Rum Raisin Brandy

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

Chapter 1

Rum Raisin Brandy

DISCLAIMER: My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic © Hasbro. All brony OCs © their players. This is a non-profit work of fan fiction.

Chapter 1

Julian pulled up to the house of is friend and put on his parking brakes. Stepping out of the car, he opened the trunk door and pulled out several paper bags loaded with canned food, all vegetarian meals. Slamming it shut, he carried his heavy load up to the front door and pushed the door bell.

"The door is open!" a voice inside called, and the door knob turned itself as the latch clicked open, causing the door to slide ajar. Anyone else would have been surprised by this, but Julian knew his friend had been practicing magic for a couple years now, and probably had the door magically rigged to open by itself on his command.

Pushing it open with his shoulder, Julian stepped inside and found nobody behind the door, the living room of the small country house completely unoccupied. "Nick?" he called out, setting the groceries down, "I brought the stuff you asked for."

"Just set it down. I'll be right out," Nick called back from his bedroom.

Julian slumped onto the sofa. "What's this about, huh? You sounded really shaky on the phone."

A soft chuckle came from down the hall. "Oh you'll see." Nick's words were followed by a soft clip-clopping noise that grew in volume as its source drew closer. "And don't call me Nick anymore."

Julian stopped gnawing on his knuckle and sat up when he realized the sounds he heard were hoofsteps. He jumped up in time to see his friend trot into the living room.

Nick was not his human self today. Instead, he was a unicorn, standing barely four feet tall with a sandy tan coat, a brown mane that was spiked forward, almost completely obscuring his horn, and eyes as big and round as a cat's with thin, blue irises. On his flank, he bore an image of an acorn with a flaming stem. He shot his still-human friend a grin. "Call me Midi Waffle."

"Y-y-you... you..." Julian was at a loss for words, his body visibly trembling with excitement. He stepped forward, his knees threatening to give out under him as he reached a hand forward. "Can I?"

Midi rolled his eyes. "Fine, go ahead."

Julian knelt down in front of Midi and began to stroke the pony's soft, plush coat. "Wow..." His mouth twitched and he laughed a bit, still trying to believe his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you were this advanced?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Midi said, smiling as he felt Julian's hand go down his neck. It fell surprisingly good to be petted.

"Well, yeah, but..." Julian cocked his head. "Why do you look like a G1 pony?"

Indeed, Midi looked more like a mix of the G1 and G4 ponies. His form was shaped much like G1, but his eyes were still large and his muzzle was blunter. Essentially, it was a realistic version of the G4 ponies.

"Well, you didn't expect the ponies to look exactly like Lauren Faust's drawings, did you?" Midi giggled, "Haiyo Miyazaki is a great artist, but humans don't really look like that, do they?"

"Well, yeah, but how did you know what the ponies really look like?" Julian's eyes widened with realization. "You've already been to Equestria?!"

Midi laughed. "Yeah, but don't worry. I haven't gotten a head start there or anything. It was just for recon, I swear. I didn't interact with anypony." He put a hoof up as he said that, looking defensive yet reassuring.

"So then... have you seen Big Macintosh?" Julian gave Midi the Shining Armor duck lip grin.

Midi snickered. "Don't worry, Jewel. He's single." Jewel was the nickname Midi had given Julian as a sign of how much he valued his friendship.

Julian did a double fist pump. "Yes! Ha ha!" He inhaled and stood up. "So?"

Midi tilted his head. "So what?"

"Does he..." Julian rocked his head sideways, "...swing that way?"

"You mean, is he gay?" Midi deadpanned.

"Uh-huh." Julian nodded eagerly.

Midi rolled his eyes. "Dude, Equestria has never even heard of homosexuality, as far as I know. How should I know if he's gay?" He sighed and turned around, motioning for Julian to follow with his tail.

Julian grinned as he followed. "Nice plot."

Midi snickered as he pushed his bedroom door open. "Come on. Take a look at this."

Julian stared at the circle written on the floor in white-out and adorned with crystals and runes. "Yeah, so? What is it?"

"This is a magic circle," Midi explained, "The lines, rings and runes are used to trigger synapses in the brain to help focus and control the flow of mana, and the stones add conductivity, allowing the spell..." He noticed Julian's blank stare, and chuckled in mild embarrassment. "Heh, heh. Basically, it makes casting spells easier and amplifies my energy."

"Ah," Julian said.

It wasn't that he didn't have a good head on his shoulders, his mind was just wired for music while Midi was better a programming. And magic, as it happened, followed many of the same logical principals as programming, only instead of working with data, it worked with raw energy.

"And this circle," Midi continued, pointing to the runes with his hoof, "is a portal too another world: Equestria."

"Yeah, about that," Julian asked, "How did you even find Equestria?"

"Oh that part was easier than it sounds," Midi smiled proudly like Twilight before she went into a lengthy lecture, "See, the human imagination is only 20% fantasy."

"Heh, heh," Julian muttered, "20%."

"The rest of it," Midi continued without noticing Julian's wise crack, "the things we regard as 'canon' facts are, in actuality, reality on other planets. By bouncing a sort of ping off the minds of others who watch the show, gathering the common resonance, I was able to pinpoint the world where our little ponies live."

"So what you did," Julian tried to put it into layman's terms, "was basically Google Equestria with magic?"

"The technical term is 'scry,'" Midi said as he nudged his hoof against one of the crystals on the floor, "but, yes."

"Cool!" Julian pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Oh yeah, I brought my reference sheet. I'm guessing it has to do with me becoming a pony?"

"Yes, follow me." Midi led Julian into the kitchen where another magic circle with a very different design was drawn in black marker with smaller stones at its points. "I couldn't keep the circles in the same room or activating one might cause the spell to feed off the other one's crystals."

Julian blinked. "Feed off them?"

"Oh, well not really feed off them. Burn them up is more like it." Midi rubbed his head. "See, for certain kinds of spells, the stones used are consumed, either for amplifying energy/matter conversions or fueling a transfer of some kind. In this case, the stones are a catalyst that causes your mass to be altered to match the form you'll be taking."

"I think I understood that," Julian said, "So, do I get to be a pony now?"

Midi shook his head. "I have to study your reference sheet first and add the details to the circle. Meantime, I'll be needing your hands for something."

Julian grinned slyly. "Oh really? What do you have in mind?"

Midi disregarded his friend's perverted humor. "I made some saddle bags out of back packs and stuck them in my closet. Yours is the blue one. I want you get mine and fasten it onto my body for me. I'd do it myself, but I need to see the straps to attach them without pinching myself badly."

Julian retrieved the over-sized saddlebags that were loaded with camping gear, first aid supplies, some trinkets that he figured were for conducting magic, and Midi's nD. As Midi studied the image of Julian's pony-sona, Julian strapped the green saddlebags to the unicorn's body, giving him a playful belly rub as he did.

Midi looked closely at Julian's pony-sona. It was a gray pegasus with white hooves and a messy, charcoal mane with red highlights. His eyes were the same absolute blue as Midi's, and his cutie mark was a double music note.

"Hmm... this may be a challenge," Midi pondered out loud.

Julian finished putting the saddlebags on him. "How so?"

"Well, the horn was a purely cosmetic change for me," Midi said, "I only need to make it glow when I'm casting magic openly. My own power isn't affected by it. Your wings, however, will need to be fully functional. And I'll need to work on the inherent mana field that causes clouds to remain solid when you touch them." He tapped his chin. "Not to worry, though. Should only take about an hour, and then I'll be ready. Go relax while I finish this up, or make sure you aren't forgetting anything you need."

"OK," Julian said as he turned to leave, but then stopped at the door. "Wait, that reminds me. Why are you taking your nD? Wouldn't that get ponies suspicious if they found it?"

"I'm well aware of the risk," Midi said, his focus still on the circle as he drew more runes onto it, "But I'm still a game designer at heart. I can't just leave my creative passion behind. So I'm taking the nD and my netbook with me so I can keep making games. Besides..." He stared up at the ceiling. "I don't want to leave everything about this world behind."

"I understand," Julian said, and then left his friend to his work.

The human went outside and took in a deep breath of fresh air. He was still shaking a bit, knowing that this was likely going to be the day. He thought back on his life, how nothing ever seemed to go right for him up until now when his magic friend had recently told him of the possibility of traveling to Equestria. This world sucked big time, and they both knew it. There wasn't any hope of them changing things, unless Midi could somehow master a worldwide mind control spell without killing himself in the process. They decided that since they didn't have much of a life here, they would instead move to another world, one that they knew to be better, and try to start over there.

And what better world than Equestria? A couple years ago, Julian and Nick would have laughed at anyone who said they would one day willingly go to a world filled with colorful talking ponies. But now, thanks to a certain television show, the very show they once hated until Lauren Faust had turned the whole thing around, they were going to live in such a world.

Julian broke from his thoughts and went to his car, pulling his guitar out of the back seat. Like Midi, Julian wasn't going to so lightly leave his greatest passion behind in this world.

Heading back inside, he sat on the sofa and gently strummed the strings of his guitar. I wonder how I'm supposed to play with hooves? They do it in the show somehow. If I can't work it out, I'll just play drums instead. Any instrument will do. He smiled and played an acoustic instrumental of the My Little Pony theme, among other songs from the show as he waited for Midi to finish setting up the spell.

Meanwhile, Midi was humming Stan Bush to himself and inscribing runes on the crystals with surgical care. Making a single mistake in marking a runestone would mean having to buff out the scratch, which diminished the overall size of the stone, and every little bit counted. Laying out his enchantments and making sure everything was in the precise position needed, he nodded affirmatively at his work.

"Julian! It's ready!" he called.

Julian excitedly jumped up and took his guitar off, laying it on the sofa cushion, then ran into the kitchen. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Do friends of a class have access to their protected members?" Midi said with a grin.

The nerdy coding reference was lost on Julian.

Midi scoffed. "It's ready, silly. Just stand in the middle and try not to disturb the circle when you step in."

Julian nodded and carefully stepped over the rings. The circle was almost twice as big as it was before, and a number of new crystals were laid out on the floor. "What's with the scratched up ones?"

"Those are runestones," Midi explained, "They're enchanted gems that can be used to cast a spell without using your own magic. It's like writing a separate function outside of the main scope..." Midi realized he was getting into nerdy tech talk again, and cleared his throat. "It just handles doing part of the spell for me so I don't have to focus on more than one thing at once."

"I see," Julian said, and stood at attention.

"Alright then," Midi said as he began to concentrate, focusing his energy into the ignition stone before him, preparing to fire the spell into it that would bring the whole circle to life, "Just don't move, or you'll die!"

"WHAT?!"

Before Julian could react, a white-hot bolt shot from Midi's horn into the stone, causing the whole circle to light up, each ring and line taking on a different color. The runes around him began to blink as the stones on top of them rose into the air, flashing in and out and orbiting their target: the petrified human standing tensely in the middle of them.

A white cocoon of light engulfed his body. Julian shut his eyes, and felt the warm energy wrap around his body and begin to change him. His digits were forced together, and he lost all feeling in them as they became a single hoof at the end of each limb. His muscles and torso grew bigger, his neck thickened, and his face stretched into a long muzzle that began to adjust itself to fit the image of his pony-sona. This was all mildly uncomfortable, but then he felt an intense stinging sensation as his skin opened up at three points and new bones were added and attached to his body, forming the skeleton of his wings and tail. Flesh and fur covered them, long hairs protruded from the tail, and feathers sprouted out along the length of his wings. His clothes were evaporated by the spell, removing the growing tension around his body caused by the cloth being too tight on him. They were replaced by a tingling sensation that told him his coat was growing in. Lastly, it felt like someone was brushing his fur, changing his coat and mane to the proper coloration.

Julian hung in the air for a moment as the cocoon shattered, bits of glowing mana shells falling to the ground and bursting into shimmering particles that dissolved in the air. His body was slowly lowered to the ground by Midi's telekinesis, helping him to get to his knees.

The former human opened his eyes, seeing his friend, now almost as tall as him, smiling approvingly at the completed transformation. He looked himself over, his excitement building as each detail came out exactly as he'd expected. A glance down between his legs, and his giddy giggling burst out into an excited "WHA-HA-HAAAA!"

"I'm guessing you're impressed?" Midi said, panting slightly from exerting his magic.

"Impressed?!" Julian interrobanged, "I... I can't believe it! I'm a PEGASUS!" He closed his eyes and squeed for a full ten seconds.

"OK, OK, calm down now, Jewel," Midi said, "Or should I say, Crescendo?"

The pegasus's eyes shot open. "Crescendo? That's right! That's my pony name!" He giggled and shuddered excitedly. "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I am CRESCENDO WOLFANG!" He covered his mouth in surprise, not expecting to hear himself so loudly. "Did... Did I just use the royal Canterlot voice?"

Midi nodded. "Yes. Well, a mild version of it."

Crescendo grinned a mile wide. "Awesome! So, can we get going now? I wanna get to Equestria!"

Midi shook his head solemnly. "No, not today."

"Aw," Crescendo splayed his ears back, "How come?"

"Because," Midi said, "I can't possibly cast another big spell like that again so soon. And you," he poked the pegasus's chest, "need to learn to walk. Now walk a few laps around my house and get used to your body, alright?"

Crescendo sighed. "Oh, alright. When will you be ready?"

"We'll leave tomorrow," Midi said, going into his room, "That'll give me time to make sure we haven't forgotten anything, and we'll be well rested when the time comes to go to Equestria."

"Sounds like a plan. Can I practice flying?"

Midi raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah, sure. Go practice flying. I'm sure the humans would love an air show."

They both laughed, and then went their separate ways, Midi to finish planning the trip and make sure everything checked out, and Crescendo to practice trotting around the house.

The next morning, Midi and Crescendo were sitting at the table, now back in the kitchen where it belonged, eating breakfast together. Crescendo was spending more time trying to figure out how to hold a fork with his hoof than actually eating.

"You have an extra wrist joint, you know," Midi said, demonstrating with his fork, "How do you think Equestrians hold things?"

Crescendo stuck his tongue out to the side as he tried Midi's method, grinning in triumph when it worked. He jabbed through his pancakes and lifted them up, nomming ravenously on them.

Midi, meanwhile, was using his magic to lift his utensils, trying not to stab himself as he ever so slowly moved the fork from the plate to his mouth. He chewed for a bit and swallowed before speaking. "So, with the food you brought, we should have enough to sustain us for a couple weeks, assuming we stretch it out with grass and stuff."

Crescendo nodded and swallowed. "Gonna be a bit tough, getting used to the vegetarian life. Well, not for you, since you've been one for so long already."

Midi shrugged. "Anywho, I've added a section under our floor boards that we'll use for secret storage. The stuff we bring with us will have to remain hidden."

"Why can't we just tell everypony that we're bronies?" Crescendo asked, looking somewhat disheartened.

Midi bit his lip and looked off to the side. "Frankly... I'm afraid of Celestia..."

"Afraid of Celestia?" Crescendo laughed out loud. "Why on Earth would you be afraid of her?"

"Well, you know she'd do anything to protect her little ponies," Midi said blankly, "What if she decides we're dangerous? She might send us to the moon or turn us to stone. Suppose she mistakes us for changelings?"

"Oh," Crescendo's smile faded, "I see your point. Then we should try and avoid the princesses as best as we can."

Midi nodded in agreement. "And probably Twilight, too. If she picks up on anything suspicious... well, let's hope the ponies haven't learned their lesson and don't believe her."

"Mhmm," Crescendo said.

They finished breakfast, gathered their supplies, and went into the bedroom and stood next to the portal circle.

"What about all your other stuff?" Crescendo asked.

"It's been taken care of," Midi replied, "I've already donated every penny to my name and arranged to have my stuff taken by Good Will. What about you?"

"Eh, my dad already took most of my stuff when I said I was moving in with you," Crescendo told him, "I guess I could bring my Nook to read my ebooks with."

He went outside and carefully sneaked to his car. It was early morning, so no humans were outside yet, but he wanted to be cautious all the same. Drawing attention might cause someone to interrupt Midi's portal spell.

Coming back inside, he stowed the Nook in his saddlebag and looked to Midi for directions.

"Alright," Midi began, "I need to remain still to keep the portal open, so you'll have to go first. As soon as I break my concentration, the portal will begin to collapse, so you need to get our stuff through and let me know when you're ready. Got it?"

"I think so," said Crescendo, "But... what if you don't get through the portal in time?"

"Don't worry about that," Midi said, "I've done this before. I won't get split in half or anything."

Crescendo's face showed obvious worry. "Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye." Midi went through the motions of the Pinkie Pie swear.

"Alright." Crescendo seemed reassured. "But when I get this stuff through, you better high tail it, or I'll tell Celestia on you."

"Julian," Midi said, purposefully using his friend's human name, "I've done this before. I wanna make sure you get through alright. If I get left behind, I can find my way though again easy enough. But if you get left behind here as a pony..."

"Oh~..." Crescendo understood. He knew Midi wouldn't risk even the shortest amount of time for Crescendo to be discovered as a pony and taken somewhere he couldn't be found.

Midi took in a deep breath and slowly released it. "It's time. Stand back."

Crescendo stood behind Midi and watched as the unicorn activated the ignition stone. The crystals hovered and began to spin around a tiny ball of light in the middle that crackled and sparked, releasing small bolts of electricity in different directions. The ball expanded and grew more violent as the fabric of space was torn open, and flattened into a disk that split in the middle, taking on a flat donut shape as the image of a grassy field started to appear in the center.

The pegasus's eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing. The portal was opening up into a new world!

The portal expanded further until it was just an image of this beautiful landscape with a thin ring of light around it.

"Go! Now!" Midi commanded.

Crescendo obeyed, pushing the groceries through with him as he jumped into the other side. The portal was off the ground a bit, and he found himself falling flat on his face like someone who expected there to be a floor under him and ended up falling down a staircase.

Standing up and shaking himself to get rid of the dizziness, the pegasus looked around at his new environment. It was a simple grassy field with a gravel road that led to a large, old-looking city off in the distance. Most prominent in this city was a large clock tower with a striking resemblance to Big Ben. Crescendo raised an eyebrow, and turned around. Behind the portal, he noticed the familiar layout of Stonehenge.

"This... is not Equestria," Crescendo said as Midi jumped through the portal and landed beside him, "Midi! You've brought us to England!"

"I know," Midi said, "You didn't think I could really open a portal to another universe in my bedroom, did you?"

"But, you said that portal led to Equestria!" Crescendo said exasperated.

"And so it did," Midi grinned, "But only half way. That," he pointed with his hoof to the Stonehenge, "is the rest of the way."

Crescendo stared for a moment. "That thing is a magic circle?!"

"Of course," Midi said, levitating the paper bags over his head and set them inside the circle.

"I thought this was what druids used to make their weird sacrifices?"

"Well, yeah," Midi explained, "But that's because they didn't know what they were doing. This place is a large ley node. See, there are energies that flow around the world along things called ley lines. These lines converge at nodes that, when properly harnessed, can be used to unlock powerful magic. The druids knew where they existed, just not how to use them properly."

"Wow," Crescendo said with a smile, "You managed to explain all that without mentioning your weird computer stuff."

Midi chuckled. "Alright, Smarty Pants. Get on the middle stone while I prepare the real spell."

He started placing his portal stones at different points around them while his pegasus friend stood on the middle block, tapping his hoof as he waited.

"When we go through, we'll be teleported instead of having to jump through a portal. We'll land on the side of Whitetail Wood opposite to Ponyville, a good place for us to build our house without having to ask about construction permits or anything."

"How do you know that'll work?" Crescendo asked.

"I checked their zoning laws," Midi said, putting another crystal into place, "If you build far enough from a town, you don't need to pay for the land. Pretty convenient, if you ask me. All we have to do is make sure when we cut down the trees, we pull up the stumps and plant new trees in their place."

A few more stones, and they were ready. "Done. Let's do this!"

Crescendo felt himself jittering in fevered anticipation. He stood next to Midi as the unicorn's horn began to glow bright white. This wasn't a special effect; Midi was using so much energy that his horn glowed on its own as the mana flowed forth from it.

He noticed that a car full of tourists had pulled up and were taking pictures of them. Not that it mattered; they'd be leaving this world very shortly. Still, it amused the pegasus to imagine what they might have thought of this spectacle. Two ponies evoking an ancient magical construct and then disappearing before their very eyes.

Had they known these humans were bronies too, they might have invited them along. But it was too late. The two ponies and their possessions in the circle disappeared in a bright flash that extended into a beam of light that shot into space.

Chapter 2

The skiy over Equestria was calm and fair, tinted a mild blue with small puffy clouds sparsely dotting the air. Two arcs of light streaked through the serene blue yonder and touched down in a glen in the middle of Whitetail Wood.

The beams condensed and formed the shapes of Midi and Crescendo. The pegasus shook himself and stretched his legs.

"Wow!" Crescendo exclaimed, "That was tingly! Is that what being Megaman feels like?"

"I wouldn't know," Midi said, letting out a slow yawn, "Let's just set up camp. I need a nap after casting all those big spells."

"Right, right," Crescendo nodded, and helped his unicorn friend unpack their tent.

Once the three-room tent was set up, Midi immediately went in, layed out his bed roll, and fell right asleep.

Crescendo smiled at the small unicorn and swore he would pay his friend back for bringing him to this amazing land. The excitement caught up with him, making the pegasus squee. "I'm really here! In Equestria!" He ran outside and took in a deep breath of the sweet forest air, then looked up at the opening through the canopy tree leaves.

He unfurled his wings and grinned. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" With a powerful flap, Crescendo shot himself into the air and immediately arced back and fell right on his muzzle. "Ow... it looked so much easier on the show."

Crescendo got to his hooves and tried again, this time making a conscious effort to flap more evenly, and managed to keep his lift. In moments, he was above the trees, but his wings were already growing tired of their first time use. He grabbed onto a cloud, pleased to see that he really could grasp it like a solid object, and climbed on top to catch his breath.

The spectacle of the land below him took his breath away. About a mile from his little cloud, he saw Ponyville. It wasn't the smooth, Flash-gradient town he knew from the show, but despite its realism, it still looked like a perfect town you'd see on a post card.

Leaning forward, his pegasus eyes zoomed in like a raptor, allowing him to observe the citizens down below as though he were only a few feet away from them. "Wow!" He giggled. "Pegasus eyes rock!"

He retracted his view and stood up, then spread his wings once more. "I think I'll try gliding this time." Crescendo lept forward and braced wings, riding warm air currents and carefully tilting his wings, learning how to control his flight path.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!"

A polychromatic blur shot past, making Crescendo lose control and go careening towards the ground. He backpedalled as hard as he could, but couldn't stop himself before crashing into a tree. He strained and pulled his head out of the trunk, then fell to the ground with a loud oof and thud.

"Brbrbrbrbrbrbr!" Crescendo shook his head rapidly and looked for the falling object that cut off his flight, and saw Rainbow Dash face-down in the dirt. "D-Dash! Oh, I'm sorry! Lemme give you a hoof!" He ran over to help the cyan mare off the ground.

"Heh, thanks," said Rainbow Dash, brushing soil out of her mane, "Wait a second, have we met before?"

"Um, I, uh!" Crescendo bit his lip as Midi's words rang in his head.

We absolutely can't let anypony know we're bronies. It would raise too many questions, and they may even feel threatened by us.

Of course Midi didn't need to remind him of this. It was common sense that you didn't tell somepony you've been spying on them most of their lives.

"W-well, you remember the young fliers competition a few years back?" Crescendo asked.

Rainbow immediately brightened up. "Oh, I see now! You're a fan of mine, eh?" She beamed at him.

Crescendo allowed himself a fanboy giggle. "I think 'fan' is a bit of an understatement. You're a legend! The first mare to master the sonic rainboom!" He put his hooves to his face and squeed.

Rainbow's grin widened. "Legend... I'm a legend!" It was her turn to squee, and she did it with gusto.

Both pegasi broke into fan giggles.

"Oh yeah, I never got your name!"

Crescendo put his hoof to his chest. "I'm Crescendo Wolfang. My friend and I are hoping to move into Ponyville, but we need to raise money to have a house built."

"Cool," Dash said with a grin, "And we should totally go flying together sometime. I'd love to hit the sky with a fan some time!"

"Uh, actually, about that..." Crescendo rubbed the back of his head. "I, um, I'm not the best flier. I... I doubt I could keep up."

"Well, that sucks," said Rainbow, losing her high, "But I'd still be up for giving it a shot sometime. Whadda ya say?"

"That'd be so awesome!" Crescendo squished his cheeks between his hooves.

Rainbow laughed. "You know, you remind me of somepony. Can't put my hoof on it."

Crescendo grinned. "Heheh. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Anyway, I should probably head out and start looking for a job. See ya around sometime?"

"You bet!" Rainbow winked. "Later!" She crouched down and then shot into the air like a bullet.

Crescendo followed the rainbow trail with his eyes until the cyan mare vanished into the distance. "Wow!" He tried to take off like her, but again he lost his balance and crashed. "Ugh... Midi never said flying would be this hard."

The pegasus decided he'd had enough for now and went back to the camp. He went into Midi's room and nudged his friend awake.

"Nngh... whuh?" Midi blinked, then yawned and smacked his lips. "Oh, hey, Cres. How long was I out?"

"Not long," Crescendo answered, "Hey, do you think it'd be alright if I went into Ponyville and ask about the job at the farm?"

The unicorn blinked drearily. "Uh, I guess so. Do you know the way?"

"Eeyup!" Crescendo nodded, "I was practicing flying eadlier and saw the town from a cloud. By the way, clouds feel amazing!"

Midi smiled. "Alright then. Lemme finish my nap, and then I'm gonna go gem hunting."

Crescendo tilted his head. "Hunting?"

"Well yeah," Midi said, "You don't think the diamond dogs are just gonna hand them over, do ya?"

"Oh, OK." Crescendo started to leave. "Will you be alright on your own?"

Midi nodded. "Yeah. If you hear explosions, I've got everything in hoof."

"OK, cool," Crescendo said and walked out, "See ya later, squirrelly!"

Chapter 3

Midi Waffle crawled out of his bed roll and stretched his legs out like a cat. He shook out his mane and looked around outside. "Hmm, diamond dog field. Diamond dog field."

He looked up into the tallest tree and teleported onto its highest limb, using his large tail to keep his balance as he surveyed the wilderness. "Should be someplace rocky and barren. Couldn't be too far, though, if Rarity is willing to walk there." Midi scanned the horizon until he saw a gray area with large boulders and what looked like a few dead shrubs. "Aha! That must be it!"

The unicorn picked a point on the edge of the barren ground and teleported to it, the trudged through the dry badlands. He drew up energy into his horn and began to emit a magic ping, searching underground for crystals.

"Look there," Fido whispered, "New pony!"

"Yeah, new pony," Spot said, "Male too. He won't whine like Rarity."

Rover chuckled. "Yes, he will find us the gems. Let's get.. the pony!"

Midi looked up and swiveled his head. "Hello? Is somepony there?" His ear turned to face a rustling noise off to the side. "Heh heh. Already, huh?" He smirked and faced the bushes. "Hey you cowardly whelps! Show yourselves!"

The three diamond dogs jumped out and moved to surround the unicorn.

"Whelps? Cowardly?" Rover chided, "New pony has nasty attitude."

"Uh-huh. Whatever." Midi rolled his eyes. "You dogs out here hunting for gems?"

"Yes, we are the gem hunters!" Rover growled.

"That's nice," Midi said, looking off nonchalantly, "I'm hunting for something else."

"What's that?" Fido asked.

Midi narrowed his eyes and gave the dogs a vicious grin. "I hunt... for you!" He stood up on his hind legs as his horn flashed, and an acorn bomb appeared at the tip which he grabbed and held behind himself, then swung his foreleg and released the acorn bomb which exploded as soon as it struck Rover in the chest.

The dog when flying backwards and crashed into a rock, passing out on impact. Midi produced two more bombs and blasted Spot and Fido away.

"BOOM-YAH!" he cheered, pumping his hoof like a fist. He trotted up to Rover and stood triumphantly above him. "So then, pooch, you ready to fork over the rocks?"

Rover growled and pulled out his dog whistle. A silent puff later, and a dozen bulldogs in iron armor tunneled up around Midi. They got in a circle around him and bared their drool-soaked fangs at him.

Midi sighed. "These dogs just don't learn." He spun around and launched several new bombs at them.

Crescendo paced back and forth at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres, nervously muttering to himself. "Come on, you can do this. You're just asking for a job, and these ponies are friendly. They're not gonna judge you. If they need help, they'll say yes, and if not, you go somewhere else. Simple." He looked towards the farm and gulped. "Here goes." He cantered forward and spotted Applejack. "Hello! Excuse me, ma'am. Are you busy?"

Applejack looked to her visitor and smiled. "Well howdy there. What can Ah do ya fer?"

"Well, actually, um..." Crescendo cleared his throat. "Uh, see, I'm kinda new in town, and I'm looking for a job. And you've got a big farm here, and I couldn't help but notice there were only two ponies working here, so uh..." He rubbed the back of his head.

Applejack chuckled. "Ah see where this is going. And frankly Ah think we could afford it. Oh, but where are mah manners? Ah'm Applejack." She held her hoof out to him.

Crescendo took her hoof and shook it. "I'm Crescendo Wolfang. My friend Midi and I are camped out in Whitetail Wood until we can afford a house."

"Mighty pretty place to set up," Applejack said, "If y'all like, we could get right to--"

A thunderous explosion interrupted the earth mare and sent out a shock wave that caused the ground to rumble.

"What in the name off Celestia was that?!" Applejack shouted, ducking for cover.

Crescendo lifted off and used his raptor vision to see in the direction the explosion originated from. A moment later, he lighted down and smiled. "Oh, that was nothing. Just my friend Midi fighting the diamond dogs."

"He must be in trouble, what with all that ruckus an' all! C'mon, Crescendo! We gotta help him!" Apolejack started for the road, but Crescendo blocked her path.

"Whoa, hold up there," the pegasus said, "Midi told me that explosions are a good sign. I forgot to mention this, but he's actually a very powerful unicorn. Those explosions are his."

Another explosion echoed through.

"Just how powerful is he?" Applejack asked, looking nervous.

"Oh, he could probably level a town all on his own, if he wanted to," Crescendo answered with a shrug.

"Boy, Ah wouldn't wanna meet him on a bad day!"

"Oh, no, nothing to worry about." The pegasus smiled. "He's actually the sweetest guy I know." Another explosion. "Quite the cuddler, actually." The sound of rocks crumbling. "You'd like him." One more explosion.

Applejack stood upright, still a bit shaken. "And y'all're sure he can hold his own?"

"Definitely," Crescendo said with a nod, "I'll bet he's giving them hell right now."

"Oh man, these dogs are really giving me hell!" Midi popped off another bomb and stretched the gap between himself and the oncoming diamond dogs.

He charged his horn and let loose a phalanx of smaller bombs, striking a good number of the canids. For every one he beat, one or two more would surface to take its place.

"These gems better be worth all this crap!"

"So, um, about that job?" Crescendo tried to steer the conversation to a calmer topic, despite the fiery elephant in the room.

"Oh, yeah," said Applejack, "Ah completely forgot. Well, we'll give ya a small plot to start with, just to see how ya handle it. Sound alright with ya?"

The pegasus nodded. "Sure, sounds good." Although I wish it was a certain stallion's plot I was taking care of.

"Alright then." Applejack turned and motioned for her new employee to follow her. "Y'all come this way, an' we'll git ya set up an' buckin'."

Midi panted and flopped on the ground, ignoring the stinging sensation coming from his many scrapes and cuts. Fighting with hooves was harder than he expected. Throwing bombs with them was even harder. Several times, the dogs got close enough to take a swipe at him, and each time he had to throw a bomb under himself and blast himself into the air to escape, only to suffer a rough landing.

He only allowed himself a moment to breathe once the dogs had given up and retreated, but not without dropping a moderate ammount of small precious stones from their burnt pockets.

The unicorn quickly stashed some of them in his knicked-up saddlebags and teleported back to the camp. He dropped his loot inside the tent and looked around. After finding a feather shed by Crescendo, he took it and a lock of his mane, and used them to conjure a magic ward only he and his friend could cross.

"There. I doubt anypony short of Twilight or the princesses could get in here." Pleased with his work, he nodded in approval. "I guess I should head into town and see about renting a spot in the market. I shoukd check up on Cres, too."

He tried to canter but tripped over his own hooves. "Ugh, darn it. Maybe I should rest a bit, first. I've been pushing myself too hard..." He crawled back into the tent and fell asleep in the middle room, not even bothering to go all the way to his bed.

Chapter 4

Thwack! Thump, thump, thump. Thwack! Thump, thump, thump.

Crescendo watched the apples fall into the buckets, but frowned as several fell outside of them. Apple bucking wasn't nearly as easy as it looked in the show, but Cres was determined to impress the Apple family. He carefully picked up each stray apple by the stem and put them in the bucket.

He kept working for an hour or so until he came to the edge of his work area. There he saw Big Macintosh, the stallion of his dreams, almost effortlessly bucking each tree he went by. The apples fell flawlessly into their buckets, as though the earth stallion could control where they fell.

Maybe it has to do with his cutie mark? the pegasus wondered.

He'd already been introduced to the rest of the Apple family earlier, but didn't get much time to talk with them before Applejack swept him up and led him to his beginner area. Now he had a chance to try to break the ice with Big Mac.

"Uh, Big Macintosh?" Crescendo began.

The red pony stopped bucking and stared blankly at his new companion.

"Hi..."

"...Howdy."

Crescendo was starting to feel really awkward. "Um, so... nice weather we're having?" He wanted to facehoof so hard it knocked him out.

"Eeyup."

"Um... you worked here long?" Duh. Of course he has!

"Eeyup."

Ask him about Smarty Pants. No, don't! You can't know about that! But I could be asking about the doll in general. But would he deny having it?

In this midst of the awkward silence, Big Mac wandered off. The sound of hooves striking wood startled Crescendo out of his thoughts.

"Oh, buck me. He's gone." Crescendo sighed and walked back to his area with his head down, blushing hotly. "He probably thinks I'm an idiot." The dejected pegasus resumed his work, lamenting over the presumably terrible impression he made.

Midi rolled onto his back, holding his forehooves up to his chest. As he slowly opened his eyes, a blurry shape moved into his field of view. As his vision cleared, the gray and yellow blob sharpened into a pegasus mare with one golden eye looking down at him and the other looking elsewhere.

"Hello," Derpy said in a soft, seductive but nonetheless adorable voice.

Midi gasped and snapped his eyes open. He moved to get out from under her, but the mare pushed her hoof down on his chest, pinning him to the bed of clouds he was laying on.

"How did I get--"

"Shh..." Derpy moved her hoof to Midi's lips, "Don't talk, my love. Wouldn't want to upset little Toaster Waffle, would you?"

"T-Toaster Waffle?" Midi looked around, but they were alone in what he guessed was Derpy's bedroom.

"Our foal," Derpy cooed.

"But, we don't have a foal."

Derpy smiled warmly and touched her nose to his. "Not yet." With that, she straddled him and put her forehooves on his shoulders.

The next moment, the walls turned dark and exploded with bolts of lightning.

"Derpy, the house is storming!"

A peel of thunder threw a wrench in Midi's dream. He bolted upright, panting hard and looking around in bewilderment. "Derpy?"

Outside, it was raining cats and dogs. Midi walked out into the rain to give himself a cold shower. "Sheesh, I can't even go all the way in a freaking dream!"

He stared off absently. "Hmm, maybe I should go check on Crescendo."

He began to gallop down the forest trail, not getting hit by much rain thanks to the trees covering his path. The road was still muddy, and he lost his footing in places. At one point, he nearly skidded off the road into a tree.

"OK, first chance I get, I'm learning an evaporation spell. Or a paving spell."

The rain ended at the edge of the woods, meaning the weather ponies weren't watering the town proper, just the surrounding areas. Midi shook the water off himself and magically scraped off the mud from his run. He wasn't perfectly clean, but at least be was presentable at this point.

Up close and in person, Ponyville was more beautiful than he imagined. The walls of most of the houses were made of mossy stone, and some of the houses had thatched roofs, but more than not, they had shingles roofs. The streets were also covered in rough, light cobblestone of varying hues. It appeared Ponyville had been developing past what was in the show.

Midi felt an odd tingle run up his mane. He turned around and saw none other than Pinkie Pie standing right behind him. "Uh, hello? Could you tell me where I could find--"

Pinkie leaped up into the air and hovered as she let out a five-second gasp and then disappeared in a pink blur.

Midi watched her go and blinked. His mind pieced together what had just happened. "Oh, apple bucker! I'm in trouble!" He turned tail and ran in the other direction, stopping when he reached the town square. "OK, something's off here. Pinkie didn't gasp that long when Twilight came to town. What is it about me?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Oh wait, Crescendo's new too. Maybe she's double excited because the new ponies have been doubled!" The unicorn noticed he was holding his hoof out and grinning like Luna. He quickly resumed a normal stance and coughed, hoping nopony had noticed his mini outburst.

Meanwhile, Rarity was trotting lightly down Mane Street with several shopping bags hovering over her, suspended in her magic aura. "Ah, so nice to be back in dear little Ponyville. I do hope the girls like what I've come up with for them."

She wasn't paying attention and crashed into the new unicorn from the side. Her bags flew forward and were dumped on the ground. Fashion supplies spilled out and scattered around them.

"Oh, gosh, I am so sorry!" Midi said, quickly snatching up Rarity's stuff in his own telekinesis and helping her put them back into the bags.

"Not at all, darling!" Rarity chimed, "So careless of me not to pay attention to what's in front of me. Are you alright, dear?"

Midi chuckles weakly. "Yes, I'm fine. Just... new in town. Trying to learn my way around here. Oh!" He put his hoof out to her. "I'm Midi Waffle."

Rarity looked uneasily at Midi's muddy hoof. "Uh, charmed..." She took it with her own shaky hoof, wincing a bit as she touched his. "I'm Rarity."

Midi couldn't help but giggle at her prudence. "Nice to meet ya. Say, would you happen to know where Sweet Apple Acres is? I'm looking for a friend of mine." He finished packing up Rarity's bags and levitated them back to her.

"Oh, it's on the far end of town, that way." Rarity took her bags and pointed down Saddle Avenue.

Midi raised an eyebrow. "Real creative street names here. Thank you, Rare..." He stopped as an idea came to mind. This would be a good opportunity to gain a bit of standing in this town, and he knew Rarity was a sucker for flattery. "Um, actually... wait, Rarity! I've heard of you! You were mentioned in Clothes Horse magazine, right?"

Rarity laughed. "Darling, that was so long ago! Hardly worth mentioning now."

"Yeah, but aren't your fashions on display in Canterlot?" Midi asked, "Somepony named Hotty Totty, or something like that, had them."

"Hoity Toity," Rarity corrected, "You must be behind. Hoity Toity hasn't shown my designs in weeks."

Midi frowned, genuinely surprised to hear this. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's been a while for me, traveling around and all. Still, it was exciting to meet you. I am a fan." A good moment, Midi felt, to be honest with the other unicorn.

"And I am flattered," Rarity said, waving her mane to accent her fabulousity, "Oh, but look at the time! I have dresses to make, and I'm keeping you from your friend, too."

Midi slapped himself in the forehead. "Luna's sub plot! With all this not exploding I've stopped not doing he'll think I've forgotten not to blow up nothing at all never again!"

Rarity stared, inertly hushed. "...Huh?"

"I have to go!" Midi burst out, "See ya later, Rarity!" He looked up at a roof and blinked onto it.

Rarity looked around for the other unicorn who was no longer there. "Hm. Strange fellow." She resumed her canter and went back to Carousel Boutique.

Chapter 5

Midi teleported from rooftop to rooftop, until he found a vantage point he could see the farm from. He decided it would be rude to jump right into the farm, so instead he jumped to the archway on the fence line and walked in like a normal pony.

Crescendo was carrying a bucket of apples up to the barn when he noticed his friend coming towards him. "Hey, Midi! Over here!"

"Hi!" Midi trotted over to Cres. "Looks like you got the job, eh?"

"Heh, heh, yeah," the pegasus replied, "Well, not officially. Today's a trial day for me." He dropped the bucket in the barn. "If I do a good job today, Applejack says I'll get to stay on."

"Oh," said Midi, "Well, do ya want me to leave you alone so you can work? I still have things to do in town anyway."

"No, no," said Cres, "I'm sure I can talk and buck at the same time. Unless you're really busy and need to be somewhere now."

"Eh, I don't think I'm in that big of a hurry," Midi replied, "Besides, I had to drop in and let you know I'm OK. You know, what with not exploding in a while and all."

"Yeah, about that," Crescendo said as he picked up an empty bucket, "How were the diamond dogs?"

Midi laughed heartily and then stopped and deadpanned. "Don't ever go into that field alone."

Crescendo's eyes widened. "That bad, huh?"

"Oh yeah." Midi nodded. "And what's worse, the gems here aren't as big as I thought they'd be. I mean, I can still use them, but unfortunately, I only got enough to do some experimenting on."

"So you'll have to go back for more?"

"Mhmm." Midi noticed Applejack heading their way. "Hey, I should get going. See you back at camp?"

Crescendo smiled. "You got it. Take care."

"You too!" Midi teleported away just as Applejack arrived.

"Who was that guy, Crescendo?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, that was Midi," Crescendo said, "He was just checking in and letting me know he was alright. The dogs seemed to have given him a beating."

Applejack gasped. "He's not hurt bad, is he?"

Crescendo chuckled. "Trust me, it'll take more than a few rowdy dogs to take him down. Like I said, he's powerful."

"If ya say so," Applejack sighed, "Think ya could help me load up mah apple cart real quick?"

"Sure thing," Cres eagerly replied, then dropped the empty bucket and followed the earth mare.

Crescendo poked his head out from behind a tree and looked down the orchard row. With Applejack working in town, it was just him and Big Macintosh working on the farm, and the rock solid farm pony was proving to be quite the distraction for the longing pegasus.

I gotta break the ice somehow. I just gotta! Cres was at a loss for how he should approach the stallion he admired so much.

He sighed dejectedly and decided he should just get back to work. Taking up the apples he bucked, he loaded them onto his back and hauled the large wooden bucket back up to the barn.

Setting down the bucket, Crescendo's attention was drawn to a faint glint in the corner of the barn. He moved closer, curious to what was shining in the dark. Hidden behind a crate, the pegasus found a button attached to a piece of cloth. When he pulled it out into the light, he realized it was a rag doll.

Smarty pants! The pegasus beamed and pulled the doll into the open. I don't believe it! It's real! And... He squeezed the doll to his chest. "I'm playing with Smarty Pants!"

He looked around to make sure nopony was nearby and gave the doll a sniff. It smelled just like Big Mac did. Cres smiled and held the doll up. "You're Smarty Pants? Well so am I! And this barn ain't big enough fer the two of us!"

Big Mac carried his load of apples towards the barn and heard voices coming from inside. Peeking in quietly, he saw Crescendo playing with his Smarty Pants doll.

"H-hey! Be careful with that!" The stallion dropped the apples he was carrying and snatched the doll away from the pegasus.

"I'm sorry!" Creacendo whimpered, backing away from the stallion brushing his toy off. "I just, I haven't seen one of those in so long, and it... it reminded me of when I was a young colt."

Big Mac put the doll away and looked surprised at Crescendo. "You played with Smarty Pants when y'all were little?"

"Yeah!" Crescendo said enthusiatically, "She was my favorite, growing up. My friend, Midi, likes to tease me about it. He calls me Smarty Pants sometimes." Cres blushed a little. "I gotta admit, I kind of like being called that."

Mac's expression softened a bit. "Really?"

"Eeyup." Crescendo giggled. "Sorry."

Mac chuckled and shook his head. "No problem. Just be careful an' don't touch her unless Ah say ya can, alright?" He smiled. "Ah prefer to have mah eyes on her when she's out so she don't get damaged. Rare doll and all, y'know?"

Crescendo nodded. "Of course. Maybe we could play with her sometime?"

Mac smiled and nodded. "Eeyup." He picked up his apples and put them away, then headed back to the orchard.

Once the earth stallion was out of earshot, Crescendo let out a fanboy squeal and trotted happily back to work.

"I think I'm getting through to him! I can't wait to tell Midi!" He looked up as he trotted. "Hmm, I wonder if he's found Derpy yet?"

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Not just sure; absolutely possitive. I got a smaller one working back home in my basement."

"You're kidding! Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I've already started collecting samples, too."

"How soon until we're ready to launch the bigger one then?"

"Can't tell. May be months. Took me a few years just to finish the first part. But once I get this next one working, all our troubles will be over."

"And Equestria will be ours! Mwahahahahahahahahahah!"

"...Dude... just, don't."

Chapter 6

"Oh, shoot, what was I gonna do?" Midi stood in the middle of the street, staring blankly ahead. He racked his brain, trying to get his train of thought back on its rails. His mind snapped back and his eyes widened in realization. "Aha! I was going to the library!"

The unicorn trotted briskly to the tree he knew Twilight lived in. He was about to knock on the door when it suddenly burst open and sent him flying back.

"Spike! I'll be right back!" Twilight called, and then noticed the stallion lying on his back in the dirt.

Midi rubbed his forehead and groaned. I thought that door opened inward?

"Oh, dear! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!" Twilight helped Midi back up to his hooves.

"Ah, no problem," said Midi, "Although I'm more used to things exploding in my face, not just outright smacking me."

"Yes, well, I needed to..." Twilight tilted her head. "Did you say explode?"

Midi chuckled and grinned, showing off his cutie mark. "Yuppers. Midi Waffle's my name, and explosions are my game. And you are?"

"Twilight Sparkle," the mare said, staring at Midi's flank. "What... what is that?"

The brown stallion blinked. "What? My cutie mark? It's an acorn bomb, obviously."

"Uh, right." Twilight said, and closed the door. "Anyway, I have a magical disturbance to investigate, so if you need a book, just ask Spike! Oh, he's my baby dragon, just so you don't freak out."

"No problem. I like dragons." Midi smiled and nodded, then quickly shook his head. "Wait a minute! Magical disturbance? What magical disurbance?"

"Yes, this morning, I sensed two strange magical signals coming from Whitetail Wood this morning. My books told me nothing that resembled what I sensed, so I decided to search fir residual energies instead."

Midi was astounded she detected him and Crescendo teleporting to Equestria, surprised that she'd taken this long to set up a search, and terrified of what signs his spell might have left behind.

"Really?" asked Midi, "That's funny, because I didn't feel anything there. Are you sure it didn't come from the Everfree? I mean, weird stuff happens there all the time."

Twilight shook her head. "No, I can tell the difference between the local forests. It was definitely Whitetail Wood."

"Uh, OK then..." Midi said nervously, heading for the door, "Just, if you happen to run into any wards, please don't tear them down. I don't want anyone stealing stuff from my camp."

The mare blinked. "Your camp? You're staying in the woods? How did you not feel that tremor?!"

Midi shrugged. "Maybe it happened before we got there, I dunno." He knew exactly what she meant, though. "Anyway, I need to get a few books, so, I'll see ya around?"

Twilight eyed him suspiciously for a moment as she passed him by. "Sure. I'll see you then." She trotted off, casting a quick glance back as she left.

Midi fidgeted uncomfortably and entered the library. He browsed the shelves and picked out Equestrian Economic and Etiquette Essentials and The Alicorn's Advanced Alminac of All Things Alchemical. The unicorn figured this must be where Twilight got her alliterative rants from.

He flipped through a few pages of another book of advanced spell casting, and came to a shocking revelation. I have no idea how to read the Equestrian spell format. His eyes scanned from page to page, looking at unfamiliar symbols and circles that lacked the mathematical sequences he knew. It's like trying to read assembler after studying basic.

"Finding everything alright?" Spike asked, crunching on a sapphire.

"Uh..." Midi said blankly, "Huh? Oh, um, actually, do you have a book on spells for beginners?"

Spike raised an eyebrow. "You seem a bit old for that."

Midi chuckled. "Yeah, I know. To be honest, I've never had an formal training. Oh, my name's Midi." He held out a hoof.

"I'm Spike." Spike shook it, and then climbed the ladder to grab a book off the top shelf. "How's First Phantasmic Feats for Foals sound?"

"Sounds utterly humiliating," Midi said dejectedly, "But I'll take it."

Spike put a time stamp on the books and have them to Midi. "Cool cutie mark. What's it stand for?"

The unicorn grinned. "Oh, this? Means I'm good at making things go boom."

The baby dragon's eyes lit up. "Really?! That is so awesome! Can you show me?"

"Heh heh, not in town," Midi said with a smile, "But, maybe next time I visit the diamond fields, you'll get to see me fight some dogs."

Spike's eyes grew even wider. "Fighting diamond dogs? Then, those explosions earlier were you?!"

Midi rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I don't like to brag, but..."

If Midi didn't know Spike, he'd have thought the dragon was baring his fangs, when in fact he was grinning like a mad hatter. "That. Is. AWESOME!"

Midi blushed. "Naw, stop it. I doubt I'm half the unicorn Twilight is. I mean, I could almost taste the mana coming from her. And who's to say she isn't masking her real power?"

"Ha! Ya got that right!" Spike said, his grin turning to one of triumphant confidence, "Did you know Twilight can lift an ursa minor all on her own while playing music and controlling a water silo all at the same time?"

"And yet she can't break through a few changelings..." Midi muttered to himself.

Spike tilted his head. "What was that?"

"Oh, uh, I don't doubt that power. But how does she have such intricate control?"

"Well, magic is her special talent," said Spike, "I guess it just comes naturally to her."

"That's what her mark means?" Midi faked, "I thought it meant astronomy. You know, stars and all?"

"Nah, it's totally magic. But she's pretty good at astronomy and other nerdy stuff too."

Midi nodded. "I see. Well, thanks for the books. I'll let ya know next time I go out for gems."

"I'll totally be there!" Spike grinned again.

Midi tucked away two of the books and opened up the beginner spell book. He looked through the initial glossary of Equestrian runes and sighed. "I am so bucked."

Chapter 7

"Aha! I found you!"

"Whah?" Crescendo barely had an instant to process the voice he heard when his vision was filled with a wall of pink and two large blue eyes.

"I knew it!" Pinkie Pie squealed, "I knew there were two new ponies in town! See I saw one of them in town earlier but I missed you so I knew I had to find you too and now that I know where you are I can give you your invitation to your welcome to Ponyville party which I forgot to give the other guy because I was so surprised that I missed one of you because my Pinkie sense was telling me that there was one more of you so I gasped and rushed off really fast to find you and here you are so here's your invitation!"

The pink earth mare didn't even stop to breathe through her whole rant, and ended with a big grin and a letter. Crescendo opened it up and read it.

Dear new pony,

Welcome to Ponyville! You are joyfully invited to your welcome to Ponyville party tonight at Sugarcube Corner!

By the time you finish reading this, I'll have found the other new pony and given him his card too. I hope you two are friends, cuz then I can make two new friends with one stone!

Your new instant best friend, Pinkie Pie

Crescendo stared blankly at the card for a moment. "Huh. That was abrupt and random." He smiled to himself. "Well, this is Pinkie, after all. I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

The pegasus looked up at the sky. It was around four in the afternoon now. He wasn't sure what hour the Apple family stopped work, but he hoped it was soon; his legs were burning and sore from all the hard bucking he'd been doing. Sure, the muscle's Midi gave him with his transformation spell were strong enough to get the apples out of the trees, but they still needed exercise to keep up with AJ and Mac.

He started carrying his full buckets back to storage. A few minutes later, Applejack met Crescendo to tell him the day's work was over.

"By the way," said Applejack, "would y'all like to stay fer dinner tonight?"

"What? You aren't coming to Pinkie Pie's party?" Crescendo tilted his head.

The mare looked confused. "Pinkie's having a party? She never told me anything about that."

Suddenly the bubblegum-colored party pony popped out of a nearby rain barrel with a loud splash. "Oh, sorry, sorry about that, AJ! I was looking around for the other new pony. He's a slippery one. Took me almost five minutes to find him! Here you go." She handed Applejack a perfectly dry letter and disappeared into the barrel.

Crescendo couldn't help himself. He ran to the barrel and looked inside, but only saw a shallow pool of water. "How the buck does she do that?"

Applejack read the letter she'd been hoofed.

Dear Applejack,

You're invited to my party at Sugarcube corner to welcome two new ponies to Ponyville! That's right, TWO new ponies, so the fun will be doubled!

Your bestest friend, Pinkie Pie

"Well, looks like we're goin' to a party tonight." Applejack tossed the card in a bin. "Y'all are comin' aren't ya?"

Crescendo nodded. "Hey, is Big Macintosh coming too?"

Applejack shook her head. "Nah, he's not one fer social gatherings. Only goes to a party when it's a family thing."

The pegasus drooped a bit. "Oh. I see."

"Something wrong, sugarcube?"

Crescendo sighed. How do I tell her I have the hots for her brother? "Nothing much. He just seems like a nice guy, and I wanted to get to know him, that's all." Real subtle.

AJ smiled. "Aw, shoot, you'll have plenty ah time with him here. That and we're gonna be headin' to a rodeo in a couple days. Maybe you could come 'n' help us out there too?"

Crescendo perked up. "A rodeo? Sounds like fun! Who's competing?"

Applejack lifted her head proudly. "That'd be me, ten-time champion o' Ponyville. Ah'll be competing in the Appleloosa league this summer."

"You, um..." He shifted uncomfortably, drawing a circle in the dirt with his hoof. "You don't think I'd get in the way there, do you?"

"What?!" Applejack laughed. "Naw, shoot, you'd be fine! Ah could use all the support Ah can get. After all, there'll be some big name competitors there."

Cres smiled. "Alright, I'll go. If you really think I can help there."

"Great!" Applejack shut the barn door. "Now then, we best be gettin' to Pinkie's party. Trust me, y'all don't wanna see what happens when the guest o' honor misses her party."

"Boy, don't I know it," Crescendo muttered under his breath.

"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Midi tip-hoofed in place, looking in all directions. "I can't do this! I hate parties!"

The unicorn stallion had just survived a verbal barrage from Pinkie Pie, and had an exploding invitation shoved in his face. After a moment for the message to sink in, Midi was having a full-blown panic attack.

"I can't do crowds! All those ponies looking at me! What if I do something stupid? What if Derpy sees me? If she thinks I'm an idiot, I'll have no chance with her! With anypony! I'll be alone all my life!" He slapped himself in the face with a forehoof. "Get it together, Midi! You don't even know her or anypony else yet... well, except for the Mane Six... and the princesses... and certain close family members."

He scowled at himself. "This is wrong. I shouldn't even be here." He closed his eyes and sighed. "But I've already come too far to turn back. This is my life now. I am Midi Waffle. Time to live with it."

He spotted Crescendo and Applejack walking up the road towards him. "At least I'll have Cres to support me. Yeah, this won't be so bad."

Perking up a bit, Midi turned and trotted towards Sugarcube Corner.

Chapter 8

"ATTENTION! ATTENTION EVERYPONY!" Pinkie Pie banged two pans together loudly, much to the annoyance of her guests. She began to speak again once they were silent. "This is a very, very special party, because tonight, we're welcoming two new ponies to Ponyville at once!"

"We know! You told us in the invites!"

"Nevertheless!" Pinkie held up her hoof dramatically. "I would like to introduce everypony to Midi Waffle and Crescendo Wolfang!"

Crescendo smiled sheepishly and looked from pony to pony. Midi looked around too, not smiling, and not looking at ponies; he was trying to find a line of sight outside so he could teleport away.

The two were met with mixed greetings of varying tones and enthusiasm before the party resumed its normal cacophony of ponies enjoying themselves.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," said Crescendo, then noticed Midi was trembling, "Hey, you OK, hun?"

"Huh?" Midi looked at his pegasus friend. "Oh, uh, yeah. It's just..." He blushed brightly. "Derpy is standing. Right. There." He nodded in the direction of the gray mare.

"So, go introduce yourself to her!" Crescendo nudged the unicorn with an elbow.

Midi laughed dryly. "You're confusing me for somepony with guts."

Crescendo grinned. "Dude, you took on how many diamond dogs today?"

"You can't solve something like this with magic!" Midi retorted, "I can't just rush in blowing everything to bits! This takes subtlety, care, and a working knowledge of mares that I do not possess."

Crescendo chuckled. "Fine, be that way. Imma go schmooze. Nothing can stop the schmooze!"

Midi sighed and began to pace around aimlessly, looking for a relatively empty place near a wall to stand. Parties always left him so uncomfortable that he'd look for any way to avoid attention or escape. Knowing Pinkie would give him heck if he tried to run or warp out of there, he elected to try the latter tactic and make himself as inconspicuous as possible.

Crescendo, on the other hoof, had plans for his best friend. Midi brought me to Equestria all on his own. I'd be sick with myself if I didn't do something for him. He found Rainbow Dash and trotted up to her. "Hey, Dash!"

"Oh, Crescendo! How're you doing? I heard you're working for Applejack." The full-spectrum mare met her fellow pegasus with a smile.

"Yeah, and it's not as hard as you'd think." Crescendo giggled slightly. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know that gray mare with the blond mane and yellow eyes, would you?"

Dash looked at Derpy and raised an eyebrow. "You mean Derpy Hooves? Sure, why? Did she smash your mailbox trying to feed it a letter, or something?"

"Nah, I'm just curious." The stallion grinned. "Actually, I know somepony who happens to have just the tiniest crush on her."

Dash looked at Midi who was glancing nervously at the wall-eyed pegasus. Her lip quivered, and she sputtered before bursting into laughter. "S-seriously?! Oh, that is too rich!"

"What's going on you two?" Twilight asked as she and Rarity joined them.

Rainbow grinned. "That new guy, Midi, has a crush on Darjeeling Holmes!"

The other ponies blinked in surprise at Rainbow's sudden slur.

Pinkie popped up beside her. "Who's Darjeeling Holmes?! We have a third new pony?!"

Rainbow shook her head. "Sorry, no, I just got a little tongue-tied for some reason. I was saying, Mighty has... no, Midi has a squash. OK, what the hat is going on with my month?"

On the other side of the room, Midi was casting hidden spells to keep Rainbow Dash from revealing his crush. It didn't take magic for him to catch on to what Rainbow was about to say when she finished laughing.

"Rainbow, you shouldn't try to announce somepony's feelings to the world. You could end up hurting them." Twilight was speaking from experience; it was her fault Spike's secret affections were revealed at the wrong time.

"Twilight is right, darling," Rarity added, "Besides, one must never interfere with another's romance. The two should be allowed to meet each other on their own terms if love is to flourish!" The white unicorn leaned in closer to Crescendo. "Of course, I'd still love to hear all the details!"

Crescendo rolled his eyes. "Only if you four promise to keep it a secret."

Dash, Pinkie, Twilight and Rarity all agreed.

Cres motioned them to come closer so he could say it softly. "Midi's into De--" He was cut off by the sound of roaring outside.

"Hold that thought!" Twilight shouted over the noise as ponies began pouring out of the bakery, fleeing for their lives.

Outside, rampaging through the town, was an enraged wyvern. The beast threw kiosks and knocked over stalls as it barreled through the marketplace, shooting balls of fire on anything burnable.

Midi and Crescendo ran into the street to observe the monster. It locked its eyes on them and ran its dripping tongue over its lips.

The unicorn began charging his magic, and then stood up on his hind legs, conjuring an acorn bomb in his hoof. "You ready for this, Crescendo?"

"Can we even take that thing on?!" the pegasus shouted.

The orange wyvern flapped his wings and began his charge at this new bold prey before him.

"We're about to find out!" Midi lunged forward and threw his bomb. The acorn landed just in front of the beast and burst into an explosion of flame and smoke.

The wyvern stumbled a bit, but was unfazed, quickly resuming his charge.

"Shoot," said the dumbfounded unicorn, "That usually works better."

"Well then," Crescendo said as he stepped forward, "Time to see what I can do." He took in a deep breath, lowered his voice, and shouted. "FUS ROH DAH!"

The subsonic echo rent the ground as it blasted down the street, knocking the attacker off his claws and sending him rolling backwards on the dirt road. The wyvern kicked its legs in the air, struggling to upright itself.

Midi teleported onto a roof and threw another bomb, this one exploding into lightning. The result was better this time; the electricity coursed through the wyvern's body, forcing it to spaz out and thrash on the ground.

Crescendo charged forward and took flight, his own body crackling with static electricity. He tackled the beast, knocking the wind out of it.

The wyvern roared in anger, and was silenced by the pegasus bucking it in the face.

Both ponies were about to finish the beast and celebrate their victory when a second, more high-pitched roar heralded the arrival of a dark red, more slender wyvern.

"Oh crap," Midi spat, "Of course he just had to have a mate..."

Chapter 9

"I'll take the female! You finish off the male!"

"Isn't it always that way?"

Crescendo grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, proud of himself for his little joke. Midi rolled his eyes and stood on a bomb, blasting himself into the air to fight their new threat.

Ponies began to emerge from their hiding places and cheered for the two stallions risking their necks for the town. The cheering was short-lived, and soon replaced by more screaming and panicking as the female began to spray a vile liquid from her mouth that turned out to be acid.

Midi blinked out of the way just in time to avoid sharing the fate of a nearby flower stand that was being melted down into mush. He fired an ice bomb at the wyvern, barely missing her. The bomb detonated in time to freeze part of her wing, causing her to lose altitude.

Crescendo's opponent had recovered from the electric shock and was now rolling onto his legs. The pegasus prepared another dragon shout, and jumped out of the way to avoid the tail the male wyvern swung at his legs. He opened his mouth and let his voice peel out like thunder. The great winged lizard was ready this time, and used his leathery wings to protect himself from the sub-sonic impact while his claws dug into the ground to hold him in place.

The pegasus flew up above the male and dove down. His body became engulfed in static electricity, and as he tackled the monster just when it opened its wings, the energy was transferred, stunning the wyvern long enough for Cres to land another solid buck to the stomach. The creature doubled over in pain, and the pegasus didn't give him an inch of slack, bucking again at its face.

Midi slid under the female and left a fire bomb under her as he passed by her tail. Again, the fire itself did little damage, but she was blown into the air unprepared, causing her to crash into the ground while Midi bombarded her with several more thunder bombs. He hadn't counted on just how hard the electric damage would make her thrash, and he was struck by her tail as it flailed wildly. The unicorn was knocked spinning through the air and crashed into a stone wall, sliding down from the spider web-shaped crack his body left in it.

"MIDI!" Crescendo shouted. Distracted by his friend's injury, he barely had enough time to avoid the fearsome jaws that lunged at him. The teeth caught his tail, and the male wyvern lifted him up and began to swing him around. Once the pegasus was thoroughly dazed, the orange reptile threw him to the ground and lifted his foot to stomp the winged equine.

A rainbow streak shot by, knocking the male off his balance. A purple aura wrapped around him and kept him from falling on a house, but instead of setting the creature down, the magic field propelled him towards his mate.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle stood side by side against the wyvern pair. Against these fresh new challengers, the monsters knew they were beaten, and turned to flee the village.

Fluttershy and Applejack worked to gather up the injured stallions lying unconscious on the ground. Midi was still out cold, and Crescendo could barely stand. Emergency response ponies put them on stretchers and rushed them to the hospital post haste.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

"Nnf... Where am I?" Midi slowly pried his eyes open, then shot upright and immediately grabbed his head in pain. "Ah! The wyverns! Did we beat them?"

"Afraid not," said a familiar voice to the unicorn's left. Midi looked in the bed beside him and saw Crescendo lying with bandages around his legs and one of his wings. "I'll be honest, we got knocked the buck out."

Midi looked down sorrowfully. "I'm so, so sorry, Cres. I shouldn't have dragged you into this. You could have been killed."

"I would have fought beside you anyway," replied Crescendo, "No way I'd let you take those things on by yourself."

The unicorn shook his head. "I was supposed to protect you. And now look at you. You can't go to work like that. First day here, and I already put your life in danger."

"I'm fine, squirrelly" Crescendo tried to reassure his friend, "The doctors say I'll be on my legs again by tomorrow. I won't be able to fly for a few days, though, but at least I won't miss the rodeo."

Midi looked up. "Rodeo?"

Crescendo nodded. "Eeyup. Applejack invited me to a rodeo with her family. We'll be going to Appleloosa to watch her compete."

"Ah." Midi looked out the window. "Was anypony else hurt?"

"Not that I know of."

"I see." Midi sat silently for a moment. "Did the doctors say when I'd be able to leave?"

Crescendo shrugged. "He didn't say. I haven't seen an X-ray either, but I only woke up a couple hours ago."

Midi blinked. "How long was I out?"

"All night," said Cres, "I stayed up for a while, but then the nurse made me go to sleep. Even used a sedagive on me."

Midi screwed up his face in mock anger. "Sedagive?!" He shared a laugh with his friend, and then held his head again. "Gah, it hurts to laugh." He laid his head back on his pillow as the doctor entered the room.

"Ah, good morning, Mr. Waffle," the unicorn doctor said pleasantly, levitating a pen and clipboard in front of himself, "How are you feeling?"

"Like my brain just got smashed by a lemon wrapped around a large, gold brick."

Crescendo snickered at his friend's reference.

The joke was lost on the doctor. "Well, your skull was fractured by the impact. I'm surprised a hit like that didn't break your spine. It's a miracle you weren't paralyzed last night."

"Any idea when I'll be getting out of here?" Midi asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"Well, about three days rest, and you should be able to leave," said the doctor, "Although, I wouldn't recommend fighting any more monsters for a while. And try to cut down on the magic use; your horn may have been affected as well."

Midi sighed heavily. "Any chance of getting out of here on good behavior?"

The doctor chuckled. "I'm afraid the only good behavior that can help is resting and eating. By the way, a nurse will be in soon to take your lunch orders. I'll be back later." The unicorn left his patients.

A nurse came in and asked them what they wanted to eat.

"Gimme three egg and cheese biscuits with hash browns, fruit and orange juice," Midi said.

"Same for me," said Crescendo.

The nurse sighed, but granted their request and went to pick up their orders.

Midi looked at his friend. "Hey, Cres?"

"Hm?"

"We're gonna have some explaining to do when we get out of here."

"Wait, you're saying you got it working?!"

"Oh yes, it works perfectly. And not a moment too soon."

"When can we start?"

"Not yet. Just one or two details left to iron out..."

Chapter 10

Midi held two chi gong balls over himself in his magic, making them slowly orbit each other like a tiny binary planet. He has his aura glow turned on in case anypony should walk in on him and see the metal spheres hovering without his teal-green light surrounding them.

Crescendo had been released the day before, just as he predicted, leaving the unicorn all alone in the hospital with only the occasional nurse checking on him to break the grating silence.

A knock on the door alerted him to a new visitor. The mayor of Ponyville was standing in the doorway.

"Good morning, Midi," the mayor said, "Do you think you're feeling up to a short chat?"

Midi rubbed the back of his head and smiled nervously. "Did I do something wrong?"

"What? No, silly!" The mayor laughed and came closer. "I just wanted to thank you on behalf of Ponyville for standing up to those monsters. We're going to be having a little reward ceremony for you and your friend, Crescendo, once you're well again."

Midi's smile faded. "But, we didn't even beat them. Twilight and Rainbow Dash finished them off."

The mare nodded. "That is true, but you held them off long enough for everypony to find cover. You saved dozens of lives last night."

Th unicorn tried to keep from blushing and failed. "Thanks, but honestly, I won't be able to attend anyway."

"Why not?" The mayor tilted her head, looking puzzled.

Midi took a deep breath and sighed. "Cres and I are kind of living in a tent right now. Don't have a single bit to our names. I need to find a job; I was hoping to open a stand in the market, but I'm not even sure how that works."

"Oh, is that all?" The mayor laughed. "Not a problem! I'll set you up with a stand, and I know a house that's up for rent. As thanks for saving the town, I'd like to pay your first month's rent."

"That's... a bit much, isn't it?" I don't remember them giving heroes houses in the show. In fact, the mayor always seemed kind of--

"Well, you could always just think of it as a loan and give me ten percent of your earnings until it's payed off."

--greedy... saw that coming. "That sounds fair. No, wait, what's the interest?"

"No interest," the mayor said, shaking her head, "although..." She moved even closer, half closing her eyes seductively, "...maybe you could buy me dinner sometime?"

Midi's eyes bugged out. He grabbed the nurse call button and began tapping it repeatedly, slowly increasing his tapping speed until he heard rushed hoofsteps coming up the hall.

"I'm coming! What do you need?" Nurse Redheart trotted in to see why the nurse call light had come on.

"Is there any chance of me getting released early?" Midi asked, doing well not to sound desperate.

Redheart shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Waffle, but Dr. Vital Sign says you won't be able to leave until at least tomorrow."

Midi groaned, releasing the chi gongs so they fell and rang on the ground.

Nurse Redheart scowled. "You were told no magic until you're recovered. I'll take these." She picked up the chi gongs and put them in her side bag.

The mayor chuckled softly and turned to leave. "Well, you just consider my proposal, alright." She stopped and winked over he shoulder at Midi.

The unicorn gritted his teeth, breaking into a cold sweat. He shifted uncomfortably, wishing he could pass through the wall and escape the mayor. The mayor is a cougar! Now, that I didn't see coming!

Redheart noticed Midi's sweat and put her hoof on his forehead. "Are you feeling alright, dear? You're soaked with sweat."

Crescendo hoisted Applejack's tack onto the wagon and huffed as he began to sort through it.

"Y'all ready fer the big day, tomorrow?" Applejack asked, tossing a saddle onto the wagon.

Crescendo sighed and jumped down, spreading his wings to slow his landing. "No, not really."

"What's got ya down, sugarcube?"

"Well," the pegasus looked towards town, "Midi gets out of the hospital tomorrow, and we're gonna be gone. Frankly, things haven't turned out the way he and I planned."

The farm mare put a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't you worry yerself to death over it, Cres. Nopony could have predicted Ponyville was gonna be attacked. And we're all plum proud of ya fer bein' so brave."

"Eeyup."

Crescendo bristled and blushed as Big Macintosh voiced his agreement and gave the pegasus a friendly mane scruffle. "Heheh. Thanks. Honestly, I'd feel more proud of myself if we won. But, we didn't, so I'd rather not milk it."

Applejack chuckled. "Ah can sure respect that." She looked over the contents of her cart. "Is that everything we need?"

"Eeyup."

"Wait, no!" Cres flared his wings. "I have to get my guitar! I'll be right back!" He did a running takeoff and flew back to the woods.

Crescendo was getting better at flying. His takeoff wasn't as clumsy as the first time, and he was adjusting to his new wings better.

As he scoured the woods below him, he found the tent and took a dive, unfurling his wings at the last second and landing roughly beside the fire pit. He pulled himself up and shook the dust off his body. "Maybe I should stop trying to be Rainbow Dash and fly carefully."

He unzipped the front door with his teeth and went into his room. The strap on his guitar had been modified for him to wear it and gallop, but he wasn't sure he could fly with it on, so instead he gave his legs a workout and ran back to the farm.

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she saw the pegasus galloping back towards them with a guitar on his back. "Ah never woulda pegged ya fer a guitar pony. Not many ponies play the strings, what with not havin' fingers an' such."

Crescendo shrugged. "I play other things, too. This is just easier for me to carry around." He unstrapped it and loaded it onto the wagon. "So, is it just us three, or are Applebloom and Granny Smith coming?"

"All of us," the farm mare replied, "We'll be leaving right as soon as Granny's ready."