Chapter 4- En Passant.

-May 3rd, 2020. 1245 Hrs-

We rolled into my apartment complex quietly. Well, as quiet as you can be on a Harley, but still, quietly enough. No gunshots, no panicked racing. Just calm, cool, quiet driving, slowly rolling back in to my parking spot. I park with a deep sigh, softly hanging my head, taking in the momentary quiet.

Too much had happened in such a short amount of time. This was ridiculous, just absolutely insane. Nothing I expected and nothing that I wanted to deal with. Not right now. Not today. Not ever. But, my problem or not, it landed in my lap, and was affecting me whether I wanted it to or not. I take a deep, shuttering breath and let it out slowly, shivering for a moment, and raise my head a bit as I feel a small, slender hand rest on my back.

“Deep breaths Pony. You got through a nasty case of shock fairly quickly, but you're probably still feeling some of the after effects.” Brick says quietly, looking at me with soulful eyes. I give her a quirked half-smile.

“Yeah, still feeling it Brick. Thanks. Didn't know you knew so much about medical stuff.” I comment idly. She grins at me and pats me on the shoulder before climbing out of my sidecar, pulling my messenger bag with her.

“I've always been good with medical crap. You're just good at avoiding getting hurt Pony-boy.” She says, her voice smooth and alive. Much more lively then I've ever heard Brick's voice... you know, come to think of it, it doesn't sound anything like Brick anymore. At least, not the big buddy of mine. It's a female voice. I kind of like it actually.

“Heh, avoiding trouble is something I'm good at Brick. Apparently I can't avoid this.” I say, shaking my head. “Alright, come on in. Lets see how Danny is doing.”

Brick grins at me as I pull the keys from my bike and trot up the stairs to my apartment, unlocking the door and walking inside. “Danny? Danny!” I call out, looking around for him as I walk in the door. “Hey, didn't get any calls from you. I'm assuming nothing changed?”

A slightly squeaky, almost Nottingham accent calls from the living room. “Big Brother! Help!”

I bolt towards the living room, cursing and drawing my Browning as I go, Brick hot on my heels, clip-clopping with each step. “Hang on Danny, I'm coming!” I yell as I skid around the corner, aiming into the room, only to freeze at the sight before me.

Danny is strung up in the room, tied up in the handset cord of the old telephone I have, his arms tied up together and one leg plus hoof up there as well, and somehow got his tail tangled in there as well. He's also, somehow unsurprisingly if unsettlingly, smaller then he was when I left, and I'm left covering my face with one hand as I put my Browning away.

“... Danny, do I want to know how you ended up tangled in the phone cord?” I say blandly, Brick letting out a giggle behind me. I blink at the unusual sound before the light, squeaky voice of Danny snaps me out of the momentary daze.

“W-well, I was gettin' hungry, 'n I wanted an apple or somethin'. See, I was gonna just go the fridge, but when I got up, I feel outta my pajamas!” Danny says. I blink, noting that yes, he is wearing nothing but his boxers, which look like long gymshorts on him now, though the waistband is thankfully still wrapped to his body for the most part.

“Riiiight.” I say, looking over at the pajamas on the floor. “Go on.”

“Well, I figured tha' you'd want ta know that I was gettin' so small, so I was gonna make a phone call.” Danny says, trying to sit up to talk to me. “But I couldn'd reach the phone, so I went to the fridge, bu' I couldn't reach the 'andle for the fridge! So I ran back to the phone and climbed up to the phone...”

“Ok, stop there Pipsqueak. Hold still.” Brick says as she steps past me, rolling her eyes as she starts looking Danny over and checking him for injuries as she starts untangling him carefully.

“Lor' Blimy! You found another one big brother!” Danny says, smiling as he looks at Brick's hooves and ears. The hood must have been pulled down while we were running. “She's pretty!”

I snigger lightly to myself. “That's Brick Danny. I know she looks a little unusual now, but it's just Brick.” I nod.

Brick blinks and then looks over at me, raising an eyebrow. “Did you catch what you just said?” She asks, tilting her head, making her bangs sway over her eye again. I look at her in confusion.

“What, I just said it was you Brick, did I say something weird?” I say, frowning.

“You called Ms. Redheart Brick, big brother! That's not right!” Danny giggles, the much smaller twenty-five year old acting more in a manner of a teenager... so, normal. Brick huffs and blows her mane out of her face before finishing untangling Danny, who slides out from his position on his back and stands up. He's maybe three and a half feet tall now, and grinning like a loon as he dashes over to me, the traditional clip-clopping of hooves meeting each step as he leaps and nabs me in a hug.

I chuckle and hug him back, softly rubbing his head. Brick stands up, wiping her hands against each other as she stretches with a nod. “Right, well, now that the little crisis is handled, lets get some food in him and ourselves.”

That sounded very agreeable, so I heft Danny up onto my shoulder, and he giggles like a loon as I walk us into the kitchen and set him down on one of the chairs at my table before walking over to the fridge and pulling it open. “So, Apple, yeah?”

“Yes please!” Danny says with a grin. Brick lets out an affirming huff as she walks in. “I'd like one as well please Pony.”

I pull out an apple that I toss over to Brick, who catches it and starts munching away idly, and throw together a sandwich for myself. Danny grins at me as I settle down with my slapdash 'whatever is in the fridge' sandwich. “Here you go little brother.” I say, rolling the apple over to him. He grabs it with a big grin and starts chowing away as I start eating my sandwich.

We all fall quiet, lost in various thoughts as we eat, the only sound the ever present crunching of apples being eaten and the softer sound of my teeth ripping into my sandwich every once in a while. I let myself slump and eat with table manners that would have had my Mum in a rage if she ever caught me doing it, but after the start of the day, I didn't feel like eating properly.

Several minutes pass, before Brick makes an audible huff and breaks the silence, grabbing both Danny and my attention. “So. What was that whole ordeal about, Pony? You freaked out a bit there after the phone call you got from Q. I mean, I heard the end of that, and it was freaky, but until we see the season finale, I won't know for sure.”

I freeze, half-way through chewing another bite of my whatever sandwich. “...” I pause, swallowing before setting the sandwich down, very well aware of my little brother's gaze, emphasis on little, looking at me. “I... well, I'm not sure. I mean, I'm sure, but I'm not. There's a lot that happened there Brick. He was being- jeez, he was being deliberately confusing. Like he was taunting me.”

“Tell me.” Brick says, leaning back, crossing her arms across her chest.

“He said that I was... a pawn. That it was all part of some damned plan or another, that he wanted me to be in possession of the elements, something about him not being able to effect it or effect humans, but his 'toys' could, the guys in the suits. That they weren't alive.” I say, leaning back, softly clutching my forehead.

Brick nods, urging me to go on with a hand. I close my eyes, thinking back to the phone call, trying to remember everything I can before I speak up. “He said that the destruction of the Elements could only happen if they were in my possession. Something about them having no charge. Twenty five years.”

The words slip from my lips, unbidden and unwanted for the most part, but yet, there they were. “For f-five score... divided by four... their memories removed, their bodies confused-”

I stop, shivering, not wanting to say a single word more. Danny blinks at me, and quietly speaks up. “For your insolence you must pay-”

Brick then chimed in. “Cast to a land far far away.”

We finished it together, our voices in unison. “To scatter the six, just the start of my tricks, your minds will be weak, your outlook bleak, Forgetting everything and living like fools, you have all lost, now no one can stop my rule.”

Once we stop, we all shiver softly, and I lean back, letting out a slow breath before my spine stiffens for a moment with a cold chill. “... Oookay, that was freaky.”

“That's the words big brother- the ones from the nightmare.” Danny says, looking at me with his big, soulful brown eyes. Brick nods and speaks up. “I've heard those before as well... again, a nightmare. I always thought they were just... words from a dream.”

“Mmm, Danny, who said those words? Your nightmare, it was Discord, right?” I say, looking to my little brother, who nods in agreement.

Brick frowns. “Then why does Q know them? That makes no sense.”

I hum, closing my eyes and crossing my arms, softly tapping my arm with my fingers as I do my best to think. Nothing came to mind, making me snort in frustration. “Damn it, there has to be something we're missing. A thread, some kind of connection.” I grumble, not pleased by the mental gymnastics that all of this was causing.

We sit there pondering for a while before I sigh. “This is getting us nowhere. I'm... I'm gonna take a break I'll see you in a few.” I mutter, standing up after a few more moments and making my way to the living room where I crash onto the couch, hitting the remote with my elbow on the way down. I grumble a light curse as the TV switches off of DVD mode and turns onto actual TV, the news in fact.

“-And it's absolute chaos here in downtown Seattle where a shootout took place outside of this small, family owned cafe. This is the second currently unexplained explosion to take place today, and police are on high alert for possible terrorist activity, as a bookstore was destroyed from the inside around midnight, and now a shootout took place outside the cafe. Thankfully, no bodies were discovered and it appears that all onlookers were able to escape the cafe without injury, though the owners are distraught at the loss of their property. Police have received an eyewitness report and pictures of two figures who fled the scene, chased by two large black SUVs. Similar reports come from a shootout on I-99, where two figures on a motorcycle with a side car were fired upon from and fired back at two unidentified black SUVs, causing the SUVs to crash.” The news woman is saying, pictures of the blacked corpse of the Windpower Cafe on the screen, followed by glimpsed cellphone pictures of my bike. Or rather, my back tire, the back of my left leg and a bit of my boot, a bit of the sidecar, and the long hair of Brick being whipped around by the wind. Thankfully, it missed my license plate entirely, and they didn't have any pictures of the shootout. Good. I let out a slow breath as the image on the screen switches to the SUVs, crashed on the highway.

They were riddled with bullet holes. Brick really went to town on them, the glass in the windows were shattered, and both vehicles were beaten to hell, having crashed into one another. A body in a mismatched suit was stone in a limp, rag-doll way halfway out the window, the body twisted in unnatural ways. He must have been hanging out of the window when the SUV rolled.

“Current casualty count is six fatalities from the highway shootout, all from the two SUVs, and three scorch and concussion hurt men from the explosion in the Windpower Cafe.” The lady finishes. “Seattle's Police Department has issued a request for any possible information for either of these attacks in order to find the cause of these possible terrorist attacks, though no claims for either attack ha-”

I turn the TV off with a softly shaking hand, shivering softly. They had pictures of my bike, but not enough to identify it or me. They had a picture of Brick, though it looked like you couldn't see more then her mane. Discord's... toy mobsters, I guess we'll call 'em, had caused some serious damage, and some people had gotten hurt because of it. I drop the remote on the couch and hang my head, softly gripping my knees.

It was my fault. I don't know how, I don't know why, but Q had planned this. He said as much. He was trying to kill me. He didn't care who got in his way, but he was trying to kill me, and destroy the fucking jewelry that looked like it was out of a kids TV show. For some crazy ass master plan that was threatening my best friend and my little brother. Today couldn't possibly get any worse.

I don't know how long I was sitting there, just hanging my head. A soft arm draped itself around my shoulders, giving me a soft squeeze. I slowly turned my head and saw Brick sitting there, trying to give me an encouraging smile. “Hey, come on Pony-boy. Don't be so down, we've been in worse scraps then this. Remember that one time in Denver?” She says with a firm nod.

I half-laugh as I nudge her with my elbow. “Yeah... but, I don't know right now Brick. Denver was an adventure, sure, but escaping from a drug-ring running gang is one thing. This is just... it's too much. I don't get it, I don't get what this plan of Q's is. I don't get why he's trying to kill me, and doesn't seem to care about killing others to get me. Hell, I...”

I pause and then groan, hanging my head again. “Fuck. The Meetup.”

Brick blinks and then blanches, shaking her head. “Damn it, I forgot about that as well. There's no way in hell you're gonna be able to get there if the Police are looking for suspicious individuals with the Elements on you.”

The Meetup. A bi-yearly event for the Mob, Mafia, Yakuza, and Triads, as well as some small time Gangs around the USA. It's one of the few 'peaceful' moments between the families. A time for making agreements, deals, adjusting old ones, discussing territories, and showing off the newest hardware we have, showing off power. Or, showing off the newest items we've acquired. Art pieces, stolen goods, new vehicles. Anything really fancy and showy, or rare, that we can show to prove that we're more powerful, have better connections. A big game, really.

I slowly stand up and walk over to the Elements of Harmony, carefully picking up the Jewelry box and carrying it over to my coffee table and setting it down, and after a moments hesitation, opening the box, looking at the five gorgeous necklaces and the beautiful tiara. I softly lay my fingers on the jeweled star adorning the tiara, letting out a thoughtful hum before I groan and hang my head. Q really did want me dead, and he had been planning it the moment I had negotiated for the Elements.

I look over at Brick, who's been showing much more emotion then I've ever seen her show before. She gives me a soft, worried frown, and stands up, walking over to my side. I sigh and slump back down onto the couch and after a moment, she sits down with me.

“You got something on your mind Michael. What's wrong? Did you figure something out?” Brick asks quietly as she prods my shoulder with a finger. I look at her, eyes moving over her slender face, bright, shining eyes, and perky ears, which are swiveled towards me to catch everything I say. It's kinda cute really, and earns a small chuckle from me before I sigh again.

“Yeah. Whatever Q's plan is, he was planning it for a while. He's convinced that killing me is important.” I say flatly, turning to look at the Elements again, gazing at the beautiful jewelry. “He's planning on turning the Mob against me. Actually, no, he already has.” I growl, gritting my teeth as a spike of anger rolls through my veins.

“What are you talking about?” Brick says, frowning. “The Mob would never just abandon you, you're family!”

“Yeah, family that has been photographed running from one of our safehouses before it exploded with a girl they don't know in my sidecar, and is skipping out on the Meetup without delivering a four-million-dollar deal that was gonna be a centerpiece for our showing this year.” I say blandly, hanging my head. “There's no excuse for it, and any explanation I could make is absolute bullshit.”

Brick opens her mouth to say something, but I stop her with a finger on her lips. “And I know that you'd speak for me, but Brick, you don't even sound like yourself anymore, and you're... well, you're not Brick. At least, not physically, and you know the Boss isn't just gonna accept a text or an Email from your account. You'd have to at least make a phonecall with a second to verify.”

Brick huffs at me, pouting, but she can't disagree. “So what you're saying is that we're screwed.”

I shake my head. “No, what I'm saying is that we have too many questions and too few answers. We need to figure out what's going on, who Q is, and then we need to find somewhere safe to start planning.”

Brick's ears flick at that and she tilts her head, looking at me curiously. “Planning? Planning for what?”

I grin a wicked, pain promising grin at Brick, feeling much more energetic as the oldest of human natures takes a hold of me, the desire to express my rage to the world. “Revenge, of course. Or getting him first.” I +snarl, punching my fist into my palm. “I'm not gonna lay down and let him fucking kill me, not without getting my shot at him first. Besides, he's threatening Danny.”

Brick grins back at me, baring her teeth, which makes me recoil slightly, as I notice that her canines are gone, and she's only got molars. “That sounds like an excellent idea Pony.”

“B-big brother?” Danny's voice comes up from behind the couch. I flinch and softly turn to look over the couch.

The much smaller little brother of mine looks up at me, his ears folded back and big brown eyes gazing at me mournfully. His tail is hanging out and is drooping to the floor. “Are you really gonna... fight? I mean, you could get hurt!”

I sigh softly, and after a moments hesitation, reach over the couch and pick up my little brother, lifting him over the couch and onto it, sitting him down next to me. He presses into my side and hugs me tightly, and I softly rub his head behind his ears, trying to think of the best way to word what I want to say as I just rub his head.

“... I know I could get hurt Danny. But that's why I got to do it. Because if they hurt me, then they could try to hurt you, and I can't let them do that. I won't let Q do that.” I say, softly clenching my free hand. “I promised.”

“But big brother...” Danny says, looking up at me again. “I don't... I don't think Q is behind this, who'ver this guy is. He's trying to destroy the Elements of Harmony, right?”

Brick hums thoughtfully and speaks up, “He's got a point Pony. He's not trying to kill you specificity, I don't think, he's trying to destroy the elements. He thought you had them on you after all.”

I raise an eyebrow at Brick, who blushes and turns her head a bit. Guess she heard more of the phone call then I expected, but she does have those new horse ears. She probably can hear a lot better then I thought. I make a mental note to be a bit more careful about where and how loudly I'm talking to keep too much to getting to Danny before looking up at the ceiling.

They did have a point though. Q wanted to kill me to destroy the Elements of Harmony. That's what he was saying. And that freaky speech at the end of the call... it was empowered somehow, those words. They still echoed in my head, making me shiver to my very core. Finally, I respond to the two partial ponies, still softly rubbing Danny's head.

“Well, if it's not Q, then who is it? I mean, I've met him like fifty times. He seemed normal, if eccentric.” I question, looking down at Danny.

Danny twiddles his thumbs, looking down at his hands as he replies, “Discord of course. I mean, he and Q have the same actor.”

… Wait, what?

“Hold on, what do you mean, Q and Discord have the same actor?” I say, looking down at Danny.

Danny looks up. “Q is played in Star Trek by John D. Lacey, who voice acted Discord for the show. They're both chaotic characters, in their own ways, and love messing with people.”

My jaw drops a bit as I think that over. “So wait, you're saying Q is Discord?”

Danny shrugs. “It sounds like it could be.”

Brick facepalms and groans. “That sounds almost too obvious to be true, but before we draw any conclusions, we should watch the last episode.”

All three of us let out a displeased groan at the thought of watching that horrible excuse for a finale again, but Danny softly hops off the couch and trots over to the TV, his hooves making that telltale clip-clop of equine hooves as turns the DVD player back on, and then trots back, leaping up into my lap and snuggling against me as I turn the TV on and switch over to the HDMI port to bring up the DVD and start the episode.

We all cringe through the start of the episode. The opening battle is pretty cool, but the moment Discord turns on Celestia and starts spouting his evil plan, I shiver and shudder, softly reaching up and gripping at my chest again. That phantom pain had returned and my eyes were locked on the draconequus.

“That sounds just like Q.” I say softly. “I think you might be right, little brother.”

The rest of the episode passes without much thought or complaint, but both Danny and Brick are frowning after Twilight is taken by Discord's magic and the credits roll, just like they always do. “Yeah, the final scene isn't there.” Brick says, leaning back.

“Uh-huh! Where is his attack against Luna and... Pipsqueak?” Danny says, tilting his head. “They were in the castle, several rooms down from Twilight's chambers.”

“I'm more confused about why they took out the scene with Discord attacking the hospital with his chaos. He was going to 'fix' injured ponies when Nurse Redheart charged out and kicked him in the snout, and he attacked her.” Brick says, crossing her arms.

I frown. “Those scenes were never in the episode. It just ends like that, with Twilight getting vanished.”

Danny and Brick look at me with confused looks on their faces, and then look at one another, frowning before looking at me again. I shrug at them both and give Danny a hug before moving him off of my lap and standing up and after a moment rolling my shoulders, squaring them when I hear the doorbell ring.

I bite my lower lip softly and after a moment, start for the door. “Brick, grab the Thompson, hide the elements under the couch. Danny, stay out of sight for now. I'll answer the door.” I say firmly, taking a deep breath. Paranoid? Maybe, but at the moment, I didn't feel like taking chances.

I don't bother to check to see if Brick and Danny listened to me, and started towards the door, patting my jacket to check that my Browning was there. I slowly, quietly step up to the door, trying not to be loud so I can sneak away from the door if there's trouble behind it, and softly look through the eyepiece.

On the other side of the door is two girls wearing hoodies. One of them looks very nervous and is softly patting her hood, as if she's having issues keeping it in place, and the other is smiling brightly and slightly bouncing in place, a lock of curly, bubblegum pink hair springing up and down with each bounce, like she can't stay still.

Unusual, and at the moment, unusual is making me nervous. I take a breath, making sure that I can easily draw my Browning before I slowly open the door, making sure the chain latch is in place. “Hello?” I say, looking at the two girls.

“Ah! U-um, hello there. M-my name is... Tess, and this is my friend...” The girl that was nervously patting her hood starts when the bouncy girl bounces up in front of my face, grinning brightly.

“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!” She says brightly, holding out a hand through the door to me, making me stumble back a bit for a moment before I look at her in confusion. They both sound very familiar in voice, but Pinkie Pie?

“Pinkie Pie. Like the cartoon pony.” I say flatly, shaking her hand after a few moments of the very unusual girl shaking it at me insistently.

“Uh-huh! I had a twichy-twich that told me that you were someone to follow and-” Pinkie's energetic speech was cut off by a hand covering her mouth, though she continued to chatter on though the hand, and the other girl looked at me warily.

“We... uh, well, we saw you on the highway, with the... other... um...” She frowns, biting her lower lip, obviously trying to figure out what to say before pulling her hand away from Pinkie's mouth and pulling her hood down, making my eyes almost pop out of my head.

There, right in the smack dab center of her forehead, was a gracefully fluted horn, and long bangs that were all shades of royal blue and purple. A haircut that I knew pretty well, considering that it featured pretty heavily in almost every single episode of a particular cartoon that my little brother and best friend were currently turning into characters from. I glance upwards, and perched on her head were two unmistakable horse ears.

I pause for a few moments, just staring before I slowly close the door. I undo the chain latch and open the door up fully. I stood about a head taller then each of the girls, and I cough lightly as I look down at them. Twilight fidgets under my gaze, and Pinkie smiles at me brightly.

“So, let me get this straight. You followed the guy on the motorcycle that was being chased by two big black SUVs and had a partially pony person sitting sidecar shooting at adversaries?” I say, unaware of my unintended alliteration, though the person who I could only assume was turning into Twilight Sparkle perked up a bit at that as the self-introduced Pinkie nods enthusiastically, her hood coming down and revealing a massive poof of bright pink curly hair which bounces all over with each nod, two more horse ears now visible and perked up in attention.

I rub my forehead. “And you thought this was a good idea... why? I mean, I'm sure you couldn't miss the fact that we were... not exactly chatting pleasantly and having tea n' crumpets or something like that. You've got to have figured out that I'm armed.”

“It's part of the reason why we came. We thought you might be in trouble, especially when we saw Nurse Redheart with you! And then I had three ear flops and a knee twitch which means that we needed to meet you!” Pinkie says, bouncing a bit more. Jeez, she really just couldn't stay still, could she? I stare at her for a few moments longer and groan, softly palming my face and shaking my head.

“You know what? Whatever. The last two days have been crazy enough. I'll accept Pinkie sense. Lord knows that it made about as much sense in the show as it's making now.” I grumble, looking at Pinkie who grins brightly at me. Twilight nods her head and softly coughs to draw my attention to her.

“Um, is it alright if we intrude upon your home for a little? There's four of us. Me, my sister, Pinkie, and Tom.” Twilight says, gesturing back behind her, where the others must be. I shrug lightly and wave a hand into my home.

“Yeah, yeah, come in.” I say, looking back into the house for a moment before looking to Twilight and... Pinkie? The pink-maned girl is gone, and I look around in confusion. Where in the world did she go?

Twilight sighs. “Don't ask, I don't know how she does it either.” She says as she graciously steps into my house after I back inside, walking with me towards the living room.

I step ahead of her and call out, “Brick, stand down, it's friendlies... I think. Danny, where are you?”

“Right here big brother!” Danny says as he climbs up over the couch and rolls over onto the cushions, sitting up with a bright smile before gasping. “Ms. Twilight!” He says, bouncing on the cushions a bit as he sees who followed me in.

“Heh, I guess. Hi Pipsqueak.” Twilight says, giving Danny a smile while I look at her in confusion, mostly because I thought it was an unusual nickname to call someone you don't know by. Danny grins brightly though, so I brush it off.

Brick lets out a deep sigh as she leans against the wall, holding my Thompson lightly, flicking the safety back on while Twilight watches her. “Twilight Sparkle? Huh. Well, that brings more questions, but glad to know we found one of the mane six.” Brick says, glancing down at the couch she's standing next to. Guess that's where the Elements are stashed.

A few moments pass in sightly-awkward silence before the cheery chattering voice of one Pinkamina Diane Pie echos through my house as a series of hoof-steps announce the arrival of the rest of Twilight's group, along with the sound of my front door closing. I cross my arms and sit down on the back of my couch as Pinkie walks in, still chattering away, followed by a very elegant lady with finely curled purple hair and bright white horse ears and a horn like Twilight, who I could only assume to be Rarity, and a big, strapping fellow with firm shoulders and a chiseled jaw, royal blue hair and two white ears, and of course, a horn.

A light snigger leaves me, making me shake my head. “Unicorns. Three bloody unicorns. And here I thought I had seen everything.” I say glibly, laughing a bit. The three unicorns give me a flat look and I grin back, giving them a light shrug. “Sorry, sorry, I'm just... well, it's been more then a little crazy, and now I've got three mythological creatures in my living room, along with my best friend who's apparently turned female and is shrinking, and my little brother that's lost half his height and is also turning into a cartoon pony.”

Saying it out loud like that made me twitch uncomfortably, as it sounded just insane, asinine even, but here we were. Twilight coughs a bit and then gestures to the other ponies. “Um, well, lets do introductions then? I'm Tess, this is my si... brother, Rachel,” 'Rachel' looks pretty unhappy with that title name, though I suppose suddenly having a penis instead of a vagina is as freaky as waking up without a penis and having a vagina instead, so I just nodded and urged 'Tess' on, who coughed lightly into her hand before continuing, “The other unicorn is Tom, and...”

Pinkie jumped up in front of me, making me yelp in surprise and back step before she grins and holds out her hand. “I'm Harry! Hiiiii!”

'Tess' groans and hangs her head, face palming and gestures to the bouncy pink one. “Well, yes, you've met Harry already.”

I blink and cross my arms. “Right. Well, I'm Michael, Michael McCloud, most people call me Pony Express.” I say before gesturing to Brick, who's stepped up to the group with Danny, who's trotting circles around the group in excitement before he leaps over and hugs my leg, grinning brightly at the four new... do I call them people or ponies, I wonder?

“This is Brick, don't ask about her last name, she doesn't use it and despises it, and don't ask about her first name, or you'll learn the hard way. And the little ball of energy is my little brother, Danny.” I finish kind of lamely, not sure how to continue.

Danny smiles and takes over for me, speaking up. “We should say our pony names! I'm Pipsqueak!” He says brightly, that Nottingham-esk accent lighting a smile on my face. “That's Nurse Redheart!”

Ahhhh. Suddenly that explains what 'Twilight'... or Tess I guess? Whatever, why she used his nickname so readily. That little pony from Trottingham with a fixation on Princess Luna.

I am barely able to withhold my urge to facepalm about how obvious that connection between the character and my little brother was, and glance over to my unfortunate friend. Brick sighs as Danny points at her, and she nods lightly. “Or at least, that's the cutie mark on my flank.” She says.

'Tom' rubs the back of her head, and speaks up, “I think I'm Rarity, as Redheart said, that's the cutie mark.” She says, followed by 'Rachel'.

“Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard.” He says, his voice strong and smooth. Very manly. Bet 'Rachel' isn't too happy with that, but I left it be for now as I turned to look at 'Tess' and 'Harry' who shrug. I pretty much said their names out loud already, but they confirm it moments later.

“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!” 'Harry' says as 'Tess' follows up with a simple, “Twilight Sparkle.”

I nod and let out a breath. “So... uh, should we be using all of your Pony Names, or would you prefer human names, or...?” I look at them all.

The ponies fidget for a moment before Twilight looks at me pointedly. “What about you? I mean, aren't you...”

I shake my head, and wave a hand through my my hair. “No ears, no tail. Nothing has changed as far as I'm aware.” I say. “So human am I.”

Twilight mutters a curse, getting a startled look from me as she starts grumbling about 'broken patters of siblings' or something, and she starts pacing. Meanwhile, Shining Armor steps up to me. “Well, a pleasure to meet you Mr. McCloud. Thank you for letting us into your home.”

I shrug and offer my hand, which Shining shakes, and give him a light smirk. “Well, you all seem like you need some help, and my little brother is pretty fond of you ponies, so I guess I'll do what I can to help. Besides, if Discord's been working this plan of his against everyone, then he's gonna go after Danny at some point...” Danny softly elbows me in the leg and pouts at me, making me roll my eyes. “Sorry, Pipsqueak, which means he's gonna have to go through me.” I say, letting go of Shining's hand and crossing my arms.

The four new ponies give me a confused look and Danny hugs my leg a little harder. I sigh and rub my forehead. “Maybe we should all sit down and get comfortable? I think I've got a lot of talking to do.”

-//-

It's mostly organized chaos getting myself and the ponies sorted out and seated in my living room. We finally end up with myself seated on my couch, against the side arm, with Danny snuggled into my lap and Brick sitting next to me, Shining Armor and Pinkie Pie sitting across from me, Twilight and Rarity sitting on the other side of Brick. Everyone has some food of some kind with them after I walked to the fridge to raid it, because frankly, I wanted something to munch on, and I offered food. The ponies all had, well, pony food, so apples, carrots, and celery stocks... hehe, missing the colorful flowers though.

I sigh and rub Danny's head as I take a bite out of my apple, looking around at each pony as I chew and swallow before speaking up. “Ok, so, I guess I'll start with what I know information wise. Mostly because I don't know what you all know about what's going on, but I think I've got a bit more if only because I've actually ended up face to face with the big bad.”

This gets everyone’s attention, though Danny and Brick already know, and Shining Armor leans forwards. “Wait, you mean you've met with Discord face to face? How?”

I sigh. Well, the secret was already out, might as well go all the way with it. “Well, first of all, you should know that I'm a member of the Mob.”

This gets the expected reaction of surprise and slight disturbance from the four out of the know. I stick my thumb at Brick. “This one is too. Brick-” “Nurse Redheart big brother! Come on!” Danny interrupts me, making me sigh and shake my head.

“Right, right, NURSE REDHEART, is my best friend from Highschool and my Enforcer in the Mob. I'm a... well, more or less a business dealer and delivery man. An art dealer and weapons dealer, so to speak, gun runner, so on so forth.” I explain, rubbing the back of my neck. “Hence the nickname, 'The Pony Express'. Anyway, my last business deal was with an art dealer that had a particular set of jewelry that my boss really wants to show off. Four million dollars worth of fancy art here. Some of the finest craftsmanship I've ever seen.”

“Ok, I'm failing to see the connection here, though I do quite want to see these art pieces.” Rarity says with a soft flip of her head to get the hair out of her eyes.

I shake my head. “Oh, I'm sure you will. Anyway, the art dealer that had these pieces goes by the name of Q, and I had spent a good seven hours wheeling and dealing with him to get them. I get the art pieces, and not two days later I'm being shot at with my best friend who is turning into a pony while running from two big black SUVs loaded with guys who share the same taste in suits as he does. And then I get a phonecall from the guy.”

I look around at the whole group. “Q called me, and gave me this whole villain speech, ending with a series of lines... Five Score, Divided by Four.” I say. Everyone freezes, as if they're remembering those lines in their heads.

Shining speaks up quietly, “I've heard that before... Five Score, Divided by Four, Your Memories removed, your body confused.” He says, shifting uncomfortably. I nod my head.

“Yep. He gave me that whole speech, and honestly, it shook me to my core, like he was trying to cast some fucking hoodoo voodoo on me. Actually made my cellphone spark up and melt. Da... uh...” I pause, looking at Danny, who is looking and frowning at me, making me sigh before I say, “Pipsqueak, actually struck upon the connection between names. He thinks, and honestly, I'm fairly convinced, that Q is actually Discord, and the human form is one he's using to move among our... I can say our right? I mean, you all are still kinda human.” I say, looking around at the collection of manes, horse ears, hooves, tails, and horns.

This makes everyone shift around and act in a slightly nervous manner. I cough, taking over the conversation again. “Uh, well, anyway, it's the only way that he can walk around Earth. He was using it to set up the art pieces, to give them to a human, in order to destroy them.”

“Destroy what?” Pinkie asks, looking at me wide eyed.

I softly lift Danny... Pipsqueak, up, placing him on Brick's lap before reaching under the couch and pulling out the jewelry box. “To destroy the Elements of Harmony.” I say as I turn the box around and open it up while it's sitting on my lap, movie style, earning a gasp from the four ponies that hadn't seen them. Heh. Works every time.

“You have the Elements!” Twilight and Shining Armor say at the exact same time, and by say I mean shout, making me wince and nod.

“Yes, yes I do. At least, I think so. I can't see any flaws and they certainly feel real enough.” I say, rubbing the back of my head before softly closing the jewelry case again. “Q said during the call that the Element's destruction was in 'my hands'. That magic didn't have enough influence in our world or... something. He's planning on making sure I die, enough that he's turning the Mob, and most likely, all the other criminal organizations against me.”

All of the ponies, including my little brother, gape at me. Brick hesitates a moment, chewing her lower lip, and then softly lays a hand on my shoulder. I give her a soft smile at the comforting gesture before looking back to the rest of the ponies. “I guess he thinks that my death will somehow ensure the destruction of the Elements of Harmony. I doubt it, because frankly, it sounds stupid. But whatever, he's the God of fucking chaos, I guess he can think what he wants.”

The room falls silent as everyone contemplates what I've said as I shift a bit in my seat, uncomfortable under their gaze before opening the jewelry case again, softly turning it so I can look at the Elements again. They really are very nice. The colors of the gems are just amazing, polished and shining with perfect clarity as I let my fingers softly trace over each necklace and gem. The group starts talking again, but I'm not paying attention at all as I look at them.

The background noise fades away and I loose myself in inspecting the necklaces and tiara. I mean, seriously, something this beautiful shouldn't be able to exist. I'm not exactly much of an art lover, but even I can appreciate how beautiful and well crafted these are as I carefully trace each gem.

I can sightly hear someone saying something about 'did you see that?!' but I ignore it, assuming they're looking at the TV or something as I continue to gaze at the Elements. A few moments pass before a hand is waved in front of my face and I snap back into focus, looking up and shaking my head.

“Pony, are you alright? You kinda... blinked out on us.” Redheart says, looking over at me with worry crossing her face. I blink, and look around at the ponies, each one giving me a look of worry or confusion, with the exception of Twilight, who's got studious curiosity on her face.

I frown. “What are you talking about Redheart? I was just looking at the Elements.” I say, shrugging at her. She frowns at me, opening her mouth to say something before closing it, working her jaw before finally speaking up.

“Pony, you've been looking and tracing the Elements for about six minutes now. Are you ok?” She says, softly touching my shoulder. I sigh at her and shake my head. “I'm fine Redheart, honestly.”

Twilight stands up from her seat and walks over to me and the Elements. “Turn your head and look at me please.” She says, crossing her arms. I frown, wondering what she's on about, and look at her.

Twilight hums, tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully, and says, “Well, he seems fine, his eyes are dilated, and his breathing appears to be smooth and steady, so he's at ease. Hands up please.”

I blink and sigh at Twilight. “What's this about?” I say, giving her a annoyed and confused glare as I lift my hands up for her. She takes them and flips them over so she can see the palms of my hands, studying my fingers.

“No damage, no scorch marks... hmmm, interesting.” Twilight says. I frown at her and pull my hands away, closing the Elements case, giving them one last glance before standing up, setting the case on the coffee table.

“Alright, well, that's enough weirdness for one day.” I grumble, stretching a bit. Twilight frowns at me. “Wait, before you go.” She says, holding out a hand for me to stop.

I sigh, stop, and turn to face her and the rest of the ponies. She coughs, blushing slightly, as if she's embarrassed about something. “I need you to drop your pants. Just the side, so we can see the flank of your butt.”

I blink at her. “... You're joking.” I say, shaking my head before looking at her.

Twilight just stares at me, looking rather serious, if embarrassed. The others are all looking at me now, same expression, though Pipsqueak looks confused as he speaks up. “Why do you want to see his flank Twilight?”

Twilight coughs softly. “Well, I'm trying to see if he has a cutie mark or not.”

Pipsqueak lets out an 'oh' as I look at them in confusion. “A cutie mark? What, like in the show?” I say. “Come on, I know you're all turning into the ponies, but you can't tell me that you actually have their cutie marks. That'd just be silly.” My mind's in such a haze... didn't Brick say something to that effect at the cafe?

The ponies glance at one another, looking decisively uncomfortable before Twilight sighs, as if she's taking charge, and turns to the side, her tail swaying as she grips the side of her pants and pull them down. I blush, turning to look away, when something unusual catches my eye. There, right on her flank, as clear as day, is her cutie mark. Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark.

I blanch, taking a step back. “What the hell...”

Twilight nods. “Right. That's why I want you to show me your side. We need to see if you have a mark or not.”

I bite my lip, and after a moment, turn so that my side is facing the rest of the group and drop my pants and boxers enough that we'd be able to see my 'flank'. I look away for a moment, afraid of what I might see there, but I eventually turn my head to look down.

What I see relieves me. Nothing. No mark, just my own skin. I chuckle lightly and pull my pants back into place. “See, nothing.” I say, shaking my head, only vaguely aware of the worried looks I'm getting from the pony people.

“If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna take a nap. I've been awake for far too long, and it's...” I glance at my watch, and sigh. “It's almost sixteen hundred. Wake me up tomorrow or something, please. Good... whatever it is, afternoon, night, whatever... Brick, you're welcome to raid my armory if you wish, please refill the Thompson's magazines...”

With that note, and a very weird glance from Shining Armor, I turn on my heel and make my way to my room, sliding into bed and crashing out after kicking off my jeans and dropping my jacket onto the chair in front of my desk.

I stretch and groan as I slump into bed, not even fully bothering with the covers as I pull them over my legs and grip one of my pillows, curling lightly to sleep.

Ugh... I dunno what I'm about to dream, but I'm not looking forwards to it. It's been a weird few days, that's for sure. I just wonder why I'm suddenly so tired... I mean, I'm just... so... tired.

Chapter 4 End.

Author's Note

So we're reaching the end of what I wrote during my crazy blackout moment, and I hope you've enjoyed what you've read so far. Unfortunately, due to real life working against me, I've been grinding out the next chapters slowly, so chapter 5 will most likely be the last 'weekly' release I make.

Till next time, and as always, leave a comment or criticism, everything helps me improve.