The Canterlot Castle groundskeeper was tidying up the garden, whistling. He loved making sure the garden was nice and pretty, and he always enjoyed when the animals ran around his hooves, comfortable with his presence. He knew this garden like he knew his special talent, and he loved to care for it. He loved everything about it, from the plants, to the animals, to the sun on his back, to the soft call of bird song that filled the air…

He loved his job like he loved his wife, and he always did the best work he could do.

A sparrow landed on his hat and started chirping happily into his ear. The groundskeeper smiled. He would listen as he continued to work, whistling-

“AIM FOR THE BUSHES!”

The scream shattered the serene quality of the garden. The groundskeeper reeled from the sudden noise. The sparrow squawked and and flew away. Animals scurried to their burrows as fast as they could, eyes wide with fear. The groundskeeper looked around frantically for what could have made that shout.

Five shapes fell into a nearby hedge, with a series of successive thumps. The groundskeeper stared at it for a moment before galloping towards the castle to get help.

Two heads popped out of the hedge, both grimacing. “Well that was painful,” Jordan gasped, wincing.

“How did we survive that?” Andy groaned, cradling her arm.

“I don’t know…” Jordan hissed. “Why did it drop us above the ground‽”

“I don’t know!” Andy replies. “The coordinates were the same…”

“Stupid…” Jordan muttered. “We should’ve had a technician! But no, we HAVE to have science! Discoveries!” He waved his arms around, letting his tongue loll out of his mouth. “Fow schtienth!”

“Shut up!” Andy yelled. “It couldn’t wait! If we could figure ou-”

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT!” Jordan screamed back. “I don’t care if it was a wormhole or a fracture in space-time or proof of the holy lord himself! Yes, this could be huge, but when it would have taken THREE EXTRA MINUTES to get a technician, I wouldn’t care! WHY DID YOU‽” he screamed, finishing his tirade, panting and glaring at her with a livid gaze.

“Well I’m sorry!” Andy yelled back.

“Being sorry doesn’t change the fact that we just dropped out of the sky,” Jordan hissed.

Andy sighs and winces. “So… how are we gonna get out of this bush?” she asked.

“With care and finesse,” Jordan replied.

~~~~~

“So a hairless ape appeared outside of the library?” Princess Celestia calmly asked.

“Yes!” Twilight frantically replied. She had certainly seen better days. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, and stray hairs and split ends littered her mane. There were bags under her eyes, as if she had lost sleep. A manic look had set into her stare, giving her the appearance of someone who had truly gone insane.

“And said hairless ape told you that it was impossible for me to move the sun?” Celestia inquired.

“Yes!” Twilight responded. “And he told me the sun was huge and we orbited the sun and the moon was the only thing that orbited us and then he told me you were faking moving the sun and then he told me why and then he proved it and he told me WHY you were faking it and I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO THINK ANYMORE!” She slowly sank to the ground, holding her head in her hooves.

Celestia sighed and put on a warm, caring smile, pulling Twilight to her side with a wing. “Twilight,” she began. “I’m glad you came to me for this. I can assure you that I do move the sun.” Twilight looked up at her. Celestia smiled and continued. “I’ve moved it for millennia, and I will continue to do so. I’m not sure what this ape to-”

The doors to the room slammed open, revealing the disgruntled and panicked groundskeeper. The noise startled both Celestia and Twilight. Twilight, in her panicked state, yelped and teleported behind Celestia’s desk, hiding. “Princess Celestia!” he shouted, eyes wide. “Something just screamed and fell out of the sky!”

“Again?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes!” the groundskeeper responded.

Sighing, Celestia stood. “Let me check it out,” she said, starting to trot out of the room.

“Princess, wait!” Twilight said, jumping out from behind the desk. “Shouldn’t you take some of the guard with you?” she asked, tilting her head in confusion. “It could be dangerous!”

“Twilight, I have the power to move the sun,” Celestia said. “I’d like to see a pony try to hurt me.”

“At least let me come with you,” she said, trotting up to her side.

“Of course,” Celestia said, giving her an encouraging smile. Together, they begun to walk out of the castle to the gardens.

~~~~~

Andy dragged duffel bag out of the ruined hedge. “That’s the last of them,” she said, dropping it.

“That one’s mine,” Jordan replied, grabbing it. He opened it and began to dig through it. “If that fall broke my emergency 4DS, I will kill you.”

“Emergency 4DS?” Andy asked skeptically.

“For all my gaming emergencies,” he replied nonchalantly. A second later, he let out a half sob, half laugh.

“It’s broken, isn’t it,” Andy said, starting to go through her own bags.

Turning to her, Jordan pulled a cracked black box with wires spilling out of the crack out of his bag. “Andy, I want you to know that you didn’t moderately fuck up, you fucked up all the way,” he said, his face as white as a sheet.

Her face paled as well as she stared at it. “Oh fuck,” she whispered.

The black box was one of the most important parts of the teleportation machine. It sent out a signal for the teleporter to hone onto so that they could teleport back to the original machine. It was fundamental to the teleporting process. And if it was broken…

“NASA now has NO idea where we are and can’t get us back to Earth,” Jordan whispers. “Congratu-fucking-lations.” Andy was about to reply when Jordan’s eyes widened. “Twilight?” he asked, stunned.

Twilight and Celestia walked around the corner, Celestia in the lead. Twilight stopped when she saw him. “Jordan?” she asked back. “What did you do to the hedge?”

He quickly pointed a finger at Andy. “It was her fault!” he quickly said.

“So this is the ‘Jordan’ you told me about?” Celestia asked.

“And you’re Celesia?” Jordan replied.

“I am,” she confirmed

Jordan laughed. “I would have imagined a horse who can throw the laws of the universe out the window would be more… godlike,” he said.

“I’m sorry I didn’t live up to your expectations,” Celestia evenly replied.

Andy stared at them, mouth dropping open. “W-what?” she stammered.

“Jordan, is she okay?” Twilight asked, concerned.

“Just coming to grips with the fact that there are tiny talking crayon colored ponies,” he replied uncaringly.

“I do understand that… we are not normal to you humans, correct?” Celestia asked.

“Nah, horses can’t talk on Earth,” Jordan replied.

“Am I high?” Andy whispered.

“Of course you are,” Twilight said. “This is a city on a mountain, after all.”

Jordan facepalms. “I assume that that word has a different meaning in your language?” Celestia tittered.

“Yep,” Jordan said. “She’s wondering if I slipped LSD into her food or something.”

Celestia gasped. “Oh wow,” she said.

“What’s LSD?” Twilight asked.

“A problem that hasn’t been around for over a thousand years,” Celestia responded, a grin spreading across her face. Her horn sparked to life, and a silk bag appeared. It began to glow before Celestia closed it. “So, Jordan, would you like a bag of sunshine?”

Jordan blinked before taking the bag. “Thanks,” he replied, grinning. “I don’t even care that that shouldn’t be possible. I’m keeping this, and if I ever get back to Earth, I’m SO doing that to law enforcement.”

“I’m so confused,” Twilight said.

“And let it remain that way forevermore,” Jordan said.

Andy shook her head. “Okay… this is real… I think,” she said, standing up.

“Guess what else is real, Andy,” said Jordan, waving the black box in front of her face.

“Oooooh shit,” she said.

“May I ask what that is?” Celestia asked.

“Our ticket out of here,” Jordan said. “So basically, we’re stuck.”

Author's Note

And here we go!

Let me know if there's any errors in this!

Thanks for reading!