Firs discovery of the day: Showers don't make colorful ponies go away, in fact they make matters worse when you discover the shit is real and it is right on your doorstep, or bed, as is with Alexander's case. Now, don't get me wrong, he had seen the series, mostly because his sister had forced him, as said, but it was also said he didn't fancy it much. He had a vague idea of who was sleeping on his bed, after all it was impossible to not know who allowed a certain pink pony to live with them. It was as if you tried to avoid light in space; yes, it is all dark, but there are stars, you are bound to be hit by it at nearly all times, so you are equally bound to know who runs the bakery in Ponyville.

No, really, it is nearly impossible to not know, so even someone that had seen only part of the first season in passing was going to know of the Cakes at least a bit. Then again Alexander knew jack diddly as far as their story went.

Okay, so he may have checked the internet, happy now? After the shower he had TRIED to go ask his sister, but Olivia had literally opened the door, only to slam it on his face. That is also meant literally in the sense that he had almost stepped in, only to have Olivia smash his nose in. Luckily it didn't break anything, but for someone around half/two thirds of his weight and not even close as far as muscle mass goes, Olivia could do a lot of damage. Point is that Olivia didn't seem to care for him enough to hear Alexander's 'great' news.

Unrelated news: He needed to clean outside his brother's room, there was a bit of blood on the floor.

In any case, pony.

Alexander had tried to act natural and relaxed as he did everything he had planned to do: He called the store and asked for a plushy with Olivia's specifications, because who hadn't made a pony OC if they were in the fandom? He had checked with a friend of his to ensure there would be supplies, because FUCK GOD if anyone thought that Alexander was going to allow the pony, or Olivia, to go out now. Olivia would try to get the local brony population to come over, just for bragging rights, and it was going to be hard enough to get her to shut up online, while the pony was a problem way too obvious to need explanation.

Problems, problems would appear out of thin fucking air in around twenty four hours, probably less. How was anyone supposed to hide a pony in their home? Yea, this floor was out of bounds for customers, but this was not one of those nice stories where everything went according to the damn plan, THERE WAS NO PLAN! This was not supposed to happen and Alexander was not going to pull all the stops to make things fine for the pony in question!

Now, hear me out, because that sounded like he was an asshole.

Humans going to Equestria? Fan. Fucking. Tastic. He wasn't against the idea, even without being a fan, simply because it always looked like it was a land of harmony, understanding and shit. They also had monsters, monsters are cool, even if they rip you apart.

Now, ponies coming to Earth? Nope! Nope, nope, nopitynope. Fucking. No.

Alexander was going through every possible scenario that could end with a pony walking around Earth, and he didn't mean the 'How the fuck are you here?' scenario that, at best, would raise more questions. The scenarios in mind had to do with how the pony could easily be abused, kidnapped, killed or simply dissected. Oh, don't worry your pretty head, things had been going quite well as far as making an unified worldwide government went, people had left many of their differences behind and most managed to at least tolerate each other.

The problem resided in those like Alexander's parents. With this he didn't mean those that had prejudice against others because of something like your sexuality, but those that were simply closed minded. The reason? Fear of those you don't understand, or, worse yet, insane curiosity to learn how they work and why.

For as many good people that were out there now, either because they had no choice, since a few things had been done to ensure no one would fuck with the rest of the countries without getting in quite a few 'problems, or because they were genuinely more good people than most thought back in the day, there were still a lot of bad people around. It is true that you didn't see many news with kidnappings, rape or death anymore, but there were still way too many shady organizations around.

Good news? This city was calm as hell. There hadn't been any crime reports for the past two years, but there were still assholes out there, as his sister could tell you in ample detail and also as loud as you'd wish her to. This didn't mean that no one would try to make a quick buck out of a pony, because people WOULD if they could. Let's remember that things were getting better, they were not yet that much of an improvement.

Now add two and two and find out why Alexander had a massive migraine as well as a fucked up nose.

"Who is up for a bet?" He chuckled darkly to himself as he rubbed the bridge of his nose to ease some of the pain "Because here it is! I bet this is going to suck balls"

The one good thing out of this? Cup Cake (If the wiky was accurate as far as her name went) had appeared here, and not in some nutjob's house. Why wasn't he going to bend to the pony's will like Olivia would? Because a lot of greens was not how the family worked despite so many baked goods, nor did they need alfalfa, hay or other things. Not only that, but ponies were shown to be quite the social creatures in the series, and there was no chance in hell that Alexander was going to allow a group to interact with her. This was, as of now, a state of lockdown.

Alexander almost jumped out of his skin when he heard soft knocking coming from behind him. Sitting with his back to the door had been a nice idea to watch over the pony while ensuring that she wouldn't escape if she woke up, but after so long Alexander had almost forgotten the time and that his sister was in the house at all. Hell, he had gone down and closed the bakery entirely.

"Brother, come to the kitchen."

Perfect, just what he needed. Going for a little talk with his sister meant leaving the pony alone, but right now he wasn't doing anything worthwhile, not until she woke up. Leaving her, however, felt utterly wrong.

"Alex?"

Then again...

"I am coming, I am coming. Give me a few minutes."

*** Equis. Equestria. Canterlot ***

"Are you sure none of the stones have left the castle?"

"Absolutely, night mistress. None of them have even sparked yet. They just glow, showing readiness, but nothing else."

Luna nodded to her night guard, dismissing him. She had been told that there were at least twelve seeker stones ready, minus the original one used for the experiment. None of them were active yet, but supposedly all of them had been prepared once Celestia had casted the spell. That they didn't move at all, that they didn't even emanate a magical signal, worried her. It had been just a few minutes, yes, but on the other side it meant hours.

This made Luna purse her lips in distaste at how things had gone. No, better say she was utterly pissed off. The idea had holes in it, but if it meant forcing the magic to go back on track, instead of dying of as a species, then it was either that or hope that harmony would do them right. It didn't work like that, at all, as many species had found out when harmony decided to cut them off.

She was scared of the outcome, but she had never been one to sit things out and wait as hits rained all around her. Luna had been the warrior, Celestia had been the diplomat, and while she may have updated her vocabulary it was obvious that the night princess was still the fighter when it came to conflict, while her sister could convince a diamond dog to leave its jewels behind with no payment whatsoever.

Fighting, though, meant sacrifices. In this case it meant the disappearance of Cup Cake, as both sisters already knew. Twilight had seen it happen, but she was sure that nopony else was around when she just banished, and for what Carrot Cake told her, it would be assumed that Cup Cake went to another city to... well, better not talk about it.

Would it be better to count her blessings now, or consider the chaos down the line? Maybe the ancient magic would just accept one 'encounter' and that was it, or it would wait to see how it ended, only to send more and more stones at a time. Luna, for all her years and knowledge, was as unsure as Celestia. Twilight was looking into it, but this was all guesswork.

The one funny thing about this? Celestia's first reaction once she felt slightly better after the spell was to send quick letters to Twilight and Cadance. The second? Try to teleport to the other world and bring bang Miss Cake, just in case, since the magical dome was a greater danger than anything else out there. Let's say that the only thing she did was teleport a few feet, that, and slam her face against the wall in a very undignified manner that was only slightly better than how she crumpled in a heap afterwards. Despite the dire situation, and how much Luna wanted to refrain from laughing, the younger sister snickered.

You would too if you just recovered your sight and saw THAT.

That had left Luna in charge, and she had quickly made sure that the rest of the stones were either in place, or that search parties were sent in case any other had been activated. As it happened, none of the stones were out of their protective cashing in the laboratory, but they were all charged and ready to go. This meant that, at best, there was a day or two between sendings, it depended in how exact the theories were.

*** Back on Earth ***

"Okay, I am here, what do you want?"

He sounded a bit forceful, but at the moment he thought he had a very good excuse. Not only had it been around three hours, three hours that went by like nothing because he was worked over about a colorful talking pony, but he hadn't made lunch and Olivia was probably grumpy for that simple reason, which he could understand by the way. If you ever left Olivia in a kitchen, alone, someone was going to get food poisoning, unless you wanted to bake something sugary, in which case she could do it... if you watched over her.

As it happened, Olivia wasn't hungry. Some hot cocoa had done the trick, one of the few simple things she could make without burning something too. If she ever got a mate, then let's hope for the other party to be a crack when it came to cooking, because this girl is better fattening you up with sugar than she is killing you with something monstrous you would swear was alive. If she ever asked for seafood, by god or the devil, I don't care which, tell her no.

"To know why you are coped in your room" Olivia shrugged. She had her long hair tied in a ponytail, and Alexander was trying very hard to not make a joke right now, though he did need to unwind really bad "I was thinking on going out and burning this bad mood of mine, I had an hour or two of freedom without you knocking at my door after all" At that she gave her brother a pointed look "Which is unnatural because you are on my case twenty four seven when I am even slightly upset"

Alexander was a bit too quick to react "Something came up."

Inconspicuous was not one of the abilities Alexander could say were part of his skillset. Olivia's only reaction was to arch an eyebrow and look at him as she caught the obvious half truth. Something had indeed happened, but if he said nothing, then Olivia would nag. We are talking about one girl, previously dude, that had been as flamboyant as a shotgun to the face when she was out of her house and as sneaky as a ninja while within those four walls.

Olivia was a freaking master at picking things up, as she was at hiding them. She had been trying to develop her girly looks by diets and many other things Alexander wanted no part of. She wasn't as much a trap as she was a shemale by now, which technically speaking, or legally if one wants to be anal about things, labeled her as a man since she hadn't dignified the proper authorities required for her 'official' sex change with a visit. At first she didn't do it because of their parents, then she didn't do it because 'fuck the law', as she said the one time she was picked up by the local police after a fight during one of the parties she attended.

She had never developed really big breasts, hers were decent in size, you could call them 'perky' and all, 'cute' even, though she preferred the term 'sexy'. With a quite revealing shirt, short pants and sandals, she also revealed her slim and quite nice body, and she used that mix as regular getup, like now. Back home? She hid everything under a hoodie, hardy trousers and a pair of boots that would make Alexander's set green with envy.

So yea, don't lie to this one girl, because she will bitch slap you so hard that you won't have time to notice the kick aimed to your privates. She doesn't simply pick on things, she utterly fucks you up if you don't come clean right away, but if you bring any of HER bullshit, then she is the most innocent angel in heaven. Oh yea, tell her she isn't and it is YOU who will have a sex change.

"Do I really have to bring out the bullshit-o-meter?" She asked, leaving the cup on the kitchen table "Because that one was pathetic."

"I love you too, go fuck yourself." Alexander flipped her off for added effect as he went for the fridge and the cold water bottle inside "I am not kidding when I say something came up. I can also add a very nice and long shower, jacking off while at it." Totally a lie, but it made Olivia squirm and grimace for some reason. Alongside rough housing and a lot of words not said within a ten meter radius of any children, this was the usual routine "Then I made a few phone calls and contemplated a very large problem for around two hours." Alexander paused for a second before he took a gulp of the bottle "I'd say the problem is around one meter long and around one meter tall by the way, very colorful."

"Hah, hah, hah, fuck you too." Olivia crossed her arms, the cup forgotten "Seriously, what is up? You never leave me alone until I cheer up, and while I consider your gift to be nice, it was weird that you left it besides your blood."

Alexander had to blink a few times at that. His sister didn't say anything when he did, so he had to ask the obvious question "What?"

"What do you mean by 'What?'? Your gift? I mean, I know some people made weird things with My Little Pony, but I don't think Hasbro fucked it up as badly and as desperately as to make this" Olivia got up from her spot and went to one of the kitchen drawers to pick something from within "I was going to give you a scare with this, but I think it is broken. Looks cute though"

You could say it was cute, yea, if you liked a blocky alarm clock that looked like the one that their grandparents kept around since forever. It was big and wide enough to need a bedside table all for itself, but it had a white coloration on top, much like Celestia's coat, with the Elements of Harmony drawn square center, while the downside was colored like Luna's coat, the central area having her cutie mark drawn in perfect detail, starry sky and all.

Now, it worked perfectly, or at least it looked like it, only the numbers weren't counting up, they were counting down, and there were way too many to make sense. Were they seconds? Were they minutes? Hours? When Alexander looked at them it was obvious that they were ticking down, but it didn't seem to have an exact order, or maybe he was seeing things since his mind was not exactly in the right place at the time. To add more to this little puzzle that was a magically appearing clock, there was no place for batteries or anything else. It just had the 'hour', the rest was sealed.

"It feels like cotton, but I knocked on it and sounds like metal." Olivia grunted as she used her nails on the sides. Despite showing junctions, there was no space for anything in those areas "Pretty sturdy too, since I got slightly angry and almost trashed it against the floor. It didn't look affected at all."

"Way to appreciate a 'gift'" Alexander mocked.

"But it is not a gift, is it?" His sister just flipped him off "You would have been watching over me even if I kicked you in the nuts to see if I liked it, so if you weren't there to try and hug the fuck out of me, this is not yours." She frowned for a moment "Besides, you don't like My Little Pony"

"It is not that I don't like the cartoon, I like cartoons." Something Alexander wouldn't admit in public "But I like some conflict, alright? I do not seek all that drama or tragedy or such things, but a story needs a bit of that to go forward, and all that happens in the series is... fluffy." Alexander groaned at the memory "The worst thing that happened was that guy you mentioned, the minotaur... Tirek, was it?" Olivia nodded, eyes a bit dreamy. Figures "The guy was an idiot as big as a house, a three story tall house at least, much like every other villain."

"It is a little girl's show." Olivia groaned at the more than extinguished argument. This fire had been doused many times that she could count "Seriously!"

"Whine all you want, but I cannot relate to anything that doesn't seem a bit realistic you know?" Alexander scoffed as his sister flipped him off once more "I mean, I have seen a lot of kids' cartoons, and those from the nineties had people KILLED. Modern cartoons are so soft you could bounce bullets away with them, but if you show one cartoon with these characters, their personalities and all of this so well constructed, then make the villains look at least capable! Make problems that don't have to do with a party gone wrong! Or at least do me a solid one and show someone with real problems."

"Like Trixie and her dru..." Olivia faked a cough before going on "... power addiction?"

"Hey, that is a pony and episode I could like." He nodded at the thought "Yea, that one could be fine."

"Why must you want something like that? Equestria is a place for fun, games, understanding, acceptance and all that jazz. Why should it have something bad?" Olivia could just not get her brother when it came to this. Why was he so damn hard to please?! "Seriously, what does a pony need to get you to like them? Do we really need a Trixienator V2.0?"

Alexander chuckled as he thought about that. He did remember Trixie, his sister loved the first episode she appeared in, and he had to admit that the ursas were nice monsters "Double barreled shotgun or no deal" He grinned "But at least Trixie is a danger, even by accident, and she had problems that didn't just have to do with something that could be solved with a few hugs and magic."

"Whatever." Olivia decided to sweep that topic under the rug "Now, who could have left this if it wasn't your doing?" She patted the clock.

Alexander noticed that all the numbers switched at once and a completely new set of them appeared, only to change once more. For some reason the last number to the left caught his attention. It was a four.

The thing quickly cycled though, and another set of numbers were shown, then another, the original one, though it had counted down a little. That number did seem to be blinking though. While most of these clocks had red or green as far as he had seen, that one shined blue, while the rest of the numbers shown were of a more usual red, at least for now.

His mind was fucking with him, time to change sides and give his sister some ideas "Maybe one of your brony buddies snuck around and dropped it off for you?" He grinned at the mention, making Olivia flinch "Or are you still avoiding them because a couple found girlfriends?"

"You have no right to call me picky." She growled under her breath.

"Did I call you picky? No, I told you to get some girl, coma, friendssssssss." It was incredible how childish the two could be at their age, but it is true that some people don't grow up "Not a 'girlfriend', I meant girl, friends. You keep going for guys only to get screwed."

"And you keep looking for Twi'Lek and Togruta porn every two fucking days, at best." Olivia harrumphed, lifting her head to give him an uppity look "You don't have any rights whatsoever to judge me and my likes."

"Hey, togrutas and twi'leks are hot, more than the gamorreans you seem to like for some fucking reason." Alexander shuddered. For all his time on the net there was not enough acceptance in his mind as far as a gamorrean went "But I meant it."

"Fuck you."

"Ten foot metal rod? No thank you." Alexander gave his sister a grin "Look, Olivia, I don't give a flying rat's ass if you want to get your ass plowed every other week, okay? If I could keep a relationship past the first month with my dexterity as it is, I may have something to say about your own flings."

"Last girl h ad to go to the hospital because you almost broke her legs trying to carry her bridal style." For all her seriousness at those words, Olivia was trying not to laugh. Shame too, because she had liked that one girl "Out of the ones you could fuck up, no pun intended, you had to mess it with the one that I managed to tolerate. I would say you win plus one internets, but you know what? Fuck you once more."

"Yea, every time you say 'fuck you' I hear 'fuck me'" Olivia blushed furiously as Alexander said those words "And that is the problem: You are hornier than I. I made friends with the girls I tried to date, you get one night stands and then you are angry because they don't work out."

"So what are you proposing I do?" The blush was gone and now Olivia felt angry once more.

"Go meet your buddies once more, fuck, bring them over tomorrow and have a meeting downstairs." This, Olivia noted, was said after a pause a few seconds too long "In fact I think that is a very good idea since we will not be leaving the building for a while."

Olivia paused for a second "Why the fuck would I stay here, bored out of my skull, for a few days? We don't go out much, but I have a few things I want to do next week."

"Well, I told you that something came up." Alexander crossed his arms with a grimace quickly forming on his face "Or better say that she appeared out of fucking thin air and is staying at my room, knocked out cold, it seems."

Olivia had her hands over her face in a moment "What the fuck did you do?"

"I swear I didn't touch a fucking thing this time." Alexander grimaced at the confidence her sister had on him "You know that the only things that stay here..."

"Are the ones that survive your fucking butter fingers. Yes, yes I know" Olivia quickly waved it off "But this time we are talking about a woman that you say 'appeared' out of nothingness."

"I wouldn't call her a woman..." That instantly got a glare from Olivia "It is not what you think. Come with me, but keep it down."

You know how the human ear can't catch certain levels of sound? You should, it is basic knowledge, and if you didn't then you would wonder why Olivia was doing some kind of 'squee' that was impossible to be heard since it was either so high or low pitched that a few dogs around the neighborhood started howling. Luckily it seemed that the blue mare donning a baker's apron didn't register it either, otherwise she would wake up and be freaked out beyond belief.

Normally you'd see part of the brothers' personality by their rooms, and at this point in time it was very important to know why.

Olivia's room was full of plushies, comics, games and magazines. You didn't need to search for long to find some toys either, and not only the 'special' kind, but also literal toys from her younger years and toys that don't even have a whole year behind their backs. Paired with brightly colored walls that would hurt your eyes, and brain, you could see her usual demeanor pretty well transcribed to her own private space that was cluttered with everything she could get her hands on.

Alexander's room? Devoid of almost any shit. It was as spartan as it could get, and then some. Computer, bed, nightstand, clock, bathroom on the side and a single table for the aforementioned computer, thanks, don't come again. It spoke volumes of how he could keep few things alive, be it books, jewelry, gaming systems or anything else. He tried to paint his room once, then he had to ask a friend to do it for him while he cleaned his whole body, the clothes and the corridor outside of his room. Yes, it was that bad.

For this reason it was easy to imagine Olivia dancing all over Alexander's room squeeing like a fucking banshee as the dogs outside chanted to her tune. Her brother had never seen her this hyped, nor had she ever managed to do such a thing like this, but on a scale that ranged from one to ten in today's 'fuck up meter', this barely scraped a three. The prancing was cute, though.

"Sis, shut the fuck up." It was a bit of a shame to see Olivia stop and turn with a pout, but better than seeing the mare wake up as startled as she could get "This is not one of those stories you read, okay? This is not one of the mane six, this is the fucking baker of Ponyville, and she was scared to hell."

"But it is a pony! She is a pony! I am so fucking happy right now!" And trust Olivia to not see the problem right in front of her.

Patience was key here, as well as a low enough voice "Olivia, she was asking for her husband when she woke up. This is not the fucking cartoon, okay?" His sister deflated quicker than he had ever seen "Let's wait until she wakes up and then we'll talk with her. However, I do want no mention of the cartoon or anything else until she is at least somewhat relaxed."

Whether she liked it or not, Olivia closed her mouth, formed a very thin line with it and exited the room to get an extra chair. Alexander's computer was a laptop, unlike his sister's, so the one chair he had was in the bathroom, just for commodity when he went out and changed his clothes (And to minimize possible holocausts). You'd see Alexander sitting on his bed whenever he was in his room, laptop ready as he browsed the internet. Whenever he went in for a search that was more 'personal', he'd move the chair within his room, otherwise? It was barren and his favorite place, and sitting location, was the comfortable plus bed occupied by Miss Cake.

That didn't mean that Alexander was about to give Olivia his one chair. It was his and his alone, plus it was fun to mess with his sister, as any brother should know.

Once that was settled and both were sitting there, probably failing miserably at not appearing creepy or dangerous to the poor mare once she woke up, the silent mood fell like a blanket over them. What was there to talk about in any case? There was a fucking colorful pony that was supposedly a fantastic creature in the sense that it came from a fucking magical world made for little ones. That show, ironically, appealed maybe more to adults than kids, fuck demographics, right?

Now that he thought about it, Miss Cake did look cartoony. Do not get me wrong: She had fluff, her mane and coat weren't perfectly stylized, but she looked, well, colorful in a not exactly 'real' kind of way. She sincerely looked like a cartoon, and with this Alexander meant that she looked a bit too perfect, plus she also had the big eyelids that came associated with those 'bug eyes' a la Power Puff Girls that he couldn't help but consider cute for some damnable reason. It didn't look right to him, but at the same time, it gave off the impression that she had to look that way. Maybe it was the magic these ponies had? Because in all seriousness, at the moment Alexander was about to say 'fuck it' and accept magic as factual since there was no possible explanation for this.

Thing was that usually there was a good reason for these things when it came to those stories, or so Olivia said. Alexander was a big Star Wars nut, and he wished that it had ended a long time ago, much like The Simpsons, but it still went on with official backing, which had made the quality plummet. Ponies now were driven by fan creations that were, usually, quite good if his sister was to be believed.

'What was truth and what was fiction?' That question drilled itself deep within Alexander's mind and he had to ask himself that time and time again as the pair waited. How many things from the show were accurate? What had been hidden to make children like the cute cartoons? What things had the fans done right? Nothing could be answered unless Cup Cake woke up and was willing to talk without freaking out.

That part was very, very important, and Alexander didn't mean just the answering, but the sanity maintaining part. Were humans known in their world? Was Earth known, at all, back there? Did ponies or humans go back and forth? These questions floated around his mind as Alexander wondered just what kind of thing had managed to drag a pony to human lands when most stories were labeled as... HiE? Yea, Human in Equestria, if he remembered what Olivia told him without botching things up. When it came to ponies on Earth though, it usually was because Twilight had fucked up or something similar. If that was the case, which didn't need to be true, would Miss Cake break down or would she be calm and collected about it all?

Alexander was about to ask Olivia about her opinion on that matter when Miss Cake stirred at last. It had been maybe an hour of waiting, tension eating away at them, with their imagination occupying their minds to the point where time went by like a snap of the fingers, but neither brother had taken notice of it at all.

Olivia was far less nervous than Alexander though, and she was quick to get up and put her chair away while trying her best to contain her excitement. Alexander just relaxed against the wall with his own chair, trying to appear as tranquil as non threatening as possible, which probably was not much considering that he was almost twice the size of Miss Cake and built more like a trooper than a baker, unless you count those bakers that do all the shit by themselves and end up buffed to hell.

"Ugh... my head." Her voice was as soft as both Alexander and Olivia remembered, though there was something off about it "C-Carrot? Carrot where are you?"

"Sorry, miss, your husband is not here."

Alexander felt as if something was torn apart within himself as he said those words. To see Cup Cake open her eyes in an instant, fear rising within them as she noticed where she was, made him feel worse than ever. He had done a few stupid things in his life, he had fucked a few people over, though most of them were by accident, and yet he had never felt so bad as he was feeling right now with a mare about to cry right in front of him.

"W-w-where am I?" Cup Cake almost chocked as she tried not to cry "What are... what are you going to do with me?"

"You are on Earth, the United States of America, Connecticut to be more precise." Alexander droned for a moment while his sister's gushing died down and concern replaced her smile "You appeared on my bed a few hours ago, asked for your husband and passed out."

For a moment, Cup Cake was shocked. Where was Earth? What were the creatures talking to her? How they knew Carrot was her husband? She opened her mouth a few times to ask questions, yell, scream or simply sob, but nothing came out.

"Miss Cake." Olivia had by now abandoned her previous happy and carefree mood, turning almost maternal and highly concerned as she saw how the mare reacted "We know a few things about ponies, well, I know more about your kind than my brother, Alexander." She placed a hand on Alexander's shoulder as she said that, still going slowly and carefully with her words "My name is Olivia, and as you can guess, we already know yours. I can start by telling you that we are humans, but anything else you want to know, you will have to ask."

"How... how do you know my name?" Miss Cake bit her lip as she looked at both brothers with a worried face. She wanted to go back to Carrot, to her children, but at the moment it was best to try and remain calm, something she was failing already "And what else do you know about me?"

Olivia looked at his brother. Alexander looked back. If Cup Cake wanted to know it was better to be truthful about it. This probably would literally make her brain overload, but lying would do more harm than good.

"Well, you see..." And simply put, from Olivia's perspective, either way was going to hurt like hell. This route just made the pain come and go quicker "In here there is a cartoon show with the adventures of the mane six?"

Cup Cake blinked a few times.

"What?"

"It is called My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic." Olivia began her little explanation "It begins with Twilight in Canterlot, before she goes to Ponyville for the first time and meets with the ones that would become her best friends" She muttered something about leaving some of her old friends behind, but that was Twilight being Twilight back in the day "Then everything from defeating Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, reforming Discord, defeating Tirek, etc."

Cup Cake seemed unable to talk as she stared at Olivia as if she had suddenly changed into a massive hydra, such was the surprise, so Olivia went on with her little tale.

"There were also many other minor things shown; from the parasprite invasion to Gilda's visit, many of Twilight's little mishaps, the resurrection of King Sombra, many of Equestria's festivities and other minor problems and 'adventures' that the girls, or some other ponies, went through" Olivia grimaced as she thought about what she was about to say next "One of the episodes was about you and your newborn foals"

Something suddenly cracked inside Cup Cake's mind as she heard that.

"M-my children... my Carrot... we... we are a cartoon show? For foals? A cartoon show that follows Twilight?" This was more than enough to make Miss Cake's eyes water once more "And now I am in an alien world? Away from them? Away from those I love and care for? Why? What did I do to deserve this!?"

Alexander had predicted the breakdown, and even Olivia, whom had thought this would have ended much better, was not wholly surprised on how messed up the situation had turned out to be.

Here she was, Miss Cake, alone in a new world, far away from home. Alexander knew she had gone for her husband, she had said as much, and so he had told Olivia. Why had she gone out for him? They didn't know that, but a mother away from her loved ones was a ticking bomb and that was reason enough to go gentle with her. She had asked though, and as such it was better to be brutally honest, otherwise it would have done far worse damage than this. But what to do about here now?

Cup Cake was hugging herself in place, trying to pull away until she hit the bed's headboard. She sent the bed sheets, the pillow and anything she could kick, flying with such strength that it hurt when the damn pillow hit Alexander square on the face. Her crying was partially muffled as she tried to say something, which in turn came out as sobs, thank god. While it was horrible of Alexander to think in such a way, it was much better than full blown screaming or crying that could attract the few people that lived close to the bakery. That one would be a problem without remedy.

Olivia made an attempt towards the poor broken mare, but Alexander made sure to stop her and shake his head, whispering to her sister to let Cup Cake vent. At this point in time she had taken such a shock that trying to help would be stupidity worthy of legends, because their fellow baker could very well break bones with ease, and the distress she was suffering would make it easy for her to lash out.

Alexander felt as if he was one of the biggest assholes on the planet too. While Olivia probably felt bad because she was seeing one of the characters she loved break down in real life, Alexander thought back on that little comment when he said that these guys never had any real problems. True that he thought this probably was almost normal occurrence, what with how much fanfiction is out there, but to be shown that Cup Cake was literally breaking in front of him as if someone had told her she was about to lose everything she loved? In part it had been what had happened, yea, but it was not a sure thing, and Alexander honestly hope she could get back, now even more than he did before

It took her a good fifteen minutes until she calmed down at all, and by then she looked about to keel over with how disheveled her general appearance had become. Her mane was wrecked, her coat was fluff poking out everywhere and her cheeks were wet to the point of comparing her to a dog that just got out of the tub. In truth a dog would have ended up looking better, at least much happier, that is for sure.

Once it was done Olivia didn't dare get close to Cup Cake. She was looking forlorn, gazing down at the bed, lost in her little world, with no more tears in her eyes and with a mix of sadness and just plain anger that she had never thought possible when Olivia thought of the character of Miss Cake. In real life things weren't always cute and friendly. This was not a nice story with an outright happy end from beginning to finish. This was a very human like reaction to being screwed over to the point of no return, probably made worse if Alexander was right and ponies basically required other ponies to just be well.

Weirdly enough, at least for Alexander, he was the one to get up and approach the unresponsive mare. It just felt wrong to leave her there, though he had to admit that there was possibly not a chance in hell for him to comfort her in any way shape or form, but this felt like it was his fault somewhat. He knew he hadn't done whatever brought her here, but he had wanted someone that felt real to connect with the show, didn't he? Well, he had his fucking wish, and all it took was a mental break that had nothing to do with Twilight losing her marbles! Good job, hero, you fucked it up, we don't need a villain to mess the world anymore, so we have them the day off.

So it wasn't his fault, big deal. He felt like crap and he wasn't delusional enough to think the world revolved around him in any way, shape or form, but he still felt like crap and that was it. A big factor to take into account was his sister and her distress, and while they verbally lashed at each other, or physically fought for fun, having her sad was something that hurt him in a way that could hardly be explained, as any decent brother or sister could tell you. Adding that to the guilt felt for his stupid wishes for a 'relatable' pony, he didn't find it as scary to be the one to approach Cup Cake.

When he sat besides the mare, the fear came quite quick.

The looks he gave him was full of hurt, and the shine he had seen in all ponies was gone. It was as if you looked at an anime character and found the partially dulled or grayed out eyes, as if you saw a person that just couldn't focus on anything, with an empty gaze looking at whatever, their focus lost somewhere no one could ever follow. That was how it felt when Cup Cake turned her head just enough to glance at him. It was as if she didn't care about anything at the moment, which was quite possible.

"I know this was probably not the best way to tell you, well, anything." That made the mare snort, though she didn't do much other than that "But there was no good way of bringing it up. We could have waited and made things worse, or said it outright and deal with the shock. The third option was lying." And that one was more than a mistake.

"What am I going to do?" Cup Cake ended up resting her whole body on the bed, sniffling as she let her head fall between her hooves "Where will I go? I am far away from home, from my family... And you are telling me that I am no more than a cartoon."

"Look, it is true that you and the other ponies appeared in that cartoon." Alexander went ahead and dared place a hand on the poor baker's neck. The effect was... surprising.

Instead of jolt and slam her hoof on his face, which he expected, Cup Cake seemed to relax as he gently touched the back of her neck. He made sure to be gentle, slow and, more than anything, evade any kind of pressure, sudden movements or anything that made her simply squirm. Just in case he didn't go either higher or lower, he just massaged her nape just a bit. It managed to get a sigh out of her if nothing else.

"But if you are here, then that means your world is real, doesn't it?" Cup Cake's ears had been splayed back, something that, if Alexander remembered right, meant sadness to some extent. They quickly perked as he said those words "If it is real, then I suppose Celestia and the other princesses are real then. Sooner or later they should be ready and they would pick you up. The only thing we need to do is keep calm, make sure no one sees you, and ensure you are safe"

Cup Cake's mood improved as she raised her head "That... that is right! Princess Celestia will send help sooner or later, I am sure of it!" She smiled once more, though her eyes were still sad "B-but... I don't feel right here... Something is wrong."

Alexander frowned, looking at his sister for a clue about what Miss Cake meant. Olivia did pick on it quickly enough "There is no magic here, I think." The effect on Cup Cake's mood was instantaneous, as she deflated quickly "Or maybe there is a little? I know unicorns are the ones boasting about magic and all, but can't earth ponies feel it too?"

Miss Cake nodded slowly "Yes, yes we can, it is something that is everywhere around us, so we can indeed notice it, or the lack of it in this case." She bit her lower lip for a moment "But there is... there is some magic around. It is... it is like an extra sense? I don't feel it too well, as you say that is what unicorns are best at, but I know there is magic. It just feels weak, so, so weak."

"At least there is magic, though I doubt any creature from your world would be able to use it here like they could in Equestria." Alexander did wonder about the limits though. What could they do if they tried? "That may mean that it will take some time for the princesses to bring you back, but they will, I am sure of that." He did keep rubbing her neck though. Mind wandering to magic or not, it seemed to relax her a lot, so he wasn't about to stop "But we must make sure no one knows you are here, just in case."

"Why?" Cup Cake turned to face Alexander again "Are there bad humans out there?"

Alexander nodded slowly "A few, fewer than there were before. Someone tried to do something quite bad a few years ago and it scared the whole world. Now most laws have been revised and hardened a bit, but as far as you are an honest person there is nothing you have to worry about." He gave the pony a gentle and sincere smile "But humans are afraid of things they can't understand, and having a pony suddenly appear... They could try and discover how it happened, and in their haste they could do something we all would regret later, so I prefer we keep you away from any windows or the outside for the time being."

Cup Cake grimaced but nodded "I suppose the same could happen if a human appeared in Equestria. I think there were myths about something similar to you, maybe books? I am not sure, though a popular shape for cookies has your general shape." She scratched her head for a second, trying to remember. What she got was a massive headache that made her scrape that idea quickly enough "My head is killing me, I hate crying." She sighed, feeling defeated once more "But today has been just plain awful..."

"Would you..." The mare looked up to Olivia as she began talking. She was pretty sure of what the younger sister would be asking, and wasn't keen on answering, but cutting her would be beyond rude after her past reaction "Would you mind telling us why you were out searching for your husband? Alexander said you had been asking for him when you woke up, and you called for him again while you stirred awake. I am sorry if it bothers you, but maybe it has something to do with why you got here?"

Polite or not, Cup Cake was not up for such discussions "I am sorry. I know I may have... overreacted a bit." Neither brother thought she had, but they said nothing "But I would prefer to not discuss that topic today. I have been asleep for long, I feel it, but I would still like some more rest, if that is alright." Alexander made sure she saw his nodding "Maybe... maybe tomorrow, but not now."

"Understandable." Alexander got up, noticing how Miss Cake groaned at having the hand removed from her neck. It seemed that contact was practically a necessity for ponies, at least for distressed ones, and taking it away wasn't a smart idea "This is my room, but the kitchen is spacious enough and I can rest there. Only hall has windows up here, the rest of the rooms lack them, so I can start making myself another room in the storeroom we have up here."

"It is only a store room because you didn't want to use it for anything else." Olivia half whispered, but one look at Alexander basically said 'not now' "At least it will see some use now, and for a good cause."

"Oh no, no, no! I can't ask to take your room." Cup Cake was quick to look up at Alexander. She wasn't about to abuse whatever hospitably she was given after her little breakdown "I can use whatever you can spare, I don't want to impose more than I am already."

"There is no problem, I assure you" Alexander smiled at the worried mare "I have slept in worse conditions." She didn't remove her frown at the idea though "But if you are so worried about it, then you can come with me to the room tomorrow, after breakfast, and we can see how you'd like to have that room fitted. Since we don't know how long you will stay it would be better to prepare from something that could range from a few days to maybe a few months." He was quick to add more as Cup Cake seemed ready to cry again "Not saying it will take that long, but I would prefer to make your stay as comfortable as I could."

Miss Cake bit her lip, but in the end she nodded. If she was going to stay here for a long period of time, and if he offered, why not get comfortable? She was sure that she could find a way to repay him somehow "Thank you. I appreciate your efforts to make me feel welcome... even if this probably isn't what you expected from a pony." She chuckled bitterly at that "I... would like to know about that cartoon tomorrow, if we had time."

"We'll have time." Alexander nodded "My sister and I will be busy during the morning, but I am sure I can take a break during the afternoon since someone is going to be attending customers and talking with her friends." He turned to face his sister "Isn't that right, Olivia?"

"You are seriously going to make me call them?" Olivia huffed, grunting as Alexander nodded sharply "Fffffffff-ine." She growled, obviously going for more than a PG-13 kind of answer, but not in front of the pony, not now at least "But if those girls get on my nerves, I'll have your ass on a silver platter."

"You have mules?" Cup Cake tilted her head in confusion. Did they...?

"Look at what you did." Alexander could feel his brain groaning at the beginning of a long, long, long list of shit that should be explained "Not an hour and we already messed up twice." He let out a sigh and explained as shortly and gently as he could "Ass is what we call our 'flanks'... Did I use the term right?" His sister nodded "Yea, that. Also buttocks, rear, etc. Ass is the more, eh, 'direct' way of reference, since it is what most people call it anyway."

"Oh, okay... But why did you say you had messed up twice?" Cup Cake was still confused, and her expression showed it.

"Because we are going to need to explain a lot of things, but it should be done tomorrow." Alexander groaned internally as he thought of just how much fun that was going to be "For now I think we should let you calm down and relax as much as you want."

"My brother and I both have a small bathroom connected to our rooms." Olivia directed Cup Cake's attention to the only door other than the exit "I doubt we have what you are used to, and I am not sure how well you can clean yourself while alone, but you may want to have a shower just to relax."

Miss Cake looked a bit grim as she was reminded that she was alone, but this time she just swallowed whatever she was going to say and nodded "Yes, yes I would like a quick shower if nothing else." She sighed, quickly removing her apron, leaving it down on the bed "I have... I have much to think about."

Alexander gave her a nod as he opened the door to go outside, signaling for his sister to make herself scarce too "If you need anything at all, do call us. The place was made for a larger family, but it never got its full capacity used, so we are pretty close by."

"Will do." The mare nodded, approaching the bathroom door and opening it with ease despite Alexander's fears at how impossible it should be to open it with hooves "Thanks once more."

Alexander nodded as the mare gave him the briefest of looks. He couldn't help but feel a little better, and he didn't know why. She seemed to like his touch, or at least it had helped her get in a better, or more relaxed if nothing else, mood. The show almost always showed ponies close together, even those that seemed to thrive with isolation. Hell, even Twilight had friends before she moved to Ponyville, though she didn't have much contact with them. It was obvious that ponies required each other a lot, and that was the only thing that saved his face from breaking under pressure, but he was unable to bear the sight of Miss Cake broken.

"Well, the day has really turned out as something special, eh?" Olivia grimaced. What she had just seen was not what she expected "I... suppose I could call my friends. I think I need a little challenge to get my mind off this."

"You do that." Alexander's face was serious, not a smidge of a smile on his lips "We need to make sure everyone sees things as normal. I don't want to think about what could happen if someone found out about Miss Cake, and I don't know what else happened alongside her appearance."

Olivia's worries grew as her brother said that "What do you mean?"

"Magic was supposed to be myth, ponies were supposed to be cartoons. What else has been messed up now that she is here? Why did it happen?" The older brother rubbed his face in exasperation. This was too much shit for one single and simple day "For all I know that fucking clock has something to do with it, which wouldn't surprise me."

"That is why you want to sleep in the kitchen? You want to check on the clock?" In any other situation this would've been stupid and funny. Right now the worry seemed so real that it worried Olivia "Don't scare me, brother. This is not funny, nor is it as cute as I would have expected."

"Of course it fucking isn't'!" Alexander hissed, anger finally flaring. Olivia took a step back as her brother's temper reared its ugly head "I didn't think I would get what I wanted when I saw I wished for a pony that could appear to be real in my eyes! Look at what it did! Miss Cake broke down in front of us and all we could do was fuck with her mind some more!" He forced himself to shut up and take a long drawn breath "Look... I don't know about you, but my stomach is not up for eating, and I doubt I will be hungry, at all, today. Let's be on our own, let's calm down, and tomorrow we can talk things."

"Y-yea... let's do that" Olivia's nod came too quick and too sharp "See you tomorrow, brother."

Cup Cake wasn't sure as to how long she had stared at nothingness under the hot water. It took her some time to find the will to simply clean herself, though it would be a lie to say that the wound of water raining around her and on top of her didn't help. She wasn't a pony that liked the rain in excess, but she knew how therapeutic a shower could be, or hot water in general, thanks to Aloe, Vera and Lotus.

Thinking back to the spa ponies brought the little discussion she had with them last time. When were they going to get a mate of their own? There was no secret when it came to the sister, and their cousin, being together, nor did the spa ponies try to hide it much, or at all, but they had commented how lucky Miss Cake was to have her husband always at her side, so Cup Cake was more than worried about the reasons behind the three mares' reluctance to have a male mate when they wanted it so much.

That, of course, brought Carrot once more, as well as the kids.

Carrot... What was he going through right now? What was he thinking? Did anypony notice she wasn't around? Did somepony see her disappear? There was no one around the area, it was a slow day after all, and many had gone out of town to visit relatives, even Applejack had decided to take her family out for a change. For all she knew, her family was unaware of her disappearance.

Her mind would have been assaulted by nightmares just by such thoughts, but to be told what she now knew? It felt nauseating, as if this was nothing more than a bad dream she wanted to wake up from, but she was pretty sure that such luck would be far away from her grasp. A cartoon... a simple cartoon...

But then again, there were theories about multiverses, right? It was one topic that Twilight entertained a lot, and she had enjoyed talking to Pound and Pumpkin about it. True, the foals would not understand, but they were enraptured with Twilight simply by her talking, and Cup Cake was not one to avoid a moment of respite during parties and other duties with how many ponies wanted her business nowadays. She hadn't heard much, and she didn't understand as much as other ponies would, but it was something.

If nothing else, that at least meant that, yes, the princesses would find her, somehow, sooner or later. She knew it would probably be later, and she had many questions about how it would work out, but there was no time, nor space in her head, for her to worry about that now. She had to first calm down, find how to help around here second, and get used to the new environment third.

She had slipped and she had broken down, but who wouldn't? Who could maintain a strong front when presented with her actual problems? That was a good question and she didn't know anypony that could be perfectly fine with this. The princesses? They could surely show a neutral, strong or maybe solid facade if they were together, but if they were to be sent separately? If it was Twilight the one to traverse between universes? If Cadance was ripped away from Shining Armor?

Cup Cake had few doubts about how grim things would look for those mares, or any other pony. This was not something pretty.

At least she could say that she was lucky in a sense. The two humans had been brutally upfront, maybe a bit more than she would've wanted, but they hadn't lied to her, which she could appreciate if nothing else. The brother had allowed her to sleep on his bed, he had given his whole room in fact, and hadn't done much more than relax her with that touch of his.

The thought of that hand over her neck made her shiver as she rested on Alexander's bed. Carrot knew she liked it very much when he nuzzled her there, or when he massaged it with her hooves. For many earth ponies the most sensitive area was their hooves, the frog specifically, since that was the area that channeled their inherent magic. Most ponies also had sensitive ears and tails, but everypony was different and Cup Cake's own little spot was her neck. She felt dirty thinking about it, but at least it had made her relax somewhat when Alexander got the courage to approach and try to give her a friendly talk.

Shaking the thoughts away from her mind, Cup Cake focused on something else. Namely, she focused on magic.

Back home she was not too good at that, in fact she was pretty much non magically adept as far as earth ponies go. She was dexterous, quick thinking and very capable in the kitchen, as well as a charismatic mare and a very easy to talk pony, but magical? Cup Cake would've snorted in any other situation, but right now even her unused senses for magic were flaring with even the tiniest of signals.

This world lacked magic, but at the same time, magic was the basic essence of life. In school they had shown that the more technology, the less magic, and that was why 'magitech' was used instead of normal technology. Even the industrious minotaurs preferred a more barbaric and ancient way of life, minus some youngsters vent on amassing riches. Mana crystals mixed with contraptions created magitech, and it could make from automated carts to the trains everypony knew. Even with that it was impossible for Cup Cake to notice strong magic fields because magic permeated everything back home. Here? Here Cup Cake could feel magic, but it was so dim it was painful.

She could feel there was something surrounding the building... more or less? It was as if she could see the building, sense it in a way, surrounded by something, but she wasn't sure what it was. Instinctively it made her fear whatever it was, as if it could hurt her, as if she was meant to stay inside, but it made her want to run so much more than she would be willing to admit at the same time. It was something safe, but also dangerous, and she didn't like it.

Alexander? Alexander felt... right, somehow. It was as if he had more magic than he should, but at the same time it was as if he had something akin to a pony as far as the feeling went. Cup Cake had dealt with many different species, and while it was hard to tell with magic always around, it was an instinctive thing to 'feel' when someone was different, unless they could mask themselves, as changelings did. Humans probably couldn't do that, unless the pair had lied to her, and Cup Cake was sure they hadn't, she was just sure of it. It was for that reason that, while it felt right, she questioned why Alexander was like he was when it came to that magic feeling if they said magic didn't exist here.

If humans thought magic wasn't real, then that meant they would not know it was part of everything that was alive. That just meant they couldn't feel, or use, magic, so it would hardly cling to them other than to keep them alive, if she remembered her lessons correctly of course. If she had to bring her inner Twilight, then that analysis would end up in a simple answer: Alexander should not feel like a pony when it came to the magic surrounding him, but Cup Cake hadn't felt been around another normal human being.

What of Olivia? Well, Olivia also felt... weird, and in this case Cup Cake meant weird.

Alexander felt like a pony, which simply meant he had magic within him in some way, more than any passive creature, like a dog, a bird or even a bear. Olivia felt like she was utterly charged with the stuff! It was similar to how Cup Cake felt the first time she was close to one of the little unicorn fillies back when she was a filly herself: Powerful, dizzy, enthralling and a bit nauseating, all in one. It was as if there was a magical vortex around Olivia, but she didn't seem much different when compared to her brother.

Did humans have different magic fields around them? Cup Cake basically forgot about them, as they were part of her daily life, and just went with appearance more than magic fields when it came to identifying the species of her customers. Most creatures did the same, though a few specialized ones went more with the flow of magic than anything else when it came to 'sense' things.

Speaking of sensing, there was something very strange within the building. She could feel it, in this same floor, not too far away in fact, but Cup Cake wasn't sure what it was. It felt wrong, literally wrong. This was not 'weird', this was not 'different', this was wrong; as if somepony had let Twilight loose after she learned that there she had a test in five minutes and she hadn't studied for it. That would have ended Ponyville faster than Celestia could drink her tea.

Cup Cake chuckled, albeit tiredly. Thinking back to anything silly or funny would hardly help her now, but if she had to chose between keeping this serious and depressing, knowing that the princesses would do all they could to bring her back, would only deliver a very sad and angry Cup Cake back to her husband once things all was said and done. That was the one thing she didn't want happening.

Between the weird feeling that was sensing magic once more as if she was a filly, as if the world was once more new, a sensation she relished, only to have it soured once she knew WHY it happened, and being in a place where she could be the only pony alive right now, Cup Cake was torn. There were reasons to be excited, after all this was a new world, but many more were screaming at her to flee or have a real mental break that would make everything fine once more. By fine her mind basically mean lose it and pray to recover whenever Celestia brought her back. It would be a short run, but it would make her gamble her sanity.

There was a silver lining to this, and it was the one thing that had made her keep calm. It wasn't all these distractions with her silent thoughts as she looked at the ceiling of the room, no, the silver lining was much more simple than occupying her brain with whatever thoughts came to her.

Her heat would be harmless.

Here she was, in a land without ponies, far away from her family and those she cared about. It hurt, it hurt so much... but it also meant no ponies. She could have her heat, she could let it pass, and maybe next year something could be done with Carrot, maybe some magic, a favor from Twilight, ANYTHING. She would not need to cheat on Carrot, she could suffer alone without hurting her husband and she would endure another year without her dream coming any closer to fruition.

It bothered her that, despite her breakdown and her situation, her mind was fixated on having children. She knew she was young, she wasn't even over fifty, that was still a few years away, and even then no pony got biologically fixed until they reached one hundred fifty or more. These instincts, these desires, would haunt her for a long time, and her dream of a big family didn't help.

But yes, there was not a chance for her heat to mess things in here. Even if everypony else believed she had gone to another city to get a stallion they would be wrong, and she would prove them wrong. Carrot could not provide her with what she wanted, but she was going to remain loyal to him, it is what he'd want and what she wanted above all else.

Wasn't it? He wanted her happy, but how could he be happy if she dragged another stallion to the family? Carrot wasn't the most possessive male, but he had only one mare he loved, he didn't like almost any other mare beyond friends, or friends with benefits at best, and in most cases he was much happier when Cup Cake suggested bringing another male because he had more physical attraction to them. But to bring a male just interested in Cup Cake? That would hurt Carrot, and she wasn't going to do it.

In the end, despite the pain, this could be a small gift, and that was what made her smile, even if it was a very small one. She would remain as she was, even if there was some unhappiness mixed with their marriage, it was just because one simple thing that didn't need to be fixed. Cup Cake loved her children and, while she wanted more, she would not hurt Carrot just to satisfy her desire for a larger family.

She would NEVER hurt Carrot. If there was not an equal trade, then it was not done.

It would never be done, and she clung to that as the saving grace from all this. Whatever else could come from this would be found when the two humans told her how she could help. Going in circles in her mind would help her along just so much, and sleeping for a whole day could be done, once, but tomorrow she would be restless, she knew it as she closed her eyes for the night.

Alexander couldn't believe how easy it had been for Olivia to calm down. It had been hours away, but she had told him she was going to pick her headphones and play some games, or hear some music, but she wasn't going to be around for long before going to bed. Hell, she hadn't even insulted him or told him that she was going to use one of her toys tonight. Back in the day that would've been TMI, but nowadays it was necessary if he wanted to get his earplugs and sleep. They probably were used to worse from each other, after all this one house had freedom, unlike back with their parents, so at least they could enjoy themselves however they wanted.

You wouldn't see Olivia complaining with how many girls Alexander brought until the he fucked up with the last one. She would complain after they were gone, though.

In any case, whether Olivia had really relaxed and managed to take it better than Alexander had, he was still worried. Partly it was because he feared his sister was faring worse than she showed, partly because he feared for Ms Cake and her sanity, and partly because he didn't know why the clock had changed once more to the blue marked number.

It had been cycling a few times, and Alexander had noticed that the blue marked number stayed at four, for now, but the other two sets also had different colors once he paid enough attention. Well, it wasn't that he paid more attention to them, it was that they all but called to him as they flashed with purpose whenever the clock decided to change its tune and show another set of numbers.

There was the original set, which showed a very prominent double zero in bright orange lights. He hadn't noticed at first, but it was blinking now, and it had a sense of foreboding to it that he didn't exactly like.

The other one was yellow, and it had basically popped up only once more, a few minutes ago in fact. It stayed for a moment and showed a single one while the rest of the numbers tickled down bit by bit, second by second. That one was worrying, almost as bad as the original number. It felt as if something really bad could happen when it turned from one to zero, but Alexander didn't know what, or why, it would be.

After he had seen them both the numbers came back to the blue marked counter. It was at that time that he noticed that the countdown had changed: It was ticking down to mark an hour.

The hour in question was 24:00 on point.

He had checked a few times, but with his trusty computer by his side, and the online clock marking the hour with pinpoint accuracy, there was no margin for a mistake here. What would happen when it reached the marked hour? Alexander wasn't sure, but there was a sense of insecurity and curiosity as the last minute clicked, second by second, until the last ten were shown.

10... 9... 8... 7... It was in those last seconds that Alexander had a bit of an epiphany. What if this meant that Celestia was about to get Cup Cake back? It would be great!... Wouldn't it? The thought brought a very sour taste to his mouth and some modicum of anger to his mind. Why would it feel bad to have such thoughts? Miss Cake had to go back to her family.

He shook his head a few times to clear his thoughts. Maybe it just felt bad because he still felt stupidly responsible for this mess? It was a feeling that just didn't want to go away, and it told him to help Cup Cake feel better. He didn't know how, and despite going back on his word about not going to accommodate the pony's every wish, as he felt more compelled to do it now, he wasn't sure about how he could help Cup Cake other than giving her a room and, well, being nice.

The clock hit zero and his thoughts drifted back to reality. The numbers banished for a moment and blue letters substituted them. It was a strange message composed of a single word that Alexander understood, but could not comprehend without context

Branded.

The numbers appeared as quickly as they went away, and this time the four was missing, with a three on its place. As quickly as they appeared they changed, and the orange number at the end marked the new counter once more. It was missing a zero however, and as Alexander noticed that fact another word popped up as his eyelids became heavy and his awareness slipped.

Marked.

He wasn't sure of what he read, he only knew that he felt very, very tired all of sudden. The words that appeared within the clock would be blurred as morning came, and he would remember of the night little more than the distant memory of looking at the clock, worried, tired and hungry.

Author's Note

Okies, chapter 2 (Or three if you count the intro) done. Took a bit longer than expected, still fixing shit for Astro Lord, plus a few other things. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Yea, not much else to say, take care.