Author's Note

Yes, yes, I know. But god damn, this week has just been, complete bull crap. Sometimes I wish I could quite my day job and uninstall Life. Anyways I do apologize for the lateness, I did try to get this out on time but shit happens, ya know? Okay, now with the usual, I did try my best to catch any punctuation/grammatical errors but I'm not perfect, so if y'all would be so kind as to list any errors you catch and call me out on my bullshit, that would be much appreciated. Now the little "gift" will be coming out on a blog. with that ENJOY!

Prepers

Normally when you pass out close to night, and half exhausted, you stay asleep until your internal clock decides to wake you up and you go about your morning… normally. This however is far from normal, I wake up to the sounds of someone moving around my apartment, now I don't usually have guests over to sleep, unless it's one of my gaming buddies who happens to be in town. But I know neither of my friends have been over recently so I knock that from my list of suspicions, then I notice that i'm laying on what feels like my carpet, with a pillow under my head. Okay, I don't remember falling asleep on my carpet… memories rush into my head and I shoot up while my mind reboots and loads its last pending task, screaming in a mixture of panic and embarrassing excitement.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”, this also caused someone else who sounded like ash to scream as well.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!”

“AAAAAAAAHHHH!”, then as though this couldn't get any crazier a third party joins in on the screaming.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!”

“AAAAAHHHHHH!!”

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

*Smack!* “Ouch! What the fuck Ash?!”, Ash slaps me out of my panic and that's when I notice the source of our current dilemma was awake and staring at us with surprised eyes. Not sure what to do, so I just wave at the being I once thought to be fiction. Seeming to get over her initial surprise she composes herself and hides her obvious fear, causing me and Ashleigh to raise one of our eyebrows. Clearing her throat and taking a breath she begins to speak, reinforcing my current beliefs that she really is Celestia from the show.

“Greeting, my name is Princess Celestia of Equestria, what is your name? And if I may ask, what are you?”, feeling like she's trying to hard to make light of the situation and considering she most likely knows one of us knocked her big ass out. I guess nothing to do now but run damage control.

“Uh, hi. My names Erik, and the lovely lady who slapped me is Ashleigh. Are you ok? I know you're scared but if it helps I only knocked you out because I thought you were a burglar. You can just act normal and freak out or something, we ain't the type to judge.”

“Oh no, it’s quite alright, believe me, when you're as old as I am, you get used to strange first encounters. And I can understand your actions, to be honest it wasn't very wise of me to just barge in someone's house, even if they are in the middle of a magical void.”

“Heheh yeah I get y- wait did you just say magical void? Is that dangerous?”, concerned for the safety of Ash I wasn't sure how to feel about the news of our surrounding environment.

“Erik, you act like magic is real, we all know that shits just smoke and mirrors. Sorry Princess but you may want to come up with a better excuse to why you broke in our house”, just as I was about to try and explain what Celestia was talking about, the white pony levitated a few pillows and made them circle the room in random patterns. Funny, I can see the color of her magic and it looks a lot weirder in real life than in the show, almost like someone in a GMod game is messing with random objects. I was sort of expecting something like this to happen so it didn't shake me as much as it did Ash, which was currently trying to find the strings in a funny controlled flail.

“How the fuck are you doing that? Where the hell are the strings? Actually, just you being here doesn't make any sense so why the hell not throw fucking magic into the mix, yeah because that sounds totally like something the universe would come up with. I need a damn drink, Erik i’m stealing some of your Stellas.”

“Go for it, while you're at it though would you mind bringing me one? Oh and one for our guest, i’m sure we can all use a few drinks with the shit that's going on.”

“If I may ask, what is this ‘Stella’? I’m guessing it’s some form of drink but I could be wrong.”

“Oh you're not far from the truth, ‘Stella’ is an alcoholic drink, an ale from Belgium,” seeming to accept my response Celestia just nods her head and waits patiently. Meanwhile it just dawns on me how the hell we can understand each other, must be some kind of magic at work, probably the same kind that brought us here and is producing that magic void thing Celestia was just talking about. The thought of that brings up many questions, ones that will have to wait for a little bit because Ash is here with the beers. She hands Celestia and I a bottle, we say our thanks and I take a nice large gulp, while the white pony takes a few sips and nods her head at the flavor. Taking that time to be the best chance to ask questions I decide which ones I should ask.

“So Celestia, mind if I ask how you even found your way to our home? And where we are as well?” The Solar Princess then takes her time explaining the events that lead up to her coming to our home, and about how the “Magic Void” is affecting some worker ponies building a new railroad to the west nearby. This news brings up a few concerns about the timeline and some new questions about not just where, but when we are.

“And as to where you are, you happen to find yourselves near the Whitetail Woods. Not to far from the small town of Ponyville. Now if you don't mind i’d like to know how it is the two of you ended up here along with your home? And if either of you know about anything to do with the phenomenon going on around it,” nodding my head in understanding I was about to respond but Ashleigh beat me to it.

“Well, we're not sure how it is we got here, I was helping Erik with a few things and then an earthquake hits and after that he and I try to get out of the apartment before it collapses only to find ourselves in the middle of nowhere. And as for the magic thing that's going on, you probably know more about it than we do.”

“Hmm, interesting. If you don't mind i’d like to perform some tests on the surrounding area. With some luck it may show us how we can send the both of you back,” I look at Ash to see if she's alright with it and she just shrugs, I give Celestia a nod, and with that her horn lights up and I can see tendrils of magic spread across the room and seep outside. After a few minutes I finish my beer just as the white pony seems to finish and the magic flows back into her horn. With a sigh, Celestia seems to enter a trance of thought with her eyes staring into nothingness but moving at random. I give her a moment before deciding to see if she found anything.

“So, did you happen to find anything useful?” this happens to break her from the trance and she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before speaking.

“Well the results were and weren't what I was expecting. In a way you're both now permanently here, but the void that surrounds your home still has traces of wherever you came from. And with that I believe your souls are both imprinting on this land but I may be able to send you back for a short amount of time. I’m sorry, but matters at this scale are out of my control,” she finishes with her head drooped in disappointment. I look at Ashleigh who happens to have the same grim face as I do. I grab her hand and this gets her to look at me, I just now notice the tears welling up in her face. Agh, my heart, with that I give her a big hug and she just allows herself to be cradled into my arms while sniffling. I as well am having a hard time not breaking out into tears at the thought of family I have to leave behind. So, our souls are imprinted onto the land, but in some way were still connected to our home world. I’m not to sure how this all comes together… but at least I still have Ash.

“So, if you were to send us back would we be able to bring anything? Like people or objects?”, I ask due to my concerns of family.

“Unfortunately whatever brought you here is still a mystery to me, so living beings will not be able to come across, though inanimate objects are a different story. If you go to the place where you originally were, there should be some sort of energy similar to the one here, that should allow me to transport whatever materials you think you need. Also if you don't mind me asking, did any of you have family?”

“Yes, we both had family, although mine is going through a very tough time and i’m just worried how their going to keep going without a helping hand. Another question, how long do we have back home before we need to come back?”, I begin making a mental list of things I need to get before coming back here, just to make our lives easier in this new land.

“Well, if you're that concerned I believe I can be of help, as a show of good faith, I will gift each of you with a few thousand bits to give to your family, assuming your people use the same currency. As for your second question i’m not sure how long but my guess would be a few hours, 5 at the most.” Celestia finishes whilst summoning two large bags full of gold coins and a couple of fist sized jewels that look like rubies. I’m not sure if I can take such charity, because what she's giving us would be well over half a million back home. But Ash seems to not mind and grabs her portion with wide eyes.

“Are you sure Celestia? This seems like an awful to give to a couple of strangers”

“Nonsense, this is from my private collection, and it’s hardly enough to put a dent into it. Please take this as a token of our newly formed friendship, in hopes that one day we can look back onto this and laugh as friends”, well if she insists, I ain't one to look a gift horse in the mouth… fuck you that was funny. Ash decides to voice a few concerns that also lurked in the back of my mind.

“Are you doing this so that we could be indebted to you or something? No one is ever this kind for no reason, what's your angle Celestia?” the Princess seems slightly surprised at this reaction. But before she can respond I speak up in order to clarify what Ash meant.

“Sorry Cel, can I call you Cel? Anyways what Ash means is, where we come from not everything is hunky dory and everyone is always looking out for their own benefit. Now i’m not saying everyone is greedy but that's typically a thing among anyone who shows such generosity. I know we're not exactly back home but i’m sure you're looking to benefit from this in some way.” At this piece of logic Celestia’s mask seems to falter slightly and I can tell she’s hiding something. Ash seems to notice as well and makes a move that kind of surprised me.

“Hahahahah, you should have seen your face! Oh god that was priceless. Sorry Cel but I couldn't help but pull a prank. I’m sure someone of your status doesn't need anything from two lonely humans, but we'll take your generosity anyways because what are friends for?” This seems to break the Princess from her previous surprise.

“Oh heheh, yes good one! For a second there I thought you were serious”, the royal pony seems to relax at the surprisingly smooth move Ash just pulled. I look at her and we make eye contact, during the brief stare we exchange looks that say ‘we’ll talk about this later’. We both take our share of the money and place them in separate areas to distinguish later. At this moment I get a couple of questions in my mind.

“Okay, so now that that’s settled, I have a few concerns. One: what are the latest events in this world, and do you recognize the name Twilight Sparkle? And two: when can you send us back?”, these questions make Celestia look up in thought, tapping her muzzle and humming she takes a few seconds to form a response.

“Well aside from a fire in the Hollow Shades forest, the most recent major event that I can think of is I have just opened up a Cadet Guard Academy, and no I can’t say I have heard the name before. As for your second question I can easily send you back right now, with such a strong signature around us I can pinpoint where to send you. Now I am curious as to what brought on your first question.”

“Oh it was just a human thing. Anyways if you can send us back right now then can you give us a few moments to prepare for the journey there and back?”

“Certainly, please take your time, I’ll be here finishing this lovely, what is it you called it? Ah yes, this Stella”, at this I nod my head and signal Ash to follow me to my man cave. Once we enter I lock the door and turn on the computer, I load ITunes and play some music loud enough to muffle our voices. Psychosocial from Slipknot should do.

“Okay, you know that I know that I wasn't serious about me pulling that prank. You out of all people should know just how greedy some people can get. Now I know she’s not a person, but she sure as hell acts like one, and if that’s anything to go by then I think it’s safe to say that greed is a universal trait. We’re gonna have to trust her for now, but please Erik I know she’s from that cartoon that came out six years back, it’s hard not to see the resemblance from her and your toys, but you’re gonna have to take the lead in these interactions.”

“Not that I have a problem with it but, since when have you been so analytical?”

“Well when your dad was a Marine and your mom’s an accountant, you learn to pick up on some of their traits. Those being catching people's bullshit and having an eye for detail.”

“Well, you won't hear any complaints from me. I sure as hell could use the help with situations like these, and it helps that you're pretty,” at this she rolls her eyes playfully and gives me a smirk. I stare into those beautiful hazel eyes, and I don't realize she took my hand, I don't know how it happened, but I was to entranced to care. Where we getting closer? I think so, just a few more inches, and I start closing my eyes, the world around me fades as all I can sense was her.

“Ooh I like this music, what ban…” Ash and I look at Celestia in utter embarrassment.

…

…

…

“Uhh, this is exactly what it looks like”

*smack*

“Ouch Ashleigh! What?”

“Stop being a dork”

“Fine, sorry about that Cel, me and Ash got a little carried away.”

“Oh no it’s no issue really,”she says with a blush while avoiding eye contact. “I’m sorry about intruding on your personal moment, had I known I would have given you time to finish”

“Heh, yeah it’s ok- wait, finish what?”

“Well it was obvious you two were about to mate, although it’s uncommon for individuals to do so while they have guests, it is not unheard of” Ash and I blush even harder and my female companion decides to put a stop to such thoughts.

“Oh no, you got the wrong idea lady, I may like Erik but he's got a looong way to go if he ever wants to reach home base. I ain't that kind of girl.”

“Oh? Then am I wrong to think that if two individuals share a mutual interest they do not mate? Is there some sort of ritual humans go through before they do so?” I take that opportunity to explain human relationships.

“Well you see Celestia, while that is true, with humans, we kind of just date for a while before we go into doin the horizontal tango. I know some people just jump the gun into fucking but it’s common for people to just take their time and bond with one another before doing the dirty.”

“Ah, I see, humans seem like spiritual creatures then, similar to the Minotaur. Well I just came in here to let you both know that I have prepared the spell to send you both back, and that you will have approximately 5 hours before being sent back, any belongings you with to bring will need to be in your original location.”

“Okay, sweet, let me just lock a few things up and we can get started, if you don't mind could you give us a few?”

“Not at all, please let me know when you are both ready”, with that she exits the room and luckily I happened to be standing in front of the vinyls so there's that. I take my shot gun off and throw it and my pack into the safe, Ash unstraps her holster and takes her backpack off, which I also put in the steel container. Okay now just to make a list of things were going to need.

“Hey Ash, I was going to make a list of things I need to do and get before we get TP’d back here. Mind helping me think of some supplies?” Ash just nods her head and we begin making a list of things that would be helpful in the long run, and even things that we may not need, but there is a chance those things could come into use. Around 15 minutes later we have our list of things we need to do and obtain before coming back.

“Okay, more food/cooking supplies, more drinks and beer, cloths, hygiene supplies, shoes, light bulbs and electronics, entertainment items, sewing supplies, cleaning supplies, another set of household appliances, new tools, my car, as many gallons of gas we can get, ammo, a couple more guns, survival and tactical gear, hmmm… Ah toiletries, and smokes.”

“Sounds all good to me, and we’ll think of more things on the spot. Well I think we're ready, how about you?”

“As far as I can tell we're good to go”, with that settled we wrap up and head out to let Celestia know we’re ready.

Whatever may come, we’ll be ready.