"Ok," Steven said into the phone that was being held by his shoulder and part of his cheek. He scratched his nose with the cap of the pen he was holding in his left hand. He was looking at the list of pizzas that all of the others had wanted in his right hand. "We'll have one small cheese pizza, a large meat-lovers, and a large pepperoni pizza, please... Ok, so 28.96?... Uh-huh... Alright, thanks!" He then hung up the phone.
Steven smiled, happy to know that dinner was on its way. He set the phone down on the counter, along with the shortlist. He brushed his black bangs out of his eyes as he went back to the other room where his friends were hanging out. As he entered the room he heard a voice he hadn't really been expecting to hear, but it was one that he didn't really have a problem with.
"So, Celestia or Luna?" Claire asked Mikey, his little brother who apparently had joined in the conversation with all his friends. Steven looked at him with a slight smile gracing his lips. Mikey could deny it all he wanted to, but he was a brony at heart. He'd seen his Netflix history, every episode that was on there he'd watched.
"Uh..." Mikey said, uncertainty clouding his voice. He looked around the room at the older teenagers in the room, who were now waiting for his response. Mikey smiled, realizing that they were genuinely interested in his opinion. "I'd have to say, Celestia. I don't know why but I Like her just a bit more."
"YES!" Wyatt shouted with joy at his answer, having been a Team Celestia since day one. He leaned in closer to Mikey, offering a brohoof. Mikey happily accepted. Steven smiled as he now came into full view.
"I knew it!" He shouted, making Mikey jump at his sudden entrance. The color drained from Mikey's face at that comment. Steven only smiled wider. "I knew you'd come around eventually! Why didn't you just accept this earlier?! We could have watched the 100th episode together, ya know and get brotherly bonding!"
"No way," Mikey said, smiling now, but a nervous one. He stood up and walked to his room, making the other teens in the room try to convince him to come back. Mikey hesitated at the mention of picking the first episode but kept moving. He slammed his door but not before shouting, "I'M NOT ONE OF YOUR KIND!"
"Well," Marcus said, a tone of mock hurt lacing his voice. He a hand through his curly, red hair, a small smile on his lips as he did so. He glanced at Steven who was looking at the hallway his brother had gone down with annoyance and a touch of hurt. Marcus got up. He walked over to Steven. Then he punched him on the arm.
"Ow!" Steven yelled mostly because he hasn't been expecting it. He turned towards Marcus, a devilish grin glued on his face. Marcus returned the grin, raising up a hand to give him the classic two finger taunt. That's when it all went to heck.
In the end Claire, Katie, and Wyatt had pooled thirty bucks on Marcus and Dalton had put thirty bucks on Steven. Currently, each respective team was cheering on their fighter. Steven had Marcus in a headlock on the floor and Dalton was happily shouting, "ONE, TWO, THREE!! STEVEN WINS!!!"
A collective groan came from the opposing team. Marcus while he had groaned as well, was now laughing as if he'd just heard the funniest joke he'd ever heard. While most of them looked him like he had the alien chest burster coming out of him, Steven just laughed along with him. Soon everyone in the room was chuckling, giggling, or flat out laughing along with everyone else.
"O- Hehe- Ok," Katie said trying to get the group's attention. Everyone looked over at the dirty blonde, smiles still glued to their faces. Katie beamed back at them. While silent, gloomy, and shy in public, Katie was in reality loud, perky, and wasn't afraid to express her real opinion in a small group of friends. "Alright, who watched the newest CMC episode, show of hand?"
Three not including herself raised their hands. Wyatt and Dalton had kept their hands down. The rest looked at them, eyes wide and mouths open. Wyatt was un-phased by the stares and shrugged. Dalton, however, shifted nervously under his friend's gaze.
"I was thinking we'd watch it together!" He blurted out. Everyone was shocked by his sudden outburst. Dalton realized how stupid that had probably looked and started laughing at himself. The others soon joined in, causing yet another group-wide laughing session. They soon calmed down and tried to reason with the only anti-CMC in the group, Wyatt.
"Guys," He started, standing up so he could perform one of his weird habits, which was pacing while ranting. "It's a CMC episode. You guys know how much I... Dislike them. It's just... MLP's a great show, but every episode staring them turns into a Disney Jr. level of entertainment. If you can promise me a good, no, great plot, character development, and no stupid cliches... then I'm in."
"We can promise you most of that!" Claire proclaimed, excited to have him practically agreeing to watch it. Wyatt's face turned to one of shock. He made a face at Steven that screamed 'Really?' Steven nodded his head, a grin present on his lips. Wyatt was at a loss for words. Maybe this episode showed promise after all.
"Fine," Wyatt said, throwing his hands in the air. He laughed as he shouted, "May Celestia have mercy!"
"Yes! Let's get this episode started!" Marcus said scooting closer to the TV. His eyes sparkled with pure delight at the group agreeing to watch the episode. He'd loved the CMC ever since Show Stoppers, which made sense because he adored cringe humor.
"All right," Steven said, moving to the head of the group. He knelt down to a laptop sitting on the floor next to the TV stand. "Just let me get the episode started. Oh, boy! I'm tellin' you, Wyatt! You're gonna love this episode, even if it is a CMC episode!"
"Yeah, yeah," Wyatt said, using his foot to playfully push on his friend's back. Steven was startled by the action but didn't do anything other than shift under the appendage. Wyatt laughed at this. "I'm more likely to become the newest Equestrian princess than like this episode."
"Puh-lease!" Katie shouted at the blonde haired boy in front of her. "You're gonna love it! In fact... Dalton, I bet Wyatt is going to love this episode. I'll put in ten bucks."
Dalton pondered this for a minute. It was a really good episode. Plus, Wyatt was a sucker for musicals, so that would put more against him. He shook his head. "No thanks. Even if I could win this, I just won thirty dollars and I don't intend to return any of it back to the previous owners."
"Ugh, Party pooper," Katie mumbled.
A light could be seen turning on. The teens looked at the direction of where it was coming from, shocked to see a small floating orb. None of them dared move. Each one had a different thought going through their head, but each one had the same general point to it. And that was, We are about to die.
"Hey, Steven?" Mikey called from down the hallway, he sounded annoyed. 'No! Mikey, no!' Steven mentally screamed as his brother came into view. Mikey was on his phone, not even bothering to look up. Steven silently screamed for his brother to run, to hide, to be safe, but his cries were unheard. Mikey did look up after walking half way in, and his expression went to one of amazement. "Whoa! How are you doing that, Steven?! That's so cool!"
"Mike," Steven said, trying to sound calm, but he noticed an unfamiliar edge to his voice. Mikey looked up at his brother in shock. He only called him 'Mike' when he was in trouble. Mikey looked into his brother's eyes and the color drained from his face. Those eyes only held one silent message. 'Run. Run! RUN!'
That is when light flooded the room and the teenagers let out horrified shrieks of terror, leaving only an empty living room in their wake.
✯
"Oh... my!" Cadence gasped. She took a few tentative steps towards the creatures that were sprawled out around the room. She approached one that had on what looked like a shirt and... she wasn't sure what was on its... legs? She gently used her hoof to touch it. It stirred a little, causing her to jump, but not stop the contact. It moaned lightly as if just trying to evade waking up. She then backed up from the creature and stared up at her Aunt Tia. "Are... Are they in pain?
"They shouldn't be," Celestia responded, deep seeded worry rooted in her voice. She looked at the creatures before her. She then focused her magic on one of them. It was brought closer towards her, allowing her to study its alien features.
It had no muzzle, but it looked like it did have a nose. Or something similar. It was almost completely hairless, except for what looked like a black mane. It also lacked a tail. It also looked like a teenaged dragon in some aspects, but she knew that could never be what this creature was.
She set him back on the floor gently. She then turned back to her niece.
"I believe they are what Twilight called... Hoomans."
