Sidetracked

Chapters

1. Asphalt
2. Wake
3. Folly
4. Faint
5. Lucid
6. Trails
7. Figures
8. Awakening

1. Asphalt

The sun settled high in the sky as light cooked the sizzling gray of concrete. Cars as far as the eye could see rolled down the four lane highway just outside the city of Seattle before rush hour. This time of year was just the worst, heat wave after heat wave of dry weather reared its ugly stench, and Ben hated every second of it.

“I'm gonna die in here,” he complained.

One particular vehicle, more commonly known as a station wagon, an old beater, a piece of junk, or whatever name used to describe an old car whose life is wearing thin, cruised down the highway at the speed limit. Inside it carried three people who shared similar sentiments, some more vocal than others.

“Stop it,” squeaked the female occupant directly in front of him in the passenger seat. Ben didn't listen as he kept his legs hung beside the her headrest while laying as far back as possible. There was hardly any elbow room to move around.

“I can't help it Candy, the car is super uncomfortable. Not to mention I'm roasting like bacon back here, except I'm not as tasty.”

She sighed and casually pushed Ben's dirty shoes off her seat.

“Ow, watch it!” Ben cried as his butt sank to the floor of the car, squishing him between the seats. With difficulty, he grunted and wiggled his way back to a normal position.

Once Ben got himself situated, he quickly thumped Candy's ear with his fingers.

“HEY!” Candy retaliated with force. She turned around, grabbed Ben's arms, twisting his wrists.

“Ow ow ow ow ow!”

“Knock it off you two!” screamed the driver, waving a hand to break up the fight. “You're distracting me. Stop acting like babies.” The car veered into the median for a second before snapping back to the carpool lane.

Candy let go of Ben's arm and sat back back in her seat. Ben caressed the rashes on his wrists that stung as bad as sunburn. That girl sure has a strong grip.

“Put your seat belt on, Ben,” the driver demanded.

Ben huffed and complied. It's not like it's a big deal, right? He pinched his nose and closed in his eyes in extreme annoyance.

“And if you're so hot, take off your stupid helmet.”

“You know what Max, fuck you.” Ben whined, adjusting the strap of the trusted blue skate helmet. He never left home without it, no matter what. The world was just too dangerous. “It's hot as fuck back here. Open the stupid window, then I'll consider taking it off.”

“What's your problem, Ben,” Candy asked, irked to the point of throwing something heavy at him.

“Did you not hear me? IT'S. HOT. AS. FU-”

“Okay! We get it!” Max yelled. “Just stop complaining and put your shirt on.”

The driver cracked open Ben's window with the only controls the worked in the two decade old car. Running at over one hundred thousand miles and due for another smog check in a few weeks time came at a cost. Even the air conditioning wasn't as good as it used to, spewing out stale air that smelled of rotting cardboard or dead insects.

Ben inhaled the rush of air and let the wind cool down the sweat coating his skin. He stuck both his arms out the window.

“Feeling better?” said Max.

The only answer in return was a pleasurable sigh and not another word from the backseat nuisance known as Benjamin. Hopefully the paranoia in that man is under control soon, or they'll never hear the end of it.

“I hope you're not gonna be like this the whole way,” stated Candy. “We just got on the road. If you do that the all the way there, I'll kill you in five different ways.”

Ben knew she was joking. She was always joking. It was adorable, in a sick and twisted kind of way. Besides, what's she gonna do? Slap him to death. But considering how he behaved, he might as well deserve it. He would making an effort to avoid pissing her off any further.

For the first time since the ride began, there was a silence between them. The lack of conversation allowed Max to concentrate on steering while cruise control took over. Candy was glad Max was able to straighten Ben up. His reserved responses to overly dramatic situations was a trait she greatly admired in Max, and in anyone in general. It made her believe in the good of people.

After about a hour, Candy looked behind her to find that Ben snoring louder than the wind could drown out. Even intense breeze hitting the man's face wasn't enough to wake him up.

She glanced at Max.

“Why did he come along again?” she asked.

Max cleared his throat. “Why not? We're all on break here. It wouldn't be right to leave him rotting in his house all summer.”

“Yeah, but now he's rotting in the car with us.” Candy crossed her arms, clearly annoyed.

“Come on, we've only known each other for like, what, two years now. It's a good time to spend together. It'll be fun... for us.” For some reason, he nervously stumbled over the last words. Every time she was around he'd occasionally falter over his speech, considering his chances with a girl like her. But they were just friends. Nothing more. He must remind himself of that.

Candy raised an eyebrow. Before she could ask him to clarify, Max coughed before speaking up again.

“What I mean is, the three of us hardly know each other. I want to have a good time before I start looking for summer jobs.”

“Speak for yourself. Isn't it a little late for that?” Candy challenged, running her hand through the length of her red hair.

“I don't know, I want to start doing something other than wasting away summers like every other year.” Candy could tell Max was turning red.”

“I guess you've got a point. Maybe I should get a job, too. And Ben back there, he'd be lucky if he was hired into retail. I mean look at him.”

Max and Candy quickly glanced at Ben, sleeping in an awkward position curled up on the seat like a cat. The helmet on him worked well as a pillow. How amusing. They then looked at each other and giggled.

“He ain't that bad. I mean, I'm no different either.” Max rubbed the back of his neck. “Except for the whole helmet thing.”

“You underestimate yourself, that's all. I'm sure there's a someone out there who could use piano skills like yours.” At that moment, Candy cupped her mouth. She regretted ever open her mouth.

Max was caught off guard and nearly swerved out of the carpool lane and into another car. A quick snap of his head produced a frown upon his eyes, only to snap his attention back on the road.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Max denied, sinking far into his seat.

“I-I'm sorry shouldn't have-” Candy paused, looked out the window at the countryside speeding by, then exhaled deeply. “You know what, screw it, you know damn well what I'm talking about.”

Max said nothing and kept driving.

“Why would you hide something like that from me?” She continued.

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because it's... nothing special.” Max sat up straight. “I still suck at it.”

“No you don't.” Candy shook her head profusely. “Better than anyone I've ever heard!”

“How do you know that? I doubt there's anyone worse than me.”

Candy's confidence fade right then. She retracted the finger she had lifted to make her statement and shrunk beneath her shoulders.

“Uhh, I kinda— watched you play in concert hall at school while you were alone.”

Upon hearing this, Max casually leaned his elbow against the window and rubbed his forehead while continuing to drive in excess of 75mph. This was going to be one long trip. Candy noticed her friend's unease and remained silent in order to drop the subject. Max rolled down his old window and took his time breathing in the fresh air.

It only took Candy a half hour to gain back that confidence that she used to express her thoughts on his wicked piano skill he apparently kept secret from everybody.

“Sorry,” she said, studying his expressionless gaze as he focus on driving. “I think it's cool.”

Candy finally got Max to react, even if it was just eye contact.

“But if you don't want to talk about it now, I can respect that.”

He wouldn't. The drive grew silent amongst the two, but remained loud from the open windows. Once the air cooled down enough inside the car, Max closed all the windows. Goosebumps were already planted on his arms. The trio were nearing Portland now, their last stop until it was off to California. It was also where they were due to pick up their last friend, Candy's cousin Felix. After that, adventure awaits, hopefully.

By now Max was the only one left awake. Two hours on the road in a car tended to have those effects on passengers, but as a driver, one must stay vigilant at all times. Crossing over the bridge, the city of Portland came into view. There wasn't anything he needed to stop for besides gas and an address. All the food and drink they needed here happily stored in boxes in the back of the car, along with the bags full of clothes and enough pillows and blankets to make a fort.

Refilling the tank took no longer than five minutes, and soon they were on their way again. He was surprised Candy and Ben managed to sleep through the whole thing. Maybe they were faking it. Everyone usually wakes when the car stops. Max got himself a pack of gum to stay awake for the duration of the trip. Mint flavored goodness.

Once Max was back in the car, he got out his cell phone and plugged in GPS directions to Felix's apartment. As soon as the map display appeared on his small screen for navigation, he started the car and drove off. He followed every city street the GPS map told him to get to his destination.

Candy was only half awake, sitting quietly so as to not disturb Max as he meticulously weaved his way in and out of traffic. Concentration is key, they wouldn't want an accident. Max knows what he's doing, better not interrupt his focus or they'll be lost for sure. Even she didn't know where Felix lived. She wouldn't even bother checking the address he texted her.

The directions led them to the suburbs across Willamette River where the traffic wasn't so bad, but still hell. Nearly two miles and half an hour later, they finally made it to the right street.

“206. 208.” Candy heard Max whisper the address number to himself. “210. We're here.”

They came up to a dull looking building only stories high, almost exactly like a hotel. In fact, it may as well have been a hotel, the only difference is the lack of a neon sign with a generic name on it. Comfort Apartment Complex, it read on a partly faded blue sign at the front gate.

“Are we there yet?” mumbled Ben in his sleep.

It was then that Candy decided to throw her neck pillow at Ben's face, startling him wide awake.

“WHAT WHAT, I'm up!” His raspy voice instantly turned to embarrassment as he gulped when he saw his two friends staring at him.

The awkward quiet then shifted outside, where Max was trying to determine if this was really the right place. The complex could very well pass for one of those places where drug dealers do their shady business. He was not about to get out of the car until he was sure.

After going through the open gate and pulling into a parking spot, he looked at Candy.

“Well? Call him.”

Candy huffed at the demand, but complied. There was only one way to make sure, opting for the safest way of doing so. She dialed her phone and waited.

“Hello?” “Yeah, we're here.” “Outside in the parking lot.” “All the way at the gate.” “Yes.” “Okay.” “Well hurry up.” She hung up.

“So?” Max said.

“Yup, this is definitely the place.” Candy rolled her eyes. Max's paranoid was slightly amusing.

“Where is he?”

“He'll be down in a minute.”

“Does he need any help with luggage?” Ben asked.

“No, he has everything he needs.” Candy replied.

“And how do you know that?” Ben argued.

“Why don't you see for yourself.” Candy pointed behind the car where all three of them found and taller looking man in his early twenties with shorts on and a thick sweater over a plain t-shirt carrying a small duffle bag, a messenger bag, and some kind of silver briefcase. Max got out of the car to greet him.

“Hey Felix, how's it going,” he called out to his friend.

“Can't wait for this trip, man.” Felix said. “I need a vacation. Let's get going eh.”

Max put his hands on his hips. Ever since they met, Max always felt anxious around Felix simply from the fact that he couldn't believe they were still friends. He always thought of himself as undeserving to know someone as mysterious as Felix, same thing with Candy. Maybe it was a family thing. He didn't know a single thing about Felix's family, and even though Candy knew, she wouldn't tell him, no matter how frequently he tried to bring it up. Felix seemed oddly angry anytime he asked him. Yet despite everything, they manage to get along well, even if they don't hang out as often anymore. Work will do that to people.

“Can you pop the back?” Felix asked, pulling Max from his indulgence.

“O-oh, yeah I forgot.” Max opened the rear door with the car key. Felix put his travel bag in where it fit and closed the door himself, carrying both the messenger bag and briefcase with him.

“So, let get this show on the road.” Felix bumped Max on the shoulder and got in the car. As chill as he acted, it didn't make Max any less suspicious of that briefcase of his. He heard him greet Ben with grin and a couple taps on his helmet.

There wasn't much talk between Max and Felix. Felix was more adamant on talking with Ben about god know what. Candy occasionally pitched in on the conversation, but as they group of four headed on the road, Max stayed quiet.

As the city disappeared behind them, Max observed the immediate transition from urban to rural. The speed at which the landscape changed was still a nice sight to see. Fascinating how driving south for ten minutes on the highway away from a dense city can do. Rush hour normally ran for miles to get out of the city for locals, but he was surprised the pace of traffic was reasonably quick to get out of town.

Finally, they were out into open territory, what they've all been waiting for. Watching the endless amount of green trees and sunny skies fill the space around the car was always a therapeutic experience. Living in cities had its toll on appreciation for the wilderness. Fortunately for them, this part of the country allowed for some of the most beautiful places in the country.

About an hour in now and all three of his friends were asleep. It was getting late, even with the sun still up. But that could change in a very short time. At fifteen past six, he decided to get off the freeway on a very remote exit to find a motel. Max had no clue where they were, somewhere halfway through Oregon. It was a beautiful state he'd have to admit, maybe he'd live here someday.

The tall forest surrounding the side roads off the interstate concealed the hills the winded up and down the further Max drove away from the freeway. Maybe he should have searched for the nearest motel. But he was too busy watching the road.

Almost an hour after leaving the interstate, Max began to get worried. He hadn't seen a single car on either side of the road for miles. Quite the anomaly. Not impossible however, just weird.

Maybe he should just turn around and head back, the sun already set behind the mountains.

“Where are we?”

Max nearly jumped out of his seat and swerved slightly as Felix's voice came from behind, far too close for comfort.

“Dude!” Max cried out. “A little warning next time?”

“Whatever bro, are we lost?” Felix looked around at the trees, how they seemed to get closer to the road with each minute.

“N-no, we're not lost.” Max could barely contain his panic. “We're just gonna turn around, back to the freeway.”

“Do you even know where we are?” Ben asked, having awoken moments earlier from the frantic maneuver after the scare. In fact, Candy was wide awake as well, wondering the same thing.

They all turned their attention to the driver, eager for answers. He was sweating a little, but remained calm.

“I thought there'd be a motel out here.” He shrugged. “I guess I was wrong. We'll just turn around and go back the way we came from.”

Max rapidly did a U-turn in the middle of the two lane road that cut through the forest and sped away. As for his three friends, they sensed embarrassment in Max. They wondered if he had trouble focusing under pressure and assumed that he really didn't know where he was going. Without saying anything, Candy, Ben, and Felix let it slide, having some faith in the fact that Max was just doing the best he could with their best interest in mind.

No need to worry.

The twilight darkened and the night air cooled. Max turned on the headlights, then the highbeams. There weren't any street lamps, so it would get really dark soon.

About halfway back, or just over thirty minutes later, the car slowed down. This woke Candy up from her brief nap, curious as to why they were going less that twenty miles per hour in a fifty zone.

“Why are you driving so slow?” Candy asked half asleep.

“See for yourself,” Max said.

She followed his gaze out on to the road where, barely visible in the dusk, was a dirt road. Unpaved and untouched. She frowned.

“Where are you taking us?” she asked, sitting up in her chair.

“Maybe to some creepy cabin in the woods,” Ben said from behind in a reduced voice, almost whispering. “Where a guy with a chainsaw is waiting to kill us all and bury us in the basement with all the other bodies.”

Max stopped the car. Both he and Candy looked at him with annoyed faces. He was holding a flashlight under his chin for added effect. A moment later, another light flashed on under Felix's head.

“But then it turns out it was all a nightmare and Ben wakes up to find he had pissed the bed,” he chimed in. Each of them looked at Felix. Candy chuckled and Ben shot a frown. “What a twist!” Felix shrugged sheepishly, while Ben gave him a light punch in the shoulder.

Max only managed a grin. The driver sat back on his seat and stared at the road. Candy noticed his concern and spoke up.

“What's wrong?”

Max continued to have some conflict of expressions. Confusion, worry, fear, curiosity. Without saying a word, he put the gear back into drive and slowly crept forward. They reached the dirt path and the car began to vibrate as do all cars over unpaved roads. The car was no off-road vehicle, but did sport four wheel drive.

As they trudged along the dark depths of the forest for about ten minutes, Max stopped the car once again. Before he could back up and turn the car around, he was startled when Felix tapped him on the side.

“What's going on man? Are we lost?” the man said.

“I- don't know,” he slowly croaked.

“Again, what's wrong?” Candy repeated. Something wasn't right with him.

“Uhh...” Max rubbed his chin. “Hold that thought.”

Disregarding the continued questioning from his worried friends, the driver backed up the car and made another U-turn. The three other passengers talked over each other with various degrees of interest. Were they lost? Does Max know where he's going? Where are we? Where is the interstate? How long has it been since getting off the freeway? What time is it?

Another ten minutes and they were still on the same dusty path. It was nearly pitch black now. The only light around came from the headlights on the car and—if you were looking for them—the stars in the sky. Ben was amazed at what lied above them, an ocean of black with spots of light. Beautiful.

Strange, he could not see the famous river of stars everyone knew as the Milky Way. Probably too much light pollution. But there shouldn't be, no big city for hundreds of miles.

“Oof.”

Ben nearly hit the seat in front of him as the car came to an abrupt stop. They had been driving for about fifteen minutes since turning around again. It was getting late. He looked to see Max just sitting in his seat, somewhat shaken. He didn't look so good.

“You alright man,” Ben asked.

No response.

“Stop ignoring us, Max,” Candy added. “Tell us where we are.”

Max didn't move, but Felix was already on the case. He took out his own cell phone and used its internal GPS maps to check their location. Candy waited for Felix to give her a rough idea, but was impatient.

“So?”

Felix watched a blank screen on his phone for over a minute. The maps wouldn't load. He hadn't even pressed the satellite tracker in the screen yet.

“No signal,” he concluded.

Candy was beyond annoyed now. While Ben and Felix remained calm and unfazed, she hated not knowing. They didn't seem to care either way. Max, on the other hand, was thinking in silence with his foot still on the brake pedal. It was as if the world just froze in place. The stillness, the darkness, the unnerving.

She was about to blow her lid when Max open his door and got out.

“What are you doing?” she called out to him, leaning over the armrest. He got back in a minute later and turned off the car.

“We'll stop here for the night,” he finally said. The mix of composed and unsure tone in his voice pushed her towards pessimism.

“What? Why?” she complained.

“Yeah man, why?” Ben repeated. “Just find a hotel already.”

“We're miles from the nearest one.” Max explained. He knew he had no idea what he was talking about. “And I don't want to waste gas hunting for place to stay. We can just sleep in the car, these seats are comfortable enough.”

“Plus it's free,” Felix noted. “I agree with Max. Just stop here for tonight and continue in the morning, who really cares.” This seem to do the trick as Candy sighed reluctantly and Ben stretched his arms, yawning. “Just deal with it guys, this is part of the fun right?”

Max nodded and angled his seat back just a little for more comfort. Candy dug out a blanket for herself and got situated in her chair. Ben got out of the car to stretch his legs and stared one last time at the stars. It looked safe enough, so he took off his helmet and tossed it on his seat. He watched the moon peek out from behind the trees. Long day. Time for some shut eye.

Felix was the last to go to sleep, but could swear a pair of yellow eye glowing from beyond the tree line, only to vanish out of sight. What was that?

Good thing they're weren't camping.

2. Wake

In the light of morning, Ben yawned to the sound of his phone going off in his ear and stretched his arms. He sat up in his seat with half open eyes. He opened the car door and got out to stretch his back. That car sure is stuffy. Coughing a few times and sniffling from the humidity, he stuck his head back in the car, only to find the entire car empty, except for the luggage. That's weird. Are they all taking bathroom break, in the woods, at the same time. Ben ignored it and yawned again followed by a shiver. He'd wait for them to get back. Overcome with boredom, his gaze wandered around the trees where a light fog blanketed the scenery. Nice. He then looked down the road behind the car where the fog was even more incredible, white and bright. Something caught his eye though. There, in the middle of the road, maybe two hundred feet away, stood a small figure four feet high. A car? No. A person? No. The shape was different. Small animal? Likely. Although blurred, it was blue in color, slowing advancing his way. Deer? Maybe. He watched as it got closer. Why is it blue? Trick of the light? He did notice long wings attached to its body... wait what!

A sudden sharp noise came up close behind him and he snapped his head back around to find a large figure running at him with a hockey mask and chainsaw in hand. No time to react as a large beast rose the chainsaw above his head and motioned to strike when-

Ben flinched up in his seat and hit his skull against the window.

“Ow! Fuck.”

Candy woke up from his disturbance, albeit slowly and carefully. More dazed than usual, her head began pounding from the sudden awakening and sleeping position. Her body contorted to adapt to the chair without room for her legs. It hurt. She quickly scurried out of her seat and stretched her legs over the glovebox, her feet resting under the windshield.

I was the perfect time to get out of the car and make a full recovery from sitting in the car so long. Candy got out and stretched her arms high over her head, letting loose a yawn popped her ears free of discomfort.

Seconds later, the door behind her opened and Ben exited, rubbing the right side of his head with an angry grin on his face. He was in a hurry to put his helmet back on before any more damage is done.

“Morning,” she said, her voice slipping.

“Stupid dream,” Ben croaked, sighing heavily. Candy could see the sweat rolling down his face as if he'd run a mile in a hundred degree weather, or did a thousand push-ups. Obviously it was neither of those things.

Ben adjusted the chin strap as he put his helmet on and suddenly felt safer. He took a moment to scan the forest with worry in his breath, hoping the dream was just a dream. Light rays sliced through the trees from the south because of how tall the trees were. The fog was gone, relieved that it was just a figment of a dream. A really weird dream. First winged creatures, then crazy serial killers. What else, an earthquake?

He paused for a second. Ben stood firmly on the ground in anticipation. All but the background noise went quiet for a brief moment.

“What are you doing?” she said, pulling him from his trance. Ben merely flinched, but laughed it off as some game his mind was playing on him. His friend rolled her eyes, and got back in the car.

Candy leaned over to Max who was still asleep in the driver's seat. He looked like he was dead, but got a response when he lifted his head back after giving him a light nudge on the shoulder.

“Hm?” Max groaned. He flickered his eyes open and stared at Candy. She smiled.

“Good morning,” she whispered. “Feeling alright?”

Max grabbed the steering wheel and lifted his body off the seat to stretch his back. His yawn ended with a light sigh.

“What time is it?” he asked. His eyes were trained on the dashboard, but the car was off. Candy glanced at her phone.

“Uh, ten-thirty,” she said.

Max's eyes split wide open and scrambled in his seat, attempting to shake off all the numbness of his limbs and wake his body up faster than allowed.

“We slept in!” The driver nearly shouted. “Get in guys, let's go.” Max brought the car to life immediately and was ready to go in at a moment's notice.

“Wait wait, hold on!” Ben said as he stuck his head inside the car to shout at the driver. Max and Candy looked at him, waiting for him to respond. He pointed at the empty seat across from him. “Where's Felix?”

Max turned the car off and got out. Ben and Candy joined him in the middle of the road as they searched the trees for any sign of their missing man. Max stared down the dirt road, disappointed it was still a dirt road. If memory serve him right, the strangest thing happened to them last night and he could not explain it. How can this road go unpaved when we've been on it the whole time, even after turning back to head towards the free way? It just didn't make any sense.

“Felix!?” Ben yelled, calling out his friend's name into the treeline. “Felix!?”

“Will you shut up, Ben!” Candy barked, slapping him on the arm. “This isn't gonna help. He's probably just taking a piss behind a tree. Besides, do you want to attract wild animals this way?”

“I ain't scared of no deer. Felix!?” Ben continued to ignore his companions as they let him do his thing.

Candy leaned in close to Max.

“You think something is up with Ben?” She whispered in his ear. Max raised an eyebrow and looked back at Ben who appeared shaken up by something, but couldn't tell if he was truly disturbed by something or just acting.

“I don't know.” He shrugged. “Bad dream maybe?”

“That's what I thought too,” she agreed. “He woke up all sweaty and out of breath. Oh and he hit his head on the window, waking me up.”

“I'm sure it's nothing, we all have nightmares. I just don't think Ben cares all that much about them. He likes to think he's invincible with that helmet on him.”

“Don't we all?”

“You have a point.” Max scratched the back of his head. “Was Felix in the car when you woke up?”

“No... wait, I'm not sure. I don't think so.”

“Felix!?” Ben called out one last time until resigning that fact that his cries just weren't helping. Max and Candy watched from the middle of the road as Ben took out his cell phone and attempted to call someone, presumably Felix. It didn't work. No active signal.

“So where are we?” Candy continued.

“I still don't know,” Max replied.

There was a peaceful, yet eerie stillness that floated in the odorless air around them. From the trees to the ground and to the sky, everything was quiet. Every now and again, a small breeze rustled some leaves, but nothing was more awkward than the three of them standing around in the middle of the road.

“Something if off about this place,” Max said to himself.

The crunching of dry leaves caught all attention from beyond the branches behind the car. All three of them followed the sound and found someone approaching. It was none other than Felix with briefcase in hand.

“Hey guys,” he said, waving his hand. “Looking for me?”

Ben was the first to walk up to him and thump him on the shoulder. It was a friendly gesture, even if it was a little hard. Ben seemed angry for some reason, like he had done something wrong. Felix glanced at his other two friends who remained in the middle of the road, sporting the same expression of confusion. He walked up the them.

“What wrong with him?”

“Dunno.” Candy shrugged. “He seemed a little freaked out. We were just waiting for you to finish.”

“Finish what?”

“Didn't you go to the bathroom?” Max asked, crossing his arms and shifting his weight.

“No.”

“Oh. Well, what where you doing? We're supposed to hit the road by now.” Candy turned to Max, blowing her long hair away from her face. “Which reminds me, you never told us when to wake up. I would have set my alarm,” she said. She looked back at Felix. “And you, what's with the case?”

As much as his friends want to know what he was hiding, it's best they didn't know.

“Bird watching,” he lied. They could tell it was a lie, but his friends didn't push it any further.

“Well then, let's go.” Max returned to the car. “We have a long road to cover.”

Everyone got back in the car and strapped in. Once more, Max started the engine and slowly drove away.

“So what's our next stop?” Candy chirped. The car was picking up speed now, but went no faster than thirty miles per hour. The car occasionally rattled and shifted from the bumps in the road.

“First we have to figure out how to get back to the freeway.” Max leaned forward as he drove and looked up at the top of the trees. Sunlight barely glowed down to ground level, drowning them in pale shadow. “We still don't have a GPS to get us out of here.”

Felix contemplated for a moment before speaking up.

“Try the radio,” he said, resting his torso on the seat in front of him.

“How is that supposed to help?” said Candy, clearly annoyed by the absurd request.

Max turned the dials anyways and began scrolling through the channels. Anything. But for some reason, nothing but static. Different kinds of static for each frequency, but static nonetheless.

“Huh.” uttered Max. Felix sat back and stroked his chin. More evidence for their suspicions.

“Is that supposed to mean anything?” Candy remarked. “The antenna is probably broken.”

“No, no, it's working just fine.” Max turned the radio of. “Or else you wouldn't hear any static. But this static is nothing like normal static. It sounds too...” He snapped his fingers to find the appropriate word. “...organized.”

“Would you guys stop being so cryptic and tell us what's going on?” Ben pitched in. He and Candy felt left out of the loop while the other two played the cartoon skeptic. Or detective stupid. Or both. “Ever since we started driving on this stupid dirt road you two have been-”

THUNK

The car came to a skidding halt as Max slammed on the breaks. A large object hit the bumper while the car bumped over something heavy. All four inside quickly looked at each other and then towards the back window. They then got out to assess what just happened.

Max rushed around the side, followed by Ben who nearly vomited at the sight before them.

“Dude! You fucking killed an animal!”

“I can see that, genius,” Max retorted.

Felix walked up next to him.

“Looks like a chicken.” He giggled. “You killed a chicken.”

Candy was the last to the scene. Although she was the most disgusted, she held her composure, and her lunch. Still, she wasn't very enthused.

“I don't think it's a chicken,” she said. “It's got some lizard tail attached to it.”

“Maybe some psycho in these woods is breeding monsters,” Felix pointed out without pause. They looked at him as the crazy nut he is. “That would actually be pretty cool though. Just saying.”

“If it's not a chicken, then what the hell is it?” Max said. He stepped back to breathe as it began to stink.

Ben resisted the urge to blackout from the horrid stench the corpse was now giving off. He had ignored the fact that it was a freaky hybrid creature to scold his friend for murder.

“You killed a chicken!”

“Jesus Christ Ben, I know I killed a chicken,” Max yelled and threw his arms in the air. “What do you want me to do, bring it back to life?”

“You could at least show some remorse,” Ben hissed. “It was living creature and you ran it-”

ROAR

Everyone froze. Heart rates spiked. Goosebumps shot throughout their bodies. Flocks of birds around the area flew away with haste. The distant screech of a predator ricocheted throughout the wilderness, scaring the humans half to death.

“What was that!?” Candy cried out the obvious. Her friends were all in defensive stances, frantically twirling their heads like cats to search for the source of the sound. Each of them started to creep their way back to the car. Waiting for-

ROOOOOAR

This time much louder and closer, there was no time to waste.

“GO! Go! Go! Go! GO GO!” Max shouted.

Each of them hurried to the car, but Ben tripped over his own feet. They slammed the doors shut, nearly enough to break the glass. The driver stomped on the gas pedal. A plume of dust formed behind them as the car propelled forward as fast as it could. Working the engine into overdrive, Max did not let up, instead opting to race as quickly as possible away from whatever that roar was. Possibly mountain lion.

“Think we lost it?” said Max.

“Just keep going.” Candy said. “Don't stop.”

“STOP!” exclaimed Felix.

Once the outburst left his mouth, Max turned around. A seat was empty. Where's Ben!? Again, the car came to a dead stop, this time much faster than before. A few things flew forward from the back seat

“Oh no.”

Max changed the car's gears and starting driving in reverse. The trail of dust kicked up by the dust had not yet settled and Max could see nothing. He stopped the car after about a minute. Now they were surrounded by natural smoke with Ben nowhere in sight.

Before any of them were willing to get out the car find their friend, someone emerged from the dust, running for his life. Felix saw him and leaned over the middle to open the door on the other side.

“Get in get in get in get in!” he screamed out to Ben. The man slid across the dirt and jumped in the car, coughing intensely. Max then released the break pedal and they were off again, letting the momentum of the car slam Ben's door on his way in.

Under his heavy breathing and soil covered body, Ben could hardly keep himself from shaking. His eyes were trying to make sense of what he had seen. Something large. With bat wings. The others didn't see, but it definitely wasn't a mountain lion. Too big. Another stupid hybrid creature, but this one hungry for flesh.

“You okay man,” Felix cooed, taking it upon himself to console the traumatized human. Although he did hate that Ben tracked dirt inside the car, it was for good reason. He dusted off the layers of dirt stuck to Ben's helmet causing more particles to fill the car. The driver rolled down all four windows simultaneously to let it all out.

Ben was still catching his breath, too frightened to speak. However, he was able to check his body for cuts or bruises. His shirt was ripped in three places on his back, but other than that, he was fine.

“Good thing you had head protection,” said Felix, smiling. “At least you're not a total loser, it came in handy for once.”

Ben returned a look, but it was no smile. More like a distraught look of terror with a twitch in his eye. It didn't look good. Felix rested a hand on his friend's shoulder.

“Hey, you good?”

Ben hesitated a moment, then gave a small nod.

“It's going to be alright,” said Candy, watching the two passengers with a fragmented gaze. “We'll be in California soon.” She didn't really believe that, but what else could she do. They just took a wrong turn is all.

An hour later, the car slowed once more. Max thought they were far enough from the danger and they needed to conserve gas. The group has been on this dirt road long enough. No street signs. No street lamps. No fences. It was completely empty. It felt no different than any other dirt road, but an all too foreign feeling that their route has been altered somehow.

The trees stayed the same, as if they were driving in a huge circle. Every so often the shrubbery would thin out and the ambient light would increase, but that just meant the they were getting closer to the edge of the woods.

The occupants remained quiet and still. All of them had a thousand yard stare that shook them to their cores. Ben forced himself to hold back a panic attack. The longer he sat in silence, the greater the urge to feel delirious. Never before such an encounter with wildlife had been so close to death. Felix believed Ben was handling it well. He could only imagine what went through the boy's mind while being chased by a predator. Ben wouldn't say what it was. Perhaps in time. Candy spent her time hyper aware of her surroundings, watching the road carefully, glancing at her friends, and rubbing her hands together. This would prove useful as she saw what appeared to be a wooden fence up ahead before Max.

“Do you see that?” She pointed to the side of the road a hundred feet down the bend.

Max squinted. Felix leaned forward for a better view.

“Yeah. Just our luck, first sign of people.”

The car eventually rolled past the of the white fence, driving parallel up a shallow hill. The trees beyond the fence were now apple trees, irregularly placed across the grounds. No evidence of machinery or modern agriculture. By now they had left the woods, now it's just a bunch of apple trees.

Moments later, they came up to a large gate where the fence connected to a tall white sign. The writing on the wooden panel above in plain English.

Sweet Apple Acres.

“Well that explains it,” said Max. “Let's take a look.”

He drove the car through the open gate. Safe to say there weren't any 'no trespassing' signs around. It appeared to be a regular orchard. Something akin to such farms in Iowa or California, yet smaller.

A large red barn came into view not long after entering onto the land. The road ended at a small gate with the silhouette logo of an apple cut from a wood panel hanging from the top. Max stopped the car and turned off the engine.

Each of them carefully got out and formed a tight group. Their eyes were glued to the barn as all except Ben stepped onto the property grounds.

“I'll just stay by the car this time,” Ben muttered. His friends nodded in understanding. One encounter with danger was enough.

The other three walked up to the barn, overshadowed by it's size. It wasn't enormous by any stretch, it just appeared to be both a house and a barn in one building. Felix stayed behind to peek inside the barn while Max and Candy went around the corner to what they assumed was the front door. The door lacked a door bell, so Max resorted to a light knock.

Knock Knock Knock “Hello?” Knock Knock. “Anyone home?”

His patience was wearing thin when no response came after the four set of knocks.

“This is a waste of time,” Candy conceded. “Let's just get back on the road.”

As she walked away to join Felix, Max remained hopeful. They could just keep driving until they found a gas station or a Dennys, but there doesn't seem to be anything for miles. This was their only chance. He put his arms on his waist. It appeared the hill just behind the barn dropped off on the other side. A quick decision to scale the hill proved worth it.

A town.

Max smiled wide and ran back to meet up with his friends with glee in his stride.

“Hey guys, there's a small town just over that hill.” He pointed north. “We finally have-”

The human paused. His two friends were unresponsive, locked onto something within the orchard.

“Guys?”

Max followed Candy's finger as she pointed into the trees. He had trouble finding what they were looking at, but nothing was more surprising than what was watching them. Something—most easily shaped like a small horse—stared back at them with astounding interest. Horses don't wear hats, do they? Nor are they orange. At least not most of them.

As soon as Max attempted to advance towards it, the horse ran away, disappearing beyond the trees in a flash.

“Nice going man, you scared it off,” Felix said.

“At least we know this place is open,” Candy mused. “Someone should be home to take care of the animals. Should we stay and see if someone is home?”

“No need.” Max lifted a hand and pointed at the hill. “There's a town not far from here. Better check it out.”

Felix and Candy glanced at each other with hopeful grins. They followed their friend back to the car. At least their luck has changed for once.

Waiting patiently for them, Ben leaned against the hood of the car, digging a hole in the ground with his shoes. He kicked a rock forward, watching it bounce across the ground, bringing his attention to his approaching friends. His boredom ended there, and probably yours too.

“You guys get directions?” Ben asked, adjusting the position of his helmet.

“No one's home,” replied Max. “But there's a town nearby, were going there now.”

“Finally!”

3. Folly

All four humans got back in the car and were glad to be back on track. At least, that's what half of them thought. Candy and Felix weren't sure if Max was generating false hope or lying to cover his own ass. Whatever the case, at least he was more stable than Ben. The helmet wearing boy was emotionally broken, no doubt, but considering what he had been through earlier, he had reason to be. They were starting to get worried. No words of merit were spoken among the three of them, silently agreeing to keep an eye on Ben to make sure he doesn't loose it.

Though, given the circumstances of their luck, Max still remained cautious. Very slowly he drove the car reverse, hoping to avoid hitting something again, be it small animals and the evil pot hole. He didn't want to damage the car even more.

“Nice farm,” Ben said, with a quiet tone. The others didn't respond, only making awkward eye contact. Instead, he continued to ponder at the plantation just beyond the perimeter fence outside the window. “I like apples.” He paused. “That reminds me, it's past breakfast. Any chance you saw a waffle house over there?”

“Uh... not that I could see.” Max licked his lips, glad to have been reminded of his hunger. “I guess we'll find out.”

“Why waffles?” Candy said, torn between agreement and disgust. Waffles were never really her favorite. She preferred pancakes.

“Dunno.” Ben shrugged. “It was the first thing that came to mind.”

As the rest of the vehicle's occupants were content with the food of choice, Ben went back to staring out the window as they backed up out of the orchard the way they came. He had just noticed a small horse curiously following them parallel from behind a couple rows of trees. Funny horse, with its cute hat, apple tattoos, and bright green eyes.

Wait a minute...

By now the car reached the entrance of the property. They were already on their way out on the main dirt road when Ben decided to speak up.

“Did you guys see that little orange horse following us?”

“Following us?” Candy said. She and Felix looked back through the rear window, but they found only a cloud of dust kicked up as the car sped away.

“You saw it too?” Felix asked.

“The horse,” Ben replied. “Yeah, it didn't look like any horse I've seen. Too small. Pony maybe?”

“I'm pretty sure ponies don't look like that either,” Candy chimed in. “I should know, with my girly instincts and all.” She forced a little feminine gesture and surely they'd get the idea.

“I think we all know what ponies look like in real life, Candy. You of all people should know that,” said Max with an obvious chuckle. Embarrassment overtook her as she retaliated with a punch to his shoulder.

“Shut up. You know what I mean. God, are you guys always like this?” She crossed her arms and hopped they would respond. She already knew the answer. She looked back at Ben. “Besides, what did you find odd about the horse that didn't look like the real thing?”

Ben stared right back at her with the most perfect balance of serious and sarcasm.

“Everything.”

Felix snorted. “Can't argue with that. Even I didn't think it was like a real horse pony. I'm usually the one who cares the least about these things. But I couldn't help but think twice about it. I mean really, do you think something like that could exist in real life?”

“I don't think this is real life.”

It was when Max's voice echoed inside the car that caught everyone's attention. The slow crawl of the station wagon only added to their perplexity. Candy was sure to jump on the opportunity to take a revenge wise crack at the driver, but it took her no more than a second to realize what he was really talking about.

Walking towards them on the left side of the road were two figures approaching. Not just any figures, but similar ponies to the one they had seen before. Same built, same height, same species. But that was not the oddity here. One of the small horses was light yellow, and another was... flying?

Both parties watched each other as they quickly passed on by. The full attention of the humans were glued to the creatures walking by. The 'ponies' watched carefully, but immediately shuffled away as if they were frightened. Something must have spooked them.

Max put his unblinking eyes back on the road, but suddenly slammed on the brakes. Another small horse was standing in their way, just feet from the bumper. He could have run over the poor thing! He hadn't even noticed it was there, too distracted by first two ponies. His friends leaned in to get a better look. Pink and purple hair, marble white fur, olive green eyes. The creature was shaking tremendously as it stared in horror at the car in front of it. The headlights blinded it's view of the giant metal beast. It waited no more than a few second before running away screaming, vanishing behind a building at the edge of the town.

“Was that a-”

“Horn on it's head?” Candy noted, finishing the sentence they were all thinking.

It was at this moment that all four of them sat in silence, looking at each other like they had each gone crazy or on drugs. Or both, that's possible right?

“Oookay, what the fuck is going on here?” said Felix, hovering his hands inches from his face and trying to shake his head free of delusion. Whatever the case, someone needs to explain. “Max?”

“Me? How the hell would I know?”

“Well you're the one driving us around. Did you take a wrong turn on stupid road to bring us to crazyville.”

“Are you serious, mate. I'm just as confused as you are.”

“Did you you give us drugs or some shit?”

“Shut up you idiots,” Candy growled, abruptly ending their brief feud. Unlike the two, she was unusually composed, optimistic even. As for Ben, he remained self subdued in his seat and quiet.

“There's only one way we'll find out where we are,” she continued, opening the door, startling all inside. “Come on, let's go check it out.”

“No no Candy, ughh,” Max grunted, hoping to pull her back to her seat. He went out after her, followed by Felix, leaving Ben to decide whether or not to participate. They caught up to her before she reached the first house on the right. “What do you think you're doing?”

Candy shoved the driver's hand off her shoulder. “Face it, Max. We're lost. Only way to know where we are to to go into town and talk to people.”

“What people?” said Felix. He shrugged. “Did you not see the freaky horses flying away?”

The three of them came up the first house which obstructed most of the street. Candy tip-toed up to the corner of the shack, Max and Felix right behind. After what they had seen, she took every precaution.

What the humans found, was not what they were expecting in the slightest. There were not people, but horses. Walking around like it was a thriving town. Voices could be heard, but they weren't entirely sure they were coming from the horses themselves. Animals can't talk.

There area beyond their hiding spot was what appeared to be a courtyard, paved with a cobblestone road while a stone fountain and statue stood in the middle. Oddly enough, the statue was no person, but another horse like them. It's like they worshiped equine animals or something. Or some kind of renaissance fair?

“What the hell is this place?” said Max quizzically.

“Fuck this place,” said Felix, groaning as he turned right around and walked away. His voice trailed off. “Nice going getting us lost in crazy horse country, Felix.”

Max and Candy looked at each other. They were careful with not attracting attention to themselves. Unfortunately, they were not careful enough. They noticed that some of the small equine residents were starting at them. One in particular was even advancing on their position, a bright pink thing heading their way. But it wasn't walking like any normal horse. It was bouncing.

“Shit.”

Both of them scurried away and ran to catch up with Felix. Eventually they met up with the man, but surpassed him, running a little faster. He eventually turned around to see what they were running from.

“Shit.”

He ran to. As soon as each of them made it to the car in a hurry, they were nervous of being caught trespassing.

Ben stuck his head out the window. “What's going on guys?”

“Can't talk now bub, we're leaving this joint,” Felix quickly stated.

Soon they were all in agreement when everyone was back in the station wagon and Max stepped on the gas, speeding in reverse. Beyond the dust plume, they could still see that weird bouncing pony coming their way, at which point Ben figured it was time to hold tight.

Max was never a good backwards driver and he could keep driving in reverse forever. As soon as humanly possible, he did a full one-eighty turn, enough to force the occupants to the left. Rapidly shifting the gear into drive, Max stepped on the gas.

There was a collective sigh as the whine on the engine reduced to a purr while they drove back the way the came. They all were thinking the same thing. There's no way any of this is happening.

Candy recollected herself and her thoughts, feeling the beat of her heart pound at her chest. She turned around to look at her cousin and Ben.

“You guys okay?” she asked, coughing a few times.

They nodded with a roll in their eyes. She could tell they weren't faring any better than she was.

A great long sigh of sweet relief overcame her as she briefly squeezed her eyes shut. Upon opening them again, the worst was staring back at her with enormous blue eyes, peeking out from beneath the luggage in the back of the car. She jumped back and screamed.

“AAH!”

Her friends heard he cry all too well. “What! What is it?” Ben said.

Candy could not move, but she didn't have to point behind them for them to know what was going on. Her eyes did not lie.

Felix and Ben whirled around and Max looked through the overhead mirror. As soon as they made eye contact, the pink horse with a curly hair style and an unusually large grin on its face did something that blew their minds.

It spoke.

“Hi!”

For the third time today, Max slammed on the brakes, but unlike the first two instances, it was a dead stop from forty to zero in less than a second. But not before the car crashed into a pothole the size of a tree stump on the side of the road as Max swerved left and right.

“HOLY SHIT!” They all shrieked loudly before shuffling to get out of the car at the same time.

Felix, nearly broke the door handle on his way out, grabbing his briefcase in the process. Max ran as far from the car as he could while Candy joined chase until they were clear. Ben didn't even open his door, but instead crawled out of the open window with incredible speed and dove into the grass several feet away.

Felix back up to where Max and Candy were, still stepping away from the car.

“Where did that thing come from?” he said, his hand violently shaking the briefcase in his hand.

Max hesitated, then gulped silently. “I- I don't know. Candy?”

“It- It just appeared in the back, out of nowhere!” she said, holding her hands tightly against her chest. She looked around the area they were standing in. “Where's Ben?”

“Hang on, I'm gonna shoot it.”

“WHAT!?” Max and Candy shouted together, giving the man the nastiest look. Felix was now holding a gun in his hand. A Beretta M9.

“Where the fuck did you get that thing!?” Max yelled, taking a couple step back.

The question was answered when Felix tapped on the briefcase he was holding in his left hand. “Never leave home without it.”

“The gun?” Candy with with anger.

“No, my science kit.” Felix tapped on the silver case again. “It's also a good place to store my piece here.”

Before any more rebuttal from the flabbergasted humans, he slowly made his way back to the car, only for Max to shove him back.

“You're not going to shoot my whatever that horse is, and you're definitely not shooting my car.”

The armed human resisted. “Get off me, man, I'm not going to shoot anyone. I'm just going to scare the shit out of it.”

Max and Candy followed close behind Felix as they made it back to the car, only to find the back empty. That did not mean, however, that the horse had run off for good. Once they walked around to the other side of the car, they found Ben on the ground.

He was not alone.

Ben was anxiously trying to crawl away from the pink horse as it followed him in circles. Why couldn't he just get up and run? The humans could make out a high pitched voice as the equine squeaked word after word in oddly excited fashion.

Felix was done watching it annoy Ben and decided to act. He stepped off the road and onto the grass, gesturing the other two to stay back.

“Enough!” he shouted, holding the gun steady with two hands, still aiming at the ground.

The pink nuisance bounced and quickly turned around to look at the tall man. He seemed scary enough with the black hoddie and navy blue jeans ripped at the ankles. It didn't help that the horse thing was actually smiling at him, instead of the expected expression of dread.

“Get away from him!” He raised his sidearm a bit more. “And get out of here. Now!”

The equine's expression changed into deep confusion. It opened its mouth to speak.

“But you're new in town!” it—no—she said, with what sounded like profound glee. No one should be happy when there's a gun around, mused Felix. He didn't care if it could talk, he wanted to leave as soon as possible. “I want to welcome you to—“

“Shut up!” Felix fully raised his gun and pointed it at her. He then pointed a finger at his friend on the ground. “Let's go Ben. We're leaving.” He looked back at the horse. “Move away from him.” When she didn't immediately comply, instead opting to shrink into a sad position by lowering her head and dropping her ears.

He snapped forward and fired a warning shot into the air.

BANG

“MOVE!”

The horse did as instructed and stepped away. Now she appeared extremely frightened following the piercing crack of the pistol. Ben cringed at both the pain in his left leg and the overwhelming attitude that he had never seen Felix preform before. That man must be really angry, or just pretending to be. Can't blame him though, the crazy pink thing gave him enough reason.

Ben slowly crawled his way to his friend. Felix grew impatient and made the mistake of breaking eye contact with the horse.

“Come on Ben, get up already you pussy. Let's go.”

Felix gestured with a hand, hoping to break Ben from his weak delusion of being injured. Unless he really was. This was between him and—

“What the?” Felix croaked. The pink horse just vanished. No where in sight. He turned and looked at Candy and Max. He shrugged at them. They shrugged back.

Felix took a deep breath, the anxiety overpowering his thoughts. He shook his head free of any hallucinations. Was the pony even real the entire time?

The man lowered the gun and walked up to Ben, lending a hand for assistance. “Okay bro, get your ass up and lets go now.”

Ben accepted the lift, but as soon as he stood, he fell back down. But not before Felix swooped in to grab his friend's arms. He helped him up to his feet and let Ben rest an arm around his neck. Felix dusted off Ben's helmet as they limped back to the car, gun still in hand.

“Jesus christ, Felix, what the fuck was that all about?” Max said, revealing a weary complexion to match his ever growing alarm for their safety.

Candy seconded the notion, crossing her arms in solid agreement while locking in a second glance with extra scrutiny. This proved too hard to maintain without resorting to her previous state of understanding. She knew all too well what he was going through.

“I'm not in the mood, Max. I fuckin' hate this place already.”

Felix opened the car door for Ben and helped him in carefully. It still hurt for Ben as he let loose a few cries. “Ow. Ow. OW! Watch it!”

“Sorry.” Felix looked at the red stain seeping through Ben's pants. “Doesn't look too bad,” he lied. Could be a broken leg, or just a scratch. Whatever the case, they could always go to a hospital on their way out.

Once safely secured, Felix quickly joined the rest of the group inside. Max hadn't even turned off the car after that little scare, but he noticed that not only were they not going anywhere yet, the two front seat riders were sitting quietly to themselves. They'd occasionally steal a glance at him with enough time for him discern a concern.

They were afraid of him now. After how he acted, they had every reason to be. But he was only protecting them, no matter what. They more than just friends to him. He didn't have much of a family to begin with. No, he did have a family. An abusive, cruel family. He hated them, with every fiber of his being.

But, that was no excuse to explode right in front of his friends. He felt in control, but ultimately he was not. With a silent sigh, Felix leaned on the door and maintained a regretful frown that spelled shame.

Candy noticed the her cousin's retreat into his own thoughts and motioned for Max to get a move on. The driver did just that, slowly setting the car in motion.

This day was not going so well for any of them. Their bond as friends was falling apart so quickly, there wasn't anything left worth saying that could possibly make any of them feel any better.

Max hoped never to see that side of Felix again. For a second there, he thought the man was going to snap and shoot the pony out of spite. There wasn't a thing he could do about it. Once the mistake is made, there's no going back.

For all of thirty seconds after getting a move on, someone had to say something. The stale air spared no expense in forcing the occupants to voice their disposition.

But they didn't.

Because they couldn't.

Then all of a sudden something hit the roof.

THUD

Apparently the car was going fast enough to rip something off that was attached to the roof, there wasn't anything on top of the car. It didn't surprise the group enough to warrant overreaction, but enough to catch their ears.

Thud Thud Thud Thud

More bangs followed suit. They sounded like footsteps, approaching the front of the car. They ceased for a brief second, then-

BANG

A flying horse landed violently on the hood of the vehicle, causing Max to swerve right and left. He was sick of slamming on the breaks, instead gunning it as fast as possible. The car nearly doubled in speed as the winged equine struggled to stay balanced on the hood.

Max couldn't see where he was going, having almost reached the apple orchard before the horse startled them. The things was able to stay standing as he tried to shake it off the car. The longer he turned the steering wheel back and forth, the angrier it's frown got. Its light blue body and rainbow hair only worsened his confusion and fear that its appearance was no friendly greeting. The horse stared at the man behind the wheel with as much hostility as a cop chasing down a criminal.

“ARGH, get off you little shit!” Max growled, continuing his evasive maneuver.

The pursuit didn't last long.

Somehow along the way, Max lost control to turn right.

POP

“WHoOaaOAaa!”

CRASH

Both airbag in the front deployed on impact and the car came to a dead stop, thrusting all four humans forward where they sat. Their seat belts shoved them back in their seats with a kick, forcing all the loose objects to make a mess of every inch inside.

“Ugh!” Candy groaned along side the rest of the passengers. She clenched her pounding chest and wiped her hair from her face while rubbing her forehead. She reclined in her chair, holding in the urge to puke.

She hoped her friends were doing alright.

4. Faint

Tap

…

Tap Tap

…ugh...

Tap Tap Tap

...ugh...stop it...

TAP

Max's eyes snapped open. Flailing his body upright as he threw his arms at the window to get the noise to stop. He hurried to find the door handle through his massive headache that rippled his skull.

Something was knocking on the door. Candy? Felix? How long was he out? From the looks of things, not long, half a minute maybe.

Max found the handle and opened his door, pushing it halfway. He tried to get out, but was still strapped to the seat. Unbuckling with difficulty, Max fell out of the car onto the dirt. His coughing was so bad, he could see blood dripping from his lips. Eye half closed and disoriented vision, standing up was impossible.

Suddenly, a pair of arms pulled from under his shoulders and carried him from the wreckage. The unexpected touch and grab forced instinct into overdrive, fearing the worst of being captured. But his captor's voice reassured his fears.

“It's alright Max, I gotcha!”

He's never been happier to hear Felix echo those comforting words at his aid, considering his current condition.

“Come over here Ben! Help me out!”

Irregular footsteps ran up beside them. Max felt another pair of hands grab his own to push him upright while Felix braced him from behind with his arms.

Max managed to blink a few times to restore his vision. He found Ben holding up a dark red t-shirt. Even his friend appeared to be in pain, probably more so according to the seething wrinkled on his cheeks.

“Here, wipe yourself off.” Max accepted the cloth and patted down his knees. “No, your mouth.” Ben was pointing to his own lips to illustrate.

Max was reminded of the blood. It didn't scare him. However, the state of the car several meters away did. He was a little banged up for sure, but he'll live. No sign of broken bones or internal bleeding.

The car, on the other hand, looked terrible. While not wrecked, it was largely crippled. The left front tire was shredded and the left corner of the bumper was slightly smashed in by the trunk of an apple tree. Poor baby.

Max finished wiping his face with the shirt and shook his head free his dizzy state. His friends helped him to his feet, brushing off the dust and leaves stuck to his clothes.

“What happened?” he muttered.

“A shitshow, that's what happened.”

Ben punched Felix. “Get serious, man.”

“I am serious.” Felix responded with a return shove. “It doesn't matter what happened, we're fucking screwed!”

“It does matter.” Max retorted, resisting the need to shout. “What happened to the flying horse?”

Ben shrugged. “I don't know, it wasn't here after we crashed.”

Felix's face was red with fury. “Ugh, when I see that thing again, I'm gonna kill it!”

Enough was enough. Max gave him the worst scowl of his life and grabbed his angry friend from the collar of his hoodie. “NO! You're going to stop acting like an asshole and let this go. Think about this rationally and don't do anything stupid.”

Felix pushed Max off of him. “Let this go?!” he argued. “Are you serious right now? Do you realize how crazy you sound right now? That horse thing crashed the damn car, and now we are stuck here for god know how long, miles from the interstate and no way to call for help. Look who's the crazy one here, huh? Thanks for getting us lost in this god forsaken hell of a detour.”

All while the two of his friends berated each other for idiocy, incompetence, insolence, insensitivity, and other insults that begin the letter “i”, Ben retreated many steps back slowly to glance back at the car. He saw Candy inspecting the damage done to their ride.

As per usual, the two who used the front seats, Candy and Max, were the most injured, even if it was mild, but recovered rather quickly. He and Felix only suffered minor whiplash. They weren't even going that fast. Thankfully, his trustee helmet kept him safe. Best human invention since the wheel.

Still, all of them bore the pain of despondence. Some more than others. They no way they're leaving anytime soon.

Ben decided to ditch his friends to help Candy, leaving behind a tumultuous bickering session. He limped over to her. The pain spiking from his left knee was getting worse.

“Sooo, what's the verdict here?” he asked her as she inspected the luggage stored in the back of the car.

“Oh, uh,” she cleared her throat, “looks like everything is okay back here.” She reached up and closed the back door. “But it doesn't look like we'll be going anywhere with a flat tire. The thing can still run, but without a new tire, we're stuck.”

“Isn't there a spare under the seats?”

“I don't know, I'm waiting for Max to finished yelling at Felix so I could ask him.” She rested her hand on her hips. “It ain't my car.”

“Well...” Ben stared at the men flailing their arms around each other. “This could take a while.” He paused, looking at her, then away, then at her again, then at the sky. “So where's that thing that jumped on the hood? I mean, it nearly got us killed.”

“I believe it's called a pegasus.” Candy laughed. “Still funny how small its wings were. And that hair, hehe, must be some hipster trend or something. All the colors? I mean give me a break. Talk about rainbow overload.”

Ben looked at her funny. “Uh, you seem to be pretty sure about the animal itself, forgetting the fact pegasuses don't exist.”

“Pegasi.”

“See! That what I'm talking about. You act like this shit happened like it's no big deal. Can't you see we're fucked?” Ben didn't mean to raise his voice, the frustration of it all sinking in was beginning to bleed through. He didn't swear often. That attitude was now starting to rub off on him, stooping as low as the arguing pair several meters away. Or maybe it was the blood rushing to his head.

Candy grazed her chin with one hand and placed the other in her pocket, thoughtfully. She wasn't given enough time to sound off when they heard several thumping sounds approach with great speed, only to slow down and stop some distance away.

All was quiet now.

Candy and Ben noticed that Max and Felix were no longer barking at each other. They were all staring at the same thing.

The horses were back. And they brought company.

Three of them. Most prominent of them was the blue one that caused this whole mess. No surprise there. The next was the first horse they saw before back in the orchard less than twenty minutes ago, an orange equine with a loose brown hat and dirty look on its face. The last one was new, a red beast of a horse. Obviously of large size and heavier proportions.

The rainbow one took it upon herself to approach first. Each of the humans had already grouped together at this point, backs to the car.

“What do you monsters have to say for yourselves!?” she snarled in her oddly raspy voice. Apparently the other horses shared her sentiment, looking ready to defend themselves at any time.

The men stepped back, while Candy took a step forward. She held her arms up passively, a definite move of non hostility.

“W-wait wait wait, hear us out,” she said, a crack in her voice. She shrugged. “We were just trying to pass by. What did we do wrong?”

“You hurt our friend Pinkie Pie!” shouted the rainbow one again, on the verge to attacking.

“No no no, we didn't hurt any-”

“Don't lie to us,” the orange horse pitched in, siding with the pegasus. “Ya'll hurt her feelings, an ya'll don't apologize, yu gunna regret it.”

Ben forced the courage to waddle to Candy's side, but not to her aid, but to voice major concern. He pulled on her shoulder.

“Why are you talking to these horses?” he whispered, biting on his own teeth. “I mean for all we know we're just trippin' on acid or something and none of this is really happening.” That clearly didn't feel true at all as his knee alternated with waves of pain. This echoed the panic shared by the two men behind him who were clearly lost in light of the encounter.

Candy pushed back. “Shut up, Ben, I'm trying to get us out of this mess. It's all just a huge misunderstanding.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Misundersta-”

“HEY!” the pegasus interrupted, “Stop ignoring me!”

Candy sighed to hide her anxiety. She spoke calmly and kept her cool. “Well, what is it you want us to do?”

“Ah said apologize!” said the orange equine.

Candy came up with a puzzle expression. “To who?”

“Pinkie Pie.”

“Was she pink with curly red hair, about your size?” Like, no shit. Just play dumb, Candy, play dumb.

“Yes, and you made her cry. She came running into town with a tears in her eyes. She told us everything. And you monsters are responsible.”

Candy and Ben made the mistake of looking over their shoulders at Felix, eyes filled with contempt and disappointment. The horses took notice of the implied confession on the part of the sole instigator of Pinkie's pain. The humans were not expecting what happened next, which defied physics as they knew it.

WHOOSH

The pegasus instantly sprinted past the first two humans and stopped inches from the face of the guilty human in question. This provoked rapid retreat from Felix as he tried to scuffle away.

“AGRH, get away!” the man yelled, stumbling back away from the hovering pony. He swung a fist at her, but she effortlessly dodged it. She retaliated he with her own punch, also dodged by the human. Felix wished he had his pistol in hand, but it didn't matter. He was outmatched.

A scuffle ensued, only to be interrupted soon after.

“THAT'S ENOUGH, RAINBOW DASH!” roared a deep voice, almost as loud as the crack of a gunshot itself.

The flying horse stopped, opening the opportunity for Felix to land a hit on her muzzle. Fortunately, Max intervened by nearly tackling him and shoving him back, giving the pegasus time to reorient herself and retreat at the sound of the loud call from the large red horse.

“Stop it, you idiot!” Max hissed, pressing an arm to the man's chest, forcing him back. “Or so help me, I'll beat the shit out of you myself.”

“You just gonna let that... horse... thing... get away with attacking me?” That reason apparently didn't suffice. He'd have to come up with a better excuse.

Acting as the human barrier between Felix and his new enemy, Max did everything to calm him down. “No. But you need to get a hold of yourself for fuck's sake. You're the only one of us who is pissed, and I don't want you to make it any worse.”

Though this didn't sit well Felix, it did help to diffuse a potential storm. Right now he felt betrayed by his own friends. Why would they defend these ponies? None of this is supposed to be happening. One minute they're on a road trip, and the next they're being harassed by stupid talking... ugh! Even thinking of what they are makes him uneasy.

“Ah am sorry for mah friend's behavior,” said the orange horse stepping forward to pull the pegasus back. “She just gets a little cocky sometimes. But what ya'll said to Pinkie ain't nice. Don't think we won't use force to protect our friends.”

Candy took a couple steps back. The pegasus clearly had some issues, and apparently her orange companion was well aware of that. At least, that was the assumption. She didn't disregard the attack, only to explain that they wouldn't hesitate to use violence.

Fortunately, the orange pony's logic was a two way street.

“Well that's what we were trying to do, too,” said Candy, making a small gesture behind her to Ben. “Protecting our own friend.”

“Why should we trust what ya'll are saying is the truth?” orange pony asked with a frown. Not once did she drop her guard.

Candy didn't know what to say other than give an informative excuse. “Because even we aren't happy with how things went. None of us were expecting... uh... you guys.” Ben carefully approached, trying to pull Candy away from digging her own grave, but she resisted. “My point is, we're lost, and we're not entirely sure where we are. Plus, talking horses don't exist.”

Each of the equines glanced at each other. As confusion began to brew, the hostile first impressions faded to reveal some hint of sympathy. That is, until they thought about that last part. The one with the hat relaxed a bit, and the big red one was as stoic as can be. The spectrum pegasus, however, wasn't convinced.

“Don't play dumb with us,” she contended. “You monsters are always out to get us. Go back to the Everfree Forest where you belong!”

Her orange friend stepped in to contest that absurdity. “Now hold on there Rainbow Dash. It ain't nice to go insulting anypony before they can explain themselves.” She further expressed worry with a stink eye. “Ah don't want nopony to getting' hurt, these here... uh... tall... creatures don't look like they ain't from the Everfree Forest.”

“Everfree Forest?” Candy whispered. “Tall creature?”

“Ah think we should get Twilight to help, she'll know what to do.”

“ARH!” yelped Ben, falling to the ground in agony. The horses flinched and Candy immediately leaped into action. She was too late to catch him, but offered to see what was wrong.

“What happened!?" she asked him. Ben couldn't speak clearly, too immobile as he painfully gritted his teeth together with his eye shut tight, forcefully gripping his leg. Even Max and Felix walked over to help out.

"I think he broke his leg,” said Max. Each human could recall the moment Ben had trouble getting up after the whole Felix gun fiasco. It was probably more serious than they thought.

All Ben could do was grunt. In fact, he passed right then.

Candy's started to panic, fearing Ben might have gone into shock. Or worse. “Ben?” She tried to shake the boy awake, but to no avail. She removed his helmet, letting it fall to the ground. “Ben!?” She looked over his body. “No no no no.”

“Candy! Calm down,” Max said. He pointed to Ben's leg, which had turned a dark blue color. “We need to stop the bleeding.”

“But how?” she croaked. “I- I- I don't know what to do.”

“We do.”

The humans looked up at the voice of the orange horse.

“What?”

“Ah see yer friend is hurt bad.” The expression the equine was strangely human with resemblance to the emotion of dread. No more resentment, replaced by mercy. “We have a hospital not far from here. We can take him there.”

Candy didn't know whether to trust what she was saying, or give them the benefit of the doubt. It sure did appear like she truly meant her words. Beside, she was desperate.

“U-um, o-okay...” Candy picked up Ben from the neck and knees.

“Are you really going to trust them?” Felix objected, clearly weary about the idea. “Seriously, these things attacked us.”

“I'm not going to argue with you,” Candy retorted. She pointed at Max. “Stay here with Felix and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.” Felix raised a finger, but she cut him off. “Don't to anything stupid.” She then looked back at the ponies. “Show me the way.”

The orange pony nodded with a smile. “Big Mac, stay here, we'll be back. Rainbow, come with me, ya'll done enough damage already.”

“Aw what!? But what how come-”

“Ah don't to hear it,” she hissed. “Ya gone too far.” With that, they trotted away, Candy following close behind holding Ben.

Max watched as they were led into town and then disappeared behind a house. The air was still again, with the infrequent bird chips. What kept him on edge was the red horse standing there staring at Felix with his cold eyes. Felix didn't like that.

“What do you want?” he said, asserting control with his stern voice. The horse didn't respond.

Max walked over to join him. “Just shut up and stop talking, man. It's bad enough with you around now. I don't even know why Candy asked you to come with us to California.” He put himself in between Felix and the horse. “Even I didn't think it was a good idea. And I was right.”

Felix spit on the grass. “I'm sorry, okay? Jeez, I was just saving Ben from that annoying horse. You would have done the same thing.”

“No. No I wouldn't. You went too far pulling out a gun like that.” Max threw his arms in the air. “I mean for fuck's sake, you should have told me you had a gun with you.”

Felix shrugged. “What? I didn't think it was a big deal.”

“Well, it is now.”

“Big Mac!?” squeaked a young voice. The men looked around, only to find a tiny horse run up to the large horse three times its size. The yellow creature wore an oversized pink bow, reason to believe was the little girl equivalent of pony. “What's all the ruckus? Ah heard a big metal carriage crash on the farm.”

“Applebloom.” said the horse, with that deep voice, enough to intimidate the humans with just its pitch. “What are ya'll doing out of school?”

The little filly saw the two humans watching her from a distance, in awe. “Who are they, Big Mac? Were they riding in that there carriage?”

“Eeyup.”

“They look funny.” She took notice of the wrinkled clothes they had on and how tall they stood on their hind legs. “What are they big brother?”

“I don't know,” he said, glancing back at the men.

“You know we can hear you, right?” uttered Felix, crossing his arms.

Max gave him a little shove. “Don't be rude, man. She's just a kid.”

It was interesting how unafraid the little pony appeared to be. She showed them a playful grin like any kid would do when made aware of their youth. “Well, what are ya?”

“Applebloom, please,” her brother said.

“No, it's fine, I'm Max, and this is Felix.”

Felix shoved back. “Don't tell them our names.”

“Will you chill out already and grow up. You shouldn't be surprised by now. Yes, I know we found a town with horses that fly and talk. If you're not okay with that, then deal with it. I still think it's impossible, but it's also cool.”

“Cool? You've lost your mind?”

“Says the guy who pulled a gun on someone.”

“Shut up.” Felix huffed, knowing he would never live it down.

“Admit it, you fucked up,” Max stated. “Just don't do it again. I can make sure of it.”

“What are you talking about,” said Applebloom. She was eager for answers.

“Quiet, Applebloom,” Big Mac said. “They're dangerous.”

“Wait how would you know that?” Max objected. “You don't even know us. It was all just a mistake on the part of my friend here. But also blame your other friend, that pink pony that scared the shit of us and wouldn't leave us alone.”

“Pinkie Pie?” Applebloom chirped.

“Is that her name?” Felix rubbed chin and cleared his throat. Given the strong disapproval from all her friends and the second thought of wrongdoing, he finally forced out his insincere conviction. “Tell her I'm sorry, kay?”

“Apology accepted!”

The humans jumped. Both shouted “Fuck!” before sidestepping away from the car. They found the bright pink pony standing on top of the car as if she'd been there the whole time. She then jumped down and joined the other horses.

“God damn it you-” Felix was pushed back by Max, having already recovered by the quick shock.

“Dude chill, she's harmless.”

“Yes indeedy, I would never hurt anypony, or any filly, or any gryphon, or any itsy bitsy spider.” Pinkie Pie smiled wide. The hyperactive speed talking of that high pitched voice annoyed Felix to no end.

“Thanks for that,” Max said sarcastically.

“You're welcome friend! Welcome to Ponyville.”

“Seriously?”

5. Lucid

The escort around the perimeter of town was short and strangely quiet. The ponies made no attempts at small talk, but the pegasus kept circling the pair of humans on guard ready for anything. Candy used all her strength to hold Ben tightly, careful not to trip and make things worse for him. His leg was entirely swollen now, a deep blue tinge that appeared extremely painful. Maybe that's why Ben remained limp and unresponsive, the pain so bad his brain shut down. Ben never told her he was so fragile, she thought the helmet was just for show of fashion or residual childhood thing he hadn't outgrown yet.

She'll find out soon enough, for now she had to get him a doctor.

Candy followed the small ponies to a large building, which honestly looked like a sizable mansion or insane asylum from the outside, but the red cross symbol on the sign out front made it clear it was a hospital. Her arms hurt and Ben was starting to get heavy. She entered the front doors after the ponies.

“Hm.” The woman mused as it looked like any modern infirmary with minor modifications. The biggest surprised was how small everything appeared, made for something much shorter then an average person.

She found the orange blonde horse waving her over as a white pony came running down the hall.

“Oh my!” she said. “What's wrong with him?”

Candy shook off the brief interest of the interior design and coughed her throat clear. “He is bleeding internally. I- I think his leg is broken.”

She showed the white pony Ben's legs draped over her arms, most likely a nurse from the bun atop her head and markings on her fur. Come to think of it, the other ponies had markings as well.

“Come quick.” The white nurse turned tail and trotted into an emergency room. “In here.” She rolled out the bed and pointed at the pillow. “Set him down carefully. The rest of you stand clear, the doctor is on his way.”

Candy did as she was told, but there was only one problem. The bed was too short. Ben's shoes hovered over the edge of the bed. She did her best to keep them elevated.

“Um, excuse me nurse?” Candy spoke up. “Do you have a longer bed?”

“Oh!” Nurse realized the mistake and turned to one of the ponies. “Applejack dear, can you fetch the bed in the next room over? The one with the blue sheets.”

“Right away Nurse Redheart.” She was gone a second later. The nurse began hooking up the machines with tubes and wires next to the bed.

“And Miss Rainbow Dash, could you assist with holding his legs up please?”

Rainbow hesitated. In fact she retaliated a step back, still filled with mild distrust. She didn't comply right away, but when the female human gave her a look and the nurse repeated, she reluctantly offered her body as a temporary foot rest.

The nurse fed some of the tubes through Ben's arms, drawing blood and checking pressure. She also placed an irregular breathing apparatus shaped like a muzzle over his nose, barely holding itself in place.

Candy was torn between helping out or letting the nurse do her work. She didn't know what to do, give him CPR? Hold his hand? No, too awkward. But given the circumstances, it just might make her feel better. Better keep to hope than to not.

Another larger horse wearing a white labcoat and glasses walked in. The most surprising feature was the spike jutting from the forehead. It was the same kind of horn she discovered on the poor pony she saw earlier. Unicorn was the only work that seemed most appropriate to call it.

He walked up to the nurse, took one look at Candy and the unconscious man on the small bed, and started talking with the nurse. After their brief conversation, a stethoscope floated in mid air up to Ben's chest to listen for a pulse.

Candy took one big step back and watched with the most confused expression she's made all day as a faint glow radiated from both the doctor's horn and the object in levitation. It didn't surprised her too much, but still an unbelievable affair. The doctor seemed a little nervous by her response.

Did she and her friends actually drive into some weird fantasy town of sunshine and rainbows? That would explain the pegasus and her orange friend, and the unicorn doctor.

Speaking of, the blue pegasus was not glad to hold Ben's feet until the new bed arrived, but not two seconds later, the orange pony entered the room, pushing a larger hospital bed through the small doors with precision.

The doctor stepped away to make room for the bed as it rolled to a stop directly beside the short bed. Candy didn't need to be told what to do next as she lifted Ben off the old bed and onto the new. A perfect fit.

“Can you step away please,” the doctor echoed with a distinct deep voice. Candy had no choice but to do as commanded, but she would never leave the room. “Thank you. Nurse, please escort the ponies to the waiting room, the creature must rest and be given space as we work to stabilize his condition.”

The white pony nodded and escorted them out of the room, closing the door on the way out. The doctor noticed the other female creature still standing a few feet away.

“Wouldn't you like to wait outside until-”

“No.”

“But this will-”

“I don't care,” she cut him off. “I'm not leaving him here alone with you. Just fix him already.”

The nurse reentered the room and trotted over to the opposite side of the bed. The doctor was unhappy with the terms and attitude, but broke eye contact from the woman to do his job. Candy fixed her attention on the two medical horses while they worked to help Ben recover. The procedure went no different than what humans would do, but with the advantage of supernatural powers to make up for the lack of thumbs, or even hands.

The sight was both astonishing and risky. Candy found a chair by the door to relieve her aching feet. She could not figure out what she was supposed to feel about all this. Her hand met her face in what could only be described as an intense conflict of thoughts that gravely gave her one of many frigid headaches. Telekinetic talking horses and flying rainbow ponies.

Please let this be some sick joke, or a sick dream.

Please.

“Give it another go!”

“I told you, it's not working.”

“Keep trying!”

VRVRHRVRHVRVHVR

“Ugh! I told you, the ignition is broken.” Max took the key out of the slot and got out of the car. “Must have blew a fuse or something.”

Felix slammed on the hood in frustration. “Dammit.”

“Can we help?” squeaked Pinkie.

“No!” Felix retorted. “Now hang on, I'm going to try and see what's wrong.” He opened up the hood and leaned over the engine. Nothing seemed too out of place besides the shattered headlight and some fresh dents.

As the man began his rudimentary examination, Max paced back and forth thoughtfully. It was bad enough that something was wrong with the car, but the pink ball of overwhelming joy didn't help one bit. He stopped walking, noticing Pinkie pacing with him while mimicking his expression.

“Are you trying to insult me?” he said.

“No silly willy, I'm trying to be you.”

Max sighed. “I can see that,” he grumbled. PING. He focused his gaze at his partner. “Uugh, what did you do now?”

“Dropped my screwdriver,” Felix answered.

Max stepped opposite of his friend and leaned on the fender. “Do you even know what you're doing?”

Felix returned from the back seat with a flash light in hand. “No. But we have no choice, we have to do this ourselves.” He reached in to find the tool he dropped under the engine.

Max leaned in and lowered his voice. “I mean, the talking horse does want to help.”

“Hell no. We shouldn't trust them with anything. I'm only worried about getting out of here.”

“What about Ben?”

“Yes, Ben too.”

Max sighed. The way things were, Felix was beginning to give in to paranoia and hatred of where they are. That much was clear. But should he blame him? The extraordinary reality of miniature horse like animals that speak English living in some backwards parody of a real life medieval village except with more bright colors and happiness, it's no mystery why he's be upset. Max also wonder why he hadn't lost his mind yet. He took it rather well.

Well if Felix wants it that way, the least he could do is give him something to work with. He was no mechanic, nor an engineer. Might as well learn it from scratch. Only one way to do that. Max dug under the driver's seat where the owners manual was kept. Once he found it, he threw it over to Felix.

“Here, that should help. Start reading.”

The only response he receive was a huff followed by silence. Hopefully that will shut him up and keep him busy. Felix was smarter and did in fact take some tech classes in community college before dropping out and moving to Portland. At least he wasn't completely useless.

Max was left to his own devices, and speaking of, every attempt to use his phone to connect to the GPS or even the internet had failed. It was running low on power anyways, so he left it connected to the car charger with the key turned halfway to drain it from the car battery. That may not sound like a good idea, but car batteries were incredibly robust and everlasting. The radio didn't work either, as expected. It was the first anomaly before finding this strange town with strange pony people.

Even if Felix managed to get the ignition working again, they still had a flat tire. Fortunately there was a spare in the back under the floor beneath all their boxes and luggage. Max groaned. It would take forever to take all the stuff out, take the tire out of the compartment, unhinge to old tire, put the new one one, trash the old one in the back again, and then put all stuff back in.

There's no way he would do that himself. He'd wait for Candy to get back. Hopefully Ben is doing alright.

It was a quiet few moments. Max was aware of the ponies still watching over them a short distance away, their voices barely audible. He wanted to ignore them as long as possible.

That proved to be difficult when the flapping of wings sounded off. Max propped himself up from his short rest in the driver's seat and stared through the rear view mirror. Another one of those horses landed next to the others, talking with the pink one with a concrete tone and a cautious stance. Its violet fur coat and straight dark hair was not was interested him the most, but that it had a spiral horn on its forehead. No doubt a unicorn, but a flying unicorn?

How creative.

Their words ceased, bringing focus on the new arrival as Max hoped it would leave. It did the opposite.
The purple unicorn began slowly walk towards the car. Max silently complained to himself. Please no more fantasy horses. Enough bullshit for one day, and it's not even lunch yet.

With a final sigh, Max opened the door and got out of the car, adjusting his shirt and jeans. She froze briefly when she saw him, but continued forward with due confidence.

“Hello,” she said. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.” A pause. The man rolled his eyes. “It has come to my attention that unknown visitors have come to Ponyville terrorizing citizens and my dear friend Pinkie Pie.” Max did not like where this was going. “However from what she has told me, it was all a mistake. You did not mean to hurt her and in return one of our friends was not so kind to you. This is unacceptable. I will have a word with her later.”

“Uhh... okay?” Max managed to croak while he let his tensions fade. He wasn't quite expecting a quick understanding already. “What do you want?”

She looked at the car and back at the man. “Your large metal carriage appears to be crippled, and while you are trespassing on private property, you are not at fault. Again, I will have a word with Rainbow Dash soon. On behalf of my friends, we would like to offer our help with repairing your vehicle as a show of goodwill and friendship.”

“The answer is no!” yelled Felix from afar, still tending to the engine under the hood.

“Ignore him.” Max grinned anxiously. “He's just afraid of you guys and wants to do everything himself. I'll admit, I am too, but I'm learning to get over it.”

Twilight smiled. “I have a friend who used to share similar stubborn traits which led to-”

“Stubborn!?” Felix retorted, having overhead the entire exchange. The irked human strolled around the car and made it known that we wasn't happy. “Who are you to-”

“Hey!” Max shouted, keeping the rage at bay. “Will you knock it off! Just shut the fuck up and work. I'll handle this.” He shot the man a menacing glare. It worked to scare him into retreat, but not until Felix expressed his disapproval through a deep frown and an eye twitch.

“Sorry, he's still angry.” Max coughed. “Just don't piss him off any further or he might start throwing things at you.”

Right then, Max was hit with something in the back of the head. “OW!” An apple bounced on the ground and landed in Ben's helmet. He took the blame for suggesting it and rubbed his neck, smiling nervously.

Twilight gulped and said in the most diplomatic way possible. “I understand.”

“I'm waiting for my friends to get back before I consider trusting you to help us.”

“Friends? There's more of you?”

“Yeah Twilight!” chimed the pink pony known as Pinkie Pie. “Applejack and Rainbow Dash brought them to the hospital because one of them was hurt bad and one of them was crying and they really needed help. So sad.” She stopped bouncing beside Twilight and smiled wide.

Max thought it was funny for her to say Candy was actually crying, as if Candy ever cried. It was more of an immediate reaction of deep concern rather than the actual emotion of sadness dripping through. Certainly not crying.

“The hospital you say? How badly was your friend injured?”

Max shrugged. “I have no idea. I think he broke his leg or disjointed a knee or something. He's a very fragile guy.” He walked over to the blue helmet resting on the grass and picked it up, dumping out the apple. “No sure how serious it is, but he was in a lot of pain.”

“Oh my.” Twilight said. “I'm so sorry.”

“If it's anyone's fault, it's that lion in the woods that almost killed him this morning.” Max loosely pointed at Pinkie. “It's probably a little bit your fault too for frightening him so much that he jumped out of the window. That was- uhh- kinda how he got hurt.”

Twilight glanced at Pinkie who returned a sheepish grin. The longer she looked at her friend, the lower her ears flopped in guilt.

“Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to pay a visit to the hospital and assure your friends are safe. I promise we have no intent to harm you or your friends. It is not like us ponies to solve problems with force, usually. I hope to resolve this issue while gaining your trust in the process. Pinkie, stay put with Big Mac and Applebloom. I'll be right back.”

Just like that, Twilight nodded and took off into the air and flew away, gliding over the town and out of sight.

“So can we help?”

“No.”

Twilight arrived at the hospital a few minutes later, landing neatly at the foot of the entrance. She pushed the doors open with her magic and brushed off excess dust harmful to sterile conditions inside. Beyond the doors, the two faces she wanted to see were sitting next to each other in the waiting room.

“Applejack. Rainbow Dash.” She called out to them.

The friendly rivals perked their ears when they heard Twilight's voice and trotted to meet the princess.

“What are ya doing here Twilight?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, how did you know we were here?” Rainbow Dash added, hovering a couple feet off the floor.

“I found out what happened in Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Did those monsters do anything bad while we were gone?” Dash said.

“Listen, Rainbow, I want to talk to you about that,” Twilight began. “I am disappointed with how you handled the situation to defend Pinkie Pie and you should take responsibility for mistreatment they accuse you of. Please do not let it happen again.”

The pegasus folded her wings midair and landed firmly on the tile floor at the weight of her voice. Very rarely did Twilight ever lecture anypony in such a tone. She knew Twilight would never stay mad at her forever, but her behavior was shameful. Rainbow was frightened of her purple friend for a brief moment, hoping never to hear the ultimate judgment again. When Twilight was angry, that's when she knew she screwed up.

“I'm sorry.”

Twilight nodded approvingly and looked at the earth pony standing next to her. “Applejack, I was told you led two more bipeds here to the hospital, correct?”

“Sure did, Twilight. Ah can show ya the room they're in.”

“Lead the way.”

Twilight trailed Applejack as the pair walked halfway down the hall to an emergency room.

“Now ah have ta warn ya 'bout these fellas, one of them is hurt and the other seems distraught.”

“Noted.”

Applejack pushed the unlocked door open for Twilight to sneak through. The alicorn made an effort to stay professional and princess-like for the sake of the new arrivals to Equestria. She'd have to remind herself to get to the bottom of how the “humans” ever managed to end up in her world. As far as she knew, they only existed beyond the mirror portal and had no concept of Equestria. There's no way they could have traversed the portal without her knowing, nor did they look anything like those she'd seen during her brief experiences in Canterlot High.

Twilight waited for the the door to close on it's own behind her. She examined the occupants of the room, finding exactly what had been described by her friends. A nurse and a doctor pony tended to a human laying on an extended stretcher and, finally, a woman sitting alone on a chair with her hands pressed against her temples. She was the only one who didn't seem to acknowledge Twilight.

“Princess?” said Nurse Redheart, moving to meet the alicorn. “I assume you're here for...”

“Yes,” Twilight confirmed with a smile. “Please, don't let me keep you from your work.” The nurse nodded and returned to help the doctor monitor the heart rate and blood pressure of the unconscious man.

Twilight looked over at the woman, noticing that she was only occasionally stealing glances at her, afraid to make direct eye contact. The purple pony offered a warm smile as she walked over to her.

“Hello.”

The woman licked her lower lip and sat up straight, lacking any positive expression. She was interested in Twilight now that she was made aware of her royal title.

“I'm Twilight Sparkle. Don't be alarmed, I am not here to take you away to be studied or experimented on.”

Candy scratched the back of her neck. “Why would you think that?”

“I learned the concept from human culture second-hoof, I don't want you to worry if we ponies are like that. Our principles are much different from that of your world.”

“Uh, okay?” Candy's confusion only thickened, letting an awkward chuckle escape her mouth. What a weird thing to say right off the bat. But her last few words interested her greatly. She sat up straight and rose a finger. “Wait, what do you mean 'our world?'”

“The mirror world. I'm puzzled to know how you slipped through the portal to Equestria with you and your friends. That's why I'm here.”

Candy huffed delicately. “Mirror world? Equestria? Portal? Slipped? What are you talking about? You're not making any sense.” Twilight intended to respond during the short pause, but the woman continued. “In fact, you don't make any sense.” She threw her hand up. “None of this makes any sense!”

Twilight was overwhelmed by the volume of her panicked voice and was suddenly filled with intense sympathy. She reminded her of herself, troubled and confused at desperate times. She'd take it upon herself to solve this problem.

“Why do I not make sense?” she began.

The woman tugged on her hair from the roots. A heavy sigh fell burst out of her lips. “You're not supposed to exist. Just ancient myth and fairytales fantasy. I mean seriously, there's so many colors around here that makes think I'm high on acid or something.”

Twilight was lost near the end there. Her manner of speak was not unlike her counterparts, but the way she presented her logic seemed to correspond with relentless skepticism. And maybe a little bit crazy, but she wasn't going to go around insulting them for questioning her reality.

Thinking for a moment, the alicorn stuck out a hoof and extended it out to the woman. The human looked up from her slouched position and leaned away from Twilight.

“Go on,” the princess said.

Candy hesitated as she watched the calm complexion of the pony revealed no ill intent. She raised an arm and reached out to touch her hoof.

“Tell me,” Twilight explained. “Am I not real?”

The woman cleared her throat. “No no I get it, you're definitely real. I guess I'm not losing my mind after all.” Candy stared down at the checkered floor. “So weird.”

“Excellent. Then you must know everything around you exists as well. The air you're breathing, the chair you're sitting on, and the ground you're looking at, all part of physical reality.” At least it was some progress, even if Twilight berated herself for choosing the most boring way to demonstrate it.

“I know. I'm just having a hard time understanding it. How could this happen to us?”

“Well, I would love to discuss your situation with you at a later time.” Twilight pointed at the hospital bed. “First we must make sure your friend fully recovers from his injuries, then I'll see what I can do to help you and your friends.” Twilight smiled at the woman. “What is your name?”

“Candy.”

Once again, the princess held out a forearm. The human reluctantly accepted the gesture and shook her hoof. A soft grin cut across Twilight's face as blush surfaced on her cheeks.

“Welcome to Ponyville.”

6. Trails

“Come on, don't tell me we need to take out ALL our stuff to get to the spare tire.”

“You keep complaining like that and I might just consider leaving you here when we're done.”

Felix groaned. “I just want to get out of here.”

Max sifted through the luggage in the back of the car. “Don't act like you are the only one. We all do.”

“Whatever, you know what I mean.”

The bickering sessions lasted periods of up to two minutes before falling silent again. Often the excited pink earth pony would try to get their attention or jump in on the conversation, but to no success.

Pinkie Pie tried every conventional way to get them to stop ignoring her. She refused to try the Pinkie way of surprising them with her presence, having worked horribly the first time. She didn't want a repeat of the scary situation. That small cannon the angry human had sure was loud.

She retreated back to talk to Big Mac.

Applebloom watched the men fiddle around with boxes and other strange items while having no choice but to overhear the least pleasant of conversations. Name calling and insults nonstop. She wouldn't ever talk to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo like, at least for that long. Why would they argue so much? Are they not friends?

She would get her answer eventually, but first she wanted to find her two friends. They were supposed to be playing ball that afternoon, but it seems like something more interesting came up. Creatures walking on two legs, fixing an enormous carriage made of metal and rubber wheels.

Applebloom managed to slip away from the group without Big Mac knowing. Pinkie knew right away, but kept quiet and winked at her with a smile.

The little earth filly made it back to town. Her first stop would be Rarity's boutique. On her way there, ponies around town were looking rather nervous and whispering rumors among themselves. She could barely make out what the buzz was about.

She would find out later, first she'd get her friends together and show them the bipeds. Applebloom made it to the shop and knocked on the door. A minute later, the door swung open to reveal a well groomed white unicorn. Rarity took one look at Applebloom and turned around to call out to her sister.

“Applebloom? Aren't you supposed to be in school?” the store owner said, tapping a hoof on her chin. Apparently the filly didn't catch the hint that this was the last place she'd be at this time of day.

“It Sweetie Belle here?” said the farm filly.

Rarity looked a little concerned. “No. She's at school. I'm am quite surprised to see you here, I thought you'd be with her in class.”

Applebloom looked like she had an epiphany. “Oh yeah! Thanks Rarity!” She gave no time for a response as her little legs carried her away.

“Huh?” Now Rarity was curious. It wasn't like Applejack's sister to skip school and visit her at her own residence while asking for Sweetie Belle. It piqued her interest. With such an uneventful day so far, Rarity decided to find out the oddity that just ran off. She closed the door behind her, locking it from the outside, and trotted after Applebloom. Maybe Applejack could explain why her sister was out of school.

During her trek through town, she noticed ponies murmuring rumors and silently gossiping to themselves. She knew it all too well that when word of something unusual come around town, the resident ponies would speculate what they heard from each other.

Something was up. And maybe Applebloom was tied to it somehow.

The white unicorn didn't know why she was even running. She knew where Applebloom was going and slowed down to catch her breath.

“Hi Rarity,” squeaked a voice beside her. The tired pony traced the source of the voice and found two ponies sitting at a table having a premature lunch together. “Fancy seeing you here. What are you running from?”

Rarity's panting subsided as it was embarrassing to show how out of shape she really was. “I- uh, I wasn't running from anypony.” She did recognize the pony, but her name slipped her mind. “I'm sorry darling, remind me of your name?”

“Lyra.” The mint-green mare smiled. “And of course this is Bonbon.” The earth pony to her right nodded as she took a bite from her hay fries, nearly stuffing her face. Rarity frowned in minor disgust.

“What's the rush?” Lyra began. “There isn't some horrible bug monster attacking the town again, is there?” Bonbon quickly shot her a scrutinizing glare, but her friend just shrugged.

“No no, nothing like that.” Rarity grinned nervously. “Anywho, I better get going.”

“Wait don't you—“ Lyra couldn't finish her sentence as the acclaimed unicorn ran off. “Hm.”

The two ponies stared at each other in silence. After a second or two, Bonbon took out a pair of sunglasses from behind her and put them on. Lyra was about to mouth a response, but the pony slipped away without a word. Lyra looked back at her food, not wanting it to go to waste. She'd finish the rest and then see if she could catch Bonbon in the midst of a secret mission or something.

Applebloom approached the schoolhouse not long after her visit to Rarity's. Fortunately for her, recess had just begun, giving her one less excuse to worry about for why she wasn't in class that morning. She entered the playground where the two faces she wanted to see were playing ball together.

“Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!” the filly called, galloping up to them.

“Applebloom?” Scootaloo squeaked. “Where were you? Ms. Cheerilee was worried when you didn't show up to class today.” The tiny pegasus grinned suggestively. “Did you fake your sickness and ditch? Why didn't you tell me? We could have done it together.”

“Hey, what about me?” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “I've never skipped school before. Sure could have been fun if you told us you weren't coming to school today.”

Applebloom looked at them with a blank face like she had done something wrong, but shook her head free of the daze, too focused on the excitement of why she was there. “No no girls, I wanted to show you something! Follow me!”

“But what about-” Scootaloo trailed off as Applebloom left as soon as she arrived, “-school?” The farm filly practically jumped with exhilaration and—with a skip in her step—galloped down the dirt road. The two fillies left behind could only glance at each other largely confused. They shrugged and reluctantly sped after the dust trail kicked up by their friend.

They nearly caught up to the yellow pony now. “Wait up, Applebloom!”

The ponies slowed to a trot as they reached the Apple Orchard several minutes later. Sweetie Belle spoke up first, now directly beside Applebloom. “So what did you want to show us?”

As the three rounded a line of trees, they got their answer. Some distance away was a large metal object on wheels stuck on the roots of an apple tree. Scootaloo was the first to spot two fully clothed creatures walking upright stacking what appeared to be boxes and various leather items.

The trio remained silent, but retained due vigilance and continued towards the strange creatures. Off to the side were Big Mac and an all too eager Pinkie Pie waving at them. The party mare was about to say something when she was cut short.

“Sweetie Belle! What is the meaning of this!? You should-” Rarity stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes met the unusual sight before her.

“Hiya Rarity!” Pinkie bounced up to her friends. “Nice day. You come to help the humans?”

“The what?”

“Them of course.” A pink hoof gestured to the car where two men did their utmost to ignore the band of new ponies that were now standing around.

“W-who?”

“Their just a little lost and want to go home.” Pinkie explained, having rephrased what she heard the humans talk about as they worked to get the carriage back into shape. “I want to help, but how could anypony not want help from Pinkie Pie?”

“Are they- er- dangerous?” Rarity angled her head back. “They seem...” She could find a proper word to express her thought at that moment, only to taken by surprise by a voice.

“Good going genius, now everyone thinks we're psychos.”

“For christ's sake, Max, how many times to I have to say I'm sorry until I regret what I've done?”

“I don't know, not enough apparently.”

Rarity exchanged looks between the men and Pinkie Pie. “They talk.”

“Look who's talking!” One of the bipeds yelled proficiently. He muttered something under his breath as he walked away out of sight when the other person intervened.

How rude! Rarity's disgust was already her basis for judgment of their behavior, but the fact that they were such creatures she'd never seen or heard of before may have given her second thoughts not to be a xenophobe. “Where's Twilight? Should she be the one to tell us what's going on?

Pinkie bounced. “She was here earlier and apologized for Rainbow Dash for wrecking their carriage and flew off to help the other humans at the hospital after one got hurt and now we're just waiting for them to get back and now they are doing something with the wheels and we're here to watch for now.”

Okay, that was a lot to take in, for Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and of course, Rarity who were left blinking at Pinkie with her enormous smile.

“Shouldn't Applejack be here?”

“She's at the hospital too.”

“Just what else happened today that I should know about?” Rarity asked, a little upset of being kept out of the loop for what she assumed was a matter of great importance for both parties, especially the humans. The clothing they wore were short of dull. Were they for fashion or simply practical reasons. She wouldn't get answers to her growing list of questions without Twilight to explain everything.

Each of the ponies were wondering what could manifest from this situation as with every interesting event that came before it. No experience in Ponyville was left unsolved, but this wasn't just some villainous attack on the town or some friendship problem.

For now they watched with eager eyes every move the human's made, which didn't sit well with both men.

For several seconds, nobody moved. Felix leaned against the brake lights while Max had his arms crossed and his back turned away from the ponies. The men exchanged the most aggressive of silent facial expressions that was laced with awkward stares and occasional nose scratches. Felix kept his eye trained on every pony present for the sake of security. He didn't want any of them to vanish out of sight and then reappear behind him. If that happened, it wouldn't end nicely for that pony.

Then, as Max was working up the courage to turn around and address the group of equines the speech he's been preparing in his head to get rid of some of them, his phone started to ring.

Max and Felix quickly looked at each other with confused looks of their faces. Max reached into his pocket to check his cellphone, only to realize it wasn't even ringing. As soon as he glanced back his friend, Felix snapped out of his frozen state and took out his own phone. The screen displayed an unknown number without an area code.

Very strange.

Felix continued to stare his phone as he refused to pick up, letting the ringtone play seven times until it went to voice mail. After the tone, he was expecting someone's voice to come through, but there was nothing but a weird and creepy static. He immediately ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket.

“What was that?” asked one of the child ponies.

Felix was quick to respond. “Nothing.”

Off in the distance, hidden from view behind a apple tree was a pair sunglasses peering from around the corner, carefully gripping a non-magical device of her own.

“So, uh, where is here?” Candy began, gesturing all around her.

“This is Ponyville General Hospital on the west edge of town,” Twilight replied confidently.

“No no I mean where is town relative to the rest Oregon?”

“Oregon? I've never heard of that place before?” The pony tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Do you mean where Ponyville is Equestria? It's the closest settlement to the capital city of Canterlot which resides at the very center of the country.”

“Where is this Equestria place?” Candy pointed out. She was having trouble understanding anything the pony was saying.

Twilight realized just how confused the human was by looking at her eyes wander in confusion. Since neither of them understood where the each other came from, she'd have to find common ground and explain briefly the basics of her world.

“Equestria? Well, that's going to be hard to explain since you are not originally from this world.”

Candy sat up. “I know, you said something about mirror world and you seem to know who we are while everyone else doesn't.”

“Humans only exist independent of this world through a portal built from an enchanted mirror as a doorway between the realms. Everypony in this world has a human counterpart with the same personality and voice, but neither world knows the other exists. It is highly secret and carefully monitored by the royal crown, including myself and my friends.”

Twilight went no further as she observed Candy's reaction. Surprisingly enough, the woman was not shocked nor confused by the information, but instead was relaxed and intrigued. Perhaps the acceptance that she was not in fact loosing her mind served to relieve irrational fear. Candy had given her undivided attention to Twilight, leaning on the back of the chair with one arm.

“I know this is a lot to take in, but I was wondering how you and your friends found the portal and made it here from the Crystal Empire without alerting the guards.”

“I never came through any portal. Even denying it is really strange. As far as I know, portals and enchantments don't exists except in video games. I'm not much of a gamer myself.”

Twilight pondered that over for a second and moved on. “If you didn't slip through the portal undetected, then where did you come from.”

Candy shrugged. “I have no idea. As far as I know we were driving on side streets in Oregon yesterday and happened to stumble on this place trying to find our way back to the interstate.”

The most the woman tried to explain her origins, the more Twilight was confused. There were too many things she was saying that she didn't understand, almost something a crazy pony would say. But Candy isn't crazy, not by any measure. Just lost, and under stress. She had no choice but to believe her.

“I see.”

“Whatever, I guess once we get back on the road we'll retrace our steps and finally get back on track.” Candy rubbed her hands together as if to indicate she did actually believe that herself. The simple fact of verbally speaking it made her feel a little better.

“I'm sorry about your friend,” said Twilight.

“He'll be fine. I hope he's fine.” The doctor assured her several minutes prior that Ben needed to rest. His leg wound will heal in time. They did discover a fair amount of magic flowing through him as he slept, but couldn't pinpoint the source. Candy took a long breath after her brief pause and continued. “Besides, I can't go back in time and change what happened.”

Twilight pondered the thought of a the temporal spell she had used to correct her own mistakes, but because that did not turn out well in the end, it wasn't worth to mention it. “No, but I believe the past are memories that is best benefited to ourselves as ponies when we learn from them.”

“Memories?” Candy frowned hard. “This just happened like twenty minutes ago. I don't even know what the hell is going on.”

Twilight could tell the human was getting more frustrated as time lingered. “Please, don't dwell on the gravity of such circumstances. I'm sure there's a good explanation for why you're here.”

“I don't want to know why I'm here,” Candy spoke up with a little more force than the alicorn was expecting. “I just want to get out of here and forget this ever happened.”

“But this is happeni-”

“No! Stop it.” Candy snapped her burning gaze directly into Twilight's shocked eyes. The women then stood up out of her chair, towering over the princess pony. “I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to tell me I'm not delirious so you can con me out in some bullshit therapy session or something like that where you get me to cry my heart out before you tell to let go of my past. Well you can forget it. Now leave!”

Candy pointed straight at the door after finishing her last breath from her last word. Although she was shaking, she held a confident stance.

“Excuse me?” Twilight protested. This was not at all how it played out in her head.

“I said get out.” This time Candy grabbed the doorknob and swung the door wide open.

Footsteps from behind trotted toward the pair as another voice attempted to pitch in. “Please, Ms. Candy, you mustn't-”

“You too!” Candy beamed. “All of you get out!”

Nurse Redheart and Twilight swapped very concerned and angry looks. Yet, with the hesitation wearing of in an instant, they, including the doctor pony who hadn't said a word, stumbled out the door as it slammed violently behind them.

The muffled sounds of bare hoofsteps faded from Candy's mind as she shoved her back against the door and fell to the floor. She sighed so heavily that a whistle escaped lips through her gritting teeth. She squinted up at the ceiling, then clasped her hands over her face to cover her shame. She was in great fear of the repercussions that may follow suit after that outburst.

After a few minutes to herself in silence, she slowly glanced up at the hospital bed. Ben's feet remained lifeless and pale, almost matching the color of his socks. His shoes were neatly placed near one foot of the bed, having been removed sometime after the purple winged unicorn showed up to distract her. Candy was extremely annoyed at how easily Twilight used her emotions to manipulate her into talking about her feelings.

Her head filled with thoughts aplenty, and from the speed of her heartbeat she tried to calm herself down. Staring back down at her hands, she crossed her legs and anchored herself to the tile of the floor, the door made to brace the heat of her back.

Or all the things she could be thinking, she wondered if Ben was aware of anything. If he was dreaming, she hoped that for his sake that it wasn't any worse then the reality they were in.

7. Figures

A white, silvery haze everywhere. Can't see anything. Why is it so cold? Is it a fog? Something tells me this isn't what is seems. Well no shit genius, never trust your eyes. I might as well have been drugged and shoved into a freezer. That's actually not far off from what it feels like. I think. I don't know. There's nothing out here. The ground is... sorta dirty. Moist. Squishy. Definitely sticking to my shoes. Ew. Gross. I can't believe this is happening right now. And, wait, hold on. Where's my helmet? Damn it! I can't even see two inches in from of me. Fuckin' creepy as hell out here. Where ever here is. Where ever here is. Where ever. Here. Um.

ROAR!

OH FUCK! What the hell!? Calm. Calm. Calm. Hand shaking. Heart racing. Breathe. Breathe.

ROAR!

NOPE! Gotta get the hell outta here!

Ben sprinted as fast as he could. He ran till the strain in his legs and dry in his throat screamed for rest. But that wouldn't stop him.

I am not dying today! Fuck that!

ROAR! ROAR!

Ben heard pouncing and heavy steps catch up behind him. His stride just wasn't fast enough. Too afraid to turn his head and look back. He already knew what it was. The monster that almost killed him before. Bat wings and scorpion tail, sharp claws and razor teeth. Beads of sweat and red lips poured with rage. How in the world did he end up in this situation again?

God damn it! Run faster you idiot! GAAH! Come on! Go! Go! GO! Where the hell are the trees!? Where the hell is the road!? Where this hell are- AHHH!

Ben was struck in the back by something heavy and tumbled forwards, flying at least ten feet before landing in his shoulder and flipping several times until he came to a stop on his back. He winced so hard she curled all of his wrinkled limbs into a ball to brace for the pain of his death. He scream both mentally and vocally as he heard the last growl of the lion reach his ears.

Idon'twannadie! Idon'twannadie! IDON'TWANNADIE! PLEASE!

…

A silence showered over him. The wind chill disappeared and the dirt settled. Ben was still clutched in a ball, but when nothing happened, he cracked his eyes open. Digging his head out from under the comfort of his arms, he fell on his back with the longest breath reverberating from his mouth.

Ben coughed. Gripping his chest with a hand and his forehead with another, he tried his utmost to calm the panic that plagued him. The blood in his veins felt very heavy, stinging with a blue tinge like one bodywise bruise.

After about a minute, he carefully sat up in the dry soot of the dirt road, wincing at the pain of his legs. A groan pierced his throat. The boy hugged his knees and rubbed his ankles. At least his shoes weren't badly torn, and fortunately he didn't hit his head too hard on the ground. It could have been much worse. But still no helmet to be found. In fact, the treeline, or anything beyond the thick fog, wasn't visible anywhere around him. A mystical mist, formless and white.

Where is everything?

“We are in your mind, dear human.”

Ben flinched slightly, then hurried to get to his feet. He brushed off his pants and backpedaled.

“Hello?”

He turned every which way, hoping to track the direction of the female voice. He wasn't frightened by it's tone, but only by its omnipresence. Is it his friends?

“Guys?” He was too afraid to move. “Show yourselves. Don't jump scare me now!”

At least he'll give them a warning that it's him. Maybe they can't see him either and are searching for him. But it was all too quiet. Not a single noise, which made him extremely uneasy. The mist was still a little cold, but it was tolerable.

“Do not fear.”

This time the voice was clear. He didn't recognize it, so it wasn't his friends, and Candy is the only person he thought of. If it's not her, then who? And where?

“Don't fear what? Who are you?” he said to the mist. He might as well talk to the air. It was probably just his imagination, or he was high on hallucinogens. Or some stupid bloke trying for a good scare.

“Hey, don't call me stupid.”

Ben spun around as the voice echoed directly behind him as a dark figure slowly walked toward him no more than ten feet away. He could make out the definite shape, but he was sure it was an animal or creature on four legs standing as tall as he was.

“Who are you?” he said, somewhat angry of the appearance and annoyed at the attempt of prank. Though quite relieved he knew where the other person was, he remained still. “What are you doing?”

“Do you recognize this place?” it, or rather she, said.

Ben wasted no time to answer. “No.”

For a brief second, there was no response. He was about to speak up again when a gust radiated from his torso and suddenly the fog began to dissipate outwards, vanishing farther and farther away until he could see the green branches of the trees poke out from within sea of white. Then, faster than rainfall, the mist had completely disappeared. That left him standing in the middle of a dirt road like he had in the morning shortly after waking up in the car.

But wait, where is the car? Again, Ben scanned the vicinity for Max's car, but instead he found something worse.

His eyes fell on a tall blue figure, dark and still. Two enormous teal eyes stared back in return, watching him stumble in place, almost falling to the floor for a second time. His newly found defensive stance prepared him for fending off any surprises.

But none came. The blue horse simply stood there looking at him, its hair waving on its own. Pretty weird, yet cool in a way.

“You mustn't fear,” she began. “There is nothing here that can hurt you, Ben.”

Ben froze. He did a double take. “How did you... know my name?”

“See for yourself.” The translucent pony stepped aside to reveal something behind her. Ben squinted, but was struck with the widest eyes he could ever produce as a car came barreling down the road at a tremendous speed with puffs of dust mixed with black car exhaust spit out from behind. He had no time to react, but did his best to dive out of the way of car's path. The human rolled over and kept his balance to remain standing.

What he witnessed next was the last thing he expected to see. It was none other than himself, Ben, chasing after the car with painful limp and ripped clothing. Wait a minute, he- I'm not chasing the car, I remember this, I'm running away from- Oh no!

The true Ben searched for the large lion not far behind, and just like that, the most vicious of predators came galloping down the road, growling deep under the fangs that could rip a man to pieces. He knew how this unfolded, watching as his counterpart run for his life. He waited as he remembered the moment he tripped and fell to on his knees which allowed the lion to catch up before getting back up and running off again.

But the other Ben didn't get up. He was too hurt from the running and heartbroken from being left behind by his friends. But is was no time to weep as the injured Ben grunted and winced through his teeth, turning around to see the large beast jump up to crush his body.

“NOOO!” The true Ben shouted. He could practically see the lion leap at him with it's claws to his throat and mouth to his head for a second time. It was even worse the second time. That haunting moment of fearing for his life, so mortified of the inevitable death where there's nothing he can do about it. A lone tear fell from his eye.

Then, everything stopped. The scene before him froze just moments from the bring of death, the lion in midair, his hands raised trickling with some blood, and the violent nature of the dirt and sway of his clothes. Frozen in time.

Ben could only stare, for hours even. Did it feel like hours? The real Ben was on his knees as well, but off to the side just on the edge of the grass after getting out of the way of the car.

He started crying. He was dead. My friends- they-

“Look again,” said the voice.

Ben wiped his tears from his eyes and looked up at the scene in pause one more time. Not a moment in this memory was real. He knew this didn't happen. He knew he didn't die there. The lion did not kill him, he was able to escape. But how? His friends came back for to get him. He was strong enough to stand up and keep running. So why show me in the worse case scenario?

“I believe only you can answer that.”

He was afraid for himself. Ben relaxed his tired muscles, slumping in a shame unfit to be exposed. Yet, as embarrassingly as his confession was, a strange sensation of calmness and relief warmed his skin. He was willing to accept the reality that if he gave up, he would not be alive.

So what is all this?

“This is a dream.” The pony appeared to fade into existence beside him, kneeling down and unfurling a wing to drape over his back. Ben looked at her, not taken back by the sudden intimacy of the gesture or the fact that he still did not know who or what she was. But he had other things to think about.

“Who-”

“I am the one who watches over those who sleep. Guardian of dreams and the subconscious mind. My subjects call me Princess Luna, my friends call me Luna.”

Ben sniffled, running his nose with a sleeve before making an effort to stand up. One more glance at the horrific scene was made before it faded away into nothing. The environment faded as well, leaving nothing but an empty white with his shadow circling his feet.

“What is going on? Why did I have to see that?” Ben asked.

Luna gave the human some room. “It is a memory that has most affected your feelings into a turbulent spiral that is out of control. I have felt the additional presence of four new souls in the our realm, and found you and your friends on the edge of White Tail Woods and the Everfree Forest while you first slept the night before. You happen to be the one most conflicted with his measured state of emotions, great fear and deep dread. Am I correct to assume that is who you are?”

“Um, a little. But what does that have to do with me?”

“I sensed you were the most vulnerable among the four of you. I entered your dreams, only vaguely and for a short blip of time, do you remember?” He nodded. “It was my first encounter in the dream of your kind. I have never met a human before, but from what Twilight has told me, they are quite delightful.”

Ben frowned, but waited for the princess to continue. “That was the last time I was made of aware of your presence until later today when a disturbance in the dreamscape was so bad I had to interrupt my own sleep to investigate. That leads up to now and what has had to occur here. The violent emotions of your mind needed to let go of its war with itself, that is why I showed you the one thing that you needed to face.”

“How did you know I was attacked by a lion?” Ben became angry at that thought. “Wait, did you send that thing to kill me!?”

“No! I did not. I had no knowledge of real world events after your awakening early this morning. It was unfortunate to discover later what had happened to you, but all the pieces came into play. It was your fight for survival, it was you bravery to have the courage to stay alive in the most dire of circumstances. But perhaps most shocking to me was what lay at the core. Your view of death is... stronger than that of a pony.”

Ben looked at the featureless floor, stealing some looks at the pony's hooves which glistened above the sheen of the white surface they were standing on. He had more than enough time to think about it as Luna waited patiently. She didn't exactly want a response, because she explained everything a little too conveniently. But while the vision of this alternate memory seemed to do its job, watching is second hand would never be enough to fundamentally persuade him to never fear death again. That is coded into his biology. It will always be a part of him, and his friends.

“So what do I do now?” he croaked. “Am I asleep in my friend's car right now?” That was one of the last places he remembered being. “Am I lying dead in the grass?”

Luna broke eye contact for a second and subtly furrowed her muzzle. She then cleared her throat.

“I'm afraid you are not in the place you think. Certain events unfolded before you fell unconscious.” Ben's heart sank a bit. “You are in good hoof now, do not fret. When you wake, there will be peace and balance waiting for you at the other end.”

“Can you just talk normal, you're like some weird gatekeeper or god with vague riddle speak or something.”

Luna giggled. He tapped her horn before vanishing without a trace. The silence returned until a very low sound that grew only slightly before his vision became filled with a blinding black so dark it jolted him from his disoriented stated.

Ben jerked awake, lifting his arm only slightly, too weak to get his arm an inch from the soft fabric beneath him.

“Ugh, ow,” he complained with a whisper. He heard a shuffling noise a few seconds before something touched his shoulder.

“Ben! Are you alright?”

That sounded like Candy. He opened one eye, and sure enough it was.

“Hey.”

“Relax.” He felt her push him back down as he attempted to sit up. For some reason his was alright. His leg hurt, but other than that he was fine. The bed was comfortable, and judging by the aesthetics of the all too familiar ceiling, it belonged to a hospital. “How to you feel?”

“Hu?” Ben snapped his head at Candy, who appeared to be aggravated, or at least distraught. “So what happened?” He was quick to get to the point.

“You cut you leg,” replied Candy. “Doctor patched you up, no thanks to that no good fake Princess.” She forced that last word with disgust.

“H-how did you know about Luna?”

“What? No. Stupid Twilight something whatever her name is acting like my psychiatrist. Geez that was annoying.”

Ben eyebrowed her friend like she had lost her mind. “Uh, okay, not gonna ask.”

Candy helped Ben sit up, careful to keep his leg straight and bandages intact.

“How are the other two?” Ben continued.

“Those idiots.” Candy started pacing around the room. “Sometimes I want to squeeze the living brain out Felix, teach him to learn common sense and control. I don't know why you're still friends with him while I'm stuck making sure he doesn't end up like his parents. I'll just leave it at that.”

Well that was news to Ben. He made sure never to piss her off, not after what she really had to go through with Felix. He knew that man was her cousin and had a hard time believing they were related, but he could now see the connection seeing how committed she is to what she says.

Besides, she was watching over him as he slept injured in this hospital, she clearly had the superior moral compass. Not that Felix is evil, but could still use some improvement in the attitude department. Did Candy carry me all the way to a hospital? Whoa.

Ben's aching legs needed a stretch. He shifted on top of the bed and made an effort to sit on the side of the bed. With the help of Candy, Ben attempted to stand, using her hands as balance.

“Does it hurt?” said Candy.

“Of course it does,” Ben replied flatly, gritting his teeth as the weight of his body transferred to the bone fracture in his leg. “OW! fuck that stings,” he screeched before sitting back down.

“Come on, let's go.”

“Wait, shouldn't we wait until I heal, and, ya know, pay for the treatment. We can't just leave.” He looked at the thick bandage and brace covering most of his leg. “They did a good job patching me up.”

“I- uh- I'm not sure that's a good idea.” Candy bit her lip nervously.

“Then they'll arrest us or something, or at least get fined. I don't want that.”

Candy sighed, but wasn't entirely persuaded. “Look, I know you think it's the right thing to do, but I'm not buying it. This isn't exactly your normal human hospital, it's run by overly friendly ponies, in fact this whole damn world is. Isn't that enough reason to get the hell out of here.”

Ben blinked. “What are you talking about?”

Candy pinched her nose. “You don't get it, do you? They're messing with your mind. I hate how she wants to be our friend all of a sudden. Don't let them manipulate you.”

She may have a point. After all, Ben could practically smell the moisture of the mist from his strange lucid dream and could taste the bitterness of blood in his mouth. That last one was probably a result of his injury, but still. Did Candy experience something similar? For all he knew, the dream was probably a trick, but because it was so profound, he had no choice to accept it.

“Luna seems nice thought,” he said.

“Who, what, no, you're not listening.” Candy pounced on his shoulder and snapped her fingers inches from his face. “Wake up! You're losing it.”

“No! You're losing it.” Ben slapped her hand away from his face. “Listen to yourself, you're on the verge of crazy.”

“Excuse me?” a soft voice muttered from the door. “Am I interrupting something?”

Ben saw the head of lavender unicorn poke its head out from outside the room, but Candy was already on her way to the door.

“No, no, no, no, stay out,” she hissed as she closed it again with force.

“This is your fault by the way for wanting to check out the town. Thanks for getting us into this mess.”
Ben crossed his arms, watching the woman squeeze her fists together and pace around with anger. Perhaps it wasn't the best tactic to open his stupid mouth and make things worse. She was on the edge of an outburst.

“Sorry I said anything. Maybe you're right.”

“I wanna go home!”

“Okay okay fine, we'll go hom- OW!” Ben fell to the floor as he tried to stand on his own trying to comfort Candy in her moment of breakdown.

She ran over to help, dropping her rage to skip to his aid. As soon as Candy reached Ben, throwing his right arm over her around her neck for support, the door flew wide open.

“What is going on in here!?” bellowed a deep voice from the male doctor that entered, followed closely by an orange pony and purple alicorn. They were shocked to find Ben on his knees in pain and Candy hugging his side.

Although she was the last to enter, the white nurse pony came running over to assist, but Candy held out a stiff arm to stop her in her tracks.

“Don't come any closer,” the woman said, seething from the aftershock of her agitation.

“He needs to rest,” the nurse said.

“We want to help,” seconded Twilight.

The pair were already halfway out the door, Ben limping and Candy countering her balance with his. Twilight Sparkle stood beside Applejack as Candy walked past them, giving the Princess a hostile glare.

Applejack looked at her best friend, speaking with scrutiny without actually saying a single word.

Outside was Rainbow Dash who had rushed in late after hearing the commotion from the lobby. She exchanged confused looks between the humans and her friends who were following them as they strolled step after step to the exit.

“They're leaving?” the pegasus whispered to Twilight.

No response. Twilight was conflicted on the state of Candy. She definitely didn't appear to be happy about how she approached the human. Her emotions may have been more sensitive than she thought, but didn't stop her from thinking of trying again. This was one problem she was determined to fix, even if it's just for simple closure.

Candy and Ben whispered something to each other, but the ponies couldn't quite figure out what they were saying. They didn't have to when they stopped to turn to the pony sitting at the front desk. The clerk wasn't expecting them to acknowledge her, but before she could ask them a question, the injured man removed something from his pocket and placed a couple pieces of paper on top of the desk before both of them starting walking away sluggishly.

Once they were out the door, Twilight trotted up to the desk to inspect what they left behind. They were identical pieces of fine green paper with the drawing of a human's face on it with the number 100 on each corner.

8. Awakening

It just wasn't his day. Not if you count the many things that haven't yet gone wrong that surely could. Felix was up to his neck in dust and many thoughts filled with all the swear words he could fit into a single sentence. Though he was fortunate to have Max with him to keep him in check. The way he embarrassed himself by exploding with rage over nothing in front of his only friends really started to grind into him. The shame alone could serve as the final straw that could bring him to his knees.

Speaking of which, Felix was on his knees, but not for the reason stated above. The dead tire was heavy enough as it was, now the last thing that needed to be done was pop in the spare and then take a vacation on the beach. But let's be real, we all know that ain't gonna happen now.

Felix paused. Vacation turned into a nightmare in less than a day. Usually he reserved his opinion of significant time off and fun, but this is definitely that one exception.

Max accepted his fate and remained composed, trying to make the best of their predicament. He didn't like any better than his friend. Handing Felix the spare tire, the man took a quick breather before collecting the half rusted lug nuts that took less time to remove than he thought. In fact, this whole repair process was simple.

But the pounding beat in his chest sure didn't decline, what with the sea of eyes watch him and his friend work on the most human thing he's ever done.

“Bolts,” Felix said, keeping his eye trained on the tire.

“Here.” Max handed him the screws and waited for him to put them into place. Every now and then he would stale a couple of glances at the mini horses, some of which were talking quite suspiciously. Only one of the newest arrivals seemed to grow disinterested to the point of walking away with her head held high.

Felix tapped Max's knee, the latter of which snapped out of his quiet observation of the ponies behind the background clinks and cranks of the tire being secured into place.

“Jack.” Once Felix finished tightening the last nut, he handed the wrench to Max. “Careful. Don't cut your other hand.”

Max's mild wound continued trickle some drops of blood as he put pressure on his right, lowering the jack slower than his first mistake of cranking it too fast. That did not bother him in the slightest. Perhaps a show of might, or even ego, but why should he care what the ponies think of him? They're pretty rude and violent, but strangely reserved.

Once the car was safely secure on the ground, Max let the wrench fall on the dirt while stretching his back. It took both him and Felix a moment of rest to melt away the cold tension and numb blood circulation to their legs.

“What are we going to do about this piece of junk?” Max grunted, putting his back against the fender and kicking the destroyed tire rotting a few feet away.

Felix scratched his head. “I don't know, man. Probably cost less to donate it than to throw it away.”

Max grinned, but only a little. “Just donate it to a landfill.”

“Funny guy.” The followup response was a knuckle to Max's shoulder. “But seriously, no.”

The two sat there in silence, naturally ignoring the others that would leave them alone. They had given up that thought when their curiosity and guard maintained in full with the pink one jumping all over the place. Hell, they had to turn down the offer from Pinkie when she tried handing them baked treats, but even a 'no thanks' didn't seem to help.

It's been five minutes since she set a plate of cookies by their feet, before that was a tray of muffins, and even before that was an entire cake overflowing with frosting. At least that one was reasonable, neither wanted to taste her surprises, especially when the top looked like it could explode at any moment.

Max leaned closer to his buddy and lowered his voice above a whisper.

“You seem a little more... calm... than you were before.”

“I got to work my hands, for a good cause at least. After that shit I pulled? Fuck me, man. Good thing we can leave as soon as they get back.”

“Was it them or was it me?”

“How do you mean? Like when I lost my shit or you stepping in to stop me wrecking shit?”

“When you lost your-”

“Oh okay it was definitely them.”

“Hm.”

Another pause.

“So what is it you do for a living exactly?” Max asked with a loose breath.

“I sell pot.”

“I know that already. But that's not exactly legal in Oregon.”

“No, it's only legal to grow it there. I just hitch up north to sell it to people. Why do you think I many frequent visits to Seattle.”
“Oh.”

Many new thoughts were freshly churning in Max's head. That certainly cleared things up. Maybe it wasn't the best time to argue that kind of life, but he asked for one reason and one reason only.

Max continued with a cough. “So, uh, is that why you carry a gun around?”

Felix nodded. “Why wouldn't I? Everyone does. Can't just have some asshole mug you without having a way to fight back. I hardly use it though. By the way, sorry for pulling it out on you earlier, I'm going fucking mental on this place. And still am, to a degree.”

Max looked off into the distance for a second, then up to the apples on the tree that lay waste to their long journey. Like it really even mattered after that point, he had a feeling the trip wasn't going to go as perfectly planned as hoped. He really wanted it to, but nothing can ever be.

He'd ask his friends later if they even want to California anymore.

“You and me both,” Max finally said, having no issue with the gun episode anymore. The drugs weren't his concern either.

“I'll just let you know that I've been having a lot trouble being less like my parents. Candy is the only one, besides you guys, that I can really count on to give me a second chance. She's the only one who knows, and will ever know.”

Max knew what his friend meant. Although they had known each other for some time now, it won't be right to know something about Felix that he shouldn't. It's not about keeping a secret, it's about getting rid of the old to make way for the new. He nodded and tugged on Felix's shirt.

“Speaking of which, here they come.”

Max pointed off to the side where they both saw their missing friends slowly make their way up behind them, trailed by three other ponies.

The men quickly shuffled to their feet and brushed off the dirt that glued to their pants. They noticed the limp in Ben's stride, rushing to his side. Max walked opposite of Candy to help be the second brace for Ben's left side, grabbing his arm and mimicking his movements.

“How bad is it?” Felix asked both of them, walking backwards.

“Well I'm alive,” Ben said. “Could have been worse, like brain damage for crazy people.” His tone reeked of implication, and Candy knew it.

“He'll have to see a real doctor eventually,” she stated after rolling her eyes. “How's the car doing?”

“Busted ignition.” Candy huffed, but Felix wasn't done. “But at least we have a new tire.”

Candy dropped her head in solid defeat from her own doubt, but considering Felix was willing to pull through for her, she wasn't entirely surprised. Besides, he had physical help and moral support from Max, all they needed was to start a business together.

They finally reach the car. They carefully set Ben down in the backseat, making sure no sharp objects where near his legs.

“Where's my helmet?” said Ben.

Felix had completely forgot about that little detail after putting the rest of the stuff back in the car after taking out the spare. He looked around the immediate area of the car and the last place he saw it, but found it somewhere worse.

“Hey!” he yelled, getting the attention of the ponies. He was looking directly at the children, particularly the orange and purple one with those tiny wings who was wearing Ben's blue helmet. He knew because it had a noticeable silver scrape on the side.. He stomped over to the filly as she stumbled back nervously along with her friends, but no without being stopped by Applejack and Big Mac.

Felix suddenly retreated a step and put his hands up. “Whoa guys, easy, that kid stole my friend's helmet. We'd like it back.”

The sibling pair looked at each other and then at Scootaloo. Big Mac kept his guard while Applejack went to retrieve the helmet, saying a few words to Scootaloo whose eyes looked down in sadness. Applejack trotted over and handed the helmet over without a word.

“Thanks.” Felix said, his anger subsiding. He walked back to the car to give the helmet back to Ben

Twilight walked up to her friends.

“Hey Applejack, why don't you take the girls back to school,” she whispered. “I'll stay with Macintosh and Rainbow Dash to this sorted out without any more trouble, okay.”

“Sure, sugarcube.” Applejack then addressed the Crusaders. “C'mon girls, let get ya'll back to the schoolhouse.” A collective 'aw' was their only protect before being led away.

Twilight swore Pinkie was present earlier, but she may have gotten bored and left. But she isn't one to pass up something like this, usually she wouldn't give up until everypony got a welcome party to Ponyville, no matter what.

The humans were now doing something to the car. It sounded like a machine being revved up, but they humans seemed frustrated about it. Twilight was sure the vehicle was crippled, but she noticed they took care of one of the damaged wheels. She didn't quite know how they worked back in the mirror world, only getting as far as ridding in one only once. But those where different.

Candy's friends acted in defeat as the one sitting in the drivers seat got out to talk to the other human who had inspected the front of the carriage. She still didn't know their names.

So she decided to ask.

“Hello humans,” she squeaked as she stepped closer in their direction. The two men stopped talking and looked at her with neutral expressions.

“What do you want?” said the driver.

Twilight cleared her throat. “I didn't quite catch your names.”

They said nothing. They just stared at her, thinking about something. When they didn't respond, going back to their private conversations, she became irritated.

“Excuse me, it is rude to not answer to a princess,” Twilight stated, leaning in to give them something resembling

“Oh I'm sorry, what did you say your name was again?” the taller one croaked with a hint of hostility.

“Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship.”

The man laughed. His friend look a little wary before snickering as well.

“What's so funny?” Twilight uttered angrily.

“It doesn't matter who you are, princess. We'd rather you stay out of this.”

The alicorn immediately activated her horn and pulled the grown man from his jacket collar towards her, shooting him the most disappointed stink eye since the Starlight Glimmer debacle.

“I'm not going to ask you again,” she growled mildly. “You human's are not making my day any better.” She released her magic, letting him go while he stumbled backwards. The other man caught him.

“Hey! What gives!” he stammered, clearly afraid by what just happened.

“What was that for?” the driver said.

Twilight had a moment of regret before pushing that aside, this was not like all those other times trying to make friends, or at least fix broken friendships.

“It would benefit me if I knew your names and why you're here.” Her voice was reserved while she gestured a hoof at them. “I know you do not belong in this world, I could help figure out what it is brought you here and hopefully send you back. Don't be frightened by my position as a princess, I have the power to get you where you want to be.”

Somehow this helped calm them a bit, but they still had their doubts.

“Just read our mind why dontcha.” the driver suggested, only half kidding. “Or you can just arrest us now and get it over with it.”

“There will be no need for that,” spoke another voice behind the humans. They flinched and snapped a fast one-eighty. Another pony, this one light tan and purple-pink curls for a mane, stood right next to the passenger door.

“Bon bon?” Twilight titled her head in confusion.

“Who are you?” Felix asked.

“I am the one you should be talking to,” the pony answered. “And the name is Agent Sweetie Drops.”

“Huh?”

Bon-bon looked at Twilight. “Thank you for your effort, Princess Twilight, but I believe it is a matter of great importance that I speak to them alone.”

Twilight frowned, but gave in to the request. She retreated just out of earshot with the others, but kept an eye on them.

Bon-bon turned her attention back on the humans. “Can I ask for your names?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“So which is it?” she said with a stoic face.

“What do you want first?” Felix demanded with a normal tone.

“I am here to help you return to your world. You have been unjustly led into Equestria by weird magic, I know this because you are not the first humans to wander into Ponyville. There is a way to return you back to your world, I only ask for you names for the record.”

There was a quick silence before the female human spoke up.

“My name is Candy Hart,” she said. “These are my friends, Felix Maier, Max Weston, and in the car Ben Watkins.”

Bon-bon nodded. “Thank you. Do any of you know why you are here?”

“Fuckin' hell, that's wha- OW” Felix jumped as Max flicked him upside the head to shut him up.

“Stop talking, you're making everything worse.” Felix huffed and crossed his arms, getting in the car and sitting in the passenger seat. “To answer your question, honestly, we don't know. I'm the first one to notice that something was wrong after I took a wrong turn. That's all I know.”

“And where on your planet did you come from?” Bon-bon asked, fidgeting with something in her ear.

“Oregon,” Max said. “Well, there's where we got lost before coming here.”

“Noted.” Bon-bon lifted to talk to her foreleg as if she was talking into an invisible watch on her wrist. “Agent to control, I have a Class B phenomenon, Code 4. Requesting coordinates for return to sender package on my location, dimension ten.”

Max and Candy watched as the seemingly innocent and cute pony radio in a message to what they assumed to be their version of a secret organization like the Men in Black. Felix was hardly paying attention, but stole a hopeful glance at the Earth pony. Ben was asleep in his seat next to him.

“What does that mean?” Max questioned.

“It mean's you're going home,” the pony said. “I advise you to-”

“Bonnie!” Bon-bon froze, eyes widening behind her sunglasses. Lyra's voice was the last thing she wanted interrupting her. She found her marefriend trotting up to the with a surprised look on her face. “Bonnie, what are you doing sending these humans away?!”

“Now is not a good time, Lyra. I need you to stay out of this and let me do my job.”

“But-”

“No buts.” Bon-bon did her part to calm her friend down and convince her to join Twilight standing a fair distance away. “This is not like the last time a human came running into Ponyville looking for a friend. These four humans have no idea what is going on and are terribly misplaced from their world.” Bon-bon sighed. “I know you want to want happened to Thomas. He had to return to his world like all the other humans before him. We cannot allow weird magic to go uncorrected. I'm sorry Lyra.”

Bon-bon walked back to the humans.

“As I was saying, I advise you to never speak of your travels here. We wouldn't want a crisis of would be humans getting all worked about coming back to Equestria. And yes, you are not the first one's to come here by accident, and some even wanted to stay, but as part of keeping the natural order between worlds in check, we must send you back.”

Candy and Max very surprised to have all their confusion settled in such a short amount of time. All they needed was for someone to tell them what was going on and perhaps send them back, and someone must be looking our for them. That someone was the invisible organization this pony worked for.

“Are you ready to leave?” said Bon-bon.

“Does the car work?” Candy asked Max. He nodded. “Than I guess we'll be going. But how exactly are we going to get back.”

“I called for a transport portal to be materialized behind your carriage. All you have to do is back up and you'll be back.” Bon-bon smiled fondly after a brief 'thank you' by Candy.

With everyone back in car and ready to go, one last try at the ignition was a make or break moment for Max. He knew it would work, but tried anyways. By some miracle, the car started just fine, as I if it was brand new.

It must be the weirdness of this world. Max smiled as a bright light flashed behind them and a swirling mass of colors transformed into a gateway. On the other side he could see a paved two lane road, one that looked exactly like the one after exiting the freeway the day before.

He set the car in reverse and swiftly drove right through. The portal charged up as the entire car slipped from one world to another, and as soon as they made in through, the portal crackled and imploded without a sound.

The car rolled onto the street and stopped onto the curb. Max exhaled deeply as the relief set in. That happened fast, he thought. Candy returned the sentiment as she smiled with a small laugh. As ridiculous as all that was, perhaps that's exactly what they needed.

Eerie silence filled the car.

The light pouring in from the windows through the trees was a blissful, lacking of any tension and heartache.

The passengers each glanced at each other with looks that could only be described as 'what the fuck just happened?'