney’s tornado from less than an hour earlier.

Trixie rose into the air within the confines of the rainbow. Corey could hear her screaming, but only faintly through the music and wind. He realized that he’d stopped playing the guitar, but the music had continued.

He had no time to wonder about it before the portal shattered.

Liquid glass and pure auric magic went flying, and the trees bent backward under the force of the wind. Corey’s emotions were vascillating again, from elation to fear to rage and back to elation again. He felt the light in his eyes flicker.

Then, as if caught by a fast-moving camera, time seemed to stop. The rainbow uncurled from Trixie and disappeared back into the Elements, while the music quieted into a whisper of notes before flickering out altogether. The clearing was silent.

Trixie lay in the middle where the poofy couch had been, horn smoking and eyes leaking gritty, sooty tears.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Aftermath

There was dead silence in the clearing.

Twilight exhaled as the powerful magic disappeared back into her crown, feeling the pressure behind her eyes fade away. She hadn’t expected such a huge upsurge of power, even from Grojband’s heart-song, and the rush of exhilaration that always accompanied a successful spell wasn’t wearing off anytime soon.

“That…was…AWESOME!”

Rainbow Dash flew up into the air, eyes wide with amazement. “I had no IDEA you guys could do something like that! Heart-songs are usually kind of boring, but…”

“I agree, it was most impressive,” Rarity said, her skin flushing the tiniest bit under her white fur. “I knew Elaine – er, Laney – could do it.”

“And for that, you have our thanks.”

With a start, Twilight turned. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood at the edge of the clearing, their wings unfurled and their faces graced with dazzling smiles. If it was possible, the clearing got quieter. Mina gaped, and even Rainbow Dash flapped slowly back down to the ground in the presence of the rulers of Equestria.

“Laney, Corey, Kin, and Kon, I sincerely apologize for my actions toward you and Twilight when you first entered our world,” Celestia said, stepping toward Laney and lowering her head. “It was wrong of me to judge you before I even knew your intent. I have dealt with…complications from other worlds before, and though you brought trouble with you, you also had the means to destroy it.”

The band exchanged a glance. “Oh, uh, okay,” Laney said, a little uncertainly. “Thanks.”

“And Twilight,” the princess continued. “If you hadn’t stood up for and protected these ponies, the entire multiverse may have suffered greatly. You and your friends were very brave to do so.”

“Oh, it was nothing, Princess, really,” Twilight said, turning a little red herself. Trust me to have a hard time taking compliments at a moment like this…

Kin and Kon were staring at the princesses with their mouths wide open – as if they hadn’t seen Celestia before! Please – while Corey buffed his hooves on his chest fur. “Seriously, though. You should have seen everyone. We were like, bam! Pow! Magical musical rainbow!”

The sun princess laughed. “I believe I could enjoy myself in your company, Corey Riffin.”

“Speakin’ of ‘magical musical rainbows’,” Applejack said pointedly, “Ah think we all are wonderin’ what the hay just went on there.”

“Twilight may have told you a little bit about how Trixie let Grojband into our world,” said Princess Luna. “When she did so, the heart-song left her powers refreshed, rejuvenated, and highly advanced. It became almost as powerful as alicorn magic, certainly enough to overcome it if the alicorn is caught unawares, as we were.”

“We believe that she planned to enact revenge upon you, Twilight, before expanding her plan to include taking over the entire multiverse,” Celestia continued, “but why, we are not so sure.”

Twilight felt her blush return in full force. It must have been because of that Ursa Minor fiasco…I didn’t know she’d hold such a grudge!

“Grojband’s song-magic was infused with Trixie’s Equestrian auric magic when she set it free here,” Princess Celestia said, bowing her head so that the tip of her horn touched Laney’s. “To defeat her, a similar combination was necessary, and all of you came together perfectly to do so.”

Princess Luna walked over to Trixie. The pale blue mare’s mane was tangled, her coat smeared with dust, and tears left grimy tracks down the fur on her cheeks. “Trixie Lulamoon, you have committed crimes against Equestria, as well as many other worlds, that have never been attempted on such a large scale. It is only by the powers of Grojband and of the Elements of Harmony that balance has been restored in all those worlds and in this one. The Elements have stripped you of all magic, Equestrian or otherwise – a fitting punishment, due to the circumstances.”

Trixie sniffled.

“Is there anything you have to say for yourself?” Princess Celestia asked.

Trixie buried her head in her hooves.

“She dreamed of remaking the worlds in her image, sister,” Luna said softly. “If she had succeeded, I do not know what we would have done.”

Twilight suddenly felt a horrible nagging guilt in her stomach. “Princess Celestia?”

The princess turned. “Yes, my little pony?”

“If it’s not too dangerous…and if everypony else agrees with me…would it be all right if we just let Trixie go?”

“WHAT?” Rainbow Dash’s wings snapped open, sending her into the air once again. “This mare tried to take over the world, Twilight! All the worlds! And you want to just let her walk free?”

“I’m afraid I agree with Rainbow, darling,” Rarity said. “Trixie is too much of a threat.”

“I had to write my own lyrics to take her down!” Laney argued.

Twilight’s ears flattened indignantly on her head. “She’s been stripped of her magic! She couldn’t even lift a quill if she tried. Besides, this whole problem came of us – well, except Grojband – not giving her a second chance in the first place. She made a few mistakes, but we all hated her right away instead of trying to bring out the best in her. It wouldn’t be fair to just make her more sad and angry.” Especially when I would have felt the same way in her situation.

She looked at her friends. Laney, Applejack, and Rainbow still looked skeptical, but Kon was nodding, and Fluttershy had a faint smile at the corners of her mouth. “Yes, please, Princess,” the yellow Pegasus said softly. “Everypony deserves a little mercy.”

Princess Celestia thought for a moment, then nodded her head, gesturing for Luna to step aside. “I hoped you would say such a thing. Trixie has gone through enough punishment with the loss of her power and her future. I think a dose of the magic of friendship would be more beneficial for her than the magic of the Canterlot dungeons.”

The purple unicorn let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Thank you so much, Princess Celestia!”

Celestia’s horn glowed, and Trixie vanished in a burst of golden light. “I’ll let her rest for a while in a room at Canterlot Castle, and then release her into your care,” she told Twilight. “I’m sure you’ll be able to keep her under control.”

Rainbow let out an audible grumble, but other than that there were no objections.

“I would invite you to the castle for a celebration,” Celestia said, “but I don’t think anypony else knew how close Equestria was to being conquered by an extremely powerful and theatrical mare. Also, you all look like you’re in need of some rest. Please return to Ponyville and take some time to relax.”

“But what about us?” Corey suddenly asked. “We left the zebras. How will we get home now?”

Princess Luna smiled at the orange colt. “I think you’ll find that ponies besides yourselves know how to follow magical trails. You were tracked by four members of the Umawe tribe. They should arrive in Ponyville in less than two days, and they can perform the ritual needed to send you back to your own world.”

“Awesome!” Kin yelled, high-hoofing his brother.

Twilight watched Corey and Laney hug. It was great to see them this happy, but she suddenly remembered how much she was going to miss them, no matter how quirky they could be. Had it really only been a week since they’d met?

“Good luck with your return to your own world,” Luna said, nodding to Grojband. “Perhaps our paths will cross again someday.”

The smaller alicorn turned and took off into the early morning sky. As Princess Celestia began to follow, Twilight stepped forward. “Princess…thanks again. For letting Trixie go.”

The princess wrapped a wing around her student, giving her another warm smile. “No, Twilight. Thank you, for seeing what I could not.”

As she watched Celestia and Luna fly toward Canterlot, Twilight could feel another blush heating up her face. Geez, every time she praises me I come away a little more embarrassed than before.

“Laney, are you all right?” Fluttershy asked. The little green mare was standing next to Corey and staring into the distance, her eyes wide. Twilight thought she looked a little insane.

“Me? Oh, no, I’m fine,” Laney said, snapping out of her daze. “I’m just a little exhilarated. I mean, I just wrote a song at the drop of a hat, and it combined with some other magic, took someone’s magical powers away, and saved the world. That’s kind of hard to believe.”

“Really? I do that all the time!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.

Laney blinked.

“Don’t worry, sugarcube. She’s just bein’ Pinkie Pie,” Applejack laughed. “Though we do seem to be facin’ a lot of enemies lately.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Twilight asked. “That really is a lot to take in.”

Laney nodded, leaning on Corey’s side and nuzzling her face into his fur. “Yep. In fact, I’m probably better than I’ve been in a long time.”

Corey looked down at her, surprised, then returned the nuzzle. “It took you pretty much dying,” he said softly. “I should have realized it sooner.”

“Hey, it just goes to show how much of a softy you are inside,” Laney teased. Then she turned to Twilight. “The question is, are you all going to be okay, watching after Trixie?”

“It’s going to be tough,” Twilight admitted. “But the princess is right. Better to have her surrounded by friends than alone in a dungeon where she might just plan more revenge.”

Laney laid her head back on Corey’s side. It seemed to Twilight that everything had gone well. Corey and Laney had finally addressed their feelings for each other, Rarity didn’t seem to be pining after the stallion anymore, and it looked like Twilight would be gaining a new friend in one way or another. For a moment she just let the sound of her happy friends wash over her, soaking in the victory and the feeling of happiness that radiated from the center of the clearing.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, the unicorn saw another pony lying in a messy pile by the overhanging rock. The sight of its pink coat at first made her think Pinkie Pie? But the party-loving mare was talking to Kin, Kon, and Rarity a mile-a-minute. It wasn’t for another few seconds that Twilight remembered Trixie’s sidekick – Corey’s sister, Trina.

Trina stirred, holding a hoof to a tennis-ball-sized lump on the side of her head. “Ow…what happened? MINA! SNIPS! SNAILS! ANSWERS! NOW!”

The clearing went silent again, and everypony looked at Trina. Mina shrunk back into a ball at the back of the crowd. Snips and Snails, on the other hoof, were nowhere to be found.

“I saiidddd…MINA! WHERE ARE YOU?”

Even injured, Trina was a formidable force of anger. She had already gotten to her feet and was glaring in Mina’s direction – apparently she was pretty good at picking the orange mare out in a group. “Get over here! We’re getting out of this, um, thing, and going to find Nick Mallory!”

Mina trembled, but Twilight saw Fluttershy give her hoof a squeeze. “Remember – stand up for yourself. You’re your own pony,” the Pegasus whispered. “You can do this.”

Gulping, Mina stood and walked gingerly out of the group. “T-Trina,” she stammered.

“Yeah?” Trina yawned. “Actually, don’t tell me. Let’s just leave already.”

The Earth pony didn’t move. Twilight could tell that she was shivering, but she stood her ground. “No,” Mina said, taking a deep breath and letting it out. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

The pink unicorn paused from smoothing her mane down and stared. “ExCUSE me?” she snapped, slamming a hoof into the dirt.

“You heard me,” Mina said, her composure slipping the tiniest bit. “I’m staying here.”

“WHAT? WHY?”

“Because these ponies have been more friendly to me than you’ve ever been. And so have your brother and his friends! In fact, so has almost everyone I’ve ever met!” Mina’s voice grew stronger with every word. Twilight trotted forward to back her up, and she could feel the others following her. “So I’m going with them. They have a way to get home, and I’m gonna use it. And when I get there, I’m not hanging out with you anymore.”

Trina snorted and stomped her hoof again. “Yeah, right! You’ve been my friend since, like, ever. You can’t just quit on a friend!”

Mina shook her head. “Maybe I’ve been your friend, but you’ve never really been mine. I think this is fair enough.”

There was another explosion of sound. Laney patted Mina on the back, and Fluttershy hugged Mina around the middle, saying “I knew you could do it!”

Twilight looked back around at Trina. “You’re welcome to come with us, too, as long as you behave yourself. Ponyville won’t take kindly to you if you don’t take kindly to Ponyville.”

“Speaking of Ponyville, shouldn’t we be heading back?” Rarity asked. “I’d quite like to check on my shop – and I’ve missed Sweetie Belle…”

“And Ah’m sure mah brother and sister will be glad to have me back, too,” Applejack said.

“But won’t we miss the zebras?” Laney asked, raising a hoof as if she was in class.

“Of course not, silly!” Pinkie giggled. “Even if they didn’t follow the magical trail Twilight left, Zecora knows that we live in Ponyville! They’ll probably show up tomorrow – which means…”

Kin and Kon jumped up and down. “What? What does it mean?”

“It means…there’s plenty of time for me to throw a Goodbye-to-Grojband, Thanks-for-Saving-All-Of-The-Multiverse Party!”

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Twilight watched Corey and Vinyl Scratch bob their heads to the newly recorded “Overthrown” – what Laney had decided to call her song. Frankly, Twilight had been surprised when she’d agreed to record it, but rest of the band had been very enthusiastic, so she supposed Laney had given in for them.

It was Grojband’s final day in Equestria, and later the party of zebras who had arrived in Ponyville, including Zecora and Zuri, were going to perform the ritual that would send them home. Before that, though, Pinkie had insisted on throwing them a party, so the entire town had gathered in the square to celebrate something they didn’t fully understand.

But Twilight and her friends did, and that was what mattered.

Everypony had stayed at the library that night, and the zebras had arrived in the morning, and after that Pinkie had volunteered all of them to help with the party setup, so no one had really been home except Twilight and Pinkie. Applejack was a bit miffed about that, but everyone else, even Rainbow Dash, was pleased to have a little more time with Grojband. In the short time they’d been in Equestria, they’d really become quite close.

Twilight stood by the punch table with Fluttershy and Mina, sipping at a mug of apple cider. “You know, apart from the world being in danger, this last week has been pretty fun,” she said, smiling.

“I suppose,” Fluttershy said. “I’m just glad to be home.”

“You will miss us though, right?” Mina asked.

“Of course I will! But while we were in zebra country, I missed my animals, and the way the sun hits the windows in the morning, and my relaxing spa day with Rarity, and Angel’s tail-fluffing day…”

Twilight spotted Rarity and Rainbow Dash bickering quietly about something by Town Hall. Applejack was sticking her head in a bucket of apples while Kin and Kon watched, Zuri was showing Laney and Corey how to braid grass, and Pinkie bounced around to check up on all the guests like she normally did. Everything was as close as it could be to being normal.

She’d even written a letter to the princess about what she’d learned:

Dear Princess Celestia,

This week I learned a lot of different lessons about friendship. I learned that you can make friends with ponies from very different places than you, even when they seem weird or untrustworthy to others. I learned that even the most beaten down ponies can stand up for themselves if they get help from a friend. And I learned that sometimes you can’t see what you feel for a pony until you lose that pony – and that sometimes it’s hard to work through the pain when you do. But if you keep going, sometimes friends might just surprise you.

I know that normally ponies don’t return from the dead. I asked Laney how she did it, and even she doesn’t know exactly what happened – something involving music, and stopping in the middle of her fall. She probably didn’t actually die, either. I’m going to study up on it. But you can lose a friend in other ways, and it can still be hard. Sometimes, though, those friends can show their worth and redeem themselves for not just you, but everyone. And that is the greatest gift of all.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

“Excuse me, Twilight, but do you mind? Grojband is playing hard to find,” Zecora said, appearing at Twilight’s shoulder and knocking her out of her reverie.

The unicorn gave a sheepish smile. “Oh – yeah, sorry. Fluttershy, would you and Mina round up everypony? It looks like the zebras are ready. And don’t forget, you don’t need to find Trina – she’s already in the library.”

The two mares nodded and scattered. Twilight turned back to Zecora. “Thanks for all your help,” she said, setting down her mug. “If not for you, I’m not sure how Grojband would get home.”

“We were happy to assist. I understand they will be missed.”

Twilight sighed. “Of course. But it was good to know them for even this short a time.”

The pair stood in silence for a minute, looking out over the vast crowd dancing in the plaza. It was weird to look out at the same old Ponyville and feel something different in the air, that deep down somewhere, things wouldn’t be quite the same as before. Twilight glanced at Zecora again. “Are you going to go back with the Umawe?” she asked. “In some ways, it seemed like you might be needed there.”

“I have decided to return to the tribe, for I too have felt this vibe,” the zebra said, nodding her head gravely. “But I will visit, so do not fret. You have not seen the last of me yet.”

It didn’t take long for Fluttershy and Mina to return with most of Twilight’s friends and all of the band members. Twilight could feel the electricity of excitement surrounding the group, but it was tinged with sadness. The joy of Grojband’s return was going to be a little bittersweet on both sides of the portal.

The group started walking in the direction of the library, but they’d barely gotten a few yards when Laney reached up to tug on Corey’s beanie. “We totally forgot!” the green mare said. “Nick Mallory! He’s nowhere to be found.”

“Neither is Applejack,” Rarity noted. “Perhaps she’s still looking for him?”

As if by magic, Applejack came thundering up the cobblestones, her Stetson barely clinging to her head. “Gals,” she panted, “mah brother found somepony Ah think y’all should probably know about.” Pointing a hoof behind her, the Earth pony took a second to catch her breath. “They’ll be along…just a minute.”

Sure enough, a pair of stallions were walking toward them, one with the familiar red coat of Big Mac, the other a brown Pegasus with a red-and-green-striped mane and tail. Kin squinted. “Is that…”

“Who I think it is?” Kon squealed.

“It’s Nick Mallory!” Mina said. “I’d know that attractive smirk anywhere!”

The stallions approached. It was then that Twilight noticed that Nick had his wing wrapped around Big Mac’s back. “Boys,” Applejack said, “is there somethin’ you’d like to tell Grojband?”

The corners of Nick’s mouth twitched slightly. “Nick Mallory’s going to stay in Equestria,” he said in a medium-speed drawl.

“He sounds like Trixie,” Rainbow Dash whispered to Twilight.

Corey cocked his head, confused. “Uh, that’s great, but…why?”

“Nick likes apples,” Nick said.

“What?”

“Nick likes apples,” Nick repeated, gazing fondly into Big Mac’s eyes. “But only the red kind.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said, nuzzling the Pegasus on the nose.

“That is weird,” said Kin to no one in particular.

Corey, however, turned to Laney and grinned. “I can’t wait to see how Trina reacts to this.”

With the newly established couple tagging along, the group arrived at the Golden Oak, where the final goodbyes began. Hugs were passed out all around and, in the case of Pinkie Pie, final slices of cake or glasses of punch. Rainbow Dash and Laney shared one final hoof bump, and Kin and Kon gave Applejack something they called an Oreo hug (whatever that meant). Mina and Fluttershy hugged softly. “Thanks for everything,” Mina said. “I’d never have stood up to Trina without you.”

“Oh, it was nothing, really…” Fluttershy murmured, but Twilight saw the ghost of a smile on her lips. She turned to Laney next. “I’m going to miss you, too.”

Laney smiled, but couldn’t seem to think of anything to say. She accepted Fluttershy’s hug with a happy little sob.

When she came up to Corey, Rarity put her hoof on his. “Once again, I’m very sorry for all my attempts to get you to notice me,” she said, flicking a tendril of her mane out of her eyes. “I see now that Laney’s the mare for you.”

Corey blinked. “Oh, that’s what that stuff meant. Hey, no harm done.”

Twilight got a little teary herself when she said goodbye to Corey and Laney. “I made something special for all of you,” she said, pulling a tightly wrapped scroll out of her saddlebags, which lay in a heap on the ground. Corey took it in his hoof. “It’s sheet music for ‘Overthrown’,” Twilight continued, “so you can play it when you get home. So you won’t forget.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” Corey said, a grin spreading across his face. “But just so you know, there’s no way we’re gonna forget this. Ever.”

Zecora pushed open the library door. “Would you care to come in? Then the ceremony can begin.”

With one last group hug for everypony, Corey, Laney, Kin, and Kon followed the zebra into the darkened tree. “Thanks again for everything!” Twilight heard the orange stallion call.

“No, thank you!” Twilight called back, but the door had closed. The unicorn turned back to her friends and noticed that every one of them had glistening eyes.

The last she heard of Grojband, besides the singing of the zebras and the thrum of the portal, was a loud scream that might have come from Trina.

Corey groaned and opened his eyes, blinking out the bright light that shone above him.

Where am I?

There were faint murmurs coming from his right, then circling around to the left. Corey tried to sit up, but something felt different – the shape of his spine, the orientation of his arms and legs, how he could no longer feel the thrum of magic in the middle of his forehead. He brought up his hand to rub the crust out of his eyes.

Wait…he had hands.

The blue-haired boy pushed with all his might until he was sitting on his butt, shaking his head to clear his vision and hearing. The voices grew louder, and he realized that he recognized one of them: that of his doppelgänger, Carrie Beff.

“I don’t even – what the heck, Riffin?” Carrie yelled, throwing up her arms (but carefully, so as not to mess up her nicely tuned guitar). “Where did you even come from?”

Corey ignored her, instead scanning the area for his bandmates. He squinted – wait, no, those are the Newmans – and finally saw Kin, Kon, and Laney, laying in another dog pile a little ways behind him. There were some pretty rocking posters on the walls, and a sweet beanbag chair, but he didn’t recognize anything, except maybe a soft noise coming from outside the wooden walls.

“Is this your garage?” Corey asked, a little woozily.

“What do you care?” Carrie said, scowling. “I asked you, where did you even come from?”

“I know.” Corey experimentally wiggled his fingers, then raised himself to his feet. He was a little wobbly, but it wouldn’t take long to get used to being his beautiful old self again. Plus, we’ve got our clothes back! Phew, I was hoping this wouldn’t have to be any more awkward.

Carrie opened her mouth to ask something else, but Kin and Kon’s eyes snapped open and the pair leapt to their feet. “Did it work?” Kin asked.

“You bet it worked! We’re back in Peaceville, baby!” Corey exclaimed, taking a cautious step.

Kon relaxed, then proceeded to wiggle his feet in the air one at a time. “It feels really weird to be walking on two legs again.”

“Okay, I don’t know what you losers are talking about, but back to the important stuff here: HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY GARAGE?”

Corey turned to Carrie and patted her on the shoulder, ignoring her painfully obvious flinching. “If we told you, Beff, we’d have to kill you.”

The girl spluttered, then pointed an angry finger at Corey. “Well, whatever you’ve been doing, it’s totally taking away your practice time. You’ve been gone for a week! You’re gonna flop at the battle of the bands tonight! Newmans rule, Grojband drools!”

“I don’t think we’re gonna go to that after all,” Corey said, still mostly focused on relearning how to walk in a circle. “You guys have fun, though.”

Kin’s double, Kim, gasped aloud. “You can’t do that! We’re nemeses! It’s like, against the rules to miss out on showing each other up!”

“Then we should be friends instead.” Laney was still sitting on the floor, but she was awake, and spoke loudly enough to be heard.

“Excuse me? FRIENDS? I’d rather be friends with a troop of rabid squirrels than you,” Carrie scoffed. The rest of the Newmans snickered.

Corey grinned, then pulled Laney to her feet. “Actually, I think I could deal with that. Maybe we should set up a hangout session, new friends. After all, friendship’s a pretty magical thing.” Supporting the little bassist, he walked over to the garage door and expertly raised it. “See you around?”

Kin and Kon high-fived as they followed their frontman outside, leaving the now thoroughly confused Newmans and their grungy garage behind them.

“So we’re not going to the battle of the bands?” Laney asked. “I thought that was gonna be our next big break.”

“I think we could use an actual break, to tell the truth,” Corey replied, shifting his arms around Laney’s back. He suddenly realized that he was touching her, which made the familiar red heat creep up the back of his neck. “Maybe we’ll have a sleepover tonight at my place, just to hang out and blow off some steam after our little adventure.”

Laney smiled, making Corey’s heart melt into a bigger puddle of goo than it already had during their previous kiss. “I’d like that.”

A bundle of clothes and messed-up hair was huddled at the end of the driveway. As the band came closer, Corey started to make out Trina’s patent-leather shoes and Mina’s oversized glasses. “Is everything okay over here?” he asked, a little hesitantly.

Mina looked up at him. “She’s a little upset about Nick,” she explained, running her fingers through Trina’s pink hair. “She’s crying.”

A sob from the head in Mina’s lap confirmed this.

“She, uh, also apologized for the way she’s been treating me, so…” Mina blushed a tiny bit, then shifted her arm, allowing Trina to sit up.

“I – I’m really sorry, you guys…” Trina’s eyes were full of tears, and she kept sniffling, but she didn’t slow down. “I g-guess I just didn’t care b-before…About you, about anything except getting the p-perfect guy…I feel s-so stupid and shallow, but…c-can I try to fix that? Corey, c-can we s-start over?”

Corey cocked his head, trying to decide if she was for real or not. She’d used to do stuff like this a lot, to trick him into letting down his guard, but this time she seemed pretty genuine. She definitely had the pathetic, truly-sorry face going for her.

But what if she’s lying?

He shook that thought out of his head. What would Twilight and her friends do?

Using that philosophy, there was really only one thing he could do. With a smile on his face, Corey leaned down and hugged his sister for the first time in probably ten years. “I forgive you.”

Trina sobbed and squeezed the life out of him. For once, he didn’t really mind.

Back in their own garage, the band members were all over their instruments. Kon slapped his bongos around until his hand was sore, while “Oh, A flat!” Kin squealed happily as he played a note. “Oh, C major chord! Oh, F sharp!”

Laney strummed her bass. “Oh, it’s good to be back.”

“You said it,” Corey replied, slinging the strap of his own guitar around his neck. “Although I do miss our friends.”

Kon’s bongo-ing suddenly fell flat. “Pinkie Pie, Applejack…”

“Fluttershy,” Corey agreed. “Rarity.”

“Rainbow Dash.”

“Twilight…”

All four of the band members collectively sighed.

“So,” Laney said, breaking the nostalgically awkward silence, “Other than meeting all the ponies, and figuring out that I can write totally boss lyrics, what did we really get out of that trip? And another joke about Kin’s malfunctioning machinery doesn’t count.”

Corey stood up, hitching his guitar strap off of his shoulder. The lights seemed to dim around him as he took a breath. “Is the question really what we got out of the trip? Or what we got out of our real life experience? It might seem like a dream, but it was true. And it did teach us some pretty important stuff.

“Like, there isn’t anything you can’t overcome when you have your friends by your side. We all have our rough patches, but comparing us to sandpaper is like comparing the sands of time to a patchwork quilt. We can always learn enough from our mistakes to save the multiverse from mass destruction.” He paused, inspected his friends’ slightly baffled faces, then continued.

“Another lesson is that people can change if we just give them a chance. The chance of a lifetime could make or break your chances for a future. And sometimes, you can’t even make your own chance, so you have to trust the chance that someone else will make that chance. Whether it’s getting a hug from your sister or letting a misguided unicorn into your circle of friends, that chance might just be what everyone needed.

“Finally, I learned that love is a beautiful thing.” He checked to make sure that Laney was listening before he went on. “Love can bloom anywhere, with anyone, suddenly or slowly. When you love someone, you trust them with all you have, and they do the same. You stay with them through everything. You laugh with them, you cry with them, or you go on this crazy adventure with them. Whatever the cause of it is, when two people truly love each other, it lasts a lifetime."

Corey caught his breath, and also his heart, which felt like it was about to crawl out of his throat. He was so stuck in Laney’s eyes that he barely noticed the light return to the rest of the garage.

“Wow, Core,” Laney whispered. “That last part would make some great lyrics.”

“Yeah.”

“You know, when we kissed before, we were still ponies.” Laney took a step onto the stage, then smiled hesitantly. “You want to see what it’ll feel like here in our universe?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Corey said, leaning down so that he practically fell into the kiss, wrapping his arm around the shorter girl’s waist and lifting her into the air.

“Darn it,” he heard Kin mutter to Kon from the direction of the couch. “Here’s your ten bucks.”

“How was that, Core? More magical than friendship?” Laney laughed breathlessly as they finally broke apart.

Corey smiled, letting his girlfriend’s head lean against his chest. “Almost, Lanes. Almost.”

Author's Note

Thanks for taking this long, abrupt, hiatus-filled journey with us! I'm sorry it took so long to make this edited story a finished and complete reality.

We will most likely not be on often for a while, as we haven't been able to write much lately, but you know what? That's okay.

Someday, I'm sure, we will write again. When that day comes, we hope you will check that out too!

Special thanks to FireWolfGoddess, our follower. Haha we sound pathetic, but we don't really care about that either - if our work brings joy to even one person we're glad. We appreciate your devotion to the story, FireWolfGoddess, and sorry again for all the waiting we made you do!

Thanks for coming out, everyone!

Prologue

The Everfree Forest had always been a mysterious place. The air that curled around the trees was misty and cold; the vines and brambles as thick as a woven quilt; the eerie sounds that issued from the depths of the woods as unnatural and frightening as ever. This was where the forgotten chose to hide.

Under a shelf of rock sat a unicorn mare, her coat so dusty and sweaty its color was unrecognizable. She sat, exhausted, her energy almost nonexistent. Her eyes were closed in concentration, but no more than a few dull sparks flew from the tip of her horn. The mare leaned against the wall of her makeshift cave. She needed magic, and she needed it now.

The mare's sensitive horn jutted into the air, a pink glow flashing, then fading, around it. She sighed, a chilly breeze clawing at her thin coat. Without a place to get food or shelter, and without any energy to sustain her magic, she would never get the satisfaction she desired so much.

So the unicorn kept trying. And eventually, the tip of her horn brushed against something like an invisible bubble in the air, a pocket of energy so massive that she could feel herself growing stronger with a single touch. Her muzzle curving into a relaxed smile, the mare probed the pocket again, letting strength wash through her like a storm washes a blade of grass. She felt more powerful than she ever had. Then, as she touched the space a third time, she noticed something unnatural about it.

It didn't belong in Equestria.

The cloud of energy tingled, as if it were uncomfortable, unsure of itself in a new place. It felt foreign too, vibrating in patterns very different than those of typical Equestrian magic. The mare's smile faltered, then grew even wider as she thought of the possibilities this brought to her. Harnessing this otherworldly magic could make her more powerful than Celestia herself…or…

The mare rose to her feet and carefully set her horn to the edge of the pocket one more time. A crazy thought was suddenly running through her mind – a thought that made her tail stand on end. The bubble was beginning to fade back into its world, and she would miss her chance – perhaps her only chance – to do what she'd been waiting to do for many months. The magical energy would disappear no matter what happened, but if it reacted in the way she expected, it would all be worth it.

Drawing back her head, the unicorn steeled herself, took a deep breath, and jabbed her horn into the center of the energy cloud.

At first, nothing happened. Then the bubble popped, and a dark hole appeared in thin air, its edges twinkling vaguely pink in the dim forest light.

Immediately, the mare could feel a vacuum emanating from the pocket, sucking in energy and blowing it back out. Gusts of warm air trickled onto her face, then spiraled away, disappearing into the evening sky. As she watched, the mare felt excitement spreading from the tip of her horn down to her very hooves.

I think I have a plan, the unicorn thought. And if it works, the real fun can begin.

Author's Note

Hello, readers! This is Twi and Lanes with a little heads-up or two.

This story takes place between Seasons Two and Three in the MLPverse, and between the two Season One halves of the Grojverse. As such, Twilight is not an alicorn, and Corey is not yet privy to Laney's feelings for him.

This story's headcanon, backstory, etc. (except probably the zebra stuff) will not necessarily carry over into other stories of ours. It could make total sense for this version of the universe, but not fit into our overall headcanon. Which is pretty extensive.

Again, the cover art is ours! Well, it's Twi's, actually. Don't steal it!

You can find the full, unedited story at out fanfiction.net page, but this story will be updated and revised for better flow, development, and other important writer-y things.

So, now that we've gotten that out of the way, enjoy the show!

TwiLanes

Chapter One: Un-Kin-ventional

Thirteen-year-old Corey Riffin strummed a chord on his electric guitar. The afternoon was quiet and steamy, a typical summer day in Peaceville, Illinois, and there was absolutely nothing going on. The blue-haired teen gazed around his garage, taking in the awesomeness of being bored for just a minute, and then sighed. Really loudly.

“There’s nothing to do,” he announced to his friends and bandmates, who were lounging around doing practically the same thing as Corey was. He flopped backwards and lay across the stage, letting his heavy guitar slide off of his shoulder and onto the floor. The thud caused Corey’s best friend Laney Penn to look in his direction.

“No kidding, Core,” she agreed, her fingers sliding up and down the neck of her bass. “I’m so bored my brain is turning into mush. Are we here to practice or what?”

“Yeah, but it’s too hot to do anything,” complained Kon Kujira, the band’s drummer. He was on the couch, mashing handfuls of chips into his mouth. “And my drums are still all sweaty from yesterday’s practice.”

Corey sighed again, letting his gaze creep back to Laney. She’d returned to her instrument and was plucking out a smooth bass line from one of the band's songs – Corey wasn’t sure whether it was one they had given lyrics yet or not. He watched her head bob in time to the music until her eyes shifted up to meet his.

It was kind of awkward…for multiple reasons. He felt a blush creeping up the back of his neck and was glad his lucky orange hat covered any of it Laney might have seen.

“What? Is there something in my hair?” Laney asked. She reached up and felt around her scalp for any unwanted objects. To diffuse the obvious tension, Corey laughed.

“Nope, you look all right, Lanes. Just listening to that wicked tune you were playing,” he said. Laney cocked an eyebrow, like she wasn’t sure she believed him, but returned to her playing. The low, deep chords seemed to meld perfectly with the summer air, like a background track in a movie.

Corey peeled himself off of the stage and walked over to see what Kin, Kon’s twin brother, was doing, Kin had a gift for the scientific, and inventing crazy machines was no exception. Today he was twisting wires into a device shaped like an oversize wristwatch. The smaller boy flinched as Corey’s shadow loomed over him. ‘I’m almost done, I’m almost done,” he panted. “Just a few more adjustments…”

Corey plucked the object out of his friend’s hands and examined it. “What does this thing do?” he asked, poking at tiny buttons that adorned the space where a watch face would normally go. “Is it some kind of upgraded time machine?”

Kin turned around, reaching for his shiny piece of tech. “It’s not done yet!” he explained, an indignant look on his face. “But it’s a teleportation device. Give it back so I can complete the finishing touches!”

Corey held the tiny machine up to the light. “Wicked! How does it work?”

“I haven’t tested it,” Kin said, yanking it out of Corey’s hands, “but it should take you wherever you want to go. When it’s done.” He looked pointedly at Corey, eyes beady behind his thick glasses, then returned to whatever nerdy stuff he had to do to complete the machine.

Kon, his bag of potato chips empty, clapped his hands together. “Maybe we’ll see our future selves again,” he said cheerfully, hopping down from the couch and stopping to peer over his brother’s shoulder.

Kin smiled. “Yeah, that’d be great!”

As the brothers bantered, Corey returned to the stage and picked up his guitar. Slinging the strap over his head, he began jamming along to Laney’s bass line, adding riffs and slides when they felt right. It sounded good.

Just then, a door slammed open above the garage. “WOULD YOU QUIET DOWN!?!?” an angry voice howled. “Mina can’t hear herself think when I tell her to!”

“Sis, I think you’ve used that one already,” Corey called, continuing to play along to the steady bass. He exchanged a wink with Laney, knowing what was coming next.

Without missing a beat, Corey's pink-haired older sister, stormed out onto the balcony. She had makeup half-plastered on the left side of her face, and wore a long, beribboned dress in such a hideous shade of magenta that Corey would have gladly gouged his eyes out rather than look at. To complete the look, the teen glowered at Corey with the intensity of a ten-power microscope. "What are you dorks thinking, making a noise like that while I get ready for my once-in-a-lifetime date with Nick Mallory?!?" she hissed, her one mascaraed eye twitching angrily.

"Absolutely nothing," Corey shot back, sharing another smile with Laney. "And you know why? Because as we do this, we are bored out of our skulls. Right, Lanes?"

Laney didn't answer, unless you count an impressive bass riff an answer to that question.

The older girl flipped her hair and huffed. "What-ever, Garbageband. Just keep it down while I am getting my beauty on, or you will be sorry!” the voice thundered. Stomping noises sounded on the floor, the door slammed shut, and the band was left alone.

There was a pause, then Laney turned wide-eyed to Corey, still picking the strings of her bass. "Wow, Core. I didn't know Trina finally managed to get a date with Nick Mallory."

"I didn't either," Corey said, and shrugged at the closed door. "But it doesn't give her license to interrupt our rehearsal like that."

Laney rolled her eyes. "What rehearsal?"

Corey grinned, closed his eyes, and let the music wash over him again. Sure, Trina was annoying, but it didn't take a genius to know that however badly she treated him, he would always have the band to pick him up again.

“Done!” Kin's voice said proudly. Corey’s eyes sprung open and he rushed over to snatch it from the littler boy's outstretched hand. The machine was smallish, silver, and seemed to be a watch until he looked at it more closely. It had dozens of buttons; none of them were the same color, and all of them probably meant something different. Corey shook it and pressed it against his nose to make sure that it was real.

“It’s…PERFECT,” Kon squealed. “Kin! Let’s test it!”

“I was thinking the same thing, twin of mine,” Kin said, a mischievous smile creeping across his face. “You guys up for a trial run of the newest Kin-vention?”

Corey’s face lit up. “You don’t have to tell me twice!” He rushed back to the stage, laid down his precious guitar, and grabbed Laney by the hand. “Come on, Lanes, we’ve got some adventuring to do!”

The short, red-headed bassist shrugged her instrument off of her shoulders and stood up, all thought of playing forgotten. “Hold up, Core. Don’t you think it could be dangerous? This thing hasn’t been tested, remember?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

“That’s why we’re testing it right now,” Corey said. He pushed Laney toward the twin brothers and the device in Kin’s hand. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

"Nope. Not gonna do it."

"Please?"

"Nope."

"Pleeeeeeeease?"

“Core…” Laney tapped her foot.

There was only one thing to do at a time like this: Corey pulled out the Bambi eyes.

“Ugh! Fine, I’ll come. But only because I can’t stand seeing you make that face,” Laney said, resignedly taking her place next to Kon. She made a point to ignore Corey when he pumped his fist and waggled his eyebrows at her, which was just a little bit disappointing.

“Okay, everyone, here’s what we do. I’m gonna wear the watch,” Kin said, holding up his wrist, where the teleporter gleamed. “You guys just have to hold on to me, and we’ll all teleport together. Ready?”

Everyone grabbed hold (Corey managed to get an arm) and Kin started to count down, but just as his index finger reached for the button, someone knocked on the garage door. Corey rolled his eyes. “Just a sec, guys,” he said. “Gotta get that.” He scampered over to the heavy garage door, reached down, and lifted it up with a good long shove. Standing before him was the impeccably dressed form of Peaceville’s resident celebrity, Nick Mallory.

“Well, hello there, Nick Mallory,” Corey said, giving the taller boy a little bow.

"Hey, Corey Riffin," Nick replied, holding out his hand for a patented Nick Mallory Fump™. "Nick sees you and the band are keeping it real in here. Nick digs that."

Corey glanced over his shoulder at the others. Laney was picking at some dust on her boot, Kon had produced another bag of chips, and Kin was gesturing at Nick with the watch hand, motioning for Corey to get him on out of here.

With a little laugh, the blue-haired guitarist turned back to Nick. "So, Nick," he said, "what brings you by the Riffin house today?"

“Nick is here to pick up Trina Riffin,” said Nick, examining his fingernails. “He has a date with her in about two minutes.”

“Oh, right! Uh…she’s still upstairs,” Corey said, jerking his thumb up at the door.

“Nick doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” Nick said.

“All right, buddy, just hold on a sec.” Corey dashed up the stairs two at a time and knocked on Trina’s door. “Trina? Hunky Nick Mallory is here waiting for you!”

The door immediately flew open, smashing heavily into Corey's face. “OMG! He is? Nick! Wait! I am totes right here!” Trina yelled, flouncing down into the garage. Her friend Mina Beff followed her, carrying three purses and a dress bag, and Corey was happy to slam the door closed behind them. As he did, he noticed that the normally calm-and-slightly-indifferent look that graced Nick Mallory's face slipped a couple of inches.

Trina ran up to Nick (completely ignoring Mina) and gave him a mushy smile. “Thanks so much for, like, asking me out and stuff,” she gushed. “I’ve been waiting for this day for my whole life!”

Nick blinked. “That’s cool, Trina Riffin,” he said, his face regaining its usual calm. “Come on. You and Nick have places to be.”

As Corey rejoined the other band members, he made a little wave in the departing groups’ direction. “Smell ya later, sis,” he said. “Have a good time on your date!”

Trina stopped in her tracks, causing Mina to tip forwards into Nick's jacket. Slowly, the pink-haired teen turned on her heel, then walked over to Corey, a sticky-sweet smile on her face. Too sweet, Corey thought.Dangerously sweet.

Soon, Trina was close enough to breathe acid into her little brother’s face. “Is that a threat, Corey? Cause I could, like, totally ruin your day and junk. Even if you don’t have a gig.”

“Nope!” Corey said nervously, backing away into the rest of the band and trying to ignore the feeling of Laney's nose poking into his arm. “Just wishing you the best of dates! No hidden meanings in there at all!” But Trina kept staring at him.

“I don’t believe you,” she said, taking another step forward and poking Corey in the chest. “Because every time I try to have some fun, you and your stupid band manage to ruin it. Well, that’s not going to happen anymore.”

Mina turned around, eyes wide. “Trina, come on,” she squeaked. “Nick is waiting.”

“I am ready to get my turn once and for all,” Trina said, her smile turning evil. “And I know just how to do it.”

Mina turned to Nick, dropping the purses. “Nick, do something!” she wailed.

Nick sighed. “Nick Mallory will take care of it,” he said, walking forward to grab Trina’s arm.

Kin desperately pushed a button on the teleportation machine.

The button was pink, and immediately a bright pink nebula shone around the entire group. They were all connected – the band all holding onto Kin, Trina’s arm smashed into Corey’s stomach, Nick attached Trina’s wrist and Mina latched onto the back of Nick’s shirt. For a moment, time seemed to freeze. Kon blinked in slow motion. Corey opened his mouth as if to say something.

Then the nebula dissolved, and everyone dissolved along with it.

Author's Note

Hi, Twi and Lanes here! Just letting you know that this chapter has undergone significant revision since we posted it on ff.net.

If anyone thinks we should repost there with the new narrative, let us know. Thanks!

TwiLanes

Chapter Sixteen: Of Spike and Schemes

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Of Spike and Schemes

Twilight was still a little angry at Grojband for sneaking out with three of the camp’s foals and almost getting eaten by wolves, but it was hard to stay mad at the four ponies, especially since they might be going home in about twenty-four hours. It was lucky, too, that they hadn’t been injured that badly. Twilight had practically put her hoof on Kin’s foreleg and it had stopped bleeding.

Of course, the zebras had rushed everypony off to their own clinic anyway, but Twilight had helped as much as she was allowed, and so had Fluttershy. Grojband was good as new and on their way to the feast proposed by the shaman in their honor. “As reckless as they would be, they saved our children from our enemy,” Zahan had proclaimed. “So on this night, before they leave, let us honor Grojband with a Warriors’ Feast!”

It made Twilight want to roll her eyes and smile.

It also made her feel bad that she couldn’t be there. Since the practice ceremony was that evening too, Zamale was overseeing the preparations for the feast, and Zahan, Zecora, and Zuri were back in the hut, placing the finishing touches on whatever they still needed to get done.

Zecora!

Twilight had been so happy to see her again after her purification was complete. “It is just a precaution, but it cannot be missed. I must not bring evil into our midst,” the zebra mare had explained.

“Then why didn’t we get purified?” Twilight had asked.

Zecora smiled. “You ponies are not Umawe. You were not born here, so there’s no way to stray.”

Anyway, it had seemed that Zecora was okay with whatever had happened, though she wasn't allowed to tell anypony about the details, and she had begun to help her father and niece as if she had never left the camp. Twilight was happy for her, and even thought that she might stay. But she was going to miss her all the same.

The unicorn stepped into Zamale’s hut to grab a quill, a scroll, and some ink. She wanted to take some notes on the specifics of the zebras’ mirror world spell, if they would let her. Not that I would use it, specifically, she thought, but it’s always nice to add a new spell to my library.

Zahan had originally planned to hold the practice ceremony in his hut, but now that the Warrior’s Feast was being held for Grojband, it was being moved to a larger building toward the edges of the camp. Twilight had offered to help carry equipment, but it was a lot of work, even with her magic. She set down a tall candle stand and let out a tired breath. “Wow! It’s surprising how heavy gold is,” she remarked, studying the finish on the candelabra.

“Gold is the lifeblood of my clan. We work it like Earth ponies work the land,” Zecora said, placing a bowl filled with herbs on the floor. “True, it is heavy, but precious as well. We shape it with hooves, no magic or spell.”

“And how long does that usually take?” Twilight asked.

Zecora smiled. “It depends what you are trying to make.”

Zuri ducked through the cotton door-flap and passed Zecora some more sweet-smelling herbs. “Iba says you must speak to him right away.”

“Thank you, little Zuri. I will be there in a hurry.” Zecora arranged the bundles, then turned to Twilight. “My little pony, get some rest, or tonight you will not be at your best.”

Zecora left, and Zuri followed close behind her, leaving Twilight alone to finish with the candles. She took a deep breath and powered up her magic, ready to move the stand again, but something stopped her.

Or more correctly, hit her on the head.

Twilight stepped back, releasing her hold on the candelabra, and stared at the tiny scroll that had materialized in front of her. “Spike,” she whispered, excitement pulsing through her. Unable to contain herself, the violet mare pounced on the scroll, carefully reading every word of Spike’s scrawly writing.

Twilight I don’t have much time so youve got to believe me Ive been captured and Trixie made me send you that letter also the one to Princess Celestia was actually her. Shes like crazy powerful or something and wants to take over Equestria. I hope you’re okay but if you come home youll be in trouble, the princess actually found that machine in Fluttershys yard and

Gotta go here come Snips and Snails.

Spike

It was awfully smudged, and bit singed around the edges, but seemed very straightforward. There was only one part of it that actually surprised Twilight, and that part was Trixie.

They’d basically decided that Spike had been dragonnapped when they couldn’t find him back in Ponyville. And Spike’s previous letter had acknowledged the Princess’s location of Grojband’s destroyed machine. But Trixie was new, not to mention the fact that she had “crazy powerful” magic and was planning to take over Equestria! If only Spike were here instead of there, Twilight thought. I could use his help right now.

The threat of Trixie had changed everything. Spike, and all of Equestria, were in danger, and Twilight wasn’t about to let that slide by. I know what to do, she thought. But I don’t think anypony else will like it.

“Leave them HERE?” Rarity’s voice cracked the tiniest bit as she lad a hoof over her heart. “Twilight! How could you propose such a thing? Grojband needs our help to get home!”

“That’s the point,” Twilight said. “They don’t. The zebras are all they need, as long as their mirror world spell works. That’s why we’ll leave tonight, after the feast and the practice ceremony are over.”

“Ah gotta say, it’s a pretty solid plan. The only hard part will be keepin’ low profiles once we get back across the border,” Applejack pointed out, tying her mane and tail off with her usual red bands.

“I like it too,” Rainbow Dash said from her overhead cloud perch. “We won’t have to worry about Grojband being evil aliens anymore.”

“You mean you won’t have to worry about them being evil aliens,” Rarity scoffed. “I don’t think anypony else thought of that when they appeared in Fluttershy’s backyard.”

Fluttershy coughed. “Either way, I’ll feel bad about leaving them here. They still know so little about ponies and, well, they’ll be uncomfortable without any friends here.”

“They’ll have Zecora, and Zamale and Zuri. And they’ll be home tomorrow night, providing that the mirror world spell works,” Twilight said, packing the books she’d brought into her saddlebags. She was a little apprehensive about leaving Grojband behind too, but she felt that as long as they were in good hooves, they’d be fine until they could get back to their world.

“And THEN, we can save Spike and get rid of Trixie and Equestria will be okay again!” Pinkie Pie cheered.

“And I can take whatever punishment the Princess needs me to take for helping Grojband,” Twilight said.

“I wonder why the consequence for harboring otherworlders is so bad, anyway,” said Rainbow Dash, punching through her cloud and drifting down next to Fluttershy. “Think she had to deal with something really bad once?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “But I was thinking about that myself.”

“So when’re you thinkin’ of leavin’, Twi?” Applejack asked. “Ah want to be ready.”

“Late tonight, while Grojband and the zebras are busy at the feast,” the unicorn mare said. She drew with a hoof in the now-cold embers of last night's campfire as she explained her plan. “Once the practice ceremony is over, I’ll come and find you, Applejack, and we’ll all regroup by Zamale’s hut. From there, we’ll run a ways from the camp –” she drew a line “– and I’ll teleport us as close as I can to Las Pegasus.”

“Why couldn’t you have teleported us on the way here?” Rarity asked. “My hooves were killing me after that run.”

“Because there were eleven of us, plus Zecora’s cart,” Twilight replied, distracted. “I wouldn’t have been able to move at all after that. Anyway, we’ll sneak back into Equestria and get some rest, after which I’ll teleport us back to Ponyville. Once we’re there, we’ll figure out what to do next.”

“Sounds good,” Rainbow Dash said, stretching a wing. “I’m gonna go pack.”

“Me too,” said Applejack.

“Me three!” said Pinkie, bouncing into Zamale’s hut after them.

“I don’t know, Twilight,” Fluttershy murmured, twiddling her hooves. “It just feels wrong to leave them here alone.”

Twilight sighed. “I know,” she said. “But I think Equestria needs us right now. The Elements of Harmony aren’t there to protect it, and they should be.”

There was a long pause. Rarity and Fluttershy shared a look. “…Okay,” the yellow Pegasus finally said. “As long as Grojband will be all right.”

Rarity primped at her mane with a hooficured foreleg. “I suppose we’ve grown a bit attached to them.”

Some of us more than others, Twilight thought as she looked at the white unicorn. “I’ll write the band a note before we leave, explaining that – well – that something came up,” she said, pulling one of her ink bottles back out of the saddlebag. “I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“Yes, well,” Rarity said, standing and heading toward the hut as well. “I certainly hope so.”

“This one is humming, Iba,” Zuri whispered, her eyes closed. The hut was dark, and Twilight wasn’t sure exactly what they were talking about, but it all felt very mystical and magical and she didn’t doubt that something extraordinary was going to happen.

“When you touch it, Zuri, tell me, what do you see?” asked Zahan. His eyes were closed as well.

Zecora had explained a little bit to Twilight how zebras were closely connected with nature and could, at certain times, what she had referred to as the “skin of the world.” I suppose they can see the skins of other worlds, too, Twilight thought, like seeing a star from far away. It’s distant, but it’s still there.

“I don’t know,” the zebra filly said. “They stand on two legs, and have a very small muzzle, and fur only on top of their heads. And they are wearing clothes.”

Twilight remembered that Corey had mentioned wearing clothes all the time, probably while they were on the train.

“Look deeper into the world, and you will see its secrets unfurled. Is there an imprint on this land that could possibly have been made by Grojband?” Zecora asked.

“Yes,” Zuri breathed.

“We will not force the connection all the way, for that would threaten the humming away.” Zahan opened his eyes and nodded at Zecora. “Like a one-way mirror, only we will see what the secrets that hide in this world may be.”

Twilight watched in awe as Zecora set a few leaves into a smoking bowl. The tiny hut was full of sweet smells and candlewax, making the ceremony seem even more powerful than it already was. Then, without warning, Zuri began to sing.

The words were Umawe, so Twilight couldn’t understand them, but the tune was hauntingly beautiful. After a few seconds, she could also hear the undertone of another song entirely, one that seemed to emanate from a space right in the center of the room. A black circle began to expand from nothing, rippling like water before gaining color and showing a picture of the world beyond. Whoever opened the other portal must have not known how to do it right, Twilight thought. It was only black, and much smaller than this.

In the circle, four creatures, probably humans, stood on a small stage and played different types of instruments. Twilight recognized a keyboard, a guitar, and drumset in the humans’ oddly-shaped appendages, which looked more like Spike’s claws than a pony’s hooves. They were very good, and soon Twilight was listening to their song more than Zuri’s.

“Keep going, guys!” one of them called. It sounded like a mare, but Twilight couldn’t be sure. “Back to the chorus!”

“We’re gonna beat Grojband for sure!” another called out, this one possibly a colt. Twilight’s face broke out in a smile. These creatures didn’t sound very nice, but at least this was definitely Grojband’s home world, and now she could be sure that they’d get back safely.

After another minute, the other band’s song ended, and their image slowly began to fade. Zuri stopped singing too, and within seconds, the portal had simply winked out of sight, as if it had never existed. Song must be how they keep it open, Twilight thought.

“Twilight Sparkle, are you satisfied? In this ceremony we take pride. You have seen what few zebras can claim to have seen,” Zahan said softly. “Grojband’s return will be quite clean.”

“I believe you!” Twilight said, getting to her hooves. “Thank you so much for doing this for them. They – we – really appreciate it.”

“We must clean up and prepare for when, tomorrow, we must do this again,” Zecora said, scooping another bundle of herbs into a bowl.

Twilight pretended to stifle a yawn. “Actually, I got up kind of early to help Corey and Laney with their magic,” she said, “and I carried a lot of these candlesticks earlier. I’m pretty tired. Would you mind if I hit the hay a little bit early?”

“Not at all, Twilight. You have helped us enough tonight.” Smiling, Zecora handed the unicorn her saddlebag. “I am sorry you missed the feast to celebrate Grojband’s defeat of the beasts.”

“That’s quite all right,” Twilight said gratefully. “I’m just glad I got to see you do this.” And sorry I won’t see the band again. Perfect timing to have second thoughts. Sliding the bags onto her back, Twilight gave the zebra a hug. “Thank you all, again.”

Then, to prevent an awkwardly early goodbye, at least in the zebras’ eyes, she ducked under the doorway and galloped off toward the edge of the bonfire clearing.

Trixie scribbled with a quill on a thick piece of parchment headed List of Enemies to Annihilate When I Rule Equestria. Trina and Mina had gone into Ponyville to collect information, and though it was basically just to keep them occupied so they wouldn’t screw up Trixie’s plans, it might also prove useful if anypony knew anything about Twilight Sparkle’s abrupt departure. Trixie wanted to be ready when the violet mare returned to Equestria.

Of course she knew all about the excuse for a letter Spike had written. If she hadn’t wanted him to alert his mistress to the threat, she wouldn’t have made it so easy for him to get his claws on some parchment and ink. Oh, no.

Trixie wanted Twilight Sparkle back in Equestria. And she had plans for what would happen when she returned.

“Trixie!” Trina’s voice sounded from nearby. “We’re back!”

The blue mare set down her quill. She’d finally started to get used to controlling her newfound power. “Excellent. And what have you learned?”

“Some little kids – I mean, fillies – told me that Twilight Sparkle and some other ponies disappeared the same day as a zebra named Zecora. Looks like they might have headed toward zebra territory,” Trina said, tossing her mane. Behind her, Mina nodded her head like a bobblehead doll.

“And you? What did you find out?” Trixie asked, pointing a hoof imperiously at Mina.

Mina blushed horribly. “Um, well, um..” she squeaked. She seemed very uncomfortable with what she had to say. “Someone else told me that…four new ponies in town went with them.”

Trixie nodded. “And?”

Mina gulped, trying her best to look anywhere but at Trina. “The new ponies were calling themselves Grojband.”

Author's Note

This is a huge amount of chapters at once! I think maybe I could just put the remainder of the story up tonight?