Heart Shards: Revolution

Chapters

Prologue - The First Human in a Hundred Years
Chapter 1 - Emma's Day Out (Part 1)
Chapter 2 - Emma's Day Out (Part 2)
Chapter 3 - The Value of a Human
Chapter 4 - Helping Hands
Chapter 5 - The Value of the Princess's Student
Chapter 6 - Meeting Royalty

Prologue - The First Human in a Hundred Years

Emma’s POV – Wake Up to the New World

I woke up with soreness all over my body. It felt as if I was hit by a truck, and it left me with shattered bones. As the pain sinks in to get me to realize that I was severely injured, I heard voices nearby.

“Whoa! What is that!?” An excited voice questioned.

“It doesn’t look like it’s doing so well.” Another spoke with a country accent. “It’s got some bruises here and there.”

“Girls, step back!” One cautioned. “I think it’s a… human.”

“What’s a human?” the excited voice wondered earlier?

By that moment, I realized something fairly off. The fact that they didn’t know what a human was pressured me to believe I was in some alien world. As much as I would like to believe this is a dream, it’s too realistic. The fact that I can process pain right now is enough evidence to show me, I’m not hallucinating. Unless of course I was drugged, which I highly doubt as well. I looked towards the direction of the voices and saw who they belonged to. Ponies of bright colors like that of candy were shown right before me. Struggling with my sanity, I look away and sigh, wondering how I got myself into this mess.

“Look! That human thing just took a peek at us!” One of them pointed out with a scratchy, boyish voice.

I heard another, but just barely. Her voice was nearly faint. “Shouldn’t we do something to help it?”

“The best we can do is take it to the hospital for now. I’ll just use my magic to carry her there. Rainbow, can you go to the hospital and get them to ready a checkup? Tell them that it’ll be very similar to minotaur anatomy. Oh, but be sure to tell them that it won’t have as much muscle.”

“You got it!” The tomboyish voice acknowledged before making a noise of sudden propulsion. I was getting quite nervous around these superhuman horses, but as I am now, I might as well let things be. With the pain I’m going through right now, I might as well hope that they are taking me to the hospital for treatment and not some weird testing facility like in the movies.

“Alright, be sure to keep some distance. It fell through the sky, so I’ll bet it’s feeling pretty hurt.” She warned the others.

It wasn’t long before the ground was no longer touching my back. I turn and see my body being lifted over thin air. The force that blankets my body felt like the air was holding me. The aura also was shown around me, and the color matched that of the pony with the horn on her head. I took note that the unicorn had some powers like she mentioned before. Magic she called it, and here she was using it to carry me to the hospital.

Things just got interesting.

Twilight’s POV – Meeting the First Human in Centuries

“We’ll try our best.” Nurse Red Heart told me. “It doesn’t look like too much damage. I’m sure with a little healing magic, some bandages, and painkillers, it’ll be back on its feet in no time.”

“Thank you Nurse Red Heart.” I said gratefully.

“I’ll call you in when we’re done.”

The nurse went back inside the room to continue her work. It was a relief after managing to bring her in. I bumped its head by mistake on the way in, so I was worried I may have damaged the human’s brain. I went to my friends as they circled around me with questions on their mind.

“Hey Twi! What’s that thing you called? A human?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes, it’s called a human.” I answered.

“So that’s a human?” Fluttershy thought. “I never seen any creature like it, besides monkey’s maybe.”

“Well, they’re kinda, supposed to be… well, extinct.”

“WHAT!?” They shouted in shock. They yelled so loud, a nurse stuck her head out and shushed us. We nodded in apology before returning to the subject.

“So we have a dinosaur!?” Pinkie questioned.

“No! Of course not! They’re not that old.”

“Well, how did they get to be extinct?” Rarity questioned.

“For… Well, something.” I shrugged, not honestly sure myself. “I know that the ponies did have a hoof in it when it happened, but other than that, I don’t know. They were gone for hundreds of years. I’m as shocked as you girls when I saw it. The thing looked like the same human from the book.”

“Wait a minute, did you say ponies had a hoof in it? Like… our great ancestors got rid of them all?” Applejack questioned.

“Sadly, yes. That seems to be the case. I don’t know why though. I know some things about humans, like that they are sentient, they once lived in harmony with other creatures as well, and they were well versed with technology. But after their sudden disappearance caused by the ponies, all that’s left of the humans were ruins of their old places.”

“What do you make of this one then?” Rarity asked.

“Again, this is all new to me. I don’t know what’s going to happen or why this even happened. I have some questions for the human myself once we get the chance.”

It wasn’t long before Nurse Red Heart came out with a smile. “She seems to have stabilized. Her pain is gone, and she’d like to talk to you.”

“Well, that makes things easier.” Applejack grinned. “Come on ya’ll, let’s meet this human.”

We all went in together, barging through the doors. I didn’t want to make such a rude entrance, but Rainbow happened to be pushing every pony inside. When we came through, we saw the human with her head wrapped in a bandage. The human looked outside the window, observing something across the lush green grass of the park that just so happened to be right next to the building. It wasn’t long before the human turned to us. The voice made it clear that it was a female.

“I just wanted to say thanks for what you did.” She spoke as politely as she can. “But can you please tell me where I am, and how did I get here?”

“You’re in Ponyville.” I answered. “As for how you got here, I don’t know.”

“Ponyville… Wow.” She said with a weak grin. “So, town full of ponies, huh?”

“Like any other town in Equestria.” Applejack stated.

“Oh! Is that what the country is called?” She responded with a twitch in the eye. With the pace heading to sarcasm, she grumbles, “Wonderful, just wonderful.”

“I know, right!?” Pinkie laughed.

“What’s wrong? Why are you so upset?” I questioned.

“It’s pretty obvious that I don’t belong here.” She stated. “I was in a world of humans just yesterday. But next thing you know, I’m here of all places.”

“Another world?” I repeated. “I don’t remember that in the book.”

The human then raised an eyebrow at me. “What book?”

“It was a book about humans.” I explained. “Since the picture looked like you in a way, I assumed you were the same kind as the ones from this world. But they’re all extinct. And with what you’re saying, you’re from a world full of humans?”

“That’s right.”

“Looks like it was just a coincidence then. And here I thought we can figure out some answers on how all those humans came to die out like that.”

“So… I really am the only human in this world.”

“Still, that’s not right.” I pointed out. “There has to be a reason why you’re here. It may be something caused by magic, but for it to bring a creature from another dimension is beyond natural circumstances. Something or some pony did this to you.”

“I’m confused as is right now.” She sighed. “This is the first I ever heard of magic, and it’s already confusing. If someone brought me here, can’t you just put me back to my world?”

“I’d have to get the spell for it.” I explained. “We could try experimenting, but it won’t yield success without some catastrophic failures from testing. For all we know, the first experiment to rip a hole to another world could lead you to some place dangerous!”

“Fantastic.” She groaned in misery. “It was only a week left before I said my speech to the college.”

“College?” Rainbow spoke. “You some kinda egghead like Twi here?”

“I happen to be very smart, yes.” She snapped back. “I graduated just a month ago, and they were happy to let me say my speech to the new students who would be attending next year. If I followed through with it, I’d be able to get a lot of money to kick start my business.”

“What kind of business?” Rarity asked with some interest.

“Eh… Well… I had some inventions being in the blueprints, so I needed the money to make a prototype.” The human girl sighed, looking down in despair as she says, “Unfortunately, all those blueprints are back at my house. I can’t show any of them even if you ask.”

“It seems you still share some common ground with the humans that used to be here.” I told her. “The humans here were known as inventors back in the day.”

“Hey! That’s pretty cool!” Pinkie stated. “Do you think you can help me with my Party Cannon? I want it to shoot like, even more party stuff!”

“Or perhaps make a sewing machine that’ll help me with my work?” Rarity requested as well.

“Anything being built by a human would be very interesting either way.” I assured her.

“I’m not feeling all too well right now.” She sighed. “I really want to take some time to take all this in. If what we’ve discussed here is true, no one here knows of a way back for me to get home… correct?”

We didn’t give a positive look on that outcome. When she saw us avoiding her gaze, she sighs in despair. She laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. With such insecurity, she was practically giving up on her situation. Hoping to brighten her mood, I decided to give some help.

“You know… If you need a place to stay, you can come live with me.” I offered. “It’d be nice to learn more about you and your kind. That, and seeing how you were just tossed into Ponyville without a warning, I suppose a little hoof is all you need to get your life rolling.”

“Thanks.” She sighed. “At least I’m not homeless. I can add that to the good things so far.”

Smiling, I leave the room saying, “I’ll get you checked out. And see if they have a wheelchair for you to use.”

With that came my second roommate. A human from another world!

Author's Note

It's been too long since I wrote anything. I need to brush off my skills.

Anyways, this is the reboot of the Heart Plus series. It will have similar chapters and that epic three part chapter too.
BUT! It will have new characters, new twists, and new enemies!

For those of you who are really worried that this will replace the series, I will be honest with you. In my intention, I do want this to replace it so I can start from scratch and rebuild it from the ground up once more.
In another sense, I'm not throwing away Heart Plus off my shelf either. I still have what files remain and will return to them if I wish, and if I feel like I really can continue it.

But regardless, I wish to entertain and build a separate universe from that of the show. With that as my goal, this will carry the torch for my first story.

Meet the Tinkerer
Emma Al
In her teens, she has a quick mind and vast planning. She can make and create all kinds of potions and devices so long as she has the parts. While she rather have a laptop to go on, there's none in Equestria, so this will have to do for her past time!
She is smart and logical. She can let the nonsense past since magic has broadened her limits of what she'd find ridiculous. At her best, she is sly and tricky, plan things ahead, and get everyone in the plan. At her worse, she is stressful, needy, and mean to those who bother her. VERY mean.

Chapter 1 - Emma's Day Out (Part 1)

Mystery Track #01

“I have a lot of questions about humans.” Twilight told Emma. “And even if you are from another world, the characteristics shouldn’t be too different.”

Emma rolled her eyes as she looks at the vast collection of books in the library. Some were just what she needed to know more about the world. The basics of what one should need to know about this magical world. But before she does, she turns to Twilight to prepare for the questionnaire she had for her.

“Alright, shoot. What did you want to know?”

“Do all humans carry the intelligence of machinery like you do?”

Emma shrugged and held her chin as she said, “To some extent, but some people in my world rather be into athletics or entertainment. We have all sorts of people, and not all of them study the field of technology. Most of us use it in our daily lives though, that’s for sure.”

“Oh! So each of you have different special talents?” Twilight deduced.

“I guess that’s one way to put it.”

“Do you by any chance have cutie marks then?”

Emma stared at Twilight with a raised eyebrow. She was making sure Twilight wasn’t asking some sort of ridiculous question as a joke. In a deadpan voice, she simply said, “What?”

“You know. The marks you get that tell you your special talent.” Twilight explained.

“You mean those symbols on your flanks?” Emma questioned.

“Yes. As you can see, I have a great talent in magic.”

“I see…” Emma nodded. “Well, no, we don’t have those. Most you can get for pictures on skin would be tattoos.”

“Oh… I see…”

“It’d be pretty neat though.” Emma admitted. “I’d like to see my cutie mark as a… gear or something. It sounds silly, but I always thought gears looked kinda cool.”

“Maybe that’s because of your skill in machinery!”

“I’m not that good.” Emma said with a blush.

End of Track

Emma’s POV – The Sights of Ponyville

I’ve been here for a while now. I met lots of ponies, and they met a human for the first time. It comes as a shock to them after learning from Twilight about the disappearance of a species now coming back from decline. With that, word of my existence in town has spread like wildfire. I became the talk of the town, the news on the paper, the butter on the toast. My name is now a topic to turn to when awkward dates have nothing to talk about.

As much as how nice being popular is, I had something to look into.

Someone casted a spell on me, and now I’m here. Whatever they were trying to do, I need to find out who did it to me if I want to go home. Forget the speech time limit, just finding a way back is good enough. The problem right now is that I don’t know who the culprit behind this mess is. If I find them though, I’ll be able to find the spell they used.

But how do you track down those kinds of… ponies down?

“Emma!” Spike called. For some of you who don’t know, Spike is a lavender baby dragon with green spikes. “It’s that package Twilight ordered for you!”

“Oh, really?” I spoke, opening the box he held in his claws. The contents inside were parts, from bolts to screws and bottles to handles. Some thin strings of copper and gold, and plastic made to be a little thick. Great for wires! “Oh good! They came in!”

I lifted the box and brought it to the desk. Despite my eagerness to have something to work with on my new blueprints, Spike simply raised an eyebrow at me. “What are you doing with all of this junk?”

“This junk are just parts for a bigger and better machine my little dragon.” I explained. “It’ll help in my daily survival on this alien planet, thanks to my new blueprint designs.”

“You mean that gibberish you keep writing every night?” He corrected.

“No.” I said sternly. “Blueprints Spike. Blueprints.”

“Alright, alright.” He understood as he waved to tell me to calm down. “Just between you and me, Twilight’s not gonna let you work on that today.”

“What? Why?” I questioned in confusion.

“She’s kinda worried on how you never step foot out of this house for the past couple of weeks.” Spike told me. “Saying that it’s not nice being cooped up in here all day.”

“But she reads in this library all the time!”

“Which is why, we’re both going out!” Twilight announced, coming into the room with that innocent smile.

“Twilight, come on. I’m working on something here.”

“Emma, it’s time for you to stop worrying about your gadgets, and come on out for some sunshine!”

“Just a while back, you praised the humans for doing just that.” I reminded her. “Making gadgets.”

“Yes, but now isn’t the time for that.” She took my hand and pulled me away from the chair. “Come on! It’ll be good for you!”

I was dragged out of the big tree and given a bright greeting by the sun watching us all. The wind blew a gentle breeze with leaves dancing in its trail. The town continues its hustle and bustle with business and chatting. This was the normal day in the town of Ponyville. A content and peaceful place to live in. Almost anyone can find peace here.

“Take that!” The voice shouted, as a ball of mud splashed at my face. I stood still as the three of us turned to the slinger and his cohorts. They gave me an evil eye before scampering off to their lair. I forgot to mention, as you gain notice for being an alien species, some may not want you here.

“Hey! Get back here!” Spike ordered angrily to the hoodlums.

“… I’m going back inside…” I told my friends.

“Wait, hold on.” Twilight pleaded as she held onto my shirt. “Don’t let them scare you back in Emma. The last couple of weeks made them think you’re scared of them. If you keep staying in there, they’ll keep bothering you the next time you go out.”

“They’re bothering me right now Twi!” I pointed out aloud. “I can’t stand this anymore.”

“You’ve only been out for three seconds!” Twilight stated. “At least take this day to try. I did buy you all those parts for you to work on your things later.”

I groaned at her bribery, from what I thought was her generosity. Of course, it had a price tag of favors on it. I wiped the mud off of my face and grumbled, “Fine. I’ll come with.”

“Excellent!” She said ecstatically. “We have a lot of places to drop by. There’s also a party coming up tonight. A little gathering of our friends and family. We need you to get ready with some new clothes and help with the food.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” I complied.

Twilight’s POV – Order for Human Clothing!

After convincing Emma to go out for the day, I brought her to the perfect place to get her a nice dress. I’m sure Rarity wouldn’t mind making a dress for her. The only problem is if I can afford it. Since Emma’s bigger, she might use up more supplies. Rarity might not want to do such a project.

“Are you joking dear!? Of course I’d love to!” Rarity exclaimed in my surprise.

“Huh? Really?” I spoke in utter surprise.

“Truth be told, I was almost begging her to let me take a few measurements, just so I can experiment.” She explained as she pulled out a long measuring tape. “But she was absolutely persistent on much more important matters. At least, that’s what she claims.”

“She was drawing up a lot of blueprints.” Spike mentioned.

“Well, if she just dropped by once, I could have sketched a lot of designs for her myself.” She huffed. “But no matter. Now that she’s here, I can finally get started. I won’t be able to prepare anything to complicated, but simple attire should do well for tonight’s gathering.”

Rarity walked to Emma and got another good look at her before she started measuring her waist and hips. “Just in time too. The clothes you had ever since you came here are starting to smell. They look a bit worn and muddy.”

Emma turned with an annoyed expression scoffing, “The mud was from those other horses.”

“Oh my. Did those rascals come to bother you again?”

“They threw a ball of mud at her face and got away.” Spike explained.

“It seems that they’re too immature to accept new creatures into our little town.”

“Well, at least I met you girls.” She said with a blissful sigh. “It was sure rough the first time I was here.”

“I’m sure every pony had just as much trouble getting used to this. We just had to adjust a bit.” I noted.

It wasn’t long before Rarity finished up with the measurements. She got her notepad and went to her room. “I got what I needed. I’ll be upstairs making you something that will do for tonight. In the meantime, why don’t you go to the spa? Relax until I get your new attire finished. They can get you cleaned up and feeling fresh!”

“I don’t have any money though.” Emma shrugged as she pulled out her empty pockets.

“Here.” Rarity said, with no hesitation as expected. A purse of bits floats and out comes the bits into Emma’s hands. The human’s face was simply stunned as the money flowed to her, and Rarity simply smiled. “That should be enough for a few treatments.”

“Oh… Wow… Thanks, no one usually gives me money right off the bat like that…”

“It’s no problem dearie. Now go on, you certainly need the rest.”

“Spike, can you show Emma where the spa is?” I requested.

“Alright then.” Spike nodded. “Follow me Emma.”

After Spike walked Emma outside, I went to Rarity with another request. “Rarity, about Emma’s clothes.”

“What of it Twilight?”

“Can you add something for me?”

Spike’s POV – The Human Body

I was walking Emma to the spa in town. She was starting to ease up a bit more, and was looking forward to the trip.

“It’s nice of Rarity to give me the money.” Emma stated. “This is the first time I go to a spa in my life.”

I was kinda surprised to hear that. “Really? How come?”

“I guess I didn’t have the time in my world. I had lots of work to do, so I was always busy.”

“Oh, okay then.” I nodded. “So… what kind of things at your world were you busy with?”

“Hmm? Well… other than designing machines, I also worked with them in my college years.”

“Really? So, what did you make?”

She held her chin in deep thought, and smiled as if she was thinking of the happiest moments of her life. “Well, I worked on some generators and engines. They powered lots of stuff, like lamps all over the campus, vending machines, cars-.”

I couldn’t help but interrupt after hearing the last one of the stuff she made. “Sounds cool, but… What are cars?”

“Cars?” She repeated. “Um… Think of it as a wagon that moves by itself.”

“Really? That actually sounds pretty cool.”

“They are useful for getting around.” Emma chuckled. “Too bad I won’t be able to drive one anymore.”

“Hey, maybe you can build one!” I suggested.

“That would be pretty fun to build.” Emma nodded. “But I’ll need a lot of parts. A lot of wires and… wow, I just need to figure out how a car works in general.”

“Sounds complicated.” I groaned. “Guess we won’t be having a car too soon then.”

“Yeah, I guess so…” She sighed.

After giving a sad sigh to never be in a car, we looked up and found that we were at the spa already. Emma took a deep breath and went in, like she was about to perform on stage at some concert. Aloe and Lotus just came out and greeted her in.

“Why, hello! We didn’t expect you to come in.” Aloe smiled.

Emma sweated a little bit, looking nervous. “Me neither.”

“You look like you’re in dire need of treatment though.” Lotus pointed out Emma’s messy state. “It makes sense for you to come in.”

“Yeah. Some colts went and threw some muck, so Rarity advised me to head here.”

“Well, we’ll know how to fix you right up.” Aloe assured her. “Go ahead and take off your clothes before you head in the bath.”

Emma nodded and left. I was about to follow her until she stopped me halfway before we went to the next room.

“WHOA there! What do you think you’re doing?” Emma questioned.

“I was about to go in there with you.” I told her.

“Nu uh! No way! I’m about to change!” She complained. “You can’t go in there when I’m naked!”

“Oh please. If you haven’t noticed, every pony is naked; all the time!” I pointed out. “In fact, why do you wear clothes all the time?”

“I don’t hide my… spots like all of you.” Emma explained.

“Spots…?” I repeated, confused. “Like… a Dalmatian?”

She slapped her face and groaned before saying, “Look, I’m gonna go in the changing room ALONE. You can do whatever you want, but you can’t come around me for a while.”

“Alright, jeez.” I said, rolling my eyes. She left, and made me go to the other room for the day. At first, I couldn’t figure out what she was trying to hide. It wasn’t a big deal, being naked around others. But what did she mean by spots? Does she have something weird on her body?

The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t help but wonder how she looked without clothes. Maybe she had an embarrassing tattoo! Or maybe she’s part cyborg and hides weapons and stuff! Or maybe she’s just super shy like Fluttershy. Either way, she didn’t want me near, so I guess that’s that.

A couple of hours passed and I was just lounging around in the tub alone. It was really boring when there was no pony to talk to. If I could, I would have asked Emma more about the stuff she was making. Still can’t figure out why she was super agro about her without the clothes. I was about to just give up until…

“Oh my…!” Aloe spoke in the next room.

When I heard that voice, I pressed my head to the wall to hear what was going on. I heard Emma and Lotus with her too.

“So… they’re… you can’t keep them hidden or anything?” Lotus wondered.

“No, that’s how it is. Nothing I can do.” She said before hearing a splash noise.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Aloe assured her. “In all honesty, stallions would actually be attracted to you-”

“No! That’s not what I want!” Emma shouted. “It’s improper in my culture to just show it off naked. That’s why I have clothes on.”

A moment of silence passed. For me, I could imagine Aloe and Lotus looking at each other before saying, “But they’re still there, just covered up by fabric.”

“You’re basically just denying them from seeing it.” Lotus added.

“That’s the point!” Emma scolded. “You don’t show that off in public! That’s how humans are!”

Aloe and Lotus sighed, and possibly shrugging. “Well, if that’s the way of the humans, I guess that would make sense.” Lotus thought.

“I guess we shouldn’t argue.” Aloe suggested. After they finished talking, it made me really wonder why Emma didn’t want me to see… whatever it was! I was now super convinced to seeing what all the fuss was about! But Emma won’t let me barge in there. I probably had to sneak in there.

I got out of the water and decided to just take a quick peek in her room. Sneaking out as quietly as I could, I made my way to the archway. As I got close, I saw under the curtains of the archway were Lotus’s hooves. So I jumped and hid behind the table and waited for Lotus to pass by.

When she was out of the picture, I went to the curtains and opened them a bit to see Emma. But all I saw was Emma laying on the bench while getting a massage from Aloe. Without her clothes, she was just all skin. No hair anywhere except on her head. Her nails were normal and not piercing long. Nothing was wrong with her!

“What’s the big deal?” I whispered to myself. “She’s perfectly normal! They’re all making a big deal out of nothing!”

“Spike? What are you doing?” Lotus questioned from behind. I jumped and screamed, letting Emma and Aloe look up. Emma got up and turned to me, yelling, “What the!?”

After tripping from surprise, I got up and saw Emma and her… chest.

“WHOA!” I yelped.

Emma’s face became super red, and she was glaring at me. I wasn’t sure what happened, but by the time she got up and lunged at me, I was knocked out.

Chapter 2 - Emma's Day Out (Part 2)

Mystery Track #02

“What was that!?” Rainbow shouted. “You could’ve taken them on!”

Emma was rubbing her bruised shoulder. Her gaze goes to the corner as she grumbled, “It’s fine either way. They got called on by the mayor and their parents.”

“Tattle tailing on them isn’t gonna get you out of this fix!” Rainbow stated. “They’ll come back, and they’ll keep throwing stuff at you!”

“I already feel different enough Dash.” Emma stated. “I don’t need the pony folk to think I’m some sort of troublemaker too. I’ll just take what they throw. I’ll be fine.”

“What happens when you get cornered!? What if something happens!? You can’t just take everything they have to hit you with!”

“… I’ll be fine…” Emma assured her. “Really.”

End of Track

Twilight’s POV – Readying the Party

With Rarity getting Emma’s dress ready, the surprise is underway! I make my way to Sugar Cube Corner to meet up with Pinkie, where she is currently setting up the party. Entering the bakery, I see her putting up streamers and other décor of the jovial event about to be made. As usual, she does a splendid job. As I make my way to her, she looks at me with a greeting and a smile.

“Hi Twilight!”

“Hi Pinkie.” I greeted back. “Is the party ready yet?”

“Almost!” She answered. “We just need to finish baking the cake, then everything will be done!”

“Okay then!” I said happily. I looked around and whispered another question. “So… you have, it, right?”

Pinkie placed her hoof on her chin before realizing what I meant. She leaned over to me and said, “Oh yeah! that’s still put away until later. When it starts, we’ll have it cooked during the party.”

“Good.” I sighed. “It was hard to find that kind of brand too. I’m not an expert, but I know it was pretty good. At least that’s what Fluttershy told me.”

“Emma’s gonna be so happy when she sees it too!” Pinkie noted. “Every pony else might not like it, but at least Emma will be happy.”

“Yeah… Speaking of which… I need to check up on her. She must have finished with the spa treatment by now.”

“When you get her, the party should be done! I’ll go make sure every pony else checks in on time too!”

As I left the building, I bumped into a dark blue stallion. He turns and grins at me from the surprising moment.

“Apologies miss. I didn’t see you there.”

“Oh, it’s not your fault.” I assured him. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Perhaps you can assist me.” He wondered. “I’m looking for a human in this town. I heard there was one in Ponyville.”

I tilted my head in surprise of the news. “You mean Emma? How’d you hear of her?”

“Word travels fast, especially about the return of the dead species.” He stated. “Other than that, I need to have a word with her. She and I have some business to discuss.”

Emma’s POV – Protector

I couldn’t even look at Spike during our walk. After the little peeper saw me, all I could think of was how to throw all his gems to charity. The violet lizard kept glancing at me back and forth, trying to not notice my glare of a thousand suns. Other than that, the spa treatment was wonderful. My skin has never been smoother! They also managed to get that icky feeling of mud off too. It felt as if it was never there.

“Sooooo…” Spike practically sung. “Was uh… that what you wanted to keep private?”

“Yes Spike.” I growled. “I like to keep them hidden.”

“Then why’d you let Aloe and Lotus see them?” Spike questioned.

“Cause they were girls, and they were gonna see me naked anyways since one of them was going to give me a massage!” I shouted.

Spike stepped back from me before looking around. “So… All human girls have them?”

I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. “Yes, of course.”

“Okay then…” he nodded before looking away. A moment later and he turns with one more question. “So uh… Emma?”

I had a feeling that I wouldn’t like the next question, but responded anyways. “What?”

“Can I… touch them?”

I held the small dragons shoulder and nearly froze it off as I stared into his soul. “If you ask me about my body or even peek when I’m unclothed, so help me, I will bury you so deep in the planets crust, not even Tartarus will be able to compete with your grave.”

“S-Sorry!” Spike cried out. “Won’t ask that again! Promise!”

“Good!” I stomped in attempt to get my anger out. “Now let’s just go get my new clothes and get to the party!”

Just as I yelled that out, another voice came into the fray. “There she is!”

Spike and I turned to the source and saw the buggering stallions from earlier return, and this time with some more mud.

“What’s with them and throwing mud at you!?” Spike questioned.

“They got nothing better to do.” I guessed. “Let’s get out of here! I’m not paying for another spa treatment!”

The two of us started our retreat from the bullies in an attempt to lose them off of our trail. However, with the two of us being bipedal beings, we didn’t stand a chance against outrunning three ponies with all four hooves on the ground. Knowing we couldn’t outpace them, we had to lose their trail another way. Running to the park with the playground, I jumped in the structure where the fillies and colts were playing, and helped Spike get inside.

The first stallion to sling was Stilly; a gray pony with an orange combed mane covering his eyes. His throw hits the wall of the playground, almost hitting me and Spike. We hid behind the wall before the second one, Jelly, had an awful throw, even with his magic. The ball of wet dirt flew so off course, it almost hit a filly if I hadn’t nudged her a bit to the side.

The last one, Billy had a great time doing what he does. He’s probably the ring leader of all the human hatred. He brought along with him a bag full of sludge to throw. The two of us took cover from his barrage of flying mud pies hitting the playgrounds roofs, walls, monkey bars, jungle gym, everything was getting recoated to look like dirt. It wasn’t long before a loud noise of rushing wind came and made the ground quake. The sudden shake brought me and the dragon to the ground. We took a moment to get up and see the heroic pegasus stop the feud. She was also our friend as a bonus.

“Rainbow Dash!” Spike and I called out.

Rainbow looked at the three and walked around them as she gave another threatening lecture. “Well, well, well! Look what we have here! The same horses that can’t seem to lay off! You remember what’ll happen if I caught you hay suckers again, don’t you?”

“Eh heh! Uh…!” Billy stuttered. “You… you’re not gonna tell on us, are you?”

“Get out of here before I buck you to next week!” Rainbow shouted, scaring the trio off. She gave a long sigh before turning to me and Spike. “You two alright?”

“We are now.” Spike answered.

“That’s good.” Rainbow grinned. “So Emma, you finally came out for some good old exercise? Cause after seeing how you were running from those guys, you must’ve lost a few pounds.”

Rainbow laughed at her joke while I grumbled at her for teasing about my weight. “I’m not that fat. This is normal size for humans.”

“Sure it is.” Rainbow chuckled. “But seriously, what are you doing out?”

“For the party Twilight told me about.”

Rainbow gave a surprised look. “Whoa! You’re actually going? Sweet! I thought you wouldn’t show up at all!”

I crossed my arms and tilted my head. “Yeah, well, Twilight made me go. She wouldn’t let me stay in any longer.”

The blue mare held in her laughter as she said, “Wow, you hit a new low if Twilight’s gonna press that on ya!”

“Okay Dash, that’s enough.” I growled, almost tired of this charade.

“Alright, alright… so, yeah, see there!” She said before taking off. Halfway through her launch, she stopped and turned back to us. “Oh yeah! And if they come back to throw whatever at you, call me out, and I’ll come flying in!”

“Thanks Dash. I’ll keep that in mind.”

With that, she flies off, leaving me and Spike to head back to Rarity once more.

3rd POV – Today is your day

Emma and Spike return to the boutique and find Rarity ready to greet them. It seems she has finished the requested attire for her casual party earlier, and had enough time to greet them in.

“Hello dear! It’s nice to see you back looking spectacular!” Rarity complimented at Emma’s soothing skin. “Why, it’s almost as if no pony ever threw that filth at you in the first place!”

“Heh, or like ten seconds ago.” Spike snickered.

“Oh, tell me about it.” Emma sighed in agreement.

Rarity tilted her head in confusion. “Hmm? Did something happen?”

“Oh, don’t mind it Rarity.” Emma assured her. “How about I just get into the new clothes so we can match my new spa treatment look?”

“Fabulous idea! I placed them over there.” Rarity informed the human, showing her the neatly folded clothes on the table. “Just go ahead and change away.”

The girl held her clothes and declined the idea. “I’m gonna do it with some privacy if you don’t mind.”

“Go right ahead dear.” Rarity smiled.

“Why?” Spike questioned. “It’s not like any pony will be surprised this time.”

Emma’s frown returned in an attempt to burn Spike’s scales off using the fiery rage of death. Unfortunately, she was not able to emit such high temperatures and instead made her face really red. Rarity was shocked however, finding out something as scandalous as a peeper, from the little dragon no less!

“Spike!” She screamed. “You didn’t… Peek at her, did you!?”

“Uh… well, on accident?” He shrugged.

“Spike! That is no way to treat a lady!” She scolded. “If you are to be a gentle colt, you’re going to have to behave like one. That means no peeping like some sort of… creeper…”

“You’re right… I’m sorry Emma.” Spike apologized, scratching his foot to the ground in shame.

“Just… don’t mention it…” Emma replied. “EVER.”

After Emma went behind the curtains, Rarity turned to Spike and whispered, “So… Why does she never go out naked? I expected her to be more like Rainbow or Applejack. Not minding that sort of thing.”

Spike leaned and whispered back, “Her chest gets really noticeable, and that’s not okay for humans.”

“Ah… I see.” Rarity nodded.

Emma changed her clothing and donned her new attire. When equipped, she looks at herself, and sees something that makes her pause. Exiting the room, Rarity and Spike take a look at the new Emma. Formerly wearing old, torn, and smelly rags, she comes out looking like a brand new person. Now wearing green cargo shorts, a lime green sweatshirt with a scarf patterned in emerald and copper colors. Her sweatshirt’s emblem was a brown gear, matching her gear like chains on her belt. Her boots were strapped in green lining and golden buckles, but still manage to match the steampunk set. Emma looks to the mirror and is at a loss for words.

The only things she could mutter was, “This… Whoa… This is like some sort of… fantasy…”

“Almost.” Rarity noted. The fashionable unicorn walks up to her friend and levitates Emma a pair of goggles, with copper rims and a green strap. “There! Even if this isn’t for some occasion like a gala, you’ll still walk looking beautiful!”

“Rarity, how’d you know what I’d want?” Emma wondered.

“Truth be told, Twilight gave me some pointers on what you might like. She’s been keeping track on what stories you’ve been reading on your pass time apparently.” She explained. “But using it for my first try, it didn’t turn out perfectly. The next time should be better-”

Emma embraced Rarity tightly and squeaked, “It’s perfect! Just what I wanted! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

“My! Emma!” Rarity exclaimed. “I never knew you had such excitement in you!”

Emma blushed and stopped the hugging at once. She looked away in embarrassment, kicking the floor. “Well… I don’t usually do that… but this is the first time I got something I wanted.”

“Strange. I guess no pony back at your home knew you like Twilight does.” Rarity thought.

“I guess you can say that.”

“Hey!” Spike called out. “I don’t want to rush or anything, but we’re gonna be late to the party! Come on!”

“Spike, you can’t rush a lady.” Rarity told him.

“But he’s right.” Emma stated. “I don’t want to waste another second not showing this off. Let’s go!”

Emma walks over to Spike and urges Rarity to make haste as well. Liking the much more energetic Emma, she follows along immediately as they make their way to the party.

A while later over at Sugar Cube Corner, Twilight and the other ponies ready their surprise. She looks around the dark room to see if everyone is in place and still hidden.

“Rainbow! Lower your head!”

“Oh! Hold on…!”

They all wait patiently for the guests to arrive. As the doors creak, in comes the human along with a dragon and a unicorn. The silhouettes of the newcomers look around the dark room, but not finding much to their blindness of the room. The human crosses her arms and tilts her head.

“What’s going on? Is the place closed?” She wondered, searching for the light switch. “And why are the lights off?”

Twilight gave the signal, and the lights flash on. As the shine embraces the room, Emma looks up to see the confetti shooting off with a long note with, “Happy Surprise Party!” written on it. The place is filled with streamers, party food, and familiar ponies all across the room. She stays perfectly still as the ponies yell and shout in joyful merriment that their friend has arrived. Emma, still confused, questions them all.

“What’s going on? Why’d you set up this party?”

“This day is a tribute to you Emma.” Applejack explained.

“I saw how you weren’t enjoying the time you had here in Ponyville. You didn’t go out to see any pony and your remained cooped up inside the library.” Twilight noted. “With that, my friends and I made you a day dedicated to you! In order to show you all the how much you mean to us, and that we care for your happiness!”

Emma stood there, taking in everything they said. She looks away and in deep thought, she gathered her thoughts. First time anyone would go that far for me… First time anyone would care that much for me either… She shivered a bit and smiled at her fate. Spike looked up to Emma with a few tears shedding from her blushing face.

“Hey… are you crying?” He questioned.

Emma jumped and wiped them off as quickly as she could. “N-No! They’re just sweat from my eyes!”

“We have another surprise for you Emma!” Pinkie exclaimed.

As Emma turned around, Pinkie rushed the present outside. Unwrapped, it was seen by everyone in the room of what it is. Emma dropped her jaw at the sight of something delectable in the place that only gave veggies for the pony populace. On the dinner cart Pinkie brought out was a nice, juicy slab of meat. While the ponies stood away from the thing, Emma began drooling at the sight.

“Like it?” Twilight asked. “We had to ship it over from the Griffon kingdom. Fluttershy gave us a good recommendation when we were buying something for you to eat.”

“It’s supposedly very delicious to carnivores and omnivores everywhere.” Fluttershy added. “Its smell also doesn’t make herbivores… well, vomit.”

“It looks delicious…” The hungry Emma mumbled, not having a good quantity of meet for a while now.

“Go ahead and eat!” Rainbow beckoned. “No pony else is gonna take a bite besides you!”

With that said, Emma went and took a good slice. The music started to play, and the ponies started talking. A lot of them asked how Emma was doing, and more about her home. Rarity was telling her friends about Spike’s incident in the spa room, creating a new gossip to be spread. Cakes and cupcakes were passed around, and the day turned to dusk in short time.

The late party goers still went on, drinking and eating. Emma has finished up her large meal, and sat down to take a minute. Her friends go to her and converse with their alien friend.

“I take it the party was to your liking?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, it was a blast.” Emma replied.

“It was hard to get this stuff done you know!” Rainbow noted. “If it wasn’t for my awesome speed, that delivery would’ve been waaay later than it should have!”

“Not like she could do it on her own though.” Applejack claimed. “She needed some help to haul in that load since it was pretty big.”

“Well, I’m satisfied either way.” Emma claimed. “It was enough to last me a month.”

“Did you talk with every pony yet?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah. The kids are still the same, poking around to know more about humans. Big Mac sure talks a lot more than I thought though.”

“Really?” Applejack said in surprise. “Well now…”

“And Mayor Mare told me about some paper work. Being a citizen and all.”

“Paper work?” Rainbow repeated. “Sounds boring.”

“I know, but without license, I won’t apply for any work, insurance, or back up against Changeling fraud.” Emma explained. “I don’t know what the heck the last one was about, but I’m not taking any chances in a world full of magic.”

“Ooh, you should get that done as soon as possible.” Twilight lectured. “Not having one means you can’t even check out a book! You’re lucky you live with me, otherwise, I wouldn’t have even let you read halfway past a book!”

“Wow, you are… wow…” Emma chuckled.

“Ah! I almost forgot! There’s some pony who wants to meet you!” Twilight remembered.

“Who?”

“He wouldn’t say.” Twilight shrugged. “But he says he has something to discuss with you.”

Just as she announced the stranger, he comes forth and greets Emma. “Hello! I’ve been looking for you for so long!”

“And who are you?” Emma questioned.

“Why, I’m the one who brought you to this world!” He answered, shocking everyone. The music scratches off the disc and the room goes silent. The stallion smiled warmly as he says, “I apologize for what I have done. Complete miscalculation, total error on my part. So I’ve come here to bring you back to your world!”

Author's Note

What is there to come? Well, more, that's for sure. I hope this series has been enjoyable so far, and I have a lot of plans, incarnated from Heart Plus.

Keep reading on until I have chapter 7 done or so. From that point, it'll tie up some familiar characters once more.

Chapter 3 - The Value of a Human

Emma’s POV – The Things that Hurt Us

The beat of my heart thumped as I stared at the silver coated stallion. His crystal blue eyes stare patiently awaiting my response. I gulped before asking, “You… can bring me back to my world…?”

“Yes, of course.” He smiled. “The things we need to bring you back are with my companions though. We’ll need to leave tonight if we’re going to go through with the process in the morning.”

The ponies looked to me as I looked down to think about it. I had a bit of sweat running down from this new information, but my grin wasn’t hidden. I finally found a way back! I was hoping for it to come! Shockingly, they came to look for me in the long run! Without much thought, I accepted. “Right! As soon as possible!”

Twilight and the others gasped while that stallion nodded. “I’ll ready the ride. See you soon.”

After he left, the girls and Spike turned to Emma with solemn expressions.

“Emma… Wow…” Twilight muttered. “You’re leaving already?”

“And after such a wonderful time like today.” Rarity noted.

“Yeah… shocking.” Emma agreed, scratching the back of her head. “Didn’t expect this at all.”

“I’m happy for you Emma.” Fluttershy told me. “Um… I wished you stayed a bit longer, but at least you’ll be able to go and see everyone back home again.”

“Aw, you turned your surprise party into a goodbye party!” Pinkie cried. “I didn’t even get you a goodbye gift!”

“Wow… Kinda wished I spent more time with ya Emma.” Applejack said. “I was planning to invite you over for another try out at apple bucking too.”

“I don’t think I’d do that again after what happened last time.” I retorted, getting a chuckle from her.

“It gives a good workout though.” She reasoned.

“After finally getting your measurements.” Rarity whimpered. “And you’re leaving so suddenly?! Such a tragedy!”

“Yeah… Sorry Rarity.” I apologized.

I turned to Rainbow and saw that she was giving a rather furious emotion instead of the sadness her friends shared. She was gritting her teeth and had eyes of a bull, ready to charge. “How could you leave right off the bat like that!?” She shouted.

I stepped back, confused and shocked as she started to rant on. “We made this party for you! And got all of your friends to talk to you! And even bought that chunk of MEAT for you!” She pointed out. “Do you know how HARD it was to FIND THAT!?”

“Rainbow, you should simmer down a bit.” Applejack warned her.

Rainbow ignored the suggestion and continued. “How could you be so ungrateful and just leave like that!?”

“Ungrateful!?” I retorted. “I appreciate all of this! But the way home is just outside! He came with the answer I was looking for!”

“SO! You were planning on ditching us when you had the chance!” Rainbow accused.

“I just want to go home Dash! Is that so much to ask!?” I started yelling back.

“Yes! Especially when we did all this FOR YOU!” Rainbow exclaimed. “But if you don’t want to be with us, than fine! Just go!”

“Fine Rainbow!” I growled, storming out of the room. “See you never!”

I ran out of the building, and kept sprinting on and on. I found myself seething in rage, while at the same time feeling remorse. I kept going until I reach the alleyway and started catching my breath. With tonight being the night I go home, I felt happy to finally find a way. But deep down, remorse was hiding in my heart. My friends are going to be here forever, and I’ll never see them again. These are the friends I could never find on my own, and now I’ll never find them again. But the reason why I have to go back is still there. She’s waiting for me, and I have the plans to make her better. Lori is waiting for me, and I have to see her one more time.

“I’m coming Lori…” I whispered to myself. “I’ll be back, just wait…”

“Are you… crying?” The stallion questioned. I jumped and quickly wiped my eyes.

“I… Yeah, I was. I have a lot to think about, okay?” I admitted.

“You’re still coming, aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course.” I nodded.

“Well, just get on the cart then.” He told me. “I’ll have us there soon. Just go ahead and rest. We aren’t going too far. It’s just a little pass the outskirts of town. Not too far, but we best be there early.”

“Yeah, okay then.” I replied.

3rd POV – The Truth we hold back

After the tantrum had passed, Emma ran out of the party. The girls and Spike turned to the somewhat calmer Rainbow as she looks at her disappointed friends. She crosses her forelegs together in response to their sour expressions towards her. “What!? We were all thinking about it.”

“Well… I did say I wanted her to stay a bit longer…” Fluttershy admitted.

“See!?” Rainbow reasoned.

“But this isn’t about us Rainbow.” Twilight reminded her. “Emma HAS to go home. She has a family wondering where she is. She has things she left behind without question. She can’t just stay here and leave those things unattended!”

“But everything we did for her-”

“We did it to make her feel better.” Applejack shot back. “Not to guilt trip her back here.”

“We know how you’ve been protecting Emma as much as you can Rainbow.” Rarity stated. “We understand if you feel a tad betrayed, but it was never her intention to stay here forever. She had a choice if this ever happened, and she chose to go home. Where she belongs is up to her. We can’t stand in her way.”

Rainbow groaned and flailed her hooves. “But she… Emma and-… Ugh… You’re right…”

The tomboyish pegasus sat down in defeat, coping with the fact that she said some pretty hurtful things to Emma, knowing it’ll be the last thing she says to her. With that said, Pinkie had an idea.

“Why don’t we go with them?” Pinkie suggested. “Might as well if this is going to be the last time we see each other.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Spike agreed. “But we don’t know where they’re headed to.”

Suddenly, from the door comes hundreds of papers flying inside. The group covered themselves from the unexpected pile of paper flushing in. When the flood of paper stopped, the ponies looked around at the strange mess the wind had brought in.

“What’s with all the paper?” Rainbow wondered.

Twilight picked up a piece of paper and read it out loud. “Beyond the forest of birch, a house of old age hides an ugly trap. Your friend that is not of this world will die there if not rescued by midnight. A friend urges you to rescue her before her… heart is taken from her body!?”

The ponies gasped and Spike fainted. Rainbow flew up to Twilight’s face and said, “I told you this was a bad idea!!”

“No you didn’t!” Twilight retorted.

“Whatever! Let’s go get Emma before it’s too late! Come on! Let’s go!” Rainbow demanded, shoving the group outside.

As the mares quickly went after their friend thanks to the new and mysterious arrival of the message, a unicorn of mint green coat and white mane watches from afar. With a smile, she goes inside and goes to her slumbering friend.

“Come on Bonbon. We have to go now.” She told her as she carried her up.

Emma’s POV – Genocide

A couple of hours have passed. We’re still deep in the Birchwood Forest, but he says we’re coming close to the building. The darkness is really discomforting, especially when you can’t really see the white wood of the trees. The crunch of the leaves make my skin jitter, the anxiousness of what is to come. A way back home is that close, and I can’t help but feel scared. I’ve been wondering when I’ll be free of this world. It wasn’t so long, but I feel like I’ve been here forever. A month can really make you get used to this place.

When we reached the old building, the wagon came to a stop. He pulled off the reins and waved me to come inside. Complying with his request, I followed him inside. As I entered the old house, I saw past through the cobwebs and found his two associates. They gathered around me and smiled.

“It’s you! You’re the human!” The dark shaded violet mare said.

“Yeah, I am.” I replied with a shy smirk.

“You found her Dolin.” The pegasus said in surprise. “I honestly thought you couldn’t find her.”

“It was just tedious to get there, alright?” Dolin, the one who found me, said to his annoyance.

I looked around and found that they had unloaded some of their equipment here. A bag of books laid on the wobbly table, near the barrels of food they had brought along. Three sleeping bags were arranged in the room, and a metal workbench was placed against the wall. The bench seemed to have been recently patched up, seeing the old and worn metal covered up by wooden planks and poorly placed nails.

The mare went over to the books and picked out the one with a red bookmark. She opens it and looks over to Dolin, nodding to him. He brushes his mane a bit, and reveals his crooked horn with a single crack. The pegasus just stood by the barrels, chewing on his carrot.

“So…” I spoke quietly. “You have the spell to bring me back to my world?”

“Ah, yes.” He said, turning to me. “There’s been a change in plans.”

With that said, he shot a charge of energy and had my body completely immobile. I found myself drop to the floor, but still awake. He looms over me, and my heart begins to quake in fear and confusion. The mare tilts her head, raising an eyebrow. “You’re still a bit off.” She says to Dolin. “That spell should have knocked her out. All you did was stun her.”

“This horn has enough problems Snatch! I don’t need to add lectures to the list!” Dolin complained.

“You liars! Are you even the ones who brought me here!?” I questioned, still trying to move in this useless situation.

“Yes, we definitely are.” He answered. “If it weren’t for this cracked horn, we would have finished the job quick. Summon you, take your heart, and throw body away. Simple as that.”

The blood from my head started to drain after hearing his plan. I quivered in fear and muttered, “W-What… W-What do y-you mean… Take my heart…?”

“While Snatch gets to the page of the spell.” He retorts as Snatch glares at him. “I suppose I can tell you of my recent… findings.”

Dolin levitates me to the cold bench as if it was my coffin. He stands beside me telling me his story before he puts me to sleep for good. “I learned many things about the humans here in Equestria. How they were wiped out. What always put a great suspicion was how the most advanced race become extinct hundreds of years ago.”

He places his face near mine and says, “In my research, I found a journal documenting a human’s spine chilling story. How the unicorns used the hearts of humans to do powerful, forbidden magic, so they hunted down the humans like beasts and prey, ripping out their precious little piece of power. To create powerful equines to control nature itself! To change the lands to however they please! To even reverse even the most potent and unbreakable of spells.”

“So, you’re just going to rip out my heart and be done with me…?” I asked hesitantly.

“Not quite.” He replied. “I have to enchant your heart. You’re not from Equestria, so you’re anatomy is just a tad different. But with this spell, you’ll be like the humans of old, perfect for extracting such a powerful tool.”

He places his cracked horn upon me and starts to modify my heart. I can feel my chest squeeze in pain and discomfort, as he changes my organs.

“This horn takes time, but it’ll get the job done.” He stated. “Soon, the power will be mine, and I’ll go back to Unity with an iron hoof!”

I didn’t know what to do. All I could move was my head, but my body still felt like it was asleep. I struggle in my mind with what I have, but all I see is my bench as my resting place, and my heart as the toll of death. I close my eyes and began to wish, hope, and pray for a miracle. For some reason though, only one thing went to my mind.

Every pony… Help me!

Twilight’s POV – Search and Rescue

We searched and searched as much as we could, but the thick forest of Birchwood was hard to navigate when it was so dark out. The girls and I stuck close, but had our eyes look around as much as we can. We couldn’t find any house as of yet, but we weren’t about to give up.

“What are they planning to do with Emma?” Fluttershy wondered.

“I don’t care what it is!” Rainbow exclaimed. “If they so much as lay a hoof on her, they’ll get more than a black eye!”

“I can see Rainbow is quite angry.” Rarity noted.

“If only we had some more clues to go by.” I sighed. “But I can’t see a thing. The place is too dark, and the forest is too thick. By the time we find the place, Emma could be…”

Applejack placed her hoof on my shoulder and said, “Don’t worry about it sugar cube. We’ll find her. We’re just going to have to keep our eyes peeled.”

“Hey! Guys! Check it out!” Pinkie shouted. “Something glittery is going on over there!”

We all turned out heads to see the shine from the darkness ahead. Making our way to the light, we found a wagon parked outside of the glowing old house. We all checked the windows and saw Emma laying on top of a bench. The stallion from before casted his magic onto her, and the other two just stood by and watched.

“My word! What are they doing to her!?” Rarity questioned.

“Whatever they’re doing, we’re not about to let them finish!” Rainbow declared.

“Alright, every pony! Behind me!” I told them. “I’ll try and separate him from Emma!”

They nodded and gave me some room. As I got ready to blast the door down, I saw the glowing from the house stopped.

“Why’d they stop the light show?” Pinkie asked.

“Hurry up Twi!” Rainbow demanded.

I quickly shot the door down and saw the stallion now levitating a knife. Just as he was raising it up high, I shot his back, and caused him to falter in his magic. It was a mistake though, and the knife still stabbed Emma. She screamed in pain, and I found myself frozen in place. Rainbow rushed in and threw the stallion out the window, going to Emma’s aid.

“Emma! Are you alright!?” She asked.

Emma slowly opened her eyes and said, “I’ve… been better.”

“Rainbow! Behind you!” Rarity screamed.

Rainbow turned to see the pegasus come at her. The two brawled while the mare went to Emma. Applejack threw out her lasso and caught her, reeling her in and away from Emma.

“Don’t just stand there!” Applejack breathed under her teeth. “Go help Emma!”

Regaining movement, I made my way over to Emma with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie. We got to her and carefully took out the knife. She whimpered a bit, but smiled at us.

“I’m really glad to see you.” Emma said gratefully.

“Let’s get Emma to safety as quickly as we can!” I told the girls.

Nodding, Rarity levitated Emma carefully onto Pinkie’s back and carried her out. The room was small, and the only way out was blocked by Applejack and the mare. The window had a fight between Rainbow and the pegasus in the way as well. Turning to one option left, I decided to destroy the wall using my magic. Shooting the wall down, we were about to make our way out, but found the stallion up on his hooves again.

“Where do you think you’re going with my human?” He questioned.

We stepped back, finding Emma and the stallion too close again. He now blocked our way, and him being a unicorn didn’t make it easier. As he charged his horn, I looked around for another way to get Emma out. Looking up, I had an idea. Blasting the ceiling, the stallion shielded his eyes from the dust and rubble. Tapping Pinkie and Fluttershy, I told them, “Get her airborne!”

Pinkie quickly tossed Emma up, letting Fluttershy catch her thanks to the help of levitation from Rarity. The stallion regained vision and took a shot, but I managed to block it using my own magic. After Fluttershy fled, the stallion attempted to chase her down. To stop him, I shot his leg using stun magic, and had him downed for the moment. The three of us took the fight against the stallion.

“Urgh… you’ll pay for your meddling.” He spoke.

I stared at his horn and saw he had a crack in it. I then realized the potential hazard he could be, and turned to Pinkie and Rarity.

“Girls, I’ll handle this.” I assured them. “You go help Emma recover.”

“But we can take him on together dear!” Rarity told me.

“His magic is unstable.” I warned them. “This will be safer if you let me handle it. Besides, I have an idea on how to turn his magic against him.”

“Okie dokie Twi!” She saluted. “We’ll make Emma feel super-duper better when you get back!”

“Good. Now hurry!”

They left allowing me to deal with the stallion alone. He gave me a nasty grin and said, “So, you think you can beat me alone? HA! Don’t make me laugh!”

Focusing on the stallion, I prepared myself for the duel to come soon.

Applejack’s POV – The Strength to Protect

I was looking over to every pony and saw that Twilight was fighting the stallion from before. I assumed that they took Emma someplace safe. With that in mind, I looked over to the mare, kicking the floor and starting a fight. She rushed in and rammed me head on. I managed to stand my ground and throw her off to the side, crashing to the barrels.

Getting up with a couple of veggies on her head, she tried again on ramming me down. With an idea, I let her pass by me, and dropped a loop of rope. Her hoof got caught in it, letting me tie her hoof again and sling her to the ground.

“Well, aren’t you a riley little fella?” I retorted, trying to keep her down.

“Ugh! Don’t get so cocky!” She yelled before kicking out something sharp. Her hoof had some sort of knife, and it sliced my rope. I jumped back to avoid getting cut, letting her stand right back up.

“What in tarnation kind of knife is that?” I questioned.

“A special kind they don’t let run of the mill ponies use.” She sneered.

I couldn’t help but get a bit angry at her for that sly comment. Before we continued the fight, Rainbow and the guy she was fighting crashed between us. She bucked him with her hind legs and launched him to the wall. When he hits the bricks, she holds him against the wall and shouted, “Why’d you go and hurt her!? What the hay is wrong with you guys!?”

The pegasus smiled and merely said, “Why do you care for such a useless girl? She’s just part of some forgotten species.”

I suddenly found myself seething just hearing what he said. I knew there were ponies in town that didn’t care for humans, but going so far out as to kill her!? Or to play around with a defenseless girl? The mare before me chuckled a bit and continued on with their insulting banter.

“Yeah, we’re just trying to make the girl have some use in her life. Might as well not let that heart of hers go to waste on her pointless living!”

Hearing them planning to take her heart for something made me sick to my stomach. That didn’t compare to Rainbow though. She was madder than anything I’ve ever seen. She threw a right hook at the pegasus, throwing him to his side. She glared at the stallion and said, “You’re gonna regret saying that…!”

The pegasus held his cheek and looked over to the mare. “Snatch! Cut her or something!”

“Hold on!” She replied, leaping towards Rainbow. I got out another lasso and caught her hoof. Pulling her away from Rainbow, I dragged the girl farther from the two. Letting Rainbow take care of the pegasus herself, I decided to put all of my focus on this Snatch girl.

“Some pony ought ta’ teach you some manners!” I retorted.

Throwing her down, she broke her fancy knife. Rainbow brought the pegasus through the window, and took the scuffle there. This mare got up and kicked her hoof on the floor, snorting angrily like a tempered bull.

“You’re gonna regret breaking that!” Snatch sneered.

“You’re gonna regret what you said about Emma.” I sneered back.

Shen she came at me, I used my forelegs to push down on the floorboards, making it flick up to Snatch. Once she was in the air for the moment, I turned and got my hind legs to her, letting me kick her out through the door. After getting her right on the side, she was down for the count. I gave a huff before leaving to check on Emma.

Rainbow’s POV – It’s Bad Enough!

Tossing the slime ball outside, I got the dude in my sights! After what he said… After hearing what they’re planning… I’m not taking any risks! I’m gonna take them down! With all my might, I thrusted my hooves right into his chest, giving a good ringer to this guy before launching him to the tree. He got up and spat a tooth before growling, “Why do you insist on protecting her? What use is she to you?”

“Use…!?” I repeated, feeling even more furious than before. I flew and socked him in the jaw, making him roll over. “Why do you ponies have to make it hard on her!? You gave her hope that she could go home, and then crush her dreams of returning! You stupid hay suckers!”

He wiggled his legs a bit, struggling to get up. I didn’t feel like letting him off though. The only reason why I held back was to hear what he had to say. “She is not even of this world. She is basically an alien. Beings from this world should be free game for any pony who decides to take her! Her heart contains great power than you can ever gain!”

“I’m tired of this…!” I stated, gritting my teeth. “I can’t even see Emma be happy for a single day! She’s always dealing with something, like some ponies bullying her. Some random monster come and try to hurt her. Sometimes, she can’t even do anything except mope in Twi’s house all day! She’s really cool when she can finally relax, but I never see that anymore because everyday is a challenge for her! Its ponies like you I can’t stand anymore! Pushing her around! And I’ve HAD IT!”

“Well, then…” He spoke all calm. “What do you plan to do about it?”

“Taking you down!!”

“Then show me what you’re made of!” He said, managing to land a punch on me. I lost a bit of my grip there, but still stood strong. When I looked up, he slapped me with his wing and tripped me when I flinched! I looked up and saw he was about to do an elbow drop on me. Dodging to the side, he hits the floor, holding his foreleg from the epic fail of an attack. Taking the chance, I threw him up. Making my way in the air, I flew to him and slammed him down to the ground. With this dude out of the picture, I made my way to see if Emma was okay.

Twilight’s POV – Screw Up

Facing the stallion knowing his horn can do unspeakable things, with or without intent. I knew I had to be careful, but I also had to get the others away from him. As he charges a spell, I saw the sparks fly off from his horn. The fractured horn then shot a spear of energy, missing by a couple of inches.

“Stop this right now!” I demanded. “If you surrender, I’ll make sure the royal court will go easy on you!”

“Don’t act as if I’ll lose this fight!” He scolded, unleashing another faulty spell, letting it bounce all around us. “Once I steal that heart, I’ll have the power to do anything! This horn can be repaired to one that can even challenge Celestia!”

“Challenge Celestia?” I muttered. “That’s impossible!”

“For now it is.” He admits. “But soon, it will be reality.”

Holding onto a spell, I waited for the right moment to shoot him. With him casting all sorts of spells going haywire, I had to make sure I was safe from harm. Trees fall and the ground cracks, but his determination never ceases still. He continues on in his attempt.

“Stop it! You’re not going to win!” I claimed. “Your horn is cracked and beyond magic control! You won’t win!”

“Beyond magic control?” He scoffed. “What about you? That sad excuse of a rescue resulted with a knife in your friend. Let’s hope she isn’t dead because of you.”

I halted, stepping back from what he said. “N-No… I was only trying to…”

“It was obvious what you were TRYING to do!” He laughed. “But even with your horn still intact, you can’t do something as simple as stop a simple knife thrust? Perhaps a spell to protect your friend would have been wise? But no, it’s far too late. How can she forgive your blunder? You, with you cutie mark with the talent of magic, makes a great error that could’ve taken her life! How can you deserve such a talent when you’re still a screw up?”

“I’m not a screw up!” I yelled.

“Then prove it!” He shouted as he shot a barrage of bolts to me. With my horn charged more than needed, I blasted him with an energy sphere, bigger than he could ever throw. Once he realized his defeat was near, he shielded his eyes before being tossed to the boulder. With him out cold, I rested for the moment, thinking about Emma.

“I’m not a screw up… She’s fine…” I told myself, hoping this was true. She was fine… She had to be! She responded when I checked on her. She also forgave me, right? I just kept hoping that she could forget what happened, and hope that today didn’t change anything.

Once the three were tied up, we investigated what happened while Rainbow left to get some guards to sort out the mess. Emma was sleeping on the bench after Fluttershy and Rarity treated her bleeding. Looking around, we found out something unpleasant.

One book contained research notes, written about humans from our world. How their hearts can be used as a boost for magic users. Along with these notes was history. History dating back to when humans were alive, but struggling under the hunt. The hunt to acquire the flash of the humans in order to use powers that only an alicorn can use, and more. It was frightening when I told the others, and it made me concerned about Emma. Being the only human in the world, she’s out in the open and free to be hunted down by any pony. I thought it was fine to have her around, but if others find out about her existence and these notes, she will have more trouble than she can handle.

“The poor dear.” Rarity said solemnly. “She already has to deal with so much…”

“I feel so sorry for Emma right now.” Fluttershy sympathized.

“Those mean ponies go too far!” Pinkie stated. “Emma needs a heart to live! Like, duh!”

“It just goes to show that Equestria still has some bad folk around.” Applejack sighed, wishing it wasn’t true.

I of course agreed with all of them. “I just wish we could make sure she stays okay…”

In a moment of silence, Rarity rolled her eyes slowly, having an idea. “Well… Maybe we can use one of these spells…”

“Huh? What spells?” Pinkie asked.

“They weren’t lying when they said they brought Emma here.” Rarity stated. “They used a spell in one of those books, didn’t they?”

“How would summoning another human fix this problem?” Applejack questioned.

“Perhaps Twilight can change the spell.” She suggested. “Tinkering with it to make Emma go home instead?”

“Send Emma back home?” Pinkie gasped. “But I don’t want her to go!”

“Seeing how she isn’t happy here…” Fluttershy thought. “Maybe it’s best that she goes home. She would be safe from all the things that’s been happening to her, and she could finally be happy.”

Fluttershy brought up a good point. Maybe it was time for Emma to go back to her world. With the girls silence taken as agreement, I decided on what I want to do.

Help Emma home.

Author's Note

Even though I plan to change the way I go on about this story, I'm still planning to put in the same important scenes. For any and all Heart Plus fans and fans of this story, leave a comment if you have a scene in particular you want in Heart Shards.

Also, leave a comment for my sake. Because during these quiet days, it makes me want to go to sleep for a very long time.

Because I'm a very lazy person, and I slowly fantasize hibernation when things get too quiet and boring.

Chapter 4 - Helping Hands

Emma’s POV – A Message

It took a while to recover from that cut near the heart. I was a bit frazzled at the event, but I managed to get out of my moping state and go back to work on my project. A weapon to defend myself with. Originally, it was a special tool to help Twilight with some of her experiments. After that sudden attack however, I decided to change the design of my tool to something more offensive, as well as durable.

The modifications didn’t halt the finish date. In fact, I finally have it done, down to the point! Folding it up, I put it in my pocket. The materials of Equestria open up a lot of possibilities, yet they haven’t focused on upgrading their weaponry or their technology. It’s wasted opportunities passing by right now. Truly a shame.

“Hey, Emma?” Spike called. I turned to him as he came in peeking through the crack of the door. “Some pony left you something.”

“What is it?” I replied.

“I don’t know. I didn’t open it yet.” Spike claimed as he brought in a package the size of a shoe box. “It has your name on it.”

Inspecting the box from the sides, I find only rope wrapping it up nice and tight, and the fore mentioned sticker addressed to just Emma. Opening the box, I find the contents to be… chocolate. The fancy kind, judging from the swirls and the vanilla that seems to be seeping by just a drop, to make it look extra extravagant.

“Chocolate huh?” Spike spoke. “Who’s it from?”

Along with the high class treats was a note. Opening the envelope, it simply reads, “Try to find me, and I’ll have something you may want to know.”

“How creepy.” Spike noted as he took one of my chocolate.

“I wonder who it could be from.” I thought.

“Probably some prank Pinkie and Rainbow came up with.” Spike guessed.

“That wouldn’t be far from the truth.” I giggled. “But I do love a good mystery hunt.”

“How are you gonna them?” Spike questioned. “It doesn’t say who it’s from.”

I held my chin, and took a moment to think about it. With an idea, I brought the chocolate downstairs and went to see Twilight.

As I raced down to see my library loving friend, I was able to see a massive project coming into place. Many notes were scattered about, but none were littered among the chalk drawings on the black carpet. Several gems lay about, glowing, probably charged with magic. I walked carefully around her area to go and speak with Twilight. Tapping her shoulder, she jumped and looked at me in surprise. “Oh! I didn’t see you there!”

“Twi, what is all of this?” I questioned.

“An experiment.” She answered. “That I’ll need your help with later.”

“How exactly am I going to help you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I just need your help with testing.” Twilight stated. “Not now of course. A while later will be fine.”

“Okay then.” I nodded. “That sounds fine.”

“Great!” Twilight smiled before turning away. “By the way, was there something you needed from me?”

“Do you know where these chocolates are from?”

Twilight once again spun to me and inspected the chocolate. She used her magic to take a piece and tasted it herself. “Hmm… It’s really good.” She smacked at the candy within her mouth. “Might be from Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie probably made this.”

With that piece of evidence, I began to head to my next destination.

3rd POV – The Humans of Equestria

Emma walked outside with her only clue in the box, held close by. As she approached the well-known establishment of bakery sweets and other tasty wares, she peeked inside to see if the Pink pony was at the counter. She indeed was, and easily spotted the human sticking her head inside.

“Hey Emma!” She greeted.

“Hi Pinkie.” Emma responded with a smile. She opened the box and showed Pinkie its contents. “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

“You need help eating that candy?” Pinkie inquired. Before I could say anything, she picked up the box and gulped down the chocolate. “Mmm~! That’s tasty!”

“Pinkie!” Emma shouted. “That was my only clue!”

“Oops!” Pinkie yelped. “Sorry! I can’t control myself when I’m around candy.”

“Ugh.” Emma groaned. “I was gonna ask if you knew any pony that bought that chocolate from here or not?”

“We don’t sell this kind of candy here.” Pinkie laughed. “This chocolate is totally different than the ones we make!”

“Well, great.” Emma sighed. “How am I supposed to find out where these chocolates are from?”

“Oh! That’s easy!” Pinkie stated. “It’s the same tasty stuff I get at Bonbons shop! I can take you there real quick!”

Emma simply gave a small, surprised stare to her pink friend. “Oh. Well, perfect. Lead the way.”

“Okay, just give me a second to tell the Cakes.” Pinkie told her before dashing away. In a few moments, Pinkie returned and said, “They said it was alright! Come on!”

Emma’s hand was pulled by Pinkie’s hoof, as the mare giggled in delight of the small time they would share. Emma simply smiled as she did her best to enjoy these times of simplistic friendship. The two ventured through towns with a few waves of greet and grins. Pass the markets of murmurs and trades of many fruits and trinkets, they find the shop of sweets.

“This is it!” Pinkie informed Emma. “I buy a lot of candy here for Nightmare Night too! Bonbon is really good at making those super tasty treats!”

“That’s neat to know.” Emma thought.

“Why do you need to talk to her anyways?”

“Someone gave me a challenge to find out who sent this note.” Emma claimed. “Whoever it was bought chocolate for me as well. I figured the easiest way to track them is to find out where these came from. The candy looked like a brand of some sort, so either the shopkeeper has seen them before, or the makers of the candy sent the message along with it.”

“Wow! You’re super smart Emma!” Pinkie stated.

Emma’s cheeks turned a rosy red before saying, “Oh, it’s nothing.”

“I wish I could stick with you some more, but I have to get back to the shop. I didn’t tell them I’d be gone for long, just went to show you the shop.” Pinkie explained. “You’ll be fine from here, right?”

“Don’t worry Pinkie. I’ll be fine.” Emma smirked.

“Okie dokie artichokie!” Pinkie winked before hopping away. “I hope you find what you’re looking for!”

After Pinkie’s departure, Emma went inside the candy store, and was greeted by a mare with a mane of dark blue and pink swirls. Her cyan eyes was directed to Emma, causing a genuine smile curl under her lip.

“Oh! Welcome! Need something?”

“Hey, just here to ask a question.” Emma told her.

“What is it?”

“Did you send me a package of chocolate?”

The keeper of the shop held her chin, thinking about it. “I didn’t send a package to you, Miss.”

“Oh. Okay then.” Emma nodded.

“But I know who sent it.”

Emma looked up as the pony went to the door in the back. She opened it, and waved to the human to enter with her. “This way.”

Emma raised an eyebrow and followed her in. The next room led to the living room of her home. There, a mint green unicorn was sitting in an odd fashion. Her yellow eyes turned to Emma, acknowledging her presence. Emma was seated by Bonbon before she was left alone with the unicorn mare.

A minute of silence passes. Emma found the sender of the message, but she has no idea who it is. At least she’s not a threat, that’s for sure. Emma has had a pretty awful week if being stabbed in the chest counts for anything. The human crosses her legs before using the confidence she has managed to pick up to ask…

“So… you sent the message?”

“Yeah. I knew you were smart enough to figure out where the chocolate from.”

“Had to get some help, but you gave me a clue that could send me only here.” Emma stated. “By the way… what’s your name?”

“Lyra Heartstrings.” She answered.

“Nice to meet you Lyra. My name is Emma.”

“It’s a pleasure.” Lyra smirked. “So, I guess you’re wondering why you’re here?”

“You said in your message that you knew something interesting.” Emma answered. “Or that was my assumption to say the least.”

“Yes, I do.” Lyra nodded. “I don’t usually say this to a lot of ponies. But you’re not just some pony. You’re human.”

“And what makes that so different?” She questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Because fellow humans must know this common knowledge.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere of the room changed from casual to confidential. Emma’s eyes widened at the unicorn. Holding her heart, Emma taps her foot on the floor. Unsure how to react, especially when a unicorn is right before her, meaning she could be after the Heart Shard. As Emma awaited for some sort of response from Lyra, the store clerk came in brought some lemonade.

“You seem parched, so I got some drinks from the kitchen.”

“Thanks Bonbon.” Lyra said gratefully. She levitated the glass of lemonade to Emma and herself. Bonbon left the two alone once more as Emma took a small sip from the glass. Lyra noticed the discomfort of the human and set her glass down after a gulp.

“You don’t need to worry. After all, I’m the one who sent a warning to your friends so they could go and rescue you.”

Emma eased up a bit after hearing this. She lets out a sigh of relief before setting her glass down as well.

“I guess you know of the reason why you won’t see humans nowadays.” Lyra deduced.

“It’s awful when I think about it.” Emma stated. “That they’re extinct… and that some ponies would still hunt and even… kill again.”

“Yeah, but don’t worry.” Lyra winked. “You’re not alone in this world.”

Emma closed her eyes and took a moment to think about Lyra’s words. Finally, she thought of something. “What was this information you wanted to tell me anyways?”

“I have three things I want to tell you Emma.” She said as a matter of fact. Emma continued listening while she took another chug at the lemonade. “First: You’re not the only human. There are other native humans of this world that are in hiding, in more ways than one. For example, I myself used to be human.”

Emma choked halfway in her gulp of her beverage a bit. She swallowed it down before saying, “You used to be WHAT!?”

“Human.” Lyra repeated. “I used a special machine in the ancient cities.”

“Ancient cities?”

“Another thing I want to tell you is that there are ancient cities. There’s technology you should be aware of, and some others that you have never seen before. Once you get the chance, you should travel in those places. Human cities tend to leave behind all sorts of artifacts. But beware of the hunters out to get you. Any pony after the Heart Shards will definitely go after you, and won’t hold back trying to take it from you.”

Emma looked down and said, “I got the idea already. After that night, I won’t look at Equestria the same way again…”

“Yeah… I know how you feel.” Lyra sighed. “Anyways, as for your last piece of information: Humans stick together. I know you’re not the same kind of human as me, but we humans have to stick together. There are other humans like you and me who are in the world, maybe in deep danger or so. If possible and in convenience, you should help them. We watch others backs, and continue living.”

Emma took in the info to heart and mind. She lied on the couch as she found a new world behind the scenes. Humans aren’t extinct. They were in hiding after all these years.

But even after all those scandalous secrets have been told, Emma wasn’t satisfied. She stood up and asked, “I want to know one more thing though.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow at her, but complied to help quench her curiosity. “What is it?”

“What happened to the humans? I thought they were extinct from this world.” Emma questioned. “There’s a lot of information you’re sharing with me because I’m human. And I’m grateful. But if I’m going to be helping other humans, I want to know what happened first. I want to know why and how all of this even started.”

Lyra sighed and slouched on her chair as she begged, “Oh man… don’t make me go through the history book. Come on Emma.”

“You can’t just give me the rules of how to survive as a human in Equestria and expect me to be satisfied. I want to know more about this world, starting with humans.”

“Fine!” Lyra groaned. “Honestly, I thought I’d just get this over with, but you sure know how to stick your head in everything.”

She used her magic to levitate a book over to the table. She opened it and squinted at the text, turning a few pages before she reached the right one. “Here we go.”

Lyra cleared her throat a bit before reading the text. With a few coughs, she reads aloud, “Day 91 after The Hunt began. We have thrown off our pursuers for the time being, but the casualty rating grows higher and higher. Many unicorns have their own Heart Shard by now, but they continue to kill. We have the weapons to fend them off, but to keep our humanity we have tried our best to only injure and scare them away. Those of us who refused to give mercy and went off to fight the magic users were not seen since. Perhaps they were arrested and thrown to the dungeon for their crime. Or maybe they were killed. I don’t know.”

“It really seems bad to be a human at this time and age. If I want my family to live, then we have no choice. We’re making our way to the professor’s lab, where we’ll turn our physical forms into that of a pony. We’ll live amongst them, and live on. For humanity cannot continue without humans. I know there are other methods of survival, but I cannot find the people who know of them. This is our only way out. My family are anxious though. This will be the last time they’ll be human for a very long time. But hopefully, this will end well. And our grandchildren will be free to be who they are in Equestria once more. To be themselves. To be… human.”

Closing the book, Lyra closed her eyes and said, “This was from a hundred years ago, written by my grandpa. When I was born, I was still human. My parents took me to the same city that had the machine, and turned me into… a unicorn.”

I didn’t know what to say. Lyra used to be human, but she had to lose her form over the fact that there are still horrible ponies out there. I looked down and said, “I’m… sorry about that…”

“It’s no big deal.” Lyra assured me. “Humans have lost. So what? At least we’re not dead. And all of those Heart Shards are gone too.”

“What did the unicorns do with the Heart Shards anyways?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t born yet.” Lyra claimed. “But my parents were always scared whenever they thought about it. Even hearing the word Heart was frightening for them.”

“I see…”

“I do know… that they challenged the throne to Equestria with it. A lot of ponies got hurt against a magic using army wielding Heart Shards. It was the most disastrous event in the world. When Celestia confiscated them, she somehow managed to bury the secret of the Heart Shard along with it. Any pony who ever used or heard of it was wiped of their memory. It became less than a myth. Heart Shards were forgotten. Just some log books about those days remain.” Lyra explained. “I’m guessing your captors found one, huh?”

“Yep.”

“That’s a nightmare for humans you know.” Lyra stated. “The Human Hunt will begin again. No one’s happy about this. I don’t want to point fingers, but thanks to your… appearance, you kinda triggered the Human Hunt again. This time, they’re all going after the only one they can find.”

I shivered at the thought. “… I was afraid of that…”

The silence flows in, and I was quiet. Bonbon came in and brought me a box of chocolate as a gift. Once I said my goodbye, Lyra held onto my hand for a moment just to tell me…

“A Heart Shard is the key to incredible power… So please don’t die Emma. A lot of lives are counting on you just for that.”

I nodded and gave a polite smile as I walked through the door. Looking up, I wonder how I’m going to live here in Equestria.

Twilight’s POV – Almost Done

Building this portal is taking some time. It’s not even the final version! The testing phase is taking a lot out of me. A lot of money was spent on the parts, but it will all be worth it. I charged the gems and the energy lines are flowing perfectly stable. Checking on the room to make sure everything was set from a safe distance, I clap my hooves together in glee. With everything in place, I just have to be prepared when Emma comes back.

In all honesty, I don’t really want her to leave. She’s been a great housemate, and a kind friend. She’s the only one who talks to me about books and other interesting things. We’d discuss about potions, inventions, machines, and all sorts of subjects. But knowing that she can’t fit in Ponyville very well, and could be taken away by these ponies, I have no choice. She’d rather leave anyways.

That’s what I keep telling myself. But lately, I would pause for a moment to reconsider. I keep thinking of excuses like, this is dangerous. And that it’s impossible to make this portal work. But as the student of Celestia, I have my pride to be able to make it happen! It’s also for Emma’s sake. I can’t stop now! Especially with my first portal being made.

“I can do it. Don’t worry Emma. You’ll be home soon.”

Rainbow’s POV – Warrior Emma

Just doing the same thing every day. Do work, spare a cloud from its busting, and then nap on it. I gotta say, I deserved it after the whole crazy fight the other day. Especially when Emma was in knee deep of trouble. Having talked to her since then.

I hope she’s okay. She really needs to get some guts and know when to fight. She doesn’t look like a goody two hooves like Fluttershy, but she hesitates just as much.

Now that there are ponies after her, she’s gotta fight, right?

Well… If she doesn’t fight, then I’ll protect her. I’m not gonna let any pony take her down like that.

Ugh, she got me worried about her! And I didn’t even see her yet! I don’t know why I keep worrying about her! Maybe it’s because of the fact that she keeps getting into more trouble than I can count! I should go see her. If she stays at that library too long, she’ll definitely turn into a book worm.

I got off the cloud and took a peek down below. Taking a quick scan, I saw Emma just coming out of the candy store. I was kinda relieved to see she didn’t stay stuck in the house again. I was also kinda craving some sweets too. Maybe she won’t mind if I take some off her hands?

I flew in from behind, and raced my way to her. She turned too late when I got her to the ground. Emma gave that death glare at me, making me laugh at her.

“Gotcha Emma!” I told her.

“Get off Dash.” She demanded.

I let her get up and brush off the dust. Once she was cleaner, she grinned and said, “So, what are you doing up and about?”

“Just thought you could use a bodyguard.” I acknowledged.

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Emma remarked. “I actually made a weapon for myself. I plan to use it when I’m in danger.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Well look at you! Finally decided to take my advice, huh?” I brought her close and rubbed her mane lightly. “I’m so proud of you!!”

“Stop that! I’m not a dog!” Emma complained.

I let the girl get some space. After she combed her hair a bit, I asked, “so what is this weapon anyways?”

“It was supposed to help Twi in some of her experiments and stuff. But now, I changed it to be a bit more offensive.”

“Which is…?”

“A spear.” Emma answered.

“Really? A spear?” I said, crossing my hooves. “Where is it?”

Emma took out a little stick from her pocket and swung it out. The stick got longer and the end got bigger and pointier. As cool as it was, Emma kinda screwed it up by letting it get out of her hand. The thing plopped to the floor, and she had to bend over to pick it up.

“Wow. You’re not really good at that.” I pointed out.

“I’ll get used to it.” Emma remarked. “I admit, I’m… not much of a spear fighter.”

“Then why’d you make one!?” I questioned.

“So I have something to defend myself with!!” she reminded me. She sighed and sat down, saying, “Oh, who am I kidding? I can’t fight off timber wolves with this thing…”

I sat by her and wrapped my hoof around her shoulder. “Hey, don’t get all glum. I was just wondering, because if you still can’t fight, then I don’t mind doing the dirty work for you.”

“Dash, I appreciate it. I really do.” Emma said sincerely. “But if there’s ever a time when you won’t be there… I need to know how to take care of myself. We’re not always going to be close by.”

“Not if I can help it champ.” I smirked, holding her tighter. “By the way, you going to eat those?”

Emma looked at the box and rolled her eyes. She handed them over with hardly a word. “What? Not gonna eat any?”

“Not hungry.” She claimed. “Gotta head back to the library. See you later?”

“You bet!”

Emma got up and left. I took a bite of the chocolate, and found out it was one of those fancy candy Rarity would usually have. It was okay but it kinda made me want to drink some water.

3rd POV – Gateway to Trouble

Several ponies cloaked in brown garb rounded up near the library. They checked around and quickly discussed of certain affairs.

“Does every pony know their place?” One of them asked.

“Yes. We all know our roles and formations.”

“Back up tactics?”

“All ready as well.”

“Good.” The leader nodded. “We’ll break in about one hour.”

“Hold on…” One of them spoke. He looked out to see a tall figure heading their way. Quickly, he said, “Split up! Something’s coming this way!”

They did as told and practically disappeared. Emma finally returned home after another mind exhausting day. She can’t take any more pressure, and has decided to call it in for the day. That is after she helps Twilight of course. When she opens the door, she is greeted by a smiling Twilight, hair frazzled, and a bit of smoky fur on her cheeks.

“Whoa, Twi, what’s with the gray make up?”

“I’m so glad you came back!” She said with glee. “Right on time too! Finally, we have everything we need!”

“What… is it that you’re doing anyways?”

Twilight took in a deep breath and said, “I know you haven’t been happy Emma. I know living in Ponyville isn’t working out for you. Equestria even seems more dangerous for you than any pony else. Which is why, the girls and I have been talking. As your friends, we care for you and your happiness. Knowing that, it was up to me to make this portal.”

“Portal?” Emma muttered with widened eyes.

“To your world Emma.” Twilight finished. “It’s… a prototype, very first time I made one. Might be a teensy bit faulty, but it should get the work done. All I have to do is cast the spell.”

Emma stood still as Twilight took measures for Emma. The human looked down shamefully, once again asking for so much and being given too much. She has yet to repay any of her friend’s kindness. While she thought about all of this, Twilight used her magic to power the device. The sparks fly and the gems start to brighten even more. The blinding lights could not hide the portal that was before them. Emma gazed at the hole in the fabric of space and time. The ripple before her shows a world of skyscrapers and bustling streets. It wasn’t her home, but it was a start to get back home. As she took a step, Twilight grunted. Emma turned to Twilight and saw her struggling.

“Twilight, are you alright?” Emma asked.

“I’m fine! Just go! I can’t keep this open forever!”

Emma nodded, and continued. When she touched the portal however, it rejected her. Pushing the human to the wall, and surging straight back to Twilight, a loud explosion was made, almost shaking the town. Twilight fell back as the spell bounced around the room and out of the window.

After the accident, Emma fought the pain and went to Twilight. She was lying on the floor, still breathing. Picking her up, she called to the mare.

“Twilight, are you okay!? Twilight!?” Emma shouted.

“I-It’s okay Emma. I’m fine.” She assured her. “That one didn’t work. Perhaps my calculations were off… Sorry Emma.”

“Don’t worry about that! You just took a magic fuse to the head!”

“It’s fine. Besides, that’s just the first test. The next one should be more stable.”

Emma’s eyes shrunk. She frowned at the unicorn as she got up and wobbled to her notes.

“I need to change the algorithm of the lines, so that way the portal will let things through. That should make it to where-”

“Twilight, please stop…”

Twilight turned to the crying Emma. She stood there for a moment before hugging Twilight tightly. “It’s alright. I don’t need to go back. Honest…”

“But… Emma…”

“I have everything I could ask for. A roof over my head, and friends who only give. I haven’t been very good to any of you though. I haven’t repaid anyone for what they did.”

“Emma…”

The girl stopped hugging Twilight and said, “I want to stay here in Equestria for a bit longer. I want to try and make my friends happy this time.”

The tired unicorn looked at her friend, as if something had changed. She nodded and gave a comforting smile. “Alright Emma… I’ll stop this.”

Just as amends were made, the door broke down and in came a group of cloaked ponies. The two turned to the threat as they backed them to a corner.

“What’s going on!?” Emma questioned.

“Get that mare!” One of them ordered.

Two of the ponies rushed forth, and attempted to apprehend Twilight. Emma manages to shove them aside, but was thrown to the side by the other.

“Emma!” Twilight called out. She turned to the attackers and attempted to use her magic. But she seemed to have run out of energy, as only a few sparks manage to fly out. Emma took out her weapon, but before she can get it to turn into a spear, she was shot by a blast of magic onto her side. Blood spewed out, and she was tossed to the ground, breathing heavily. Twilight screamed out loud before being tied down by the others. The group then dragged Twilight out of the library, letting her see Emma bleed out. She struggled as much as she could, but was eventually knocked out by the cloaked stallion.

“Best be asleep Sparkle.” He spoke. “You’re our key to Canterlot!”

Author's Note

Almost done with the semester. Exams are a pressuring pain.

Anyways, I told you all that I'll get the story moving, and that's what I'm gonna do!
By the way, I'm introducing new monsters in the story. I hope you'll like them, because they're going to appear in the story a lot!

Please post a comment~!

Chapter 5 - The Value of the Princess's Student

Mystery Track #08

I felt like I hit my head on something hard. I was just heading over to Lori’s, but next thing you know, I find myself in the middle of nowhere. I guess I should be scared… but, for some reason, all of this looks natural. I can’t place my finger on it.

I found a neat partner to travel with for a while. She says she’s on a journey to some temple. But if I keep quiet and everything, she’ll help drop me off at the nearest town.

But it looks like all she wants me to do is to be dead quiet.

End of Track

Spike’s POV – Twilight’s been kidnapped!?

I was heading home pretty late. I hope Twilight doesn’t mind. Helping Rarity find gems is rewarding after all. Even if I didn’t get any gems to snack on. On the way, I noticed there was a little light show at the house. I bet Twilight’s crazy experiment went off. I hope I don’t have to pick up books or mop the floor again.

All jokes aside, when I went in, I saw something that made me pale. Emma was holding her side. Her stomach had bandages around it, and there was blood on the ground and the walls. I ran to her and said, “Emma! What happened!? Are you alright!?”

“Spike…” Emma muttered. “I’m glad you’re back. Twilight’s been kidnapped.”

I held my head in horror. “WHAT!? Who took her!?”

“I don’t know…” Emma replied. She took out a sheet of paper and said, “But I managed to grab this from one of them during the scuffle.”

“What is it?”

“A map leading to the old castle of the princesses. Pass the Everfree forest.” She informed me. “It says here that they’ll be camping there for the night before taking her off to who knows where.”

“Then we gotta stop them!” I declared.

“Stop who?” Rainbow chimed in, walking through the door. “Hey guys, what’s with all the ruckus? I was about to head home until this place had one heck of a light show.”

Rainbow along with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity came in. They were all probably checking in from the same loud noise as Rainbow. When they looked at Emma, they all screamed.

“Emma! What happened to you!?” Applejack asked.

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy questioned.

“Who hurt you!?” Rainbow inquired. “When I get my hooves on them, I’m gonna-”

“No time to worry about me right now!” Emma stated. “Twilight’s the one in danger! She was taken hostage by some strangers!”

Emma grunted and tightened her grip on her waist. Every pony was about to get closer to help Emma, but she pulled out her hand to stop them.

“What happened here?” Rarity wondered. “I see blast marks here and there, and a puddle of blood. What trouble started all of this?”

She sighed and sat down as she gave the story. “The shaking and the noise from earlier was a failed spell by Twilight in an attempt to make a portal back to my world.”

We were all a bit surprised, but Emma raised an eyebrow at all of us. “I was sure you all knew of this since you all discussed it back then.”

“Well, yes, but we didn’t expect her to be doing it so soon. Much less have a test trial on it.” Rarity explained.

“Anyways.” Emma continued. “After that, these… other ponies came in, and came for Twilight. I tried to stop them, but got shot doing it. Twilight ran out of magic from the spell from earlier, and couldn’t stop them either.”

“Those meanies!” Pinkie shouted.

“We have to do something!” Applejack said aloud.

“We just have to find them!” Rainbow pointed out.

“But where do we start looking?” Fluttershy asked.

I jumped up and down to get their attention. After they turned to me, I said, “Emma grabbed a map from one of them! They took Twilight to the old castle in the Everfree forest!”

“Oh… Why did they have to go there?” Fluttershy whimpered.

“We know the place.” Applejack informed Emma. “We won’t be needing a map. We’ll just head on over there and be back before you know it.”

“I’m coming too.” Emma declared.

The girls all looked at Emma awkwardly. Rainbow was scratching her head, saying, “Emma, I like the gusto. Really, seeing you amped like this is awesome and all. But you’re… just gonna get in the way.”

“Rainbow!” Rarity scolded at Rainbow.

“Well it’s true!” she countered.

“I hate to agree with Rainbow on this.” Applejack stated. “But she’s right. You’re hurt, and you’ve been getting the heat of things too often. How about you sit this one out, okay sugar cube?”

Emma looked down and moped a bit. “But…”

“Sorry Emma.” Pinkie apologized, putting her hoof on Emma’s shoulder. “We’ll be done in a jiff! So don’t worry!”

“So, um… Please stay here Emma.” Fluttershy requested.

The five left, leaving Emma and me to wait around the library. She sat down on a chair with the map in her hands. I walked over to her and asked if she was alright.

“So, how’s that wound?”

“It stopped hurting.” Emma replied. Emma kept looking at the map and thinking about Twilight. Honestly, I wanted to go too. I just wasn’t sure how I could help. I was twiddling with my claws for a while. Emma kept tapping her foot, getting impatient. It didn’t take long for her to stand up and say, “Spike, I’m going after her.”

“But, you’re hurt!” I reminded her.

“I don’t care about that. Twilight’s done too much for me. I can’t just sit around when she’s in danger. The others might be in trouble too.”

“They usually make it out okay.” I assured her.

“You can stay here if you want, but I’m going after them.”

She stood up and was about to go. She was walking with her spear like a walking stick. I sighed and went with her, opening the door to let her pass. I decided to go with her.

“Let’s go then.”

She smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I felt really hot in the head before we headed out.

Fluttershy’s POV – About leaving Emma behind…

We all approached the Everfree forest, passing through the entrance and into the darkness. I was sort of scared, but I became used to going to places like these. As long as my friends were with me, I should be fine. As we walked, we were all pretty quiet, probably thinking about Emma. We weren’t very happy about what was said, but it was for her own good. Emma probably understands as well. She’s very smart after all.

“Do you really think it was right for us to leave Emma behind?” Rarity wondered. “She out of all of us, would like to redeem herself by going after them as well.”

“The kid’s better off waiting at home.” Rainbow stated.

“She’s not a child, Rainbow.” Rarity retorted.

“I hate to belittle Emma as much as you Rarity, but Emma’s fighting spirit… ain’t gonna save her from another accident. Sure, she was able to make it from a knife and a shot of magic, but that’s too many close calls.” Applejack pointed out. “If she was going to fight those ponies again, she might not be so lucky.”

“Also, the clothes you made her would get even more worn out.” I added.

“Good point.” Rarity admitted. “But do you really expect her to give up so easily?”

“Well, Spike’s there.” Rainbow remembered. “He’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Oh! Speaking of eyes on her, did you hear what Spike saw when he and Emma were at the spa?” Rarity mentioned.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow and said, “Uh, is this really the time?”

“What’d he see? What’d he see?” Pinkie asked.

“Apparently, Spike saw Emma naked. Now I was always curious as to why she would always wear clothing, but it had something to do with her chest.”

“Her chest?” we all repeated. Rarity nodded, making us all think about it for a moment.

“Well, it’s none of our business to pry.” Applejack stated. “Let’s just focus on finding Twilight.”

I kept thinking about what she meant by her chest. It didn’t take long when I knew what she was talking about. “Oh! You mean her… oh… Oh!” I felt a bit embarrassed to think about it.

“What?” Rarity asked. “Do you know something about Emma?”

“Yes, and regarding her… chest, let’s just say that’s a… private part.”

Twilight‘s POV – The Revolutionaries

Being here at the old castle of the princesses, I was being held captive by the ponies who broke into the library. They were all wearing cloaks, so I couldn’t see their faces. But I couldn’t think about that right now. I was worried about Emma. She took another shot, and she was bleeding this time. I don’t know if she’s alive. I really hope she’s okay.

“Why the long face?” the leader of the pack asked.

“You hurt my friend.” I growled.

“You mean that tall creature?” He thought. “Honestly, I thought that was your pet. I don’t think I even heard it talk.”

“How could you!?” I shouted at him.

“Easy now, I was only joking.” He chuckled. “She should be fine. Even if there was blood, a colt could survive that blast. She wouldn’t be able to move for the time being, but other than that, she’s still alive.”

He walked to me and tugged the ropes to make sure I was tied pretty well. He tapped the ring on my horn to check if it was on properly. While he did that, I asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“Don’t play coy about your identity.” He remarked. “We know of your connection to Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle. And we plan to make full use of you as our hostage.”

“Why do you have to go so far to break in and take me captive?” I questioned. “What are you after!?”

He placed his hoof under my chin and said, “The throne of Canterlot my dear.”

My eyes shrunk at what he said. I merely stared into space, wondering who in the world would go so far. The stallion turned and said, “I can see you’re in shock.”

“Why in Equestria would you want to do that for?” I questioned.

He pondered a bit in thought before saying, “Have you ever heard of Unity? The city known for uniting the clans and tribes around Equestria?”

I shook my head, making his smile turn into a frown. “I’m not surprised really. Thanks to Princess Celestia, Unity became a long and forgotten land. What was once a thriving city was reduced to a gathering of the weak and the dead. Because of her, my homeland was left to rot.”

“But… Princess Celestia wouldn’t…”

“Are you calling me a liar when I myself have witnessed it!?” He questioned. I merely kept silent as he placed his hoof on his eyes rubbing them for a moment. "Once, there was a king that wanted power…the first place he took was Unity. Princess Celestia responded to the loss of Unity by defeating the tyrant and banishing him to the bottom of the oceans, petrified in stone for all eternity. Though we have fought alongside her, we have done all we could to prevent HIM from entering Equestria any further, and we have even believed in her!"

For a moment he stopped. Once again, he rubbed his eyes before continuing. "She never reclaimed Unity. For a long time, we have waited for her to send supplies and news, but nothing from Equestria came… nothing from Canterlot… Just what was she doing up there!? Many of us have suffered through famine and drought due to that king, and yet, she chose to leave us be?! We nearly died out! If we didn't leave Unity before things got worse, then we wouldn't be alive…"

“But you don’t have to do this!” I told him. “If you just go to her and tell her about the problem, she’ll-”

“No.” He declined. “She failed to notice her mistake. A mistake that harmed hundreds of ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and ESPECIALLY humans! They were there, and now they’re gone.”

“… Humans…?” I muttered.

“Unity Humans are the smartest kind there are. They were however wiped out once they left Unity, unable to do anything against the vile who hunted humans down.” He said with shame. “Thanks to Celestia’s carelessness, a great group of humans were taken, like sheep and timber wolves.”

“Commander Gnosis!” One of his men called out. “We spotted someone coming this way!”

“What is it?” He questioned.

“A… Baby dragon and… the human we shot at!”

“She’s still moving?!” He said in surprise.

“Emma! Spike!” I cried out.

Gnosis looked at me for a moment before turning to the pony. “Get rid of them”

“What!?” I shouted. “Don’t do it! Just leave them alone!”

“I can’t risk anything coming this way.” Gnosis stated. “Fire until there is no trace of them. Total annihilation.”

“Stop! Don’t do it!” I screamed.

“Yes sir.” The soldier saluted. He turned to his fellow peers and told them, “We are clear to fire.”

3rd POV – Engage Battle!

Emma and Spike traversed through the mountain pass, and found a rather simple pathway that’ll lead to the back of the castle. Emma held onto her bandages for a moment before continuing. Spike looked at her wondering if she was alright.

“Emma, maybe we should head back.” Spike suggested. “I mean, you’re getting tired and weaker, right? So maybe you should-”

“Not gonna Spike.” She told him. “I gotta do it. Standing around like a bystander. Waiting around like a damsel in distress… I’m tired of it, and I want to prove to them and to myself I can do this.”

“But what if-” Spike stopped and heard something shoot off. “Do you hear… fireworks?”

The two of them looked up and saw streaming fireworks totally screaming loud noises before heading towards their direction. Spike and Emma started to panic and run, but they were pretty close. The mountain was shaking and the ground started to crumble. Emma and Spike tried to find someplace safe, but there wasn’t anything to go to. Soon, Emma tripped and started to slip and fall. Spike tried to reach her, but there was a lot of flashing from the explosions. When he finally got a good look around, he found no trace of her.

“Oh SHOOT! EMMA!” Spike cried out.

The earth beneath Spike crumbled and sent him tumbling down. A few painful moments on landing on loose branches, a few rocks, and various plants with spines on them, he finally ends his descent on a bush. He rubbed his head a bit from his dizziness before looking up and finding himself in the presence of the five ponies.

“SPIKE!?” they all called out.

“Oh, uh, hey…” Spike sheepishly greeted.

“What in tarnation are you doing here?” Applejack questioned.

“And what was with all those explosions earlier?” Rarity added.

Spike had his eyes look the other way as he tried to think of an answer. “Um…”

“… And where’s Emma?” Fluttershy also asked.

The little dragon cowered a bit and poked his fingers together. “We uh… went to try and rescue Twilight. But they saw us and started shooting like crazy, so we tried to make a break for it. It happened really fast, but last I saw Emma, she was hanging on the ledge. I… don’t know what happened after that.”

The girls paused for a moment with reactions of fear and worry. Rarity managed to quickly recommend, “We should go look for her! She probably made it!”

“You and Fluttershy oughta look for Emma.” Applejack told them. “Rainbow and I will keep them off your backs. Pinkie! Spike!”

“Yes?” They both responded.

“While we keep them distracted, you go find and help out Twilight.”

Given their orders, they follow through with Applejack’s plan. Rainbow hits her hooves together before saying, “Let’s make em’ pay for trying that stunt on Emma.”

Starting the attack, Applejack and Rainbow Dash charge in. The reckless pegasus flies high and swoops pass the unicorns on the wall, tripping them to fall off of it. Applejack breaks their blockade at the front door and causes rampage to all the foes in there.

Rarity and Fluttershy quickly took the chance to look for Emma while Pinkie and Spike snuck around the battle. The three groups split up, but still remember the plan.

-Find Emma.

-Defeat the enemies that attacked Emma and kidnapped Twilight.

-Rescue Twilight.

3rd POV – Find Emma

Rarity and Fluttershy searched the area near the mountainside. The rubble flooded over the trees and bushes, turning the piece of the forest into a pile of dirt. There wasn’t much to look at, it being deserted, all animals have fled the scene making it look almost lifeless. Worst case scenario would be…

“You don’t think… Emma’s buried under here, do you?” Fluttershy thought.

“I hope not.” Rarity replied with discomfort. “There’s enough mountain debris to bury the trees. For Emma to be under here with the wounds she has, we’d be digging up Emma’s body.”

“But where else should we look?” Fluttershy wondered.

“Well, for one, she’s resourceful, so she’d attempt to escape. She would probably be safe, but unable to locate. On the other hoof, she’s not in her best condition, so she might have succumbed to her injuries in the crucial moment.” Rarity noted.

“But… Does that mean Emma’s dead…?”

Rarity peered down for a moment, thinking of the worst possibilities. But she then recalled of all of the bleakest moments with the single fragment of hope, guiding her to a better ending. With that in mind, she looked to her saddened friend and said, “I’m sure she’s fine. We need to find her so we can help her get back on her feet.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. The girl shouldn’t have survived magic blasts that severe. If it wasn’t that, than surely the land slide would have her dead.” Another voice spoke, entering the scene. The red unicorn shines his horn with red aura and lifts the two off their feet. Using a spell, he renders their bodies motionless, frozen in time. They look around with their still moving eyes as they see Gnosis laugh.

“My, my, I hope you aren’t thinking you’re facing normal ponies.” He teases. “We were trained to be adepts in magic to the very least. Any pony willing to go close to our caliber would have to have the same bravado as our peers.”

It didn’t take him very long to stop us! Rarity thought. He’s as good as Twilight!

“Your friend is waiting for us.” Gnosis tells them. “Let’s not take too long.”

Rainbow’s POV – Defeat the Enemies

When a bunch of punks come and take your friends, you know what you gotta do? You gotta fight back! Duh!

Out of all the times we get in the thick of things, we’ve always kinda treaded lightly on the trouble. But now it’s getting more and more dangerous, with Emma getting hurt to Twilight being nabbed! With all this going on, I have more than enough reason to put a thrashing on these guys!

Applejack and I are giving the beat down these guys deserve for messing around! While AJ takes the ground route, I’m up in the air ready to show them what’s up!

I got about seven or even nine guys up here with me. They’re fast and all, and they even have these weird armor on their wings. When flying against them, they keep slapping that stuff on me, trying to bruise me up. I got annoyed, so I did a spin to whirl the wind enough so I could get them to shake their flying. They were starting to mess up on keeping their flight steady, so I took the chance to attack back! I flew above them and kicked them down. A few more were still up, but I was still faster. Grabbing them and throwing them at each other was easy. Beating the crowd wasn’t a huge problem in the end.

Applejack was practically stampeding through the ones on the floor. She cracked out her lasso and tied one up, and then swung the poor guy around like a flail. She was hitting two, ten, and then a bunch of them with that one guy. I’ll admit, she was pretty cool doing that, but I’m not letting her show me off!

But the fun ended when this one guy came by and bashed his wing on me. I spun a bit from the hit, but recovery was no problem. When I came to though, he came at me again and kept me swirling in the sky. I hit the walls, the ground, and the tree. Getting tired of being tossed around, I managed to see him and punch his wing. It stopped him from going on and made him go back to hovering. But DANG, his wing hurt my hoof like crazy!

After rubbing my hoof, I turned to see the thing annoying the life out of me turned out to be a griffon! He had claws and wings with some sort of metal on them. He looked at me all serious and cocked his head before saying, “What’s a little girl doing out here in the middle of the forest? Shouldn’t you be home with your parents?”

“Hey! I’m not a little kid you flying cat!” I shouted back, making his stare turn into a glare. “And you better watch it, because you guys are gonna pay for what you did!”

“Brats like you certainly annoy me.” He scoffed before looking down at all of the guys Applejack and I beat. “Especially when you harm my squadron.”

“What are you gonna do about it?” I smirked, teasing the dude.

“As Air Specialist of the Dive Hawks, I will show you the power of true warriors of the air!” He bragged, showing off the metal on his wings. He spread them out real wide and puffed his fluff from his chest, trying to scare me with his size. “For I am Markee! The Deadeye sniper of the sky!”

“What a bunch of stupid names.” I couldn’t help but say out loud. His face scrunched up in this twisted, furious expression. “I mean seriously, just call yourself Markee, flying dude. End of story.”

“You best shut your mouth whelp.” He sneered. “Each title is important. For example, Dive Hawk is given the name for our ability to pierce the air with gravity.”

“Uh huh…” I nodded. “And how is that cool?”

“It makes picking out ground units much easier.” He said before going down. I raised my eyebrow wondering what he meant until I noticed who he was aiming for. Applejack didn’t notice Markee, so I flew to her and shouted to get her attention.

“AJ! Above you!” I warned her.

“Huh?” Applejack spoke as she turned. When she saw Markee, she made a break for it. Even though she got away, Markee was still speedy, and soon used the momentum to fly back up and at me.

“Gotcha!”

I got grabbed by the dude and was sent hurdling over. He thought he could take control of the flight, but once I got myself moving, I threw him off his course. Along with the out of control flight, I gave a deep kick down and made a blow land right in the stomach. He held his side before I gave another kick to his face. He then got thrown straight down. I admit, I thought I won. That was until I noticed he was diving again, and starting aiming for Applejack. I gritted my teeth and tried to catch up, but he was too fast and too close! He managed to throw AJ off into the air.

Applejack was shaking her hooves, trying to land on her feet. “WAH!”

“Hold on! I’m coming!” I told her. But when I tried to catch her, Markee came in and elbowed me right in. I fell on the ground and looked up to find the dude standing in my way. Applejack crashed to the floor, and the griffon was having that annoying smirk.

“Now do you see the difference in our abilities?”

“All I see is you doing dirty tricks!” I told him.

“No pony likes a sore loser.”

I got on my hooves and flapped my wings twice to make sure I was alright. I kicked the ground and got ready. “You tell yourself that after I beat the living snot out of you!”

“Really? And how do you plan to do that?” He questioned.

Suddenly, AJ’s rope came and lassoed the dude. He turned and saw her steaming with anger.

“You’re gonna have a bad time mister.”

“You-!”

AJ then threw the punk up in the air and to the walls of the old castle. He was about to get loose from the rope, but I came in and dug him into the wall even deeper. He was trying his best to keep himself from being plunged into the castle wall, but the bricks started to break for him, and bury him within the walls. During his descent, he tried to say something.

“You… cheated…!”

“You hurt my friends!” I reminded him. “So you got what you deserved!”

After that, his body broke through the brick wall. The dude was for sure K.O.’d. After all that, I flew to Applejack and checked on her.

“Hey, you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She said, somewhat bothered. “That rapscallion sure knows how to get on my nerves.”

“He was pretty boring to tell you the truth.” I stated. “Come on, the others must be inside!”

3rd POV – Rescue Twilight

Twilight sat alone in the camp of the revolutionaries. She looked down in despair, wondering what became of her friends. He question was soon answered as the pink mare and the baby dragon approach her with caution. With the area seem to be clear, they race over to Twilight. When Twilight looked up and saw Spike, she was astounded, and quickly said…

“Spike! You’re alive!”

“Shh!” They shushed her. Spike looked around to make sure they were alone before he started to untie Twilight. “We’re here to get you out of here!”

“I’m so glad your okay!” Twilight cried. “When Gnosis said that he was getting rid of you and Emma, I was so worried. Is she here with you too?”

Spike looked down, unable to have the stomach to say what happened again. Pinkie however said, “Of course! Fluttershy and Rarity are out looking for her right now!”

“I hope they find her soon then.” Twilight sighed.

“TWILIGHT!!!” Rainbow called.

“Gosh darn it Rainbow! You gotta be quiet!” Applejack scolded her. “What are you trying to get every pony’s attention for?”

The blue pegasus rolled her eyes and said, “Oh please! I’m pretty sure we got all of them.”

“Rainbow! Applejack!” Twilight called back. “Have you seen Emma too?”

“Rarity and Fluttershy were the ones looking for her.” Rainbow told them.

“Now that you mention it, they should’ve been back by now.” Applejack thought.

“See? We’re late because of our ramblings.” Gnosis spoke, entering the scene with Rarity and Fluttershy being held in his levitation. He goes about nonchalantly, relaxed with a dangerous aura of sureness. “Of course, it’s no trouble. Luckily, I have made a fall back plan.”

Underneath Rainbow and Applejack, strange markings decorated the floor as if something was chipping the stone. The palace of old hums along with the shaking earth. The mares and the baby dragon look around as the rumbling sources from Rainbow and Applejack. Taking the chance to move, the two attempt to flee from their spots, but in a moment too late. Gigantic gauntlets of stones lift from the ground like distorted magic, and hold the two in its strong grip. Along with the gauntlets of rock, a head, a body, and two legs accompany it. The form is shown, and towers over them. Pinkie, Spike, and Twilight gaze upon the doom that looms over them, surrounding all options of escape. They were cornered, with no other means of victory.

“A… Golem…” Twilight muttered. “Ancient technology crafted by the humans…”

“This is checkmate Sparkle.” Gnosis told the trio. The golem squeezes the two mares a bit to show the power it has. Rainbow and Applejack hold in their screams, hoping to not let their pain make their friends falter. Gnosis grins sadistically as he took the advantage of the field easily. Turning to the rest of the rebels of rebels, he explains to them, namely all but Twilight. “As you may or may not know, Golems can only be defeated by the means of great power, and seeing how most of your stronger friends are captive, and your magic is drained, I suggest you forfeit for the better of the lives of what friends remain.”

Gritting her teeth, Twilight looks at her options. But the fearful beings before her cloud her thoughts of the awful things that can happen. Just as she began to lose hope, something happens.

BOOM!!!

A powerful explosion erupts from the golem’s chest, and the massive hands drop to the floor. Applejack and Rainbow roll off of the palms of stone, coughing a bit. Gnosis turns to see behind the destroyed golem was a tall creature wielding a spear.

“Impossible…!” He uttered.

“Em… Emma?!” Twilight spoke.

Emma approached the battle careful, her hands wrap around the spear with pure bravery and determination. She looks to Gnosis and points her weapon at the stallion.

“Let them go!” She demanded.

Gnosis complies for Rarity and Fluttershy, who were already unable to move until the effects of his spell wear off. He brushes the pebbles on his shoulder off before facing the girl with his threatening magic. “Little girl, you should know better than to get into fights. Especially with your injuries. How you survived the barrage of magic bombs surpasses my knowledge, but I do know that one last tip should do you in.”

“Spells won’t work on me anymore.” Emma declared. “I was worried at first, but since I used my weapon for the first time, it gave the perfect results. Your magic means nothing to me now.”

“Oh? We’ll see about that.” Gnosis said before casting another spell. Spheres of energy formed and were aimed at Emma. The girl held her ground, spear being held in a defensive position, but ready to swing. Twilight and the others called out to her in an attempt to stop her.

“Don’t fight him!!” Twilight shouted.

The magic projectiles were shot, and they fly straight to Emma. Watching carefully, she waits for the moment. Then, a swift swing cuts the spheres into nothing. All was silent, and Gnosis’s eyes widened.

“W-What!?” He spoke.

Emma then ran to Gnosis. He tries once more to shoot her down, but all of his spells became nothing once the spear came into contact with the energy. When she came in close, she strikes the spear down to the ground beneath Gnosis. The floor explodes with magic energy, and he is thrown into the air. Rainbow and Applejack were shocked at the skill Emma had. Twilight was astounded by her equipment doing such incredible feats. As Emma started to corner Gnosis, he tries his best to analyze the situation.

What is this!? She’s stopping all of my magic!? He shoots some more, and the same thing happens. No… She’s absorbing them with her spear! She absorbed the magic bombs from earlier and used them to destroy the golem!

Emma thrusts the spear forward and misses. Gnosis finds an opening to strike Emma. As he attempts to bash her, Emma uses the blunt side of her spear to strike his neck. He’s tossed off and rolls on the ground before getting back on all fours. Even if I don’t use magic, she seems to have some skill in close combat. At this rate, I’ll be taken out!

“You’re gonna pay for the mess you made tonight.” Emma told him.

“It’s you who will pay for your meddling, girl!” He shouts as he casts a massive spell consisting of several Energy golems. Though they are simple replicas of human technology, they had the mass of a mountain altogether. As they tried to crush Emma, she dodges the falling fists and cuts their arm, absorbing the golems of magic. Using whatever momentum she had left, she continues to dash over to Gnosis and releases the energy point blank. The powerful blast hits him and throws him out of the castle. Gnosis lies defeated, and the girls have won the battle.

Twilight’s POV – Mission Results

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?!?” I asked very loudly at Emma.

“Twilight, please give me a moment.” She breathed, catching her breath as Fluttershy reapplied the bandages onto her.

“Now color me surprised! I don’t know how you did it, but you sure saved our skins!” Applejack noted.

“I can’t believe it either.” Rainbow laughed. “I didn’t think little Emma could save her own life, but here she is stopping the main baddy!”

“Thank you darling.” Rarity said gratefully. “That colt didn’t know a single thing about how to treat a lady.”

“And that was SO AWESOME on how you fought those guys too!” Pinkie said. “When he was like, Go! Magic powers! and you were like Nope! No spells for you! They’re mine now! And he was like AW CRUD!”

Spike chimed in adding to the reiteration of the battle that happened not so long ago. “And when all those magic golem things came out of nowhere and tried to smash you, but you totally dodged them and absorbed them too! I was like, OH SNAP!”

“Please give me a moment so my blood could start flowing again.” She breathed.

“Sorry Emma.” I apologized. “But, all of that was… unexpected! From one moment to another, here you are showing skills I didn’t know you even had!”

“Okay! I get it!” She growled. “I’m an underdog! And as for the magic absorbing…” she showed off her spear once more, and pointed to the shining holes. Within them were gemstones. “I used magic crystals to absorb and shoot out the energy. The spear made it possible to manipulate the magic thanks to its pointy tip, like a unicorn horn. Adding strategy to the mix, it went… pretty well.”

“I see! I see!” I nodded, wishing that I was taking notes. “Wow! Even if you’re not the human from this world, you clearly have the technical abilities of one!”

“That aside…” Emma said, still liking the comment. “I still have a question. Why did they capture you?”

“That is pretty peculiar…” Fluttershy added.

I scratched the back of my head a bit before answering their question. “Well… These ponies here are actually revolutionaries.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait.” Rainbow said, her hooves moved in a denial matter. “What do you mean by revolutionaries? Like… They’re trying to overthrow Princess Celestia?”

“Yes, exactly.” I replied, confirming her thoughts.

“WHAT!?” They all screamed.

“It’s crazy, I know. Even I was shocked about it. But they’re serious nonetheless.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.” Emma said, crossing her arms. “What do you have to do in this?”

Spike jumped as he realized what she meant. “I forgot, we never told you.”

“Told me what?”

“Twilight here is the student of none other than Princess Celestia.” Applejack informed her.

“What!?” Emma jumped before staring at Twilight. “Is there some kind of complicated reason why you didn’t tell me this?”

“I’m sorry. It kinda slipped out of mind. It’s not much to tell about.”

“Well… okay then…?” Emma said slowly, having a hard time to understand all of this. “If that’s the case though, then they must’ve wanted to hold you hostage so that they can gain leverage during their operations. It’s really good that they didn’t succeed, otherwise, you’d be gone for a very long time.”

“Ugh, don’t say that!” Pinkie whimpered. “Just hearing that makes me wanna cry!”

“It looks like we have a lot to discuss for the next few months.” I thought aloud, pondering at what else may happen. “But all in all, I’m glad you came for me. Thanks every pony!”

I hugged them all in gratitude. While most of them embraced it, Emma was grunting a bit.

“Uh… wounds here….”

I quickly let go and apologize. “Sorry! I forgot!”

“It’s alright.” Emma assured me. After she held onto her bandages a bit, she looked at the mess of the castle and tied up ponies. “So, what are we going to do about all of these guys?”

“I’m going to have the royal guard come and pick these guys up. I’ll leave these to the higher authority.”

“Alright.” Emma agreed. She got up and turned to the direction to Ponyville. “I’ll come with you. Just in case more show up.”

I smiled and trotted alongside her. “Lead on then, Emma.”

Author's Note

It took a while, but I did it. The fight scene is a tad unfamiliar, but the beginning shouldn't be extremely flashy. It should look nice, and the following events did it justice in my opinion. I'll be working on the next chapter, and it should give you a treat.

Especially when it's two more chapters before IT happens. :twilightsmile:

Please leave a comment~

Chapter 6 - Meeting Royalty

Mystery Track #09

I had a dream last night. I remember them like I always do. But this one was… different. She gave me a strange expression on her face as if I was doing something weird. She killed the mood for a while, just standing there in shock. She looked as if I wasn’t supposed to notice her. Finally managed to say something after a while.

“How… are you able to move about in this dream world? How are you even able to see me?”

“That’s funny… I don’t usually have dreams of others being able to talk about dreams like that.”

We exchanged a long look before she walked up to me and said, “How interesting. I don’t know of any pony else able to do walk in dreams like you do, but your appearance reminds me of this other creature.”

“And what is that other creature?”

“I heard reports about her. She’s a human from another world. Goes by the name, Emma.”

My eyes almost popped out hearing this. “Emma’s here!?”

End of Track

Emma’s POV – A Book about Emma

It’s been a month since the incident at the Everfree Forest. I was a bit shaken up ever since, but fighting has now become a second nature to me… Okay, well, I’m still practicing. Rainbow was so amazed by the scene that she recently started a training routine. She talked about how we should buck up with strength and agility so we can prepare properly for the battles ahead. As ridiculous as it sounded, it wasn’t the worst idea. Revolutionaries showed off their power by summoning a Golem, ancient human technology that made it to where only a handful of earth ponies, a team of special flying creatures, or one well trained unicorn can beat. If anything less, we cannot hope to destroy them. Seeing how my power is equal to that of a unicorn, I have to make sure I stay in top physical shape.

But the thing about keeping in top shape is how exhausting it is. A long running routine drives me nuts with how hot the day can be. The pegasus are trying to roast me alive by clearing all of the clouds.

“Come on Emma! Just a little more!” Rainbow cheered.

“Any more, and I’ll become a hash brown!” I shouted.

Sometime later after we finished our run, I dropped to the floor, wanting to take a nap. Surprisingly, Rainbow was more than happy to avoid napping.

“You can’t be tired yet! That was just the easy route! Tomorrow, we’re taking a hike!”

“Oh for heaven’s sake Rainbow, I don’t know if I can keep up.” I breathed.

“Come on! Don’t you have any pep in ya? The humans from your world have to be pretty tough.”

“Of course!” I said, getting goosebumps just talking about my world. Seeing how it has been more than a month since I’ve been taken here, I wanted to reevaluate my knowledge of my own culture. “We have serious athletes of all kinds! Running, jumping, hurdling, skating, hand to hand combat, weaponry! We have all kinds of experts in the knowhow of the body! I may not be one of them, but I do know of one person who’s into all kinds of weird and adventurous stuff.”

“Really? Who’s that?” Rainbow wondered.

“His name is Kasin.” I informed her. “He goes to my school. He’s part of a baseball team, and he’s very popular because of it. He also is in the boy scouts, learning all kinds of things. He’s also into the nick of trouble as well. He’s in a way, like you.”

“Whoa, sounds like he’s a dare devil.”

“He sure is.” I nodded, grinning at the thought. “I’m sure you’d get along with him.”

“By the way, is he like… your boyfriend?” she asked, bouncing her eyebrows with the smile of the devil.

“What??” I jumped. “No! Of course not! He’s-”

I stopped as I heard Pinkie came screaming my name.

“EEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAA!”

When she arrived right in front of us, she brought her head close to my nose and said, “EMMA! Why didn’t you tell me there was a book about you!?”

“There’s a book about me?”

“There’s a book about her?”

“YEAH!” Pinkie shouted. “I tried to buy one, but they SOLD OUT!”

“Whoa, what’s it about?” Rainbow asked.

“I don’t know! No pony will tell me!” Pinkie stated.

My curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself with new energy just to investigate. “I gotta see this.”

We went to the book store and indeed found it out of stock. Frustrated, we turn to the clerk for more info.

“Oh, you mean the hit novel, A Girl like No Other?”

“Is that what it’s called?” I wondered.

“Yes, and it does indeed have a human in it. I believe the name of the character was… Emma? Yes, that’s your name, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, my name is Emma.”

“Oh… That must be something special, having your name in a book~.” The clerk giggled.

“I guess so.” I shrugged, still unsure how to feel about this. “I wonder what it’s about.”

“Maybe Twilight got it!” Pinkie thought.

“It’s worth looking into.”

Once more, we head out to see Twilight. As we enter the library, we find her with the named book in hoof. Happy to find it, we walk up to her and give our greetings.

“Hey Twilight!”

The violet mare jumped and turned to us. “AH! I-I didn’t see you there! Woo! You scared me! Haha…” She had on a red face and widened eyes, as if that was her expression for the past couple of minutes. A bit strange, but I paid it no mind. I looked to the book and said, “Say, Twilight! Is that the book that’s about me?”

“What!?” She said turning back and forth to the book and to us. “W-What makes you say that?”

“Pinkie here told me there’s a book about me, and the store clerk said the name of the book is A Girl like No Other.”

“Ooh, I see.” Twilight nodded before closing the book. “W-Well, I’ll just tell you this. DO NOT read it. It’s awful. Zero stars.”

“Whoa, that’s low grade.” Rainbow commented. “Heck, you give enough mercy for at least one star. Must be terrible.”

“Absolutely awful.” Twilight nodded.

“Then why are you still reading it?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight darted her eyes from side to side before saying, “T-That’s because I didn’t finish it.”

“Why would you want to finish a book you don’t even like?” I questioned.

“Y-You don’t just stop doing something just because you don’t like it!” Twilight stated.

“Hold on, hold on.” I spoke, realizing something. “That book is a hit right now. I definitely need to see it.”

“B-but… you s-shouldn’t…”

I quickly swiped the book from her hooves and said, “Don’t worry, I just want to at least see where you are.”

Thus, I began reading.

Emma was wonderful to be with. She made what seemed like an awful day turn into a wonderful sensation of thrills and smiles.

So far so good.

But when we started going out as a couple, it was even better. It was shocking to see how much I didn’t embrace this beautiful girl. She may not be a mare, but she was striking.

… Okay, now it’s getting strange…

Not only did she look beautiful, but in bed, she was amazing. No mare, no minotaur, no creature can have a slender body like hers, and those brea-

“OH MY GOD!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I shut the book closed and turned to the violet unicorn. “WHAT THE HECK TWILIGHT!?”

“IT HAS AN INTERESTING STORY!!” Twilight screamed.

“IT’S PORN!!!” I shouted as I threw it on the floor.

“If you don’t like that subject, that’s fine. Just don’t shame on others for it.” Twilight stated.

“IT’S PORN ABOUT ME!!!” I stated, stomping the ground. “WHO THE HECK WROTE THIS!?!”

“I don’t know! All I know is that it was inspired here in Ponyville.”

“… SPIKE!!!”

Just as I said that, Spike came running down with a scroll in claw. “Hey! I got a letter from the-”

I grabbed the little lizard and showed him the book. “Who did you tell about what you saw in the spa!?”

“EEP!” Spike yelped. Twilight casually levitated the scroll to herself and read it. As I was slowly strangling the little snitch, Twilight turned to us and said, “The Princess asked for our audience!”

“All of us?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes, including you too Emma.” Twilight added.

I raised an eyebrow at this. “Me…?”

Twilight’s POV – Unity

“YOU ALL BOUGHT THEM!?!?” Emma cried. We just exited the train and got off to Canterlot. Heading to the castle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Emma, Spike, and I are heading to the castle as we speak. The human with us was complaining about a recent book that came out popular. It also damaged her image in the process.

“Why, yes darling.” Rarity confirmed. “It is a hit novel after all. A must read at a low price at the book store! Why, who in the world would pass up such an expensive product? And I am one for romance~!”

“It has VILE scenes about ME!!”

“I didn’t like it one bit. So I had it hidden away so that I won’t ever have to look at it.” Applejack stated.

“I was a bit curious. When I found out it was about you, I thought that you wrote a book about yourself. I’m… very glad I was wrong…” Fluttershy stated.

“I didn’t get to read it!” Pinkie complained. “Is it really that good?”

“I’ll admit, the scenes were a bit on the stallion’s side of tastes, but the romance, the drama, the kissing~! Why, it’s all just so…” Rarity pauses as she sees the eyes of doom pasted onto Emma. “Horrible. Grotesque. Simply awful. You shouldn’t read it.”

“Oh my goodness, I’m dying of embarrassment here…” She sighed.

“I know you’re hurt about the book Emma.” I stated. “But we have to focus! The Princess called for us. Probably to discuss about questions we want answered ever since the whole fiasco a while back. We have to keep our heads focused on the bigger picture.”

With that said, Emma’s expression braced onto a more determined expression. She was confident.

“You think I should take a read too?” Rainbow asked, making Emma collapse in depression.

A while later after carrying a tired Emma to the castle, we were escorted by some guards to the doors of the throne room. Given some time before Princess Celestia was ready to see us, Emma pulled out some interesting questions.

“You told me about all the times you practically saved Equestria, and so on and forth.” Emma noted. “So I understand why she would call you. But I’m still wondering why she would call me in the first place.”

“I’m a bit mystified on that too.” I admitted. “But she knows you well enough after I sent letters about you.”

“Oh, you send mail to your teacher?” She placed her hand on her chin and smiled. “That’s so nice of you! I don’t even think about writing to my old teachers.”

“Well, she is the princess after all.” Rainbow pointed out, killing my mood.

“Oh yeah, that is true.” Emma nodded.

The doors open, and the guards let us in. As we entered the gigantic room, we walked on the fine red carpet. Passing the pillars and the stained glass that shines the bright lights in. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna await at the thrones, looking at Emma from head to toe. As we stand before them, we politely bow to the rulers of Equestria.

“There’s no need for that, my faithful student.” Princess Celestia tells me. We rise and look up to the princess. “We have much to tell all of you. So let us not dally.”

“Does this have anything to do with the revolutionary guys we had clobbered?” Rainbow asked.

“Exactly so Rainbow Dash.” The Princess confirmed.

Princess Luna came in and explained the situation. “We have multiple reports of revolutions being made from town to city. We sent Royal soldiers to calm the situation, and force them to retreat. A being known as Shale is commanding the whole uproar and is currently in Unity. We however are unable to get close to that city anymore due to the situation in the nearby settlements. Simply put, the whole war has been keeping our hooves busy.”

“WAR!?” We all couldn’t help but scream. Emma however seemed to sigh out of pity.

“I’m not too surprised. Even when one side of the world has it easy, another will be wanting a fight. With their attempt of leverage by kidnapping Twilight who was deep in your territory means that they’re serious.”

“Exactly.” Princess Celestia agreed. “I was hoping to avoid this. However, my sins too will crawl beneath the surface, finding one way or another to sprout.”

“Dear sister, it is not your fault.” Princess Luna assured her. “It is mine.”

“What exactly made this whole thing blow out of proportion?” Emma asked.

The two princesses looked at each other for a moment. Princess Luna held her sister’s shoulder and said, “I’m going to check on something. You tell them the history of Unity.”

Princess Celestia nodded and the ruler of the night leaves. She turns to us and begins the story.

“Back when Unity was established, it was a place for all creatures. Ponies, minotaurs, Griffons, Humans, and even Changelings were able to live together in harmony. Our ruling was very limited there to show that they could be free to express their cultures so long as they didn’t harm others doing so. It was a wonderful place.”

“Wow! How could a place like that go bad?” Pinkie wondered.

“At one point, during the time when Luna and I commanded the elements, we found an enemy like no other. A single unicorn and his many followers had with them a power that matched mine and Luna’s. The process of this was gruesome, for the power to obtain this was to extract it from a human.”

Emma grasped her chest and started to bite her lip. Fluttershy comforted the shivering Emma while the princess continued.

“This power of greatness was interesting as well. For magic usually has an attribute of love, friendship, darkness, and chaos. But this magic has now master, except the one who casts it. This power brought a painful war, in which we as the rulers of Equestria and Unity have stood by together to combat their tyranny. In the end, we gained little, and lost a lot. The only thing we had to call victory was the end of the wretched wizard. But more things needed tending. Unity needed to be rebuilt, but the other rulers were appalled by such a disaster, and have left it to rot. The humans were unable to get rid of the truth, and slowly became extinct over time. For every human that was killed, the only thing Luna and I can do was to separate the Heart Shard and the murderer. We did our best to save the humans, but they were gone. The only thing that we gained at all was the reputation of saviors and protectors of Equestria.”

“Well, at least you became popular.” Rainbow shrugged.

“I thought so too. The fame can bring up morale and help the community to trust us more. However, for some reason, my name was called out far more than Luna’s. She was already distant from our little ponies as is. The fact that she fought so hard to protect every pony was the final straw. And so, she became Nightmare Moon from then on.” Princess Celestia stated, feeling a cold chill around her.

Emma looked down and sympathized with the princess. “I read the story, and I heard what you had to go through. I’m sorry you had to do that.”

“Thank you.” Princess Celestia said with her warm smile returning. “I did my best to get ponies to feel comfortable with Nightmare Moon, but I can only do so much to change the minds of ponies. As I tried to ease my citizens to warming up to Nightmare Moon, my sheer incompetence has too ignored Unity as it decayed. Days became months and months became years until I received word that Unity was no more but a place for creatures to go so that they can be forgotten. I soon found myself struggling to move the ideals my sister and I have attempted to spread, and that simply ruling the kingdom is all I can do.”

“In the end, we cannot correct the past by simply discussing how we could have done something to make it better.” Emma lectured. “We can only move forward. I expect you have a reason why you called us here?”

“You are a very observant and intelligent being, much like the humans that were here before you.” Princess Celestia spoke with such sureness. “And you are right. But there a different things I need to tell you.”

“Well, what’s so important then?” Applejack asked as we all came a little closer to listen.

“First, the revolutionaries have gained the ability to make Golems. I don’t know how, but they are extremely dangerous, unless we have a powerful user in combat magic or innate strength. The numbers of the revolutionaries are phenomenal, ranging from griffons to minotaurs. At the moment, they are already a force to be reckoned with. Until then, we are in danger.”

“What should we do then Princess?” I questioned, ready to take any necessary action.

“Yeah! Just tell us where to go and who to stomp out!” Rainbow said, hitting her hooves together.

“You will take no part of this.” The princess told us. We all were shocked by this order. Fluttershy was a bit relieved however.

“What? But why??” Pinkie remarked.

“This is a different force we are fighting. It is not evil, it is a feud between rightful rulers. It already pains me to have to fight at all. Having you girls enter would add on to the stress.”

“With all due respect princess, we’ve all gotten our hooves dirty once before. It shouldn’t be all too different if we were to help out.” Rainbow pointed out.

“This isn’t a fight for you girls. You’ve already been involved enough. That last skirmish last time in Ponyville frightened me. I rather not have to go through that again.”

“I think we should listen to the princess…” Fluttershy suggested, hiding behind her mane. “It… might be better if we do…”

“Fluttershy has a point.” Rarity thought, swirling her mane with her hoof. “We aren’t soldiers. And this isn’t something we should just jump into. If the princess does call for our help, then that’s when we should act. But for now, things seem to be stable enough.”

“There aren’t enough attacks around town or any other place close by to brag about.” Emma stated, her arms crossed and all.

“Thank you for understanding.” Princess Celestia said, bowing a bit in the grace of their empathy. “That is not all I wish to tell you.” She turns to our human friend and gets her attention. “Emma, is it?”

“Yes?” She replied, tilting her head in a curious fashion.

“The fact that in all convenience, a human falls to Equestria, makes me believe that there is a way to repent my inability to save the humans of our world. I have enforced a small team to ensure your safety. I know this may seem a bit strange to have a little extra security, but since you are friend with my student, and the only known living human in Equestria, I feel that we should guarantee your survival.”

“Oh! Um… Thank you Princess.” Emma gratefully spoke, bowing to her.

“It is my pleasure.” Princess Celestia replied. “Why, I even supported your popularity!”

“Oh?”

The Princess levitated a book, which made our eyes widen. “Yes, I recently bought this book about a return of a human, inspired by you, the one who lives in Ponyville! I haven’t read it yet, but I heard it was a hit novel-”

“RAAAAAAAAAAH!” Emma grabbed the floating book and threw it out the window in a fit of rage. The book falls to wherever, and all we can hear is the heavy breathing of Emma’s leftover fury. The Princess bewilderedly look at the enraged human and inquired, “I assume the book was really bad?”

Emma’s POV – The Society under Society

We were staying at the castle for the night before we head out. There was still some sunlight, so the girls, Spike, and I head out to see the city. Twilight and Spike were giving me a tour of the place. The ponies here gave me a funny look though. The kind of look you’d see when you’re in a bar of rowdy rough men, except the ponies here have the faces so plastered in makeup that they make it look somewhat elegant. Okay, I really like how this place is spruced up actually, but the fact that they don’t like me bums me out that I’m probably not going to live here, like, ever.

My stomach growls in the middle of my inner thought rambling, and I find my craving crawling on me again. “Oh… I need some protein…”

“I’m kinda hungry too.” Applejack added.

“Let’s get some grub!” Pinkie shouted.

“Yeah! Food! Food! Food!” Rainbow chanted, getting Pinkie to join in.

“I know of a lot of great places to eat!” Spike said with pride. “But no meat. Sorry Emma.”

“Aw, come on.” I cried. “Are you saying NO griffon or other meat needy animal is here?”

“Nope.” Twilight answered. “Now that I say it aloud, it does seem strange. I guess most griffons never fancied the idea of living here.”

“There has to be something with meat here.” I stated.

“Oh dear, is your craving acting up?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, and it’s killing me.”

“You’re just gonna have to suck it up.” Rainbow told me. “Or maybe Twilight can turn you into a pony so that you’ll never have to eat meat again!”

Hearing that reminded me of Lyra’s dilemma, making me sweat a bit. “N-No thanks…”

My stomach growled some more, making the others get a tad starving as well.

“Alright, we’re heading to Donut Joes.” Spike told us.

“I’m still in the mood for some shopping.” Rarity stated. “I’ll do a little browsing and buying before I head back to the castle.”

“Um, I’ll come with you.” Fluttershy joined our fashionable friend.

“Your loss. More donuts for us.” Rainbow told them.

“My loss too.” I sneered. “I’ve been battling this craving for more than a month already ever since my party, and I can’t hold it off any longer. There HAS to be a shop for that somewhere!”

“Okay then. Just don’t wander too far.” Twilight told me. “And if you get lost, just head to the castle.”

“Got it.” I replied. I gave a quick wave before heading out to look for a butcher shop. Of course, as I do, I find nothing but clothing stores, restaurants with no meat at all, and other convenient stores. I get a bit tired of the culture of ponies cancelling my desires so easily. It’s bad enough there’s no internet, but once you cancel meat, you kinda lose it.

“Psst, hey!” Some pony whispered. I turned to the source of the noise, leading me to a tall, slender, and pretty mare with a long, flowing mane of gold. Her coat was an aqua green, similar to Lyra’s, and her flank was covered by a red skirt with a pink bow. Her red eyes directed to mine before she says, “Follow me, human.”

“Um… Why would I do that?” I questioned.

“I have bacon cooking at home.” She muttered.

“Lead the way!” I said, walking close by her.

As this mystery mare takes me to a big gate blocked by a fence of gold, she looks around to make sure no one was following us. A couple of stallions had this giddy look at her, hiding behind corners and bushes. The mare had the gate of gold open, and close after we went inside. From there, I saw a road of even tiles, bushes trimmed as ponies, and a fountain of fish spitting water. Being amazed by the sight, I was a bit distracted before she started tapping her hoof on the floor to remind me why I was here. Walking by her side once more, she opens the door, and I see the mansion’s marble floor and white pillars. The ceiling is so high, it needs to be arrested. The chandelier hangs high, and the windows are framed with gold and silver. My mysterious friend takes me to the kitchen, where indeed, bacon is cooking. As thrilled as I was, I couldn’t help but look at the pony weirdly.

“This is great and all, but why the heck do you have meat cooking?”

“Well…” She said looking away for a moment. “When you turn into a pony, some… organs and such don’t change all the way. So protein is hard to come by for a human.”

“Oh… OH!” I jumped, realizing what she meant. “You! You used to be…!”

“Sh.” She shushed sternly. Looking around, she turns back to me and says, “Correct. I must say, you are brave to be wandering without the disguise of any kind as well.”

“Well, it’s not like I can find any machine to change my form.” I stated.

“You don’t know of Uma?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I don’t know what Uma is.” I replied, tilting my head. “Why? What is that place?”

“An abandoned city built by us humans.” She stated. “It’s now filled to the brim with traps and blockades only those with the technical ingenuity of humans.”

“So, there’s a bunch of tech over there!?” I questioned.

“Of course.” She said as she brought out the slices of bacon along with an egg salad, and a plate of lasagna. I took a seat as she passed me a plate with some of each, and another for an empty seat. She looked up and said, “Sweetie, time to eat.”

“Okay mom!” The colt responded. He raced down and took a seat, totally not noticing me. By the time he did, he smiled and said, “Hey lady!”

“Um… Hey…” I replied. Looking down on my plate of bacon, lasagna and egg salad, I asked her, “You always eat bacon with lasagna?”

“It’s for little Popper.” She told me. “He likes to have some once in a while.”

“So… you two used to be…”

“Yes, and it’s a big secret.” She stated. “But I’m willing to entrust you with that secret since your reputation has been quite… fascinating.”

“How so?” I responded in curiosity.

“Brave young girl of the human race, shows no fear of today. I can use someone like you to do some… tasks I need handled.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I said, waving my hands in denial. “I’m no mercenary or anything like that. I don’t do killing, looting, or anything of the sort.”

“No, no, I’m not that kind of person.” She declined. “Something tells me you’re not from around here. And I’m not talking about just Canterlot.”

“I’m from another world.”

“Ah… Well, that clears it up.” She nodded. “Then allow me to introduce myself. I’m Persona, and I write stories.”

“Persona… wait…” I slammed on the table and pointed at her. “DID YOU WRITE THAT STORY ABOUT ME!?!?”

“No, but I do have a copy.” She told me. “Very accurate on the human anatomy I may add.”

“UGH!” I sneered.

“Oh, don’t give me that.” She retorted. “I just gave you bacon. That’s like the diamond of food for humans.”

“So, what were we talking about?” I asked.

“Yes, yes.” She said, returning to the topic. “That’s just the face of my business. The real trade in my market is the Human intelligence organization. There, I’ve been manipulating the trade of certain products, such as meat supplies, metal, maps, and of course, our most proud invention: Computers.”

“No freaking way.” I responded in shock.

“Yes, very secretive about it. And I’ll be happy to give you more than a simple discount if you can do me a few menial tasks.”

“Like…?”

“Well, my latest project is a small satellite. It has some enchantments, really expensive materials, and the signal distance of several towns’ worth, depending on how high up it is. The problem however is that I cannot simply start placing them in towns and cities without looking… suspicious. But you are already holding the eyes of the creatures everywhere! If you were to do the task for me, then I’ll be able to connect to you through wireless connection, and for your reward, I’ll give you our latest computer invention yet! It’s a portable computer called a Laptop.”

Oh yeah, I never heard that before. “I didn’t think Equestria had this kind of technology.”

“You’d be surprised. Now, are you willing to do it?”

“How am I supposed to figure out how to place it?”

“I’ll give you the tools and instructions you need. Do this for as many town as you can cross, then I’ll help with whatever problem I can get my hands… hooves on.”

Holding my chin, I thought about the possibilities I’d have if I were to do this. The power of wireless connection is something I shouldn’t pass up either. This opportunity isn’t something to pass up. So… “Get me a laptop with lots of memory and a cellphone, then I’ll start helping with the satellites.”

“Deal.”

Persona and I shook on it before we continued our meal. After we ate, she gave me a backpack with the small, but heavy satellite. Another bag containing a laptop and a phone.

“Just so you know, to use the phone, you have to connect them like this.” She placed her phone and my phone together, and the two exchanged information with each other. “There, just pick my signal, and we can talk, so long as a satellite is put up.”

“Do you have one here in Canterlot?”

She gave me a deadpan look as she pointed up on her roof, and there and behold, was a satellite.

“Huh, I don’t know how I missed that.”

Twilight’s POV – Discussions over Donuts

Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and I were at Donut Joe’s for a quick meal. During our time there, Rainbow was the first to bring the topic to the table. Bringing up the debate about Unity from earlier, and she seemed to be quite frustrated over the order that was given.

“I still can’t believe the Princess won’t let us lend a hoof.” Rainbow groaned. “We all know how they’re nothing but bad news, but telling us to let it slide is ridiculous!”

“We already talked about how this is for the better of Equestria.” I reminded her. “If even one of us were unable to perform the task of stopping evil using the Elements of Harmony, then it will be even more catastrophic!”

“And besides, revolutionaries aren’t our only problem.” Applejack added. “I know Princess Celestia said she’ll help protect Emma, but I don’t think that’ll stop some ponies of taking advantage of her. If they manage to take her, then…”

“I don’t even want to think about that!” Pinkie retorted.

“Not only would Emma go away… but the pony that takes her Heart Shard thingy will have a ton of power!” Spike finished.

“We have a lot of problems, I know.” I told them. “Our safety is now on the line, but I know if we can just stick together and try our hardest, we can make it through thick and thin.”

“I guess you’re right there sugar cube.” Applejack nodded, relaxing a bit. “But facing the fact of us against an army of revolutionaries, and random varmints trying to hurt Emma is difficult to handle. I hope we can find a way to calm these problems for sure.”

“Well, I know what I would do about the problems with the revolutionaries.” Rainbow stated, hitting her hooves together. “And as for Emma’s enemies? No worries! I got that handled too!”

Applejack rolled her eyes and said, “Now you’re pushing it.”

Rainbow and Applejack bickered a bit before Rarity and Fluttershy returned, both with bags of clothing and clothing materials. She swings her mane a bit and enters with grace.

“Hello every pony~! I just found some wonderful things on sale! You will not believe the ideas I have for Emma when I saw these pearls!”

Fluttershy looked at the group, noticing Emma’s absence. “Oh, is Emma not back yet?”

Applejack placed her hoof on her chin for a moment. “She sure has been gone for a long time.”

Every time we talk about her, we seem to be in some sort of distress. We haven’t fully healed mentally from our encounter against her enemies. She has so many problems, from unable to go back home to possible attackers right from the corner. We didn’t let the fact that Emma was a capable fighter hide however, and we believed she was fine. But just to be sure… “Do you… want to pack up the donuts and head to the castle to see if she’s there?”

We all agreed unanimously, and made our way back with the box of donuts. As we reached the castle, we saw Emma right outside of the castle doors. She was dragging a heavy looking bag and struggling to pull it through the gates. When we caught up with her, she greeted us.

“Oh, hey guys. Can you uh… give me a hoof?”

“What’s… in the bag?” I questioned.

“Another project of mine. I’m gonna put it on the top of the library.”

“… What…?”

Author's Note

Finally! Chapter 7 is when it really begins.

Anyways, if you haven't noticed yet, there are technically "Parts" in the story that separate the Chapter into segments. Use them to your advantage.

I hope you like it, and leave a comment if you can! :twilightsmile: