A Two Sided Coinby arkantosChaptersA second chanceThis world of mineThe structures that make itAnd the people that inhabit themThe other side of the coinA second chanceAs the link between the two worlds faded and the voices of the ponies could no longer be heard, Inhio slumped into comfy, leather chair, grabbed its edges and exhaled loudly, as if letting out what energy he still had left inside him that day. He sat in his chair for a good few hours, constantly reminiscing about everything he had gone through that day. Although they were only mere moments, they still felt longer than the rest of the year he had lived through up until this moment. He could recall every moment ever so clearly from today, unlike all the other days, out of which he couldn't remember so much as a minute. As his life had turned into a routine at some point, time became meaningless to him...Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and by the end of the year he could barely remember doing anything...He had longed for something like this for years. At long last, such a moment had finally arrived. Sadly, it had only arrived to be sent back from whence it came on the same day. Although Inhio repeatedly cursed himself for this decision, deep down he always felt like it was the right one to make. As Inhio got engulfed by his inner thoughts, the time flied away and eventually left him too tired to even get up from his chair. Neither hungry nor thirsty, not to mention - out of energy, Inhio simply fell asleep as soon as the darkness had settled in his room. *** On the other side of the ball, the ponies of Equestria felt no more energized than Inhio did. More than anypony, Twilight was simply devastated by this unexpected turn of events. Much like Inhio, she just felt like sitting there for hours and pondering, mostly only with one question on her mind. Why? She felt sad. Tears kept hitting the ground between her forelegs for quite some time. She felt lifeless. The flame that had been burning inside her for the whole day was put out in an instant, leaving her with neither a plan, nor any enthusiasm to fulfill it even if she had one. But above all else, she felt betrayed...no matter how cordial was Inhio's tone when he said that this was for the best, Twilight couldn't help but hate him for depriving her of her one chance to see a different world. Twilight's friends dared not intervene. They knew Twilight needed some time to process all of this, but after she had spent nearly ten minutes crying, and then another good fifteen minutes staring blankly at the floor with a dark shadow clouding her face, her friends simply had to do something. "Twilight?" a friendly voice spoke up as a warm hoof found its way onto Twilight's shoulder. "This isn't over!" Twilight suddenly threw her head sideways and shouted at her friend. Applejack gasped and took a few steps backwards. "You okay there, Twilight?" she asked in a slightly nervous tone. "I won't let him get away with this!" with eyes full of crazed hatred, Twilight kept shouting in the same voice as before, "You'll see! I will find another way to reach planet Earth, and when I do..." Twilight paused for a moment and turned her head back towards the floor in front of her. In a voice not as loud, but no less troubled than before, Twilight quietly finished her sentence, "I'll make Inhio regret this decision..." *** A new day had dawned on planet Earth, and Inhio Hellbridge was already wide awake and performing his daily routine with the same emotionless expression as always. He knew his day so well that his body no longer needed any guidance, it simply followed its usual course while Inhio's mind still dwelt in yesterday's adventure. It felt like nothing to him, it seemed like mere minutes that he spent thinking about it, when in fact, it was several hours. By the time his day was already nearing its end, and the man himself nearing the door to his apartment, Inhio couldn't even remember leaving his door earlier that morning, and yet, here he was, gazing at the sunset which was still a sunrise just a single blink away. This has to stop... he thought to himself as he reached for the keys in his pocket. If I keep spending my days dwelling in yesterday, then the future will no longer have a point. He shook his head to free his mind of the thoughts that simply wouldn't let him go. He had spent more time than usual in his booth this day, and as he walked inside his room, he was just about ready to declare the day to be over...but it seems fate would have different plans in store for him. He stopped in the middle of his room and sighed loudly. "What I wouldn't give for-" Before Inhio could finish his sentence, something crashed into him and landed on the floor along with him. "Oomph!" he grunted loudly as he hit the ground. "What the?" Inhio spoke out, leaving his mouth agape after the last word. "You!" The one responsible for knocking Inhio down was now pointing her purple hoof at his face while standing on his torso. "Did you really think you could get rid of us so easily?" Twilight Sparkle interrogated the man under her hooves. Inhio didn't know what to think. The sudden shock had faded as he realized just who was it that was addressing him. Now the only thing he couldn't figure out was what was the emotion he felt inside him. Was it joy? Why wouldn't it be? The adventure that he was practically forced to deny himself of had returned to give him another chance. Or was it sadness? If These ponies were already here now, not to mention, very mad at him...Inhio knew he wouldn't have a choice other than to show them the world the he feared might ruin the way they saw the universe they lived in. Or was it simply fear? Given Twilight's tone, no one could blame him at this point. "Well!?" Twilight shouted again after not getting a reply from Inhio for some time. "Twilight Sparkle, I presume?" Inhio finally spoke up. "I asked you a question!" Twilight retorted. "You look even more majestic than I had imagined," Inhio continued without regard for Twilight's last statement. "Why thank you, I...Hey!" Twilight protested after realizing she was getting played. "He he he..." A quiet laugh drew both of their looks away. "You're too easily swayed away, Twilight." Rainbow Dash slyly budged in on the conversation. "Seriously! After the stunt you pulled yesterday, I thought you were going to blast Inhio with a lightning bolt as soon as you set eyes on him." Twilight snorted loudly. "Aah, and you must be Rainbow Dash," Inhio addressed the other pony. "I've heard so much about you." "He he he..." Rainbow Dash let out a somewhat modest-sounding laugh. "As expected. I am the talk of the town, after a..." She suddenly paused for a moment. "Wait a minute..." Inhio and the other five ponies in the room joined together for a good laugh. "Oh, ha ha, very funny!" Rainbow Dash pouted and turned her head away from her friends. With the attention of his guests being drawn away, Inhio took his chance to free himself of Twilight's weight on his torso. "So..." Inhio stood up and wiped the dust off his clothes. "What brings all of you here at this late hour?" Inhio asked sarcastically. Twilight only answered him with an furious glare, to which Inhio simply stared right back at with a blank expression. The tension between the two was too much for even Rainbow Dash to be able to interrupt a second time. "Did you really think I wanted to send you away?" Inhio said in a serious tone after a good while of silence. "Does it really matter what you wanted?" Twilight answered in a rather cynical tone. "We trusted you up until the very end! Did that really mean nothing to you!?" Twilight pointed and yelled at the man as a few tiny tears started forming at the corners of her eyes. "How could you betray us so?" "Betray you?" Inhio asked, stunned by Twilight's arrogance and ignorance. "I only did that to protect you!" he took a step forward and shouted at Twilight. "Protect us from what?" Twilight asked, still unconvinced that Inhio's motives were truly ever noble. Inhio did not answer. Instead he slowly walked over to his window and lifted up the curtains covering it. "From this." The six ponies walked up to the window and stared out of it in awe. Inhio happened to be living in a building that nearly bordered with the clouds. "Woah!" "Do you also live in a castle?" "Not at all," Inhio calmly replied. "If you walk a bit closer, you'll notice structures just like this one in every direction." And so the ponies did just as Inhio suggested and walked closer to the window. The closer they got to it, the closer their jaws got to the floor...The concrete jungle that Inhio called home wouldn't faze any person he knew, but to a few creatures that could only relate this view to nothing other than the streets of Manehattan...This was quite the first experience. They spent a good while staring at all the sights around them and wondering what purpose they served. Among other things, one of the most curious sights was the street dividing the city. It was constantly being surfed by a multitude of objects too quick to be horse-drawn carriages. Not to mention - too small to be identified from such a height. Inhio decided to close the curtain before the ponies got spotted by someone doing the same thing as them. "This place looks amazing!" "Why would you ever want to prevent us from seeing this?" Twilight asked with a bewildered expression. "Don't judge a book by its cover," Inhio quickly replied. "Why?" Twilight couldn't help but wonder. "How bad could this place possibly be?" "You have no idea." "Even if this place is as bad as you say, that's not for you to decide!" Twilight scolded Inhio. "You had no right to send us back simply because you thought that whatever is so bad about this place was bad enough to make us regret coming here!" "You're right." Inhio smiled at Twilight. "It was wrong of me to judge...I barely even knew you..." He turned away and took a few steps away from his guests. "But it's not the place itself that is bad...it's the ones that inhabit it that made me feel concerned about you," he explained in a tranquil tone. The six ponies started looking at each other as they pondered on Inhio's words. "I would ask how you managed to find your way here despite my...betrayal..." Inhio stopped near his table and squatted down. "But given the fact that I didn't even bother removing the ball from its pedestal, I'm guessing it wasn't all that hard to find a way around it," he spoke while gazing at the curious object on his table. "You're guessing right," Twilight replied. "I suppose we should at least thank you for getting us this far," Twilight unwillingly admitted. "There's no need for that, really..." Inhio politely told her. "You can decide whether to thank me or not after I've shown you more of my world." The ponies perked up their ears. "So...does this mean-" Inhio nodded and happily announced, "Ready yourselves, we're going on a tour." The ponies immediately all started cheering loudly. Inhio let them enjoy their moment, but right afterwards he continued in a rather serious tone, "However, there is one final thing we need to settle before heading out." "What might that be?" Inhio paused for a moment to try and figure out how to speak his mind as subtly as possible. "Imagine a situation - It's just an ordinary day in a Equestria, nothing odd going on anywhere in the nearest mile radius, but then, all of a sudden, six of my kind simply walk out of one of the houses and start walking through the streets as if they had lived there all their lives...How do you think your townsfolk would react?" Inhio asked with a sly smile. "I can see your point," Twilight replied after a moment of silence and began rubbing her chin. "Hmm..." "Something on your mind, Miss Sparkle?" Inhio asked as he picked up on her motion. "If only there was a way we could contact Spike..." "Spike?" "My faithful assistant, back in Equestria. We've been trying to contact him all day, but he doesn't seem to hear us," Twilight explained. "Perhaps I could try," Inhio suggested. "That's it!" Twilight jumped back into her more energetic state. "It makes sense! No one but you could hear us when we tried to talk from the other side, maybe it will also work this time!" "Worth a shot," Inhio agreed and instantly proceeded to pick up the crystal ball. "Spike? Are you there?" "Who is this!?" an adorably angry voice answered him right away. "What have you done with Twilight!?" the voice demanded an explanation. "It's alright, little one," Inhio calmed the young assistant. "She's right here with me, as are the rest of her friends. I assure you, she's perfectly fine." "Then how come you're the only one talking, huh? Why haven't I heard a word from her since the moment she disappeared into this stupid contraption!?" he asked, unconvinced by Inhio's words. "Tell me! Or I swear I'll-" "Easy, easy there, tough guy," Inhio replied in an amused tone. "Didn't Twilight already tell you anything about only a single person being able to hear them before she left the second time?" "Umm...Now that you mention it..." Spike rubbed the back of his neck in slight shame of his overreaction. "Wait a minute...Are you the guy that hurt her feelings so badly she couldn't stop crying for half an hour!?" Inhio stood silent for a moment and then slowly replied. "Aye...that's me." "How dare you hurt Twilight like that!? What's your deal, anyways? She trusted you! Why'd you have to go and let her down like that, huh?" "It's a long story, but we've already settled our differences...And I really am sorry for treating your friends that way, and I wish nothing more than to make it up to them," Inhio sincerely explained. "Well...okay, I guess we're cool..." Inhio decided to jump straight to the point. "Twilight seems to think that you might be able to help us out of a slight pickle." "Sure! Whatever you need, I'm always happy to help." "That's great! Umm...What was it exactly that you wanted him to do, Twilight?" Spike heard Inhio's voice addressing someone other than him, but he couldn't hear a reply from Twilight. "Spike?" "Yeah?" "Twilight's saying that there's a spell book that might solve all our problems, it should be located in the illusion spell sector of your library, under the letter c." "Got it!" Spike acknowledged Inho's words and followed his instructions. Inhio could hear several noises that indicated that Spike was doing as told. He heard several footsteps, followed by the sound of a set of wheels rolling across the room and someone climbing a ladder. Hmm... Inhio wondered. Those footsteps...Something tells me this Spike isn't just another pony. "Illusions...Illusions..." Spike's voice could be heard again. "C...c...c...I'm there," Spike reported. "What's it called?" "Cloaking spells." "Cloaking...spe...Got it!" Inhio kept listening as he heard the tiny assistant climb down the ladder, rush over to the table and turn several pages of the book. Twilight whispered something in Inhio's ear. Inhio nodded. "Turn the book over to page 42." "Page 42...hmm..." Spike fell silent for a moment. "Imitation? Is that right?" "Yes, that's what we need." "Huh...this almost looks like changeling magic," Spike quietly added. ...I'll ask later. Inhio thought to himself. Spike seemed to be struggling with something. "None of this makes any sense to me! Only Twilight would be able to make something out of this gibberish!" Spike declared in a frustrated tone. Inhio explained the situation to the ponies, but none of them seemed to have any ideas. "Wait a minute....Aha!" Spike shouted. A sound of paper being ripped was heard immediately after, also followed by a burp and something that sounded like something catching fire. What in the blazes is going on over there? Inhio wondered. "You alright there, buddy?" "Perfectly fine!" Spike quickly replied. "So...did it work?" "Did what work?" Inhio asked in confusion. "Never mind, it worked," he added after taking a closer look at the object in his hands. "Does this make any sense to you?" Inhio asked as he showed the ball to Twilight. Twilight gazed at the sphere and saw a sight that she was quite familiar with. "Yes! This is exactly what we needed!" "Thank you, Spike. You've been a great help," Inhio politely thanked Twilight's little assistant. "Don't mention it," Spike smugly replied. Twilight touched the ball in Inhio's hands and drove her hoof downwards as she followed the instructions provided. "Alright...I think I got it." Twilight was about to start preparing the spell, but she suddenly turned mad after noticing torn edges on the page inside the ball. "Did he just...Spiiiike!!!" Twilight furiously shouted. "Spike?" "Yeah?" "Did you tear a page out of one of Twilight's spell books?" Inhio asked in a slightly reproachful tone. "...Maybe..." Spike shyly replied. "I don't think she liked that very much." "He he he..." Spike laughed nervously. "Catch ya later, Inhio!" Spike said his goodbyes and darted away, dropping the ball on the ground. I get the feeling Twilight's still going to remember this after she gets back home. Inhio thought to himself. "What did he say?" "He said he's sorry," Inhio lied. "Tell him he's in a lot of trouble when I get back home!" Twilight instructed. "He's not there right now." "Why am I not surprised..." Twilight didn't seem amused. "At any rate, lets just get this over with," she said as she walked closer to her friends and readied herself. "Hold on, this might feel...strange," Twilight explained and started casting the spell. Her horn started emitting a bright, purple light which eventually engulfed her friends and even Inhio, who was standing a few steps away from them. The light got brighter as the spell continued. After a short moment, Inhio could no longer see the ponies. A quick flash of light followed. Inhio covered his eyes with his palm, and by the time he removed it, the six ponies could no longer be seen, for there were now six lovely ladies standing there in their stead. Inhio's mouth fell wide open from the sight. "That ought to do the trick," he said in a tone full of astonishment. The six girls immediately started inspecting themselves, and they seemed no less surprised than Inhio was. Inhio suddenly snickered. "You might want to learn how to stand on just two legs before we head out," he said with a wide smile on his face after seeing all six girls standing on all fours. As if hearing an order, the girls stood up right away and gave their new bodies a test run. Naturally, the first few steps were clumsy and shaky, and they would end up in as much laughs as bottom pain from falling over. "That's it, now you're getting the hang of it," Inhio encouraged them as their steps got more and more solid. "This ain't so bad." Rainbow Dash tried to show off as she turned her tiny steps in to wider and quicker ones. "Try not to break something, Rainbow dearest," Rarity replied. "Hey! I got this. Just watch m-" Her sentence got interrupted as she bumped into a lamp. "Does a nose count?" Applejack laughed. Her friends also joined in. "You seem to be very adept at entertaining your friends, Rainbow Dash." Inhio joined in on the laughing. Rainbow Dash only crossed her arms and pouted as a response. "So what do you think?" Twilight asked after the laughing had settled down. "Could we pass for common humans?" "Well..." Inhio timidly answered. "Your hair might attract slightly more attention than most people, but other than that, you should be good." "Our hair?" Rarity asked in slight shock. "Why, what ever do you mean, darling?" "There's nothing wrong with it, on the contrary, I actually love the way it looks. It's just that..." Inhio rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it's easier to show than to say, you'll see what I mean once you get a look at all the other women around here," he avoided the question and walked towards the door. The girls looked at each other and shrugged after hearing that reply. "Are you ready?" Inhio asked as he placed his hand on the door handle. With confident smiles on their faces, the six of them nodded. "In that case..." Inhio opened the door. "After you." He stood aside and let them through. All six of them slowly walked passed him. The one timidly walking at the very end of the pack caught his attention. May the gods have mercy on me...and them. Inhio thought to himself as his eyes sadly followed Fluttershy. This world of mineAt long last, the door to the outside world was open, and the eager citizens of Equestria finally got to see the brave new world for themselves. Mesmerized by all the sights and sounds, the girls spent their first half minute outdoors just looking around themselves. Each of them seemed to be more interested in certain aspects of the world. To one it was the people, to another - the structures or the cars. "We should get going, before we draw too much attention," Inhio told them and tried to mobilize them behind himself. Like a pack of hens behind a rooster, they didn't hesitate to follow him. However, that didn't stop them from constantly looking around. They kept on walking for a good five minutes before the questions started flowing in, one after another. "What's with all the people? I can't take a single step without nearly bumping into someone." Rainbow Dash jumped aside to avoid contact with a random stranger. "This is a big world, Miss Dash. The amount of people living here is just barely enough to keep it running," Inhio explained. "Ugh..." Rainbow Dash barely managed to avoid another impact. "Is this like the capital of planet Earth or something? How many people even are there in this place? A thousand? Ten thousand?" She paused for a moment. "A million?" she asked, as if expecting a negative answer. "Over seven billion." Rainbow Dash froze in place. Her left eye also twitched a couple times. "You're kidding...right?" "In the world, I mean. Not this city," Inhio corrected himself. "This city probably only has a few million or so." "H-h-how..." Rainbow Dash was completely stupefied. "I don't even know where to begin...How can you make this all work?" "We can't, as you'll soon find out," Inhio quickly replied. "Sadly, this world has built more than it can handle...Humans are both its most valuable asset and its greatest curse." "You're not making any sense." Rainbow Dash was still as confused as ever. "You'll soon see what I mean," Inhio calmly replied and kept moving. "Whatever..." "Umm...why are they all talking to themselves?" Pinkie Pie asked after spending a good while spectating everyone around her. "They're not," Inhio gave a swift reply. "Have you noticed some of them holding small, rectangle-shaped objects near their heads?" "Hmm...now that you mention it-" "To make things simple, those little devices are basically the same thing as the crystal balls you use to communicate with each other back in Equestria, only more compact and easier to use." "Ooh! Can we take one of those back with us? To be honest, I don't even like these spheres." "I'm afraid they wouldn't function in your world," Inhio sadly admitted. "Why not?" Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "It's rather hard to explain..." Inhio stumbled on his words. "These devices can only work when they're in range of a certain signal, a signal that only exists on planet Earth." "Kaaaaay?..." Pinkie didn't seem pleased with that answer. "Next question!" she suddenly shouted, startling her friends in the process. "What in the world are those strange-looking, horseless carriages constantly running through the streets? There's no one pulling them, and yet they move five times as fast as any carriage I've ever seen!" "Those carriages are called cars," Inhio explained. "Thanks to the creation of a few genius minds, those devices are able to pull themselves." "Amazing!" Applejack exclaimed. "You're world is so full of inventions so ingenious that it's even difficult to simply explain how they work!" Twilight added after a good while of observing and listening. "How is it that you still try to claim that your world is a horrible place?" she asked in bemused voice. "Keep walking," Inhio somewhat rudely replied without even turning back. At this point, Twilight was almost convinced that Inhio knew he was wrong all along and simply doesn't want to admit it. She even began to suspect him of lying to them... What if it was greed that made him try and prevent us from coming here? What if he was simply trying to keep the secrets of this amazing place to himself? If so, then I shouldn't let him out of my sights...He might just- Twilight's inner monologue was suddenly interrupted. "Hey!" Rainbow Dash turned around and yelled at a man who just bumped into her and kept walking as if nothing had happened. The man ignored her shout completely. "Ach!" Rarity found herself in a similar situation. "How rude!" she shouted at the man walking away from her. "F*** off, princess!" the man turned around and shouted back at her before continuing his journey. Apart from Fluttershy, who had just covered her mouth with both her palms, all the girls had stopped and stared at the man with their mouths agape and their eyes wide open...Such profanity was simply unheard of in their world. As they stopped and listened in on the conversations going on around them, they heard more and more swear words coming up from just about every direction. Before they could finish being shocked by their sudden realization of just how rude the humans of Earth were, another unpleasantry found its way to their group. "Hey, get a load of this freak show out!" A young man nudged his friend and pointed at the six girls still standing in shock. "Aha ha ha ha ha!" his friend laughed. "What's this? I didn't hear anything about the travelling circus coming to town today. "Good one!" His friend laughed and gave him a high-five. "f***ing weirdos," the young man dropped one final remark before heading on. Despite having open mouths, the girls could neither move nor speak after being exposed to this barbaric encounter. Who knows how long they would have kept on standing there if Inhio hadn't said a thing. "Lets keep going...Trust me, you don't want to draw even more attention," Inhio warmly whispered to them. With their voices still silent and their eyes still wide open from shock, the girls soon started slowly taking one step after another. Even after they had fallen back in line behind Inhio, they still found it hard to shake away their recent emotions. Just like that, this world suddenly just started seeming a lot less amazing to them, and noticing the bad things in it became a whole lot easier. "Inhio?" Twilight asked after a good moment of silence. "Hmm?" Inhio responded to let her know he's listening. "The people just sitting there on the edge of the sidewalk..." Twilight directed Inhio's attention at the homeless people begging for money. "...What's wrong with them?" "Those, Miss Twilight, are what we call beggars," Inhio quickly replied, almost as if already expecting that question. "Why?...What are they begging for?" "For money, of course," Inhio gave an obvious answer. "Having neither a job nor a home to return to, they've resorted to living solely of the mercy of other people," he explained and awaited their reaction. "That's horrible!" Twilight exclaimed. "How could something like this happen to them? And why are there so many?" "For some it was simply a streak of bad luck. To others it was their own fault for not being able to make do with the money they earned." After answering the first question and remaining uninterrupted, Inhio immediately proceeded to answer the second one. "For you see, Miss Sparkle, even though this world is vast in size, it still has more people on it that it can sustain. Thus, it can no longer afford to take care of everyone in it...In other words - everyone is on their own in this world, and people have simply stopped caring about others over time," Inhio revealed a sad truth about his world without even stuttering. "That's..." Twilight was at a loss of words. "I...I don't even know what to say...It's just so sad." She took a moment to inspect the poor people for another time, this time paying more attention to just how much less healthy and wealthy they seemed compared to the common folk. "What happens to them if no one shows them mercy over time?" despite being afraid to hear the answer, Twilight asked a scary question. "The same thing that happens to anyone that goes on for too long without food and water." "But...isn't there someone...some kind of organization or something that could take care of them?" "There are those who have tried...but over time, even they have stopped caring. Not to mention, the beggars themselves." "What!?" "Yes," Inhio confirmed his previous answer. "A lot of the poor people you see don't care as much about surviving as they do about just continuing to feed their addiction, which is mainly what got them in the state they are in now." "What?...What kind of addiction could do this to someone?" "There are a lot of things that people can get so used to using that they simply can no longer live without them at some point. They try them at first, and soon they find themselves short of willpower to rid themselves of it..." Inhio paused for a moment to give his words a more dramatic sound. "And that's not even the worst part." "I'm almost afraid to ask..." Inhio decided to explain anyways. "Wouldn't you think that if people spotted other people getting addicted to various things, they would act and do something to make it all stop?" "Umm...yes?" Twilight gave an unsure reply, as if expecting Inhio to tell her she's wrong. "Well, then you're thinking wrong...People are not ignorant to the addictions that their creations create, but instead of doing something to prevent it, they exploit the system and keep on feeding their addictions and making sure that the money they spend on them doesn't go to waste." "What are you saying, Inhio?" Twilight could barely believe her ears. "That people deliberately drive other people to this," she said as she held her arm aimed at the beggars they just passed by. "Simply so that they could have more money for themselves?" "You'd be amazed by how selfish humans can be, Twilight," Inhio gave an alternate answer and kept on moving. Neither Inhio nor the girls following him felt like saying anything for some time. Frowns formed on the faces of Inhio's companions as they pressed on. They would all look at each other as if feeling like something should be said, and yet, not a single word was heard up until the moment Inhio stopped and directed their attention towards something. "We're here." The structures that make itThe girls all gazed upwards and saw a massive stone building surrounded by a tall iron fence with barbed wire on top of it. It was also guarded by several high guard towers. As they stared downwards, they noticed a lot of people in identical uniforms walking around the courtyard and performing various tasks. "What is this place?" Twilight asked, unable to make heads or tails of the sight before her. "Ponies of Equestria, I present to you..." Inhio held his arms up in front of him with his palms facing the sky. "The biggest prison in this city." "A prison?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "We walked all this way just so you could show us a prison?" "And the people that inhabit it," Inhio added. "Why?" "If you would recall the last day, while you were still all only voices in a crystal ball, you asked me a few questions that I said I would answer later," Inhio reminded them. "About profanity, violence, theft and even murder." "Yes...I remember now," Twilight replied in a slightly shaky voice. "You've already seen the profanity in this world for yourself...Most of the time, the other three get people here." Twilight walked closer and touched the fence as she began to count the people in the courtyard. "There are so many of them...You can't mean to tell me that-" "I do," Inhio interrupted. "Every time you look at someone in this place, you're likely to be looking at either a murderer, bandit or thief...among people guilty of various other crimes." "There's hundreds of them in here...how can this be?" Twilight asked in shock and turned towards Inhio. "The prison back in Equestria have only ever known a few individual souls, but this!..." Twilight turned her attention back towards the prison inmates. "This...how many people do you think have died because of them?" "Probably at least twice as many as there are in here." "What!?" Twilight shouted in disbelief. "But...that doesn't make any sense!...How can-" "Doesn't it?" Inhio counter questioned her. "There's no sacred law that binds a man to being able to take the life of only a single other person...As far as I know, most of these people are serial killers." Inhio paused for a moment to let Twilight's mind process this information, right before adding a few more frightening words. "And that's just one prison." "What!?" "There are multitudes of these facilities throughout the world, and all of them hold hundreds of guilty criminals." The more things Inhio revealed about his world, the scarier it started seeming. Additionally, asking questions became harder every time...either because they were afraid to ask them, or simply because they couldn't figure out which one to ask, for they had dozens. "Well...most of them guilty, at least," Inhio slyly added. "What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow. "We live in a corrupted world that runs on a corrupted system, which is maintained by corrupted people, Miss Dash...Every now and then, someone completely innocent, or merely guilty of something like self-defense also finds his way into one of these facilities." "That's absurd!" Twilight shouted. "How can-" Twilight suddenly got interrupted by a prisoner that rammed the part of the fence where she was standing and laughed wickedly. "Aagh!" she screamed as she nearly fell off her feet. "Move a little closer, lovelies." The crazed man licked his lips while eyeballing Twilight. "I promise not to bite...much...he he he." The prisoner continued watching them closely as they took a few steps backwards and then followed Inhio away from there. "Do come back again some day, will ya? It gets boring with just the guys around here all the time!" the man shouted at them as they hurried away from him. "Eaugh!" Twilight shook from disgust. "What was his problem?" "The mind of someone who kills for pleasure is a mystery even to me," Inhio sadly replied. "Wait...did you just say for pleasure?" unsure of whether she had heard Inhio right, Rainbow Dash re-asked. "Indeed, I did." "As in...they don't even do it for power or any sort of material gain? They just do it because they enjoy it?" Inhio nodded at her. "Didn't they know they'd be sent here?" "Maybe they didn't, maybe they did but simply didn't care." "How...What..wh..." Rainbow Dash was at a complete loss of words. "I don't even know where to begin...There's just so much wrong with what you just said..." "Like I said, Rainbow Dash - The mind of someone who kills for pleasure is a mystery even to me." Inhio repeated himself. No more questions followed after Inhio's last statement. The walking continued for some time, after which Inhio stopped near a tall gate that surrounded a large mansion. "Please tell me this isn't another prison..." Twilight said with a touch of fear in her tone. "No," Inhio immediately replied. "Phew." Twilight wiped her forehead. "This is the place where I'd be in right now if I tried to tell someone who the six of you really are." "Huh?" All six girls got utterly confused. "This, my friends, is what we call an asylum...A home for the crazed and the demented." All six pony girls stared at the large building with wide eyes and raised eyebrows as they tried to make sense of Inhio's words. "But...you're not crazy," Twilight finally spoke up. "Not in their eyes." "How so?" "Silly thing about humans, Twilight, is that we are forced deny everything we can't understand. Those that don't are dubbed crazy by the world." "I don't understand..." "Basically..." Inhio switch to a more blunt approach. "If you see something unnatural and try to tell someone about it, they'll think you're crazy." "That's stupid," Rainbow Dash said after a moment of silence. "Agreed," Rarity added. "Tell me about it," Inhio also agreed. "It's only obvious that not all of the people in here are actually insane." "This place doesn't look too bad, though," Twilight added after a moment spent observing the mansion. "Only from the outside," Inhio rejected. "So what's it like on the inside?" "Sick," Inhio summed up his thoughts in a single word. "With the system with which they treat the people in there, it almost seems as though they want them to be crazy!" Inhio lost his composure and suddenly seemed frustrated. "They lock them up in small rooms and strap them into devices that prevent them from talking or moving their arms! And as if that wasn't enough, they constantly interrogate them with stupid questions that don't really have any right answers!" "That's awful!" Twilight exclaimed. "Why would they do that?" "To make sure they never get out," Inhio sadly admitted. "The questions they ask are based off of the things they said when they first came here," Inhio explained. "For example - if I went in there and said I've seen aliens, they would lock me up for some time and then ask me question like what did you really see back then?" Inhio kept on explaining. "At that point, you're already trapped. If you keep insisting that you saw aliens back then, they immediately throw you back into your chamber, and if you say you didn't see anything back then, then they ask you what made you think that you saw them...Either way, you're going back into your cell." "That's insane!" Twilight yelled and slammed her fists against the fence. "They're the ones that should be put in there for robbing those people of their freedom like that!" Inhio slowly walked up to the infuriated girl and whispered, "Come on...We've been here long enough." Twilight hesitated to follow. She felt both disgust and anger inside her whenever she stared at this place. Inhio slowly reached for one of her fists and softly grabbed it. Twilight stared at him with a sad expression as she released her fist and took Inhio's hand. After calming her anger, she finally agreed to follow him. Inhio rallied them up and led the way forward again. "So where to now?" "I think we've seen enough of the crazier places for one day...Lets try visiting one of the places for common people, for a change." And the people that inhabit themAfter making their way through the swarming crowds, Inhio's company finally reached their destination. A bell on the top of the door ringed as seven people entered it. This place didn't seem as alien to the girls as the other two did, but it still looked rather peculiar. As the girls stood in the middle of the room, they started looking around. There was a counter in front of them. Behind it was a man polishing a whiskey glass, and behind him was a large shelf full of various bottles full of colored drinks. To their right and left there were many tables. Most of them had people sitting near them...The longer they stood, the more attention they gathered. With a swift gesture with his hand, Inhio guided them towards the biggest empty table in the bar. They slowly followed while they kept looking around them and listening to the strange music being produced by a peculiar, little box. Only after they had all taken a seat did Inhio finally speak a word. "welcome to my favorite bar...a place I've never visited before," Inhio jested. "So this is where the common people usually hang out in?" "Yep." "And what is it that they do here, exactly?" "Drink, chat...waste their money." "This isn't one of those places where people come to ...feed their addictions...is it?" Twilight asked and raised her eyebrow. "How very perceptive of you, princess Twlight," Inhio complimented her. "Alcohol is actually number one on the list of addictions that cause people to lose everything." "Alcohol?" Twilight inquired about the strange word. "A strong beverage that has a very certain effect on people...Wanna give it a try?" Inhio suggested. The girls didn't seem too eager to comply. "Don't worry, no one gets addicted on the first time," Inhio calmed them. "I...guess it can't hurt to try," Rainbow Dash slowly answered. "What kinds of alcohol are there?" "Well, there are quite a few when it comes to the stronger ones, but I doubt you'd enjoy any of those...I'd recommend some of the basic stuff - Beer, ale, cider, whichever sounds the best to you." "Did you just say cider?" Rainbow Dash asked in wide excitement. ""Why, yes..." Inhio replied, slightly confused. "I thought your world didn't have alcohol." "Hah! I didn't know you called cider an alcohol!" Rainbow Dash replied without losing her excitement. "I'd love some!" "In that case..." Inhio got up from the table. "Be right back." The girls watched him as he approached the bartender and eagerly awaited for him to return. Rainbow Dash in particular. Before long, Inhio was already on his way back with a very large glass full of a sparkling, yellow-colored beverage. He placed it right in the middle of the table. After rubbing her palms together, Rainbow Dash grabbed the glass and started guzzling down its contents, but after a few gulps, her cheeks bloated up and she started coughing. "Blegh!" She stuck out her tongue. "What is this!? This isn't cider!" She slammed her fist on the table and pushed the glass back to the middle of the table. "Only cider I've ever known," Inhio refused her statement. "It has that taste, but there's something wrong with it..." Rainbow Dash paused while trying to think of how to say what she wanted to say. "It's like someone added some kind of acid to it or something...I can still feel my throat burning from the freaking thing!" "I should have known." Inhio shook his head. "There is such a thing as non-alcoholic cider...that's probably the one you wanted," he explained himself. "Are you saying that it's the alcohol in it that gives it that terrible, burning aftertaste?" "Exactly," Inhio confirmed her words. A brief moment of silence followed, after which Rainbow Dash threw her arms up and shouted, "What is wrong with you people!?" "Keep it down, Rainbow!" Inhio laughed. "You're attracting too much attention. The girls looked around and saw a few unfriendly faces staring at them. "Sorry..." the rainbow-maned girl apologized. "It's just that...I don't get it! How could so many people end up broke from spending so much money just to have their throat burned out!?" "Let me give it a try," Applejack jumped in on the conversation and grabbed the glass. She took a single gulp and had about the same reaction as Rainbow Dash. "Blegh! My throat!" She grabbed her neck. "Ooh! Ohh! My turn!" Pinkie shouted and also grabbed the glass to give it a try. She put it down after a few sips and stared at it with a blank expression. "Meh...I've had worse." "Surely, it can't be that bad." The blue-haired fashionista picked up the glass and took a small sip and then wiped her mouth. "I take that back..." She pushed the glass towards the middle of the table. "It is that bad." "Well..." Twilight grabbed the glass. She exhaled loudly before taking a slow sip. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" She put the glass down and pushed it towards Fluttershy after taking a drink. "Yep...As unlikely as it sounds, It's like a drink that makes you even more thirsty." "Fluttershy spent a while staring at the glass, but eventually decided to push it back. "I think I'll pass," she quietly announced. "Like I said," Inhio interjected. "No one gets addicted on the first try." "No wonder," Rainbow Dash added. "What I want to know is how do people manage to get addicted to it at all?" "It's not so much the taste as it is the after effect of the drink that makes people so wild about it," Inhio explained. "What kind of effect is it, anyways?" Inhio tried to come up with a simple way to explain this, but decided to keep quiet as he saw a belligerent drunk approaching the table. "You're about to find out," he quietly announced. "Lovely evening, ain't it?" the drunken man addressed everyone at the table. "Mind sharing some of your women, kind sir? The place seems a bit short on em today. He he he." He approached Rarity first. "Well, I must say, you're looking very fine this evening, Miss!" The man squatted down enough to match Rarity's eye level. Rarity nearly fainted as she felt the man's breath on herself. She used her palm as a fan as she gasped for breathable air. The man placed his nose close to her hair and inhaled loudly as he drove his face upwards. He inhaled strongly enough to pull Rarity's hair towards himself. "Aagh!" Rarity shouted and slapped the man. "Get away from me!" "Feisty one, ain't cha?" The man said while rubbing his sore cheek. "What about you, huh?" He stared at Rainbow Dash. "You look wild." He approached her and started fiddling with her hair. "I bet you'd be even wilder in bed...even if you do look a bit young. He he he..." The man laughed in a demented tone. "What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash directed a glare both furious and confused at him. "Are you asking me how well I walk in my sleep or something?" "Oh no." The man shook his head. "Oh, don't worry, I won't let you fall asleep...Not before you dance for me, that is, he he." He devoted a perverted look to her before moving on. This guy just plain ain't right in the head... Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she followed his every move. "Oooh, and would you look at this lovely, little one!" he shouted out as he jumped over to Fluttershy and placed both hands on her shoulders, startling her and making her gasp in the process. "Well, ain't you just the cutest darn thing in the whole damn place." He moved his head closer to hers. "Don't worry..." he said while his hand started sliding down her shoulder, taking her shirt along with it. "I'll be real gentle with ya the first time..." "Hey!" Rainbow Dash jumped up from her chair. "Leave her alone!" "Shut yer blasted blowhole, ya Rainbow-haired b****!" he shouted and pushed the girl away. "Aagh!" Rainbow Dash yelped as she tripped over her chair. Luckily for hair, Applejack caught her before she hit the ground. "You had your chance!" He pulled his head back towards Fluttershy, nearly touching her cheeks with his own "I'm more interested in this little one now." He suddenly stood up and pulled her by the arm. Fluttershy gasped loudly, but still remained in her seat. "Whaddaya say we ditch this s***hole and go somewhere more....private?" He smiled at her wickedly and kept pulling her arm, and Fluttershy kept trying to resist it. By his expression you could already tell that he was beginning to fantasize about what was he about to do to the poor girl. Up until this very moment, Inhio had decided to not interfere so that the girls would get a better impression of the horrors of this world for themselves, but his patience finally reached its end. "You wanna take this outside!?" Inhio furiously shouted and slammed his fist on the table. "Yes, I'm talking to you," he spoke to the man after he got his attention. Fluttershy took the chance to free herself from the man's grip. "If you want to have an evening you won't soon forget, I can gladly give you one, along with a mark around your eyes to remind you even after you've recovered from your hangover!" Inhio yelled at the man with such rage that he couldn't help but comply. "Fine, fine," the man said with his palms raised up. "You win." He turned around and walked back towards the counter. "Enjoy the rest of yer evening...buncha freaks." "Thank you..." Fluttershy, still traumatized by the sudden event, wiped a single tear away from the corner of her eye. "I'm just sorry I didn't step in sooner," Inhio admitted in a tone full of regret. "It's okay," Fluttershy replied. "I know why you did it." Inhio had nothing to say to that. He just hung his head in shame. "Making us learn the hard way, huh, Inhio?" Twilight asked and monitored Inhio's reaction. "It's alright...you don't have to feel sorry...After all, you still saved Fluttershy from a pretty nasty situation." Fluttershy happily nodded. "I don't even want to know what he wanted to do with me." "Speaking of which..." Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Inhio...what did he mean when he said those things...about me being wild in bed and dancing for him or whatever." "Oh boy..." Inhio leaned his back against his chair. "You just hit the very pinnacle of tough questions." Inhio took a deep breath before continuing. "Before I go on, I have to ask...Where do babies come from in your world?" "Umm..." Twilight rubbed the back of her head and blushed. The rest of her friends also blushed and put on modest smiles. "Well-" "Hold on," Inhio interrupted. "Let me just ask this - does it involve some sort of sacred process between a loving couple?" Twilight widened her eyes. "Yes! That's it exactly!" "And is the process considered at least somewhat enjoyable?" "Well, umm..." Twilight paused for a moment and rubbed the back her head. "I mean, I've never tried it for myself, so I can't say for sure..." She put on a timid smile. "But as far as I know - yes." Rainbow Dash snickered and Pinkie Pie quietly giggled. "Well then, that makes things a whole lot easier to explain." Inhio sighed with relief. "I can only assume that it works the same, or at least in a similar way on our world...but the thing about it on this world, is that this process has long since lost its sacred value." "Huh?" The girls all seemed confused. "What I mean, is that it's no longer just a process with a sole purpose of creating successors...People have started doing it for fun." "What!?" the girls shouted in disbelief. "You heard me right," Inhio confirmed. "In fact, at this point, it's more commonly known as a form of entertainment or just a sport for most people...It's not recorded anywhere, but I'd have to say that the amount of times this process is actually done with a purpose of creating more life makes up less than 10% of all the times it's done at all." "How can this be true?" Twilight asked, refusing to believe her ears. "This is wrong!" "You think that's wrong?" Inhio asked right back. "What would you say if I told you that for some people it's even become a profession?" "I...I...I don't believe you!" Twilight retorted. "Believe it or not, it's just the way it is on our world! There are women out there that would spend the night with men they don't even know for just a bit of money!" "Stop!" Twilight cried out. "And that's not even the worst part of it! Oh, not by far!" Inhio pressed on. "Stop! Please!" Twilight begged him. "I can't take this anymore!" she shouted after standing up and covering her ears. Just as requested, Inhio ceased his dreaded monologue. At this point, most of the bar had already gotten used to the peculiar company sitting at one of the corner tables. Barely anyone bothered looking at them after hearing Twilight shouting. Twilight quickly calmed herself and sat back down. She took a few moments to simply stare the sparkling, half-empty cider glass still sitting on their table...staring and pondering about everything she had seen and heard today. "You were right, Inhio," she quietly admitted with a tone full of sorrow. "Your world really isn't for the likes of us." Inhio had little doubt that this place would eventually get to them...He was right all along, and yet, he would have preferred to stay wrong...There was, however, one last thing he had to say. One final nail he had to add to the coffin, just to make sure they would never want to return here again. Inhio sighed. "Do you know what's the most commonly told lie in our world?" Twilight gazed at Inhio for a short moment and then slowly shook her head. She had a feeling she was going to hear something inconceivably awful again. "I love you," Inhio quietly whispered and hung his head. Twilight followed his gesture and also hung her head in sorrow. The six girls shared a series of sad glances between one another. By their expressions, it seemed like they didn't want to stay here for much longer. Twilight gazed into Inhio's eyes and asked, "How do you live with all of this, Inhio?" "By not thinking about it," Inhio replied and grabbed the cider glass from the table. With a few quick gulps, he emptied it out and stood up from his chair. "Ready to head out?" he asked while wiping his mouth. "Actually..." Twilight spoke up. "I think we're ready to go back home now," Twilight spoke for herself and for all of her friends, who could only nod in approval. "Not just yet," Inhio informed and started walking towards the door. "There's just one last place I have to show you." "I'm pretty sure we've seen enough..." No matter how badly they didn't want to, the girls still followed him. "Don't worry," Inhio calmed them. "This place won't be like all the others." The other side of the coinUnwillingly the six girls followed Inhio towards wherever he was leading them. They didn't talk during the journey. All the questions had either already been asked, or were simply too scary to ask. Not long after leaving the urban part of the city, the small company reached a peaceful meadow. A park bordered by a large forest. It was quite the sight for sore eyes. As the girls walked through the flourishing field of flowers, it almost started reminding them of home. The birds were singing, the sound of cars had faded away, and the world suddenly just started seeming a whole lot brighter, even though the sun was already setting. As the girls gazed around, each noticed something that caught their interest. Fluttershy, in particular, enjoyed the sight of wild animals running around near the edge of the forest. The girls could only hope that this sudden change of scenery wasn't about to be followed by something dreadful. Before long, Inhio stopped. For if he had taken just one more step, he would have fallen off a cliff. The six girls joined him by the edge of the cliff and gazed at the majestic sunrise above the sea, alongside Inhio. "You asked me how do I live with all of this," Inhio reminded them. "This is how." He waved his hand across the air in front of him. "By choosing to see the good in this world over the bad," Inhio explained. "Every coin has two sides. Every awful thing has an amazing counterpart, and the night is only so dark because the day is so bright." Inhio stopped speaking for a moment. Something down at the beachside caught his attention. "And just because it's one of the most commonly told lies..." Inhio directed their attention towards a loving couple walking by the sea. "Doesn't mean that love doesn't exist in this world." The smiles on the young couple's faces helped spread more smiles. They seemed so happy together that the six girls by Inhio's side forgot about the darker part of this world and let joy fill their hearts once more. "For you see, ponies of Equestria," Inhio turned around and addressed the girls. "This world isn't necessarily just awful, and neither is it simply amazing...In fact, it's always been in balance." He reached into his pocket and took a coin out of it. "And if you choose to constantly look at only one side of the coin," he said while flipping the coin around. "You won't ever even know that it has another side." After he finished speaking, he reached for Twilight's hand and put the coin in her palm and then closed it with his own hand. He then gazed deeply into her eyes and spoke: "That is how I live with all of this." If at first Twilight had doubts about following Inhio to this final location he had in mind, then those doubts were cleared away to the very last one at this moment. She slowly opened her hand and took a look at the coin Inhio had given her. She saw a beautiful sun embedded on one side. She then turned it around and saw a majestic, crescent moon on the other one. She put on a firm smile as she gripped the coin in her hand and threw her arms around Inhio. "Thank you," she whispered as a single tear slid down her cheek. Inhio gladly returned both the smile and the hug. "Don't mention it." *** Before long, the day was already done, and the company of seven was already back at Inhio's apartment and just about ready to depart. "So..." Inhio caught everyone's attention. "I guess this is goodbye." "I guess so," Twilight sadly replied. Inhio and the six girls gazed at each other for some time. Twilight had already begun turning towards the crystal ball on the table, but she suddenly turned around and rushed over to hug Inhio. Her friends didn't hesitate to do the same. Inhio gladly returned the hug. "Oh!" Twilight exclaimed after disengaging from the hug. "Almost forgot." She reached into her pocket. "Here." She handed Inhio his coin back. Inhio smiled at her and reached for the coin with both arms, but instead of grabbing it, he closed her hand. "Keep it," Inhio told her with a warm smile on his face. "To have something to remember me by." Twilight smiled as she held on to the coin tightly. "I only wish I could give you something in return..." "You already have," Inhio said while looking at the crystal ball on his table. "You're not taking that with you, are you?" Twilight giggled. She hugged Inhio one last time before leaving. "If there is one thing that's amazing about this world, then it's you, Inhio." "Well then..." Inhio spoke in a playful tone. "Lets hope I don't run into my counterpart," he jested. After a brief laugh, he placed his palm on Twilight's shoulder. "This world won't seem as amazing to me without you in it." "Don't worry, Inhio," Pinkie Pie interjected. "We'll keep in touch." "And you'd better do the same, mister," Twilight ordered in a cheerfully serious tone. "Aye, aye, princess!" Inhio saluted. And with that, Twilight walked back over to the table and joined her friends, who were already holding their hands on the crystal ball and waiting for her. She waved at Inhio one last time before beginning the recall spell. Inhio waved right back and watched the spell be set in motion. As the energies engulfed them all, they quickly regained their pony forms, and before long, Inhio's room was devoid of any life other than his own. After the dust had settled, the coin master jumped into his couch and crossed his arms behind his head. "What I wouldn't give for another day like this..." *** On the other side of the ball, the six ponies had just returned to their homeworld and were still a bit dizzy from the dimensional jump. "Twilight!" Overjoyed to see her, Twilight's lovely, little assistant ran over her to give her a warm hug. "Spike!" she answered him and hugged him back, right before slapping him across the face. "Ow!" Spike yelped. "What was that for?" "You didn't think I'd forget, did you?" she replied while pointing at the cloaking spell book that Spike had forgotten to return to it's shelf. "Oh..."
A second chanceAs the link between the two worlds faded and the voices of the ponies could no longer be heard, Inhio slumped into comfy, leather chair, grabbed its edges and exhaled loudly, as if letting out what energy he still had left inside him that day. He sat in his chair for a good few hours, constantly reminiscing about everything he had gone through that day. Although they were only mere moments, they still felt longer than the rest of the year he had lived through up until this moment. He could recall every moment ever so clearly from today, unlike all the other days, out of which he couldn't remember so much as a minute. As his life had turned into a routine at some point, time became meaningless to him...Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and by the end of the year he could barely remember doing anything...He had longed for something like this for years. At long last, such a moment had finally arrived. Sadly, it had only arrived to be sent back from whence it came on the same day. Although Inhio repeatedly cursed himself for this decision, deep down he always felt like it was the right one to make. As Inhio got engulfed by his inner thoughts, the time flied away and eventually left him too tired to even get up from his chair. Neither hungry nor thirsty, not to mention - out of energy, Inhio simply fell asleep as soon as the darkness had settled in his room. *** On the other side of the ball, the ponies of Equestria felt no more energized than Inhio did. More than anypony, Twilight was simply devastated by this unexpected turn of events. Much like Inhio, she just felt like sitting there for hours and pondering, mostly only with one question on her mind. Why? She felt sad. Tears kept hitting the ground between her forelegs for quite some time. She felt lifeless. The flame that had been burning inside her for the whole day was put out in an instant, leaving her with neither a plan, nor any enthusiasm to fulfill it even if she had one. But above all else, she felt betrayed...no matter how cordial was Inhio's tone when he said that this was for the best, Twilight couldn't help but hate him for depriving her of her one chance to see a different world. Twilight's friends dared not intervene. They knew Twilight needed some time to process all of this, but after she had spent nearly ten minutes crying, and then another good fifteen minutes staring blankly at the floor with a dark shadow clouding her face, her friends simply had to do something. "Twilight?" a friendly voice spoke up as a warm hoof found its way onto Twilight's shoulder. "This isn't over!" Twilight suddenly threw her head sideways and shouted at her friend. Applejack gasped and took a few steps backwards. "You okay there, Twilight?" she asked in a slightly nervous tone. "I won't let him get away with this!" with eyes full of crazed hatred, Twilight kept shouting in the same voice as before, "You'll see! I will find another way to reach planet Earth, and when I do..." Twilight paused for a moment and turned her head back towards the floor in front of her. In a voice not as loud, but no less troubled than before, Twilight quietly finished her sentence, "I'll make Inhio regret this decision..." *** A new day had dawned on planet Earth, and Inhio Hellbridge was already wide awake and performing his daily routine with the same emotionless expression as always. He knew his day so well that his body no longer needed any guidance, it simply followed its usual course while Inhio's mind still dwelt in yesterday's adventure. It felt like nothing to him, it seemed like mere minutes that he spent thinking about it, when in fact, it was several hours. By the time his day was already nearing its end, and the man himself nearing the door to his apartment, Inhio couldn't even remember leaving his door earlier that morning, and yet, here he was, gazing at the sunset which was still a sunrise just a single blink away. This has to stop... he thought to himself as he reached for the keys in his pocket. If I keep spending my days dwelling in yesterday, then the future will no longer have a point. He shook his head to free his mind of the thoughts that simply wouldn't let him go. He had spent more time than usual in his booth this day, and as he walked inside his room, he was just about ready to declare the day to be over...but it seems fate would have different plans in store for him. He stopped in the middle of his room and sighed loudly. "What I wouldn't give for-" Before Inhio could finish his sentence, something crashed into him and landed on the floor along with him. "Oomph!" he grunted loudly as he hit the ground. "What the?" Inhio spoke out, leaving his mouth agape after the last word. "You!" The one responsible for knocking Inhio down was now pointing her purple hoof at his face while standing on his torso. "Did you really think you could get rid of us so easily?" Twilight Sparkle interrogated the man under her hooves. Inhio didn't know what to think. The sudden shock had faded as he realized just who was it that was addressing him. Now the only thing he couldn't figure out was what was the emotion he felt inside him. Was it joy? Why wouldn't it be? The adventure that he was practically forced to deny himself of had returned to give him another chance. Or was it sadness? If These ponies were already here now, not to mention, very mad at him...Inhio knew he wouldn't have a choice other than to show them the world the he feared might ruin the way they saw the universe they lived in. Or was it simply fear? Given Twilight's tone, no one could blame him at this point. "Well!?" Twilight shouted again after not getting a reply from Inhio for some time. "Twilight Sparkle, I presume?" Inhio finally spoke up. "I asked you a question!" Twilight retorted. "You look even more majestic than I had imagined," Inhio continued without regard for Twilight's last statement. "Why thank you, I...Hey!" Twilight protested after realizing she was getting played. "He he he..." A quiet laugh drew both of their looks away. "You're too easily swayed away, Twilight." Rainbow Dash slyly budged in on the conversation. "Seriously! After the stunt you pulled yesterday, I thought you were going to blast Inhio with a lightning bolt as soon as you set eyes on him." Twilight snorted loudly. "Aah, and you must be Rainbow Dash," Inhio addressed the other pony. "I've heard so much about you." "He he he..." Rainbow Dash let out a somewhat modest-sounding laugh. "As expected. I am the talk of the town, after a..." She suddenly paused for a moment. "Wait a minute..." Inhio and the other five ponies in the room joined together for a good laugh. "Oh, ha ha, very funny!" Rainbow Dash pouted and turned her head away from her friends. With the attention of his guests being drawn away, Inhio took his chance to free himself of Twilight's weight on his torso. "So..." Inhio stood up and wiped the dust off his clothes. "What brings all of you here at this late hour?" Inhio asked sarcastically. Twilight only answered him with an furious glare, to which Inhio simply stared right back at with a blank expression. The tension between the two was too much for even Rainbow Dash to be able to interrupt a second time. "Did you really think I wanted to send you away?" Inhio said in a serious tone after a good while of silence. "Does it really matter what you wanted?" Twilight answered in a rather cynical tone. "We trusted you up until the very end! Did that really mean nothing to you!?" Twilight pointed and yelled at the man as a few tiny tears started forming at the corners of her eyes. "How could you betray us so?" "Betray you?" Inhio asked, stunned by Twilight's arrogance and ignorance. "I only did that to protect you!" he took a step forward and shouted at Twilight. "Protect us from what?" Twilight asked, still unconvinced that Inhio's motives were truly ever noble. Inhio did not answer. Instead he slowly walked over to his window and lifted up the curtains covering it. "From this." The six ponies walked up to the window and stared out of it in awe. Inhio happened to be living in a building that nearly bordered with the clouds. "Woah!" "Do you also live in a castle?" "Not at all," Inhio calmly replied. "If you walk a bit closer, you'll notice structures just like this one in every direction." And so the ponies did just as Inhio suggested and walked closer to the window. The closer they got to it, the closer their jaws got to the floor...The concrete jungle that Inhio called home wouldn't faze any person he knew, but to a few creatures that could only relate this view to nothing other than the streets of Manehattan...This was quite the first experience. They spent a good while staring at all the sights around them and wondering what purpose they served. Among other things, one of the most curious sights was the street dividing the city. It was constantly being surfed by a multitude of objects too quick to be horse-drawn carriages. Not to mention - too small to be identified from such a height. Inhio decided to close the curtain before the ponies got spotted by someone doing the same thing as them. "This place looks amazing!" "Why would you ever want to prevent us from seeing this?" Twilight asked with a bewildered expression. "Don't judge a book by its cover," Inhio quickly replied. "Why?" Twilight couldn't help but wonder. "How bad could this place possibly be?" "You have no idea." "Even if this place is as bad as you say, that's not for you to decide!" Twilight scolded Inhio. "You had no right to send us back simply because you thought that whatever is so bad about this place was bad enough to make us regret coming here!" "You're right." Inhio smiled at Twilight. "It was wrong of me to judge...I barely even knew you..." He turned away and took a few steps away from his guests. "But it's not the place itself that is bad...it's the ones that inhabit it that made me feel concerned about you," he explained in a tranquil tone. The six ponies started looking at each other as they pondered on Inhio's words. "I would ask how you managed to find your way here despite my...betrayal..." Inhio stopped near his table and squatted down. "But given the fact that I didn't even bother removing the ball from its pedestal, I'm guessing it wasn't all that hard to find a way around it," he spoke while gazing at the curious object on his table. "You're guessing right," Twilight replied. "I suppose we should at least thank you for getting us this far," Twilight unwillingly admitted. "There's no need for that, really..." Inhio politely told her. "You can decide whether to thank me or not after I've shown you more of my world." The ponies perked up their ears. "So...does this mean-" Inhio nodded and happily announced, "Ready yourselves, we're going on a tour." The ponies immediately all started cheering loudly. Inhio let them enjoy their moment, but right afterwards he continued in a rather serious tone, "However, there is one final thing we need to settle before heading out." "What might that be?" Inhio paused for a moment to try and figure out how to speak his mind as subtly as possible. "Imagine a situation - It's just an ordinary day in a Equestria, nothing odd going on anywhere in the nearest mile radius, but then, all of a sudden, six of my kind simply walk out of one of the houses and start walking through the streets as if they had lived there all their lives...How do you think your townsfolk would react?" Inhio asked with a sly smile. "I can see your point," Twilight replied after a moment of silence and began rubbing her chin. "Hmm..." "Something on your mind, Miss Sparkle?" Inhio asked as he picked up on her motion. "If only there was a way we could contact Spike..." "Spike?" "My faithful assistant, back in Equestria. We've been trying to contact him all day, but he doesn't seem to hear us," Twilight explained. "Perhaps I could try," Inhio suggested. "That's it!" Twilight jumped back into her more energetic state. "It makes sense! No one but you could hear us when we tried to talk from the other side, maybe it will also work this time!" "Worth a shot," Inhio agreed and instantly proceeded to pick up the crystal ball. "Spike? Are you there?" "Who is this!?" an adorably angry voice answered him right away. "What have you done with Twilight!?" the voice demanded an explanation. "It's alright, little one," Inhio calmed the young assistant. "She's right here with me, as are the rest of her friends. I assure you, she's perfectly fine." "Then how come you're the only one talking, huh? Why haven't I heard a word from her since the moment she disappeared into this stupid contraption!?" he asked, unconvinced by Inhio's words. "Tell me! Or I swear I'll-" "Easy, easy there, tough guy," Inhio replied in an amused tone. "Didn't Twilight already tell you anything about only a single person being able to hear them before she left the second time?" "Umm...Now that you mention it..." Spike rubbed the back of his neck in slight shame of his overreaction. "Wait a minute...Are you the guy that hurt her feelings so badly she couldn't stop crying for half an hour!?" Inhio stood silent for a moment and then slowly replied. "Aye...that's me." "How dare you hurt Twilight like that!? What's your deal, anyways? She trusted you! Why'd you have to go and let her down like that, huh?" "It's a long story, but we've already settled our differences...And I really am sorry for treating your friends that way, and I wish nothing more than to make it up to them," Inhio sincerely explained. "Well...okay, I guess we're cool..." Inhio decided to jump straight to the point. "Twilight seems to think that you might be able to help us out of a slight pickle." "Sure! Whatever you need, I'm always happy to help." "That's great! Umm...What was it exactly that you wanted him to do, Twilight?" Spike heard Inhio's voice addressing someone other than him, but he couldn't hear a reply from Twilight. "Spike?" "Yeah?" "Twilight's saying that there's a spell book that might solve all our problems, it should be located in the illusion spell sector of your library, under the letter c." "Got it!" Spike acknowledged Inho's words and followed his instructions. Inhio could hear several noises that indicated that Spike was doing as told. He heard several footsteps, followed by the sound of a set of wheels rolling across the room and someone climbing a ladder. Hmm... Inhio wondered. Those footsteps...Something tells me this Spike isn't just another pony. "Illusions...Illusions..." Spike's voice could be heard again. "C...c...c...I'm there," Spike reported. "What's it called?" "Cloaking spells." "Cloaking...spe...Got it!" Inhio kept listening as he heard the tiny assistant climb down the ladder, rush over to the table and turn several pages of the book. Twilight whispered something in Inhio's ear. Inhio nodded. "Turn the book over to page 42." "Page 42...hmm..." Spike fell silent for a moment. "Imitation? Is that right?" "Yes, that's what we need." "Huh...this almost looks like changeling magic," Spike quietly added. ...I'll ask later. Inhio thought to himself. Spike seemed to be struggling with something. "None of this makes any sense to me! Only Twilight would be able to make something out of this gibberish!" Spike declared in a frustrated tone. Inhio explained the situation to the ponies, but none of them seemed to have any ideas. "Wait a minute....Aha!" Spike shouted. A sound of paper being ripped was heard immediately after, also followed by a burp and something that sounded like something catching fire. What in the blazes is going on over there? Inhio wondered. "You alright there, buddy?" "Perfectly fine!" Spike quickly replied. "So...did it work?" "Did what work?" Inhio asked in confusion. "Never mind, it worked," he added after taking a closer look at the object in his hands. "Does this make any sense to you?" Inhio asked as he showed the ball to Twilight. Twilight gazed at the sphere and saw a sight that she was quite familiar with. "Yes! This is exactly what we needed!" "Thank you, Spike. You've been a great help," Inhio politely thanked Twilight's little assistant. "Don't mention it," Spike smugly replied. Twilight touched the ball in Inhio's hands and drove her hoof downwards as she followed the instructions provided. "Alright...I think I got it." Twilight was about to start preparing the spell, but she suddenly turned mad after noticing torn edges on the page inside the ball. "Did he just...Spiiiike!!!" Twilight furiously shouted. "Spike?" "Yeah?" "Did you tear a page out of one of Twilight's spell books?" Inhio asked in a slightly reproachful tone. "...Maybe..." Spike shyly replied. "I don't think she liked that very much." "He he he..." Spike laughed nervously. "Catch ya later, Inhio!" Spike said his goodbyes and darted away, dropping the ball on the ground. I get the feeling Twilight's still going to remember this after she gets back home. Inhio thought to himself. "What did he say?" "He said he's sorry," Inhio lied. "Tell him he's in a lot of trouble when I get back home!" Twilight instructed. "He's not there right now." "Why am I not surprised..." Twilight didn't seem amused. "At any rate, lets just get this over with," she said as she walked closer to her friends and readied herself. "Hold on, this might feel...strange," Twilight explained and started casting the spell. Her horn started emitting a bright, purple light which eventually engulfed her friends and even Inhio, who was standing a few steps away from them. The light got brighter as the spell continued. After a short moment, Inhio could no longer see the ponies. A quick flash of light followed. Inhio covered his eyes with his palm, and by the time he removed it, the six ponies could no longer be seen, for there were now six lovely ladies standing there in their stead. Inhio's mouth fell wide open from the sight. "That ought to do the trick," he said in a tone full of astonishment. The six girls immediately started inspecting themselves, and they seemed no less surprised than Inhio was. Inhio suddenly snickered. "You might want to learn how to stand on just two legs before we head out," he said with a wide smile on his face after seeing all six girls standing on all fours. As if hearing an order, the girls stood up right away and gave their new bodies a test run. Naturally, the first few steps were clumsy and shaky, and they would end up in as much laughs as bottom pain from falling over. "That's it, now you're getting the hang of it," Inhio encouraged them as their steps got more and more solid. "This ain't so bad." Rainbow Dash tried to show off as she turned her tiny steps in to wider and quicker ones. "Try not to break something, Rainbow dearest," Rarity replied. "Hey! I got this. Just watch m-" Her sentence got interrupted as she bumped into a lamp. "Does a nose count?" Applejack laughed. Her friends also joined in. "You seem to be very adept at entertaining your friends, Rainbow Dash." Inhio joined in on the laughing. Rainbow Dash only crossed her arms and pouted as a response. "So what do you think?" Twilight asked after the laughing had settled down. "Could we pass for common humans?" "Well..." Inhio timidly answered. "Your hair might attract slightly more attention than most people, but other than that, you should be good." "Our hair?" Rarity asked in slight shock. "Why, what ever do you mean, darling?" "There's nothing wrong with it, on the contrary, I actually love the way it looks. It's just that..." Inhio rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it's easier to show than to say, you'll see what I mean once you get a look at all the other women around here," he avoided the question and walked towards the door. The girls looked at each other and shrugged after hearing that reply. "Are you ready?" Inhio asked as he placed his hand on the door handle. With confident smiles on their faces, the six of them nodded. "In that case..." Inhio opened the door. "After you." He stood aside and let them through. All six of them slowly walked passed him. The one timidly walking at the very end of the pack caught his attention. May the gods have mercy on me...and them. Inhio thought to himself as his eyes sadly followed Fluttershy.
This world of mineAt long last, the door to the outside world was open, and the eager citizens of Equestria finally got to see the brave new world for themselves. Mesmerized by all the sights and sounds, the girls spent their first half minute outdoors just looking around themselves. Each of them seemed to be more interested in certain aspects of the world. To one it was the people, to another - the structures or the cars. "We should get going, before we draw too much attention," Inhio told them and tried to mobilize them behind himself. Like a pack of hens behind a rooster, they didn't hesitate to follow him. However, that didn't stop them from constantly looking around. They kept on walking for a good five minutes before the questions started flowing in, one after another. "What's with all the people? I can't take a single step without nearly bumping into someone." Rainbow Dash jumped aside to avoid contact with a random stranger. "This is a big world, Miss Dash. The amount of people living here is just barely enough to keep it running," Inhio explained. "Ugh..." Rainbow Dash barely managed to avoid another impact. "Is this like the capital of planet Earth or something? How many people even are there in this place? A thousand? Ten thousand?" She paused for a moment. "A million?" she asked, as if expecting a negative answer. "Over seven billion." Rainbow Dash froze in place. Her left eye also twitched a couple times. "You're kidding...right?" "In the world, I mean. Not this city," Inhio corrected himself. "This city probably only has a few million or so." "H-h-how..." Rainbow Dash was completely stupefied. "I don't even know where to begin...How can you make this all work?" "We can't, as you'll soon find out," Inhio quickly replied. "Sadly, this world has built more than it can handle...Humans are both its most valuable asset and its greatest curse." "You're not making any sense." Rainbow Dash was still as confused as ever. "You'll soon see what I mean," Inhio calmly replied and kept moving. "Whatever..." "Umm...why are they all talking to themselves?" Pinkie Pie asked after spending a good while spectating everyone around her. "They're not," Inhio gave a swift reply. "Have you noticed some of them holding small, rectangle-shaped objects near their heads?" "Hmm...now that you mention it-" "To make things simple, those little devices are basically the same thing as the crystal balls you use to communicate with each other back in Equestria, only more compact and easier to use." "Ooh! Can we take one of those back with us? To be honest, I don't even like these spheres." "I'm afraid they wouldn't function in your world," Inhio sadly admitted. "Why not?" Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "It's rather hard to explain..." Inhio stumbled on his words. "These devices can only work when they're in range of a certain signal, a signal that only exists on planet Earth." "Kaaaaay?..." Pinkie didn't seem pleased with that answer. "Next question!" she suddenly shouted, startling her friends in the process. "What in the world are those strange-looking, horseless carriages constantly running through the streets? There's no one pulling them, and yet they move five times as fast as any carriage I've ever seen!" "Those carriages are called cars," Inhio explained. "Thanks to the creation of a few genius minds, those devices are able to pull themselves." "Amazing!" Applejack exclaimed. "You're world is so full of inventions so ingenious that it's even difficult to simply explain how they work!" Twilight added after a good while of observing and listening. "How is it that you still try to claim that your world is a horrible place?" she asked in bemused voice. "Keep walking," Inhio somewhat rudely replied without even turning back. At this point, Twilight was almost convinced that Inhio knew he was wrong all along and simply doesn't want to admit it. She even began to suspect him of lying to them... What if it was greed that made him try and prevent us from coming here? What if he was simply trying to keep the secrets of this amazing place to himself? If so, then I shouldn't let him out of my sights...He might just- Twilight's inner monologue was suddenly interrupted. "Hey!" Rainbow Dash turned around and yelled at a man who just bumped into her and kept walking as if nothing had happened. The man ignored her shout completely. "Ach!" Rarity found herself in a similar situation. "How rude!" she shouted at the man walking away from her. "F*** off, princess!" the man turned around and shouted back at her before continuing his journey. Apart from Fluttershy, who had just covered her mouth with both her palms, all the girls had stopped and stared at the man with their mouths agape and their eyes wide open...Such profanity was simply unheard of in their world. As they stopped and listened in on the conversations going on around them, they heard more and more swear words coming up from just about every direction. Before they could finish being shocked by their sudden realization of just how rude the humans of Earth were, another unpleasantry found its way to their group. "Hey, get a load of this freak show out!" A young man nudged his friend and pointed at the six girls still standing in shock. "Aha ha ha ha ha!" his friend laughed. "What's this? I didn't hear anything about the travelling circus coming to town today. "Good one!" His friend laughed and gave him a high-five. "f***ing weirdos," the young man dropped one final remark before heading on. Despite having open mouths, the girls could neither move nor speak after being exposed to this barbaric encounter. Who knows how long they would have kept on standing there if Inhio hadn't said a thing. "Lets keep going...Trust me, you don't want to draw even more attention," Inhio warmly whispered to them. With their voices still silent and their eyes still wide open from shock, the girls soon started slowly taking one step after another. Even after they had fallen back in line behind Inhio, they still found it hard to shake away their recent emotions. Just like that, this world suddenly just started seeming a lot less amazing to them, and noticing the bad things in it became a whole lot easier. "Inhio?" Twilight asked after a good moment of silence. "Hmm?" Inhio responded to let her know he's listening. "The people just sitting there on the edge of the sidewalk..." Twilight directed Inhio's attention at the homeless people begging for money. "...What's wrong with them?" "Those, Miss Twilight, are what we call beggars," Inhio quickly replied, almost as if already expecting that question. "Why?...What are they begging for?" "For money, of course," Inhio gave an obvious answer. "Having neither a job nor a home to return to, they've resorted to living solely of the mercy of other people," he explained and awaited their reaction. "That's horrible!" Twilight exclaimed. "How could something like this happen to them? And why are there so many?" "For some it was simply a streak of bad luck. To others it was their own fault for not being able to make do with the money they earned." After answering the first question and remaining uninterrupted, Inhio immediately proceeded to answer the second one. "For you see, Miss Sparkle, even though this world is vast in size, it still has more people on it that it can sustain. Thus, it can no longer afford to take care of everyone in it...In other words - everyone is on their own in this world, and people have simply stopped caring about others over time," Inhio revealed a sad truth about his world without even stuttering. "That's..." Twilight was at a loss of words. "I...I don't even know what to say...It's just so sad." She took a moment to inspect the poor people for another time, this time paying more attention to just how much less healthy and wealthy they seemed compared to the common folk. "What happens to them if no one shows them mercy over time?" despite being afraid to hear the answer, Twilight asked a scary question. "The same thing that happens to anyone that goes on for too long without food and water." "But...isn't there someone...some kind of organization or something that could take care of them?" "There are those who have tried...but over time, even they have stopped caring. Not to mention, the beggars themselves." "What!?" "Yes," Inhio confirmed his previous answer. "A lot of the poor people you see don't care as much about surviving as they do about just continuing to feed their addiction, which is mainly what got them in the state they are in now." "What?...What kind of addiction could do this to someone?" "There are a lot of things that people can get so used to using that they simply can no longer live without them at some point. They try them at first, and soon they find themselves short of willpower to rid themselves of it..." Inhio paused for a moment to give his words a more dramatic sound. "And that's not even the worst part." "I'm almost afraid to ask..." Inhio decided to explain anyways. "Wouldn't you think that if people spotted other people getting addicted to various things, they would act and do something to make it all stop?" "Umm...yes?" Twilight gave an unsure reply, as if expecting Inhio to tell her she's wrong. "Well, then you're thinking wrong...People are not ignorant to the addictions that their creations create, but instead of doing something to prevent it, they exploit the system and keep on feeding their addictions and making sure that the money they spend on them doesn't go to waste." "What are you saying, Inhio?" Twilight could barely believe her ears. "That people deliberately drive other people to this," she said as she held her arm aimed at the beggars they just passed by. "Simply so that they could have more money for themselves?" "You'd be amazed by how selfish humans can be, Twilight," Inhio gave an alternate answer and kept on moving. Neither Inhio nor the girls following him felt like saying anything for some time. Frowns formed on the faces of Inhio's companions as they pressed on. They would all look at each other as if feeling like something should be said, and yet, not a single word was heard up until the moment Inhio stopped and directed their attention towards something. "We're here."
The structures that make itThe girls all gazed upwards and saw a massive stone building surrounded by a tall iron fence with barbed wire on top of it. It was also guarded by several high guard towers. As they stared downwards, they noticed a lot of people in identical uniforms walking around the courtyard and performing various tasks. "What is this place?" Twilight asked, unable to make heads or tails of the sight before her. "Ponies of Equestria, I present to you..." Inhio held his arms up in front of him with his palms facing the sky. "The biggest prison in this city." "A prison?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "We walked all this way just so you could show us a prison?" "And the people that inhabit it," Inhio added. "Why?" "If you would recall the last day, while you were still all only voices in a crystal ball, you asked me a few questions that I said I would answer later," Inhio reminded them. "About profanity, violence, theft and even murder." "Yes...I remember now," Twilight replied in a slightly shaky voice. "You've already seen the profanity in this world for yourself...Most of the time, the other three get people here." Twilight walked closer and touched the fence as she began to count the people in the courtyard. "There are so many of them...You can't mean to tell me that-" "I do," Inhio interrupted. "Every time you look at someone in this place, you're likely to be looking at either a murderer, bandit or thief...among people guilty of various other crimes." "There's hundreds of them in here...how can this be?" Twilight asked in shock and turned towards Inhio. "The prison back in Equestria have only ever known a few individual souls, but this!..." Twilight turned her attention back towards the prison inmates. "This...how many people do you think have died because of them?" "Probably at least twice as many as there are in here." "What!?" Twilight shouted in disbelief. "But...that doesn't make any sense!...How can-" "Doesn't it?" Inhio counter questioned her. "There's no sacred law that binds a man to being able to take the life of only a single other person...As far as I know, most of these people are serial killers." Inhio paused for a moment to let Twilight's mind process this information, right before adding a few more frightening words. "And that's just one prison." "What!?" "There are multitudes of these facilities throughout the world, and all of them hold hundreds of guilty criminals." The more things Inhio revealed about his world, the scarier it started seeming. Additionally, asking questions became harder every time...either because they were afraid to ask them, or simply because they couldn't figure out which one to ask, for they had dozens. "Well...most of them guilty, at least," Inhio slyly added. "What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow. "We live in a corrupted world that runs on a corrupted system, which is maintained by corrupted people, Miss Dash...Every now and then, someone completely innocent, or merely guilty of something like self-defense also finds his way into one of these facilities." "That's absurd!" Twilight shouted. "How can-" Twilight suddenly got interrupted by a prisoner that rammed the part of the fence where she was standing and laughed wickedly. "Aagh!" she screamed as she nearly fell off her feet. "Move a little closer, lovelies." The crazed man licked his lips while eyeballing Twilight. "I promise not to bite...much...he he he." The prisoner continued watching them closely as they took a few steps backwards and then followed Inhio away from there. "Do come back again some day, will ya? It gets boring with just the guys around here all the time!" the man shouted at them as they hurried away from him. "Eaugh!" Twilight shook from disgust. "What was his problem?" "The mind of someone who kills for pleasure is a mystery even to me," Inhio sadly replied. "Wait...did you just say for pleasure?" unsure of whether she had heard Inhio right, Rainbow Dash re-asked. "Indeed, I did." "As in...they don't even do it for power or any sort of material gain? They just do it because they enjoy it?" Inhio nodded at her. "Didn't they know they'd be sent here?" "Maybe they didn't, maybe they did but simply didn't care." "How...What..wh..." Rainbow Dash was at a complete loss of words. "I don't even know where to begin...There's just so much wrong with what you just said..." "Like I said, Rainbow Dash - The mind of someone who kills for pleasure is a mystery even to me." Inhio repeated himself. No more questions followed after Inhio's last statement. The walking continued for some time, after which Inhio stopped near a tall gate that surrounded a large mansion. "Please tell me this isn't another prison..." Twilight said with a touch of fear in her tone. "No," Inhio immediately replied. "Phew." Twilight wiped her forehead. "This is the place where I'd be in right now if I tried to tell someone who the six of you really are." "Huh?" All six girls got utterly confused. "This, my friends, is what we call an asylum...A home for the crazed and the demented." All six pony girls stared at the large building with wide eyes and raised eyebrows as they tried to make sense of Inhio's words. "But...you're not crazy," Twilight finally spoke up. "Not in their eyes." "How so?" "Silly thing about humans, Twilight, is that we are forced deny everything we can't understand. Those that don't are dubbed crazy by the world." "I don't understand..." "Basically..." Inhio switch to a more blunt approach. "If you see something unnatural and try to tell someone about it, they'll think you're crazy." "That's stupid," Rainbow Dash said after a moment of silence. "Agreed," Rarity added. "Tell me about it," Inhio also agreed. "It's only obvious that not all of the people in here are actually insane." "This place doesn't look too bad, though," Twilight added after a moment spent observing the mansion. "Only from the outside," Inhio rejected. "So what's it like on the inside?" "Sick," Inhio summed up his thoughts in a single word. "With the system with which they treat the people in there, it almost seems as though they want them to be crazy!" Inhio lost his composure and suddenly seemed frustrated. "They lock them up in small rooms and strap them into devices that prevent them from talking or moving their arms! And as if that wasn't enough, they constantly interrogate them with stupid questions that don't really have any right answers!" "That's awful!" Twilight exclaimed. "Why would they do that?" "To make sure they never get out," Inhio sadly admitted. "The questions they ask are based off of the things they said when they first came here," Inhio explained. "For example - if I went in there and said I've seen aliens, they would lock me up for some time and then ask me question like what did you really see back then?" Inhio kept on explaining. "At that point, you're already trapped. If you keep insisting that you saw aliens back then, they immediately throw you back into your chamber, and if you say you didn't see anything back then, then they ask you what made you think that you saw them...Either way, you're going back into your cell." "That's insane!" Twilight yelled and slammed her fists against the fence. "They're the ones that should be put in there for robbing those people of their freedom like that!" Inhio slowly walked up to the infuriated girl and whispered, "Come on...We've been here long enough." Twilight hesitated to follow. She felt both disgust and anger inside her whenever she stared at this place. Inhio slowly reached for one of her fists and softly grabbed it. Twilight stared at him with a sad expression as she released her fist and took Inhio's hand. After calming her anger, she finally agreed to follow him. Inhio rallied them up and led the way forward again. "So where to now?" "I think we've seen enough of the crazier places for one day...Lets try visiting one of the places for common people, for a change."
And the people that inhabit themAfter making their way through the swarming crowds, Inhio's company finally reached their destination. A bell on the top of the door ringed as seven people entered it. This place didn't seem as alien to the girls as the other two did, but it still looked rather peculiar. As the girls stood in the middle of the room, they started looking around. There was a counter in front of them. Behind it was a man polishing a whiskey glass, and behind him was a large shelf full of various bottles full of colored drinks. To their right and left there were many tables. Most of them had people sitting near them...The longer they stood, the more attention they gathered. With a swift gesture with his hand, Inhio guided them towards the biggest empty table in the bar. They slowly followed while they kept looking around them and listening to the strange music being produced by a peculiar, little box. Only after they had all taken a seat did Inhio finally speak a word. "welcome to my favorite bar...a place I've never visited before," Inhio jested. "So this is where the common people usually hang out in?" "Yep." "And what is it that they do here, exactly?" "Drink, chat...waste their money." "This isn't one of those places where people come to ...feed their addictions...is it?" Twilight asked and raised her eyebrow. "How very perceptive of you, princess Twlight," Inhio complimented her. "Alcohol is actually number one on the list of addictions that cause people to lose everything." "Alcohol?" Twilight inquired about the strange word. "A strong beverage that has a very certain effect on people...Wanna give it a try?" Inhio suggested. The girls didn't seem too eager to comply. "Don't worry, no one gets addicted on the first time," Inhio calmed them. "I...guess it can't hurt to try," Rainbow Dash slowly answered. "What kinds of alcohol are there?" "Well, there are quite a few when it comes to the stronger ones, but I doubt you'd enjoy any of those...I'd recommend some of the basic stuff - Beer, ale, cider, whichever sounds the best to you." "Did you just say cider?" Rainbow Dash asked in wide excitement. ""Why, yes..." Inhio replied, slightly confused. "I thought your world didn't have alcohol." "Hah! I didn't know you called cider an alcohol!" Rainbow Dash replied without losing her excitement. "I'd love some!" "In that case..." Inhio got up from the table. "Be right back." The girls watched him as he approached the bartender and eagerly awaited for him to return. Rainbow Dash in particular. Before long, Inhio was already on his way back with a very large glass full of a sparkling, yellow-colored beverage. He placed it right in the middle of the table. After rubbing her palms together, Rainbow Dash grabbed the glass and started guzzling down its contents, but after a few gulps, her cheeks bloated up and she started coughing. "Blegh!" She stuck out her tongue. "What is this!? This isn't cider!" She slammed her fist on the table and pushed the glass back to the middle of the table. "Only cider I've ever known," Inhio refused her statement. "It has that taste, but there's something wrong with it..." Rainbow Dash paused while trying to think of how to say what she wanted to say. "It's like someone added some kind of acid to it or something...I can still feel my throat burning from the freaking thing!" "I should have known." Inhio shook his head. "There is such a thing as non-alcoholic cider...that's probably the one you wanted," he explained himself. "Are you saying that it's the alcohol in it that gives it that terrible, burning aftertaste?" "Exactly," Inhio confirmed her words. A brief moment of silence followed, after which Rainbow Dash threw her arms up and shouted, "What is wrong with you people!?" "Keep it down, Rainbow!" Inhio laughed. "You're attracting too much attention. The girls looked around and saw a few unfriendly faces staring at them. "Sorry..." the rainbow-maned girl apologized. "It's just that...I don't get it! How could so many people end up broke from spending so much money just to have their throat burned out!?" "Let me give it a try," Applejack jumped in on the conversation and grabbed the glass. She took a single gulp and had about the same reaction as Rainbow Dash. "Blegh! My throat!" She grabbed her neck. "Ooh! Ohh! My turn!" Pinkie shouted and also grabbed the glass to give it a try. She put it down after a few sips and stared at it with a blank expression. "Meh...I've had worse." "Surely, it can't be that bad." The blue-haired fashionista picked up the glass and took a small sip and then wiped her mouth. "I take that back..." She pushed the glass towards the middle of the table. "It is that bad." "Well..." Twilight grabbed the glass. She exhaled loudly before taking a slow sip. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" She put the glass down and pushed it towards Fluttershy after taking a drink. "Yep...As unlikely as it sounds, It's like a drink that makes you even more thirsty." "Fluttershy spent a while staring at the glass, but eventually decided to push it back. "I think I'll pass," she quietly announced. "Like I said," Inhio interjected. "No one gets addicted on the first try." "No wonder," Rainbow Dash added. "What I want to know is how do people manage to get addicted to it at all?" "It's not so much the taste as it is the after effect of the drink that makes people so wild about it," Inhio explained. "What kind of effect is it, anyways?" Inhio tried to come up with a simple way to explain this, but decided to keep quiet as he saw a belligerent drunk approaching the table. "You're about to find out," he quietly announced. "Lovely evening, ain't it?" the drunken man addressed everyone at the table. "Mind sharing some of your women, kind sir? The place seems a bit short on em today. He he he." He approached Rarity first. "Well, I must say, you're looking very fine this evening, Miss!" The man squatted down enough to match Rarity's eye level. Rarity nearly fainted as she felt the man's breath on herself. She used her palm as a fan as she gasped for breathable air. The man placed his nose close to her hair and inhaled loudly as he drove his face upwards. He inhaled strongly enough to pull Rarity's hair towards himself. "Aagh!" Rarity shouted and slapped the man. "Get away from me!" "Feisty one, ain't cha?" The man said while rubbing his sore cheek. "What about you, huh?" He stared at Rainbow Dash. "You look wild." He approached her and started fiddling with her hair. "I bet you'd be even wilder in bed...even if you do look a bit young. He he he..." The man laughed in a demented tone. "What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash directed a glare both furious and confused at him. "Are you asking me how well I walk in my sleep or something?" "Oh no." The man shook his head. "Oh, don't worry, I won't let you fall asleep...Not before you dance for me, that is, he he." He devoted a perverted look to her before moving on. This guy just plain ain't right in the head... Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she followed his every move. "Oooh, and would you look at this lovely, little one!" he shouted out as he jumped over to Fluttershy and placed both hands on her shoulders, startling her and making her gasp in the process. "Well, ain't you just the cutest darn thing in the whole damn place." He moved his head closer to hers. "Don't worry..." he said while his hand started sliding down her shoulder, taking her shirt along with it. "I'll be real gentle with ya the first time..." "Hey!" Rainbow Dash jumped up from her chair. "Leave her alone!" "Shut yer blasted blowhole, ya Rainbow-haired b****!" he shouted and pushed the girl away. "Aagh!" Rainbow Dash yelped as she tripped over her chair. Luckily for hair, Applejack caught her before she hit the ground. "You had your chance!" He pulled his head back towards Fluttershy, nearly touching her cheeks with his own "I'm more interested in this little one now." He suddenly stood up and pulled her by the arm. Fluttershy gasped loudly, but still remained in her seat. "Whaddaya say we ditch this s***hole and go somewhere more....private?" He smiled at her wickedly and kept pulling her arm, and Fluttershy kept trying to resist it. By his expression you could already tell that he was beginning to fantasize about what was he about to do to the poor girl. Up until this very moment, Inhio had decided to not interfere so that the girls would get a better impression of the horrors of this world for themselves, but his patience finally reached its end. "You wanna take this outside!?" Inhio furiously shouted and slammed his fist on the table. "Yes, I'm talking to you," he spoke to the man after he got his attention. Fluttershy took the chance to free herself from the man's grip. "If you want to have an evening you won't soon forget, I can gladly give you one, along with a mark around your eyes to remind you even after you've recovered from your hangover!" Inhio yelled at the man with such rage that he couldn't help but comply. "Fine, fine," the man said with his palms raised up. "You win." He turned around and walked back towards the counter. "Enjoy the rest of yer evening...buncha freaks." "Thank you..." Fluttershy, still traumatized by the sudden event, wiped a single tear away from the corner of her eye. "I'm just sorry I didn't step in sooner," Inhio admitted in a tone full of regret. "It's okay," Fluttershy replied. "I know why you did it." Inhio had nothing to say to that. He just hung his head in shame. "Making us learn the hard way, huh, Inhio?" Twilight asked and monitored Inhio's reaction. "It's alright...you don't have to feel sorry...After all, you still saved Fluttershy from a pretty nasty situation." Fluttershy happily nodded. "I don't even want to know what he wanted to do with me." "Speaking of which..." Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Inhio...what did he mean when he said those things...about me being wild in bed and dancing for him or whatever." "Oh boy..." Inhio leaned his back against his chair. "You just hit the very pinnacle of tough questions." Inhio took a deep breath before continuing. "Before I go on, I have to ask...Where do babies come from in your world?" "Umm..." Twilight rubbed the back of her head and blushed. The rest of her friends also blushed and put on modest smiles. "Well-" "Hold on," Inhio interrupted. "Let me just ask this - does it involve some sort of sacred process between a loving couple?" Twilight widened her eyes. "Yes! That's it exactly!" "And is the process considered at least somewhat enjoyable?" "Well, umm..." Twilight paused for a moment and rubbed the back her head. "I mean, I've never tried it for myself, so I can't say for sure..." She put on a timid smile. "But as far as I know - yes." Rainbow Dash snickered and Pinkie Pie quietly giggled. "Well then, that makes things a whole lot easier to explain." Inhio sighed with relief. "I can only assume that it works the same, or at least in a similar way on our world...but the thing about it on this world, is that this process has long since lost its sacred value." "Huh?" The girls all seemed confused. "What I mean, is that it's no longer just a process with a sole purpose of creating successors...People have started doing it for fun." "What!?" the girls shouted in disbelief. "You heard me right," Inhio confirmed. "In fact, at this point, it's more commonly known as a form of entertainment or just a sport for most people...It's not recorded anywhere, but I'd have to say that the amount of times this process is actually done with a purpose of creating more life makes up less than 10% of all the times it's done at all." "How can this be true?" Twilight asked, refusing to believe her ears. "This is wrong!" "You think that's wrong?" Inhio asked right back. "What would you say if I told you that for some people it's even become a profession?" "I...I...I don't believe you!" Twilight retorted. "Believe it or not, it's just the way it is on our world! There are women out there that would spend the night with men they don't even know for just a bit of money!" "Stop!" Twilight cried out. "And that's not even the worst part of it! Oh, not by far!" Inhio pressed on. "Stop! Please!" Twilight begged him. "I can't take this anymore!" she shouted after standing up and covering her ears. Just as requested, Inhio ceased his dreaded monologue. At this point, most of the bar had already gotten used to the peculiar company sitting at one of the corner tables. Barely anyone bothered looking at them after hearing Twilight shouting. Twilight quickly calmed herself and sat back down. She took a few moments to simply stare the sparkling, half-empty cider glass still sitting on their table...staring and pondering about everything she had seen and heard today. "You were right, Inhio," she quietly admitted with a tone full of sorrow. "Your world really isn't for the likes of us." Inhio had little doubt that this place would eventually get to them...He was right all along, and yet, he would have preferred to stay wrong...There was, however, one last thing he had to say. One final nail he had to add to the coffin, just to make sure they would never want to return here again. Inhio sighed. "Do you know what's the most commonly told lie in our world?" Twilight gazed at Inhio for a short moment and then slowly shook her head. She had a feeling she was going to hear something inconceivably awful again. "I love you," Inhio quietly whispered and hung his head. Twilight followed his gesture and also hung her head in sorrow. The six girls shared a series of sad glances between one another. By their expressions, it seemed like they didn't want to stay here for much longer. Twilight gazed into Inhio's eyes and asked, "How do you live with all of this, Inhio?" "By not thinking about it," Inhio replied and grabbed the cider glass from the table. With a few quick gulps, he emptied it out and stood up from his chair. "Ready to head out?" he asked while wiping his mouth. "Actually..." Twilight spoke up. "I think we're ready to go back home now," Twilight spoke for herself and for all of her friends, who could only nod in approval. "Not just yet," Inhio informed and started walking towards the door. "There's just one last place I have to show you." "I'm pretty sure we've seen enough..." No matter how badly they didn't want to, the girls still followed him. "Don't worry," Inhio calmed them. "This place won't be like all the others."
The other side of the coinUnwillingly the six girls followed Inhio towards wherever he was leading them. They didn't talk during the journey. All the questions had either already been asked, or were simply too scary to ask. Not long after leaving the urban part of the city, the small company reached a peaceful meadow. A park bordered by a large forest. It was quite the sight for sore eyes. As the girls walked through the flourishing field of flowers, it almost started reminding them of home. The birds were singing, the sound of cars had faded away, and the world suddenly just started seeming a whole lot brighter, even though the sun was already setting. As the girls gazed around, each noticed something that caught their interest. Fluttershy, in particular, enjoyed the sight of wild animals running around near the edge of the forest. The girls could only hope that this sudden change of scenery wasn't about to be followed by something dreadful. Before long, Inhio stopped. For if he had taken just one more step, he would have fallen off a cliff. The six girls joined him by the edge of the cliff and gazed at the majestic sunrise above the sea, alongside Inhio. "You asked me how do I live with all of this," Inhio reminded them. "This is how." He waved his hand across the air in front of him. "By choosing to see the good in this world over the bad," Inhio explained. "Every coin has two sides. Every awful thing has an amazing counterpart, and the night is only so dark because the day is so bright." Inhio stopped speaking for a moment. Something down at the beachside caught his attention. "And just because it's one of the most commonly told lies..." Inhio directed their attention towards a loving couple walking by the sea. "Doesn't mean that love doesn't exist in this world." The smiles on the young couple's faces helped spread more smiles. They seemed so happy together that the six girls by Inhio's side forgot about the darker part of this world and let joy fill their hearts once more. "For you see, ponies of Equestria," Inhio turned around and addressed the girls. "This world isn't necessarily just awful, and neither is it simply amazing...In fact, it's always been in balance." He reached into his pocket and took a coin out of it. "And if you choose to constantly look at only one side of the coin," he said while flipping the coin around. "You won't ever even know that it has another side." After he finished speaking, he reached for Twilight's hand and put the coin in her palm and then closed it with his own hand. He then gazed deeply into her eyes and spoke: "That is how I live with all of this." If at first Twilight had doubts about following Inhio to this final location he had in mind, then those doubts were cleared away to the very last one at this moment. She slowly opened her hand and took a look at the coin Inhio had given her. She saw a beautiful sun embedded on one side. She then turned it around and saw a majestic, crescent moon on the other one. She put on a firm smile as she gripped the coin in her hand and threw her arms around Inhio. "Thank you," she whispered as a single tear slid down her cheek. Inhio gladly returned both the smile and the hug. "Don't mention it." *** Before long, the day was already done, and the company of seven was already back at Inhio's apartment and just about ready to depart. "So..." Inhio caught everyone's attention. "I guess this is goodbye." "I guess so," Twilight sadly replied. Inhio and the six girls gazed at each other for some time. Twilight had already begun turning towards the crystal ball on the table, but she suddenly turned around and rushed over to hug Inhio. Her friends didn't hesitate to do the same. Inhio gladly returned the hug. "Oh!" Twilight exclaimed after disengaging from the hug. "Almost forgot." She reached into her pocket. "Here." She handed Inhio his coin back. Inhio smiled at her and reached for the coin with both arms, but instead of grabbing it, he closed her hand. "Keep it," Inhio told her with a warm smile on his face. "To have something to remember me by." Twilight smiled as she held on to the coin tightly. "I only wish I could give you something in return..." "You already have," Inhio said while looking at the crystal ball on his table. "You're not taking that with you, are you?" Twilight giggled. She hugged Inhio one last time before leaving. "If there is one thing that's amazing about this world, then it's you, Inhio." "Well then..." Inhio spoke in a playful tone. "Lets hope I don't run into my counterpart," he jested. After a brief laugh, he placed his palm on Twilight's shoulder. "This world won't seem as amazing to me without you in it." "Don't worry, Inhio," Pinkie Pie interjected. "We'll keep in touch." "And you'd better do the same, mister," Twilight ordered in a cheerfully serious tone. "Aye, aye, princess!" Inhio saluted. And with that, Twilight walked back over to the table and joined her friends, who were already holding their hands on the crystal ball and waiting for her. She waved at Inhio one last time before beginning the recall spell. Inhio waved right back and watched the spell be set in motion. As the energies engulfed them all, they quickly regained their pony forms, and before long, Inhio's room was devoid of any life other than his own. After the dust had settled, the coin master jumped into his couch and crossed his arms behind his head. "What I wouldn't give for another day like this..." *** On the other side of the ball, the six ponies had just returned to their homeworld and were still a bit dizzy from the dimensional jump. "Twilight!" Overjoyed to see her, Twilight's lovely, little assistant ran over her to give her a warm hug. "Spike!" she answered him and hugged him back, right before slapping him across the face. "Ow!" Spike yelped. "What was that for?" "You didn't think I'd forget, did you?" she replied while pointing at the cloaking spell book that Spike had forgotten to return to it's shelf. "Oh..."
