“I still can’t believe it’s only been another year.” said Allen’s stepfather, shaking his head.

“You say that like you’re the one who just finished fighting through his sophomore year.” his mother joked.

“What can I say? The sooner he’s finished with high school and working with me and the boys, the happier we’ll all be.” he replied through a mouthful of roast beef. “You know how hard it is to find a partner you can trust nowadays? Everyone’s either being bought off or b-”

“Not at the dinner table, sweetheart.” his mother curtly interjected.

“Right, sorry.”

“It’s gonna be so cool!” Logan piped up. “You two are going to be like the Batman and Nightwing of Las Vegas!”

His stepfather raised an eyebrow quizically. “Don’t you mean Batman and Robin?”

“No. Robin’s kind of a wimp.”

Both parents stared at him for a moment. “Wow.” they said in unison.

“Hey, I call it as I see it.” Logan said with a shrug. Then he turned to Allen. “Hey, speaking of the Dark Knight, they’re making another Batman movie! It’s going to have Scarecrow and Ras al Ghul working together! You wanna see it when it comes out?”

Allen just sat there, staring at each of them in turn.

They sat there, staring back in confusion.

“Uhhhh…Earth to Allen?” said his stepfather.

“Are you alright, honey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Logan flicked his ear, bringing him out of his stupor.

“No. I’m seeing three.” he finally replied.

His stepdad looked around the kitchen, then back at him. “What…us?”

“Yeah you! You’re all supposed to be dead!”

“Allen, sweetie, what are you talking about?”

He stood up in his frustration. “I heard the gunfire! I saw what was left of the house! You guys were…” he stopped. That thought still made him slightly nauseous.

They just stared at him blankly, like he was speaking a foreign language. He stared back, confused.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked them.

He stopped as he heard the sound of tires screeching outside.

He spun around and stared at the front window in horror. “Oh no…”

“What’s wrong Allen?” Logan asked.

He turned back to his family. “Get in the basement! Move, dammit! MOVE!”

“You know you’re not supposed to talk like that in this house.” his mother replied sternly.

“What the-”

He was interrupted by the hail of bullets that began tearing through the kitchen, and immediately dropped to the floor to avoid them. He looked back up at his family, still calmly seated around the table.

“GET DOWN!!” he yelled desperately, but it was no use. One by one, they burst into clouds of black smoke as the bullets found their respective marks.

The gunfire stopped as quickly as it had begun.

Allen stood up as he stared at the table where his family had been seated just seconds before. “This isn’t happening…”

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a hammer being pulled back behind him, and his horror turned to boiling rage.

He knew who it was. It was the one responsible for Allen’s current situation.

He turned and charged at the man in the suit, the pocket knife raised to strike. The other man simply smiled and pulled the trigger.

Allen bolted upright in the arm chair, aiming the revolver wildly around the room. Then he let it fall back to his side as he himself fell back against the chair.

“Dammit.” he said simply.

It was still there. Four years and it was still fresh in his mind. Like a stain on the carpet, it simply refused to leave. His gaze drifted over towards the kitchen, the aforementioned stains still clear as day in his mind’s eye, then down to the revolver in his right hand.

He stared blankly at it, noting that it was fully loaded and the hammer had yet to be pulled.

Acknowledging that both could change in the space of a second.

For a whole minute, he sat thinking. Then he laid the gun down on the table in front of him, got up with a sigh, and went into the kitchen to start making coffee.

As he leaned against the counter, watching the rich dark liquid drip into the waiting coffee pot, he turned to look at his new houseguest.

Who in their right mind goes wandering around Vegas alone, especially at night? he asked himself for the second time.

He shook his head, then leaned down and grabbed another pack of frozen veggies out of the freezer. Whatever. In a few hours you’ll be the hospital’s problem, anyway. he thought as he walked over to replace the thawed pack already on her head.

He lifted the pack off of her head and promptly dropped both packs in shock.

The bruise was almost completely healed. There was a vague red area to show where it had once been, but that was it. The giant swollen area that might have been the herald of potential brain damage was gone.

He tossed the veggies back in the freezer, then went back and checked on her leg. Again, he was shocked by how fast she’d healed. Her leg had been pretty much snapped in half last night when he’d bound it up, and every shift or gentle tap before the anesthetic had been followed by a loud groan of pain. Now, as he prodded, poked, and even lightly slapped the affected area, she showed no signs of discomfort beyond moving the leg away in her sleep.

“Holy hell…”Allen said as he stood back up and looked back and forth between the bruise and the leg, trying to understand how she’d made such a miraculous recovery. Then he shook himself out of his stupor and started searching for his boots.

“Let the actual doctors worry about it.” he said to himself. Then he grabbed his phone and keys off the counter and left for the post office, grabbing his hat off of the hook before shutting the door behind him.

((((((*******))))))

Twilight woke up with a start.

The first thing she noticed was that she had a throbbing headache. She gently laid back down, trying not to aggravate the pain more than she already had, and looked around the room she now found herself in.

She appeared to be on the couch in somepony’s living room. The room itself was decently furnished, with a couch, armchair, and a coffee table. There was also another table with two strange black boxes resting on top, one larger than the other but the purpose of both escaping her. Twilight was slightly surprised to see that there were almost no wall decorations, apart from a picture hanging next to the front door which she had trouble making out.

Where in Equestria am I, and how did I get here? she thought.

She carefully tried to stand up and noticed two more things. One, she wasn’t a pony anymore. Two, there was something wrapped tightly around her right leg. She lifted the pant leg to see what it was and discovered that most of her lower leg had been bandaged, and moving it caused her a slight amount of pain.

She stared at the leg for a moment, and then everything started coming back to her. The Breach, the bandits, the chase, the pipe, the knife, and then…nothing. She supposed that was when she’d fallen unconscious.

She dug deeper, trying to remember anything that might give her a clue as to where she was right now, then remembered the fourth creature that had appeared just before she’d blacked out. Who was he? And why had he-

Suddenly, she heard the sound of the front door being unlocked. She quickly laid back down and feigned unconsciousness. While she now had a vague idea of where she was, she wasn’t ready for another confrontation with this world’s inhabitants. Not yet.

The door opened and she heard something walk in, humming to itself as it went behind her and into the kitchen. She waited for a moment after the footsteps stopped, hearing nothing else except the sound of paper. Then she lifted her head ever so slightly, deciding the stranger was occupied enough that she could risk a peek.

It was another one of the creatures from last night. He had a messy brown mane and was rather thin compared to the bandits from last night. He was also much younger than they had been, though something about him made him seem much older at the same time.

She laid her head back down as the creature turned around and opened a cupboard, extracting a mug and filling it with what she assumed was coffee. She heard him take a quick gulp, then he passed behind her and disappeared upstairs.

Her mind raced as she heard a door close upstairs. He was, without a doubt, the one who’d saved her last night. He probably knew what had happened after she’d blacked out in the alleyway. She could ask him, but felt hesitant to approach the one who’d probably taken down her assailants.

If she was going to ask him anything, she’d have to make sure she was the one in control.

((((((*******))))))

Allen came back downstairs, rubbing his now clean-shaven face, and headed back into the kitchen and re-donned his jacket. The girl’s wounds had healed miraculously fast, and that could be good news or bad as far as he was concerned. Just to be on the safe side, he was going to drop her off at the hospital so that they could make sure she was at least healing properly. The hospital staff would also be able to get in touch with whatever family she had.

For all I know, that could have been some weird strain of cancer. He thought as he stuck his now-unsilenced pistol in his jacket’s holster and turned back to retrieve the girl from his couch.

The girl, however, had other plans.

Allen only had time to turn and see his charge stand up and raise her hand before the world turned pink and he was sent flying backwards, landing against his back door with a loud grunt. In a flash, he redrew the pistol and aimed it at the doorframe.

But the girl was nowhere to be seen.

“Lady, I’m not looking for a fight, but I’m also not afraid to empty this clip into you!” he yelled as he tried to get back to his feet.

Suddenly, his vision exploded.

“GAH! WHAT THE HELL!?” he screamed as he covered his eyes in agony, feeling the gun fly out of his hand as he did so.

When his vision finally cleared, he immediately looked towards the living room, wondering why all of his furniture was pink. He then looked up and stared, his guest casually staring back from his kitchen table with her hand raised in his direction. He tried to get to his feet, only to find that he was frozen in his current position. With nothing else to do, he glared angrily at his patient-turned-captor, then raised an eyebrow when the pink overlay vanished and he could see properly again.

“I’m going to release you.” she said, obviously trying to sound more intimidating than she looked. “If you attack me, I’ll be forced to immobilize you again. Do you understand?”

“You are the world’s worst houseguest.”

“Good enough.”

Allen suddenly felt the pressure leave his body, shuddering slightly as felt himself able to move again. He looked over at the girl still calmly seated at the kitchen table, hand surrounded by a pink aura and directed at him, and casually crossed his arms and legs.

“Great. Now,” she said, relief spreading across her face. “I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going give me some answers. Alright?”

He gestured to her. “Ask away.”

“Where am I and how did I get here?”

“You might already remember, but last night you were attacked by three lightly armed thugs. You were beat up pretty bad and by the time I got there, you were unconscious. I took care of the thugs and had to transport you to my house,” he gestured to the area they were standing in. “for medical attention.”

“Why didn’t you transport me to a hospital instead?” she asked, suspicious.

“I was running from someone at the time, and they were waiting for me at the hospital. But you still needed help, and I have a full medical kit upstairs.”

This appeared to surprise her slightly, and she let the hand drop to her side, though he noticed that she kept the energy active.

“Well, thank you then. That was very kind of you, and I’m sorry about the rough treatment. After what happened last night, I had to make sure I had the upper hand while we talked.”

He waved off her apology. “No big deal, I completely understand. As for rough treatment, I’ve suffered much worse than being tossed across my own house.”

“That’s terrible.” she said sadly.

“Eh, fact of life in a city like this.” he said dismissively. “Can I ask you a question, though?”

“Um…sure.” Twilight said.

He gestured toward the living room door. “What in the flying fuck was that?”

She turned and looked at the door, then back at him in confusion. “What?”

“Let me try that again.” he said and instead pointed at her hand. “What in the flying fuck is that?”

She glanced quizzically at her still-glowing hand. “You’ve never seen magic before?” she asked incredulously.

He continued pointing but felt his face go blank. He sat like this for a full minute before speaking again. “Say that again?”

“You’ve…never seen magic before?” the girl repeated uncertainly, confused as to what the issue was.

A long moment of silence passed between them. Then he started getting up. She tensed, obviously unsure of what he was about to do.

He ignored this and walked past her, reaching into the cupboard above the sink and retrieving his bottle of brandy. He opened it and poured a little bit of the amber liquid into his coffee, swirled the contents and took a large gulp. Only then did he turn back to her.

“Sweetheart, there’s no such thing as magic.”

“What? That’s absurd!” she replied, a little heated.

“Look, I’ve been to a few magic shows in Vegas. It was amazing at first, but then I started learning how all of the tricks worked. It’s all trapdoors, smoke, and mirrors; that’s it.”

“Okay, so there was probably no magic in the shows you’ve been to, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist!”

“It doesn’t exist.” he echoed.

“Yes it does!” she replied heatedly, standing up. Allen’s hand tensed around the handle of his mug at the sudden movement, but she didn’t seem to notice. “If magic doesn’t exist, then how do you explain this?” She held up her still-glowing hand.

“Shall I go through my grocery list of explanations for that?” Allen asked calmly.

“Humor me.” Twilight said.

“Fine. I’ll start with the least likely. One: this isn’t the total bullshit I think it is and is actually happening.”

“Which is correct…” Twilight muttered.

“TWO: I’m high as a kite right now. I don’t do drugs and I don’t plan on starting, so that’s a no.”

“Good for you.”

“Thank you.” he replied before continuing his rant. “Three: I’m drunk. I only had one glass last night so that’s unlikely.”

“Wait, do you drink often?”

“Define often.”

Twilight opened her mouth to specify, then realized she’d much rather not get an answer to that. “You know what? Just continue.”

Allen shrugged. “Four: I’m crazy. While I doubt that, I also can’t ignore the fact that it’s a possibility.”

Twilight was suddenly apprehensive. “Anything I should be worried about?”

“I sleep with a revolver in my hand, but that’s not for house guests. Just anyone who breaks in.”

“Okay…what’s reason five?”

“And the reason I think is correct…I’m dreaming.”

Twilight stared dumbfounded at him for the longest time. “Dreaming?”

“Yup, dreaming. I’m probably going to wake up and you’ll still be passed out on the couch. Or you might not be there at a- OW!”

He grabbed his arm in pain, then glared accusingly at the girl innocently playing with a ball of pink electricity.

“Still think you’re dreaming?” she asked smugly.

“Dreaming…and starting to get rather ticked off.”

“How do you think I feel?” she said angrily. “I literally have a handful of tangible evidence to prove that I’m right, and you refuse to acknowledge it!”

“Because I know what makes sense and what doesn’t!” he replied, pointing at the energy again. “And that most definitely doesn’t make any sense!”

“Yes it does!”

“Alright, fine.” Allen said, pulling together every ounce of patience he had left. “Let’s pretend for a moment that I’m not dreaming-”

“Would you like me to shock you again, just to be sure?” she said innocently.

“Do it and I’ll knock you out with my coffee mug.” he growled. When the apparent threat had no visible effect on her, he continued. “Magic doesn’t exist on this planet, so what planet are you from, then?”

“I’m from-“ she started, then she stopped as the realization hit her. “Oh no…” she whispered, the pink energy disappearing.

Allen raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What?”

Twilight didn’t hear him. “Oh no, no, no, no, no… this is bad. This is really bad.”

“What?” asked Allen, starting to get worried. “What’s really bad?”

Twilight took a seat at the kitchen table and put her head in her hands. She took a couple deep breaths to calm herself, and only then did she speak to Allen.

“To answer your question, I’m from a place called Equestria. It’s a country mainly populated with ponies where magic is a lot more common.”

Allen looked down at the mug of brandied coffee he was holding and quietly set it on the counter. That’s it. You’re cut off.

Twilight continued. “I arrived in your world using an interdimensional portal called a Breach. Once opened, it quickly consumes the magic powering it and then shuts when it runs out. The idea was to come to your world, see a few sights, take a few notes, and then go straight back home.

Allen was starting to see where this was going. “But then you got jumped.”

She nodded. “The Breach can’t stay open for more than half an hour without a constant source of power, and that’s when it’s on standby.”

Allen crossed his arms. “So it’s shut now…”

“…and I’m trapped here.” Twilight finished sadly.

For a while, neither said anything. They just sat there thinking.

Twilight silently cursed herself for not being more prepared. She should have, at the very least, talked to Shining about this. Maybe she could have convinced him to lend one or two guards to accompany her. It was her own fault that she’d almost died last night. And it was her own fault that she’d never be able to see her family or friends ever again.

The weight of this last realization caused her to lower her head onto the table and cover it with her hands, hiding her slowly-forming tears from her host.

Allen was still trying to determine whether or not he should believe anything he’d just heard. He would have immediately had her shipped off to a mental institute for everything she’d just said, except there was no mistaking the stress in her voice and actions. Crazy or not, she clearly didn’t belong in a place like Las Vegas.

“There’s no way you can go back to where you arrived at and reopen it?” he asked, deciding to put any perceived craziness aside for now and play along.

“No.” she said shakily. “The energy powering the Breach needs to go into a conduit on the actual gate. I can’t reopen it without a place to put that energy.”

“And no one else at home knows how to operate it?”

“There’s a list of factors that made it possible for me to travel here, the most important being a full moon in both the destination universe and the one I came from. But nopony else knows that but me.”

While Allen raised an eyebrow at her odd word choice, she suddenly raised her head in realization.

“Unless Spike gives them my notes!” she said with a grin. “Then Princess Celestia can reopen the Breach as soon as it’s ready!”

Allen’s eyebrow raised even further. “Hold up, Spike and Princess…who now?”

“Princess Celestia. She’s the immortal ruler of Equestria. She’s an Alicorn, one of the most powerful beings in existence where I come from.”

Allen decided not to ask what an alicorn was. “How powerful?” he asked, liking where this was heading.

“She controls the rising and setting of the sun and moon.”

His mind locked up at that, and he pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “You know what lady? You need to stop talking, or I’m gonna get a nosebleed.”

“Lady? Oh, that’s right! We haven’t properly introduced ourselves! My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

Of course it is. Allen thought to himself, but introduced himself just the same. “My name’s Allen Flynt. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Likewise.” Twilight said with a smile, which he returned. This girl was definitely crazy, but at least she was nice.

Well, compared to any other stranger I’ve met, at least. he thought to himself. “Not to push you out or anything, but how long will it take for the Breach to open back up?”

“Our moon goes through a full cycle in approximately one week. What about yours?”

“About two.”

“Then it shouldn’t take any longer than that, I don’t think.”

“You don’t think?” Allen said uneasily. “Just how many notes do you take?”

Twilight just laughed embarrassedly. That told Allen everything.

“Oh no. Oh God. Oh shit. You’re one of those OCD smart person types, aren’t you?”

“Maybe...” Twilight replied sheepishly, rubbing her arm in discomfort.

“Sonuva…” he cursed silently before taking a deep breath. “Well, we better go to the store, because I don’t have enough food for one person, let alone two.”

“Wait…does this mean I can stay?” she asked uneasily, causing him to roll his eyes.

“Well it’s not like you have anywhere else to go, right?”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” he replied with a similar smile. “Now…since that leg’s obviously not broken anymore, you’ll need to take those bandages off. We don’t want people giving you more than a passing glance.”

“Why’s that?” Twilight asked, confused.

“I’ll explain on our way to the store.” Allen replied shortly as he went to retrieve his handgun.

“Hey, would you mind if I asked you a few questions about your world on our way there?” Twilight asked as she unwrapped the bandages.

“Uh, sure. I guess.” he replied.

“Great! First, what can you tell me about those mechanized carts that I saw last night?”

Allen paused. “You mean cars?”

He heard scratching behind him and turned to find that she had produced a pad and pencil and was quickly scribbling notes. “And how exactly do those work?”

Allen stood there for a moment, then sighed.

It’s gonna be a long two weeks.

Author's Note

Hi Twilight!
Thought I'd try lightening the mood a little bit, 'cause so far this fic has been pretty serious.
Remember to leave a comment and hit the thumbs-up if you liked it.
Peace!