It had been a rough reunion for Earnest Ciarelli and the Wolfpack. In his first game for New England since he left the team in free agency just three seasons earlier, the team had fallen in overtime 4-3 as Berger’s 11th of the year had lifted the Hamilton Steelhawks to a win over the defending Challenge Cup champions. It wasn’t the welcome home Ciarelli had been hoping for, and he had ducked into the showers during media availability to try and clear his head.
As he walked out of the showers, he found the locker room empty except for defender Jasper Clayton who was known to be a little long-winded in front of the microphone at times. “Still loves to hear himself talk,” Ciarelli thought to himself. Normally he’d love chatting with Clayton after the game, but not today. He just wanted the day to be over. He reached into his locker and pulled out his clothes. It was the usual postgame outfit from when he’d played with the team before, although it appeared they had gotten new sweatshirts. He closed his locker door when he heard a thud behind him.
He turned to see Clayton’s equipment bag open on the ground, his shoulder pads and one of his skates spilling out of the opening. Next to the bag was Clayton, mouth agape, staring into his open locker.
Ciarelli took a step towards him. “Jasper?” he asked, but Clayton didn’t seem to hear him. “Jasper,” he repeated as he took a step closer, but there was still no response from the Brit. “Jasper!” Ciarelli was nearly shouting by now, but still Clayton merely stood and stared. Ciarelli reached his teammates side and turned to look in the locker as well, and was surprised to see…nothing.
Well, not nothing. There was something, but…it was just an empty white light. All of Clayton’s belongings, the shelf, his Rainbow Dash plush…all of it was missing, replaced by this weird glow. “What is it?” asked Ciarelli.
“I have no idea,” Clayton responded. He looked on either side of the locker. “I don’t see any power cords or anything.”
“It’s probably Phil, this is his kind of prank. Probably some kind of projector system or something.” Ciarelli started pawing at the sides of the locker.
“Personally I think it has Mia written all over it,” Clayton replied. He watched Ciarelli feel around, and after a moment of thought he added, “I’ll bet it’s a rear projection system of some kind.”
Ciarelli stepped aside as Clayton reached into the locker. He frowned as he reached back. “It’s bigger than I remember.” He turned sideways and took a step up into the lower part of the locker to try and get further back. “I think whoever did this took out the backboard or something,” he said. “It seems to go a ways back there.” Clayton crawled up into the locker to try and get further back. He reached through to the other side of the locker and pulled himself through, disappearing into the white light.
Ciarelli watched and waited for a moment. “Jasper?” he asked. There was no response. “Jasper, are you there?” Still nothing. He looked around the locker room, but it was empty. Seeing no other option, he followed his friend into the glowing white light of the locker.
* * *
As Ciarelli emerged from the locker he found himself in someplace…different. Somehow both foreign and yet very familiar to him, though he couldn’t quite place it. Looking around nothing seemed all that out of the ordinary. Clayton was standing a few feet away, and the two of them appeared to be on the outskirts of a forest of some kind. There was a river running nearby, and Ciarelli could just make out some colorful looking buildings through the clouds in the distance. Unfortunately, he could neither see anyone else around, nor could he see a way back to the locker room. “Any idea what’s going on?” asked Ciarelli.
Clayton shook his head. “Not a clue. I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve seen this place before, but I can’t place it. I’m not sure why that would be.” Clayton looked back at Ciarelli and added, “To make things worse, it looks like we’re stuck here. I don’t see a way back at all.”
Ciarelli frowned. His friend was right, they were stuck, and unfortunately there was nobody around to help them. Perhaps the city he could see in the distance might hold some answers? “You see those buildings over there?” he asked. “If we start heading that way, maybe we’ll run into somebody who might be able to help us.”
Clayton nodded. “You’re probably right. Let’s start walking.”
* * *
It was a short walk to the city, yet once they got there they still couldn’t see anyone. It was dead, though there were signs of life. Clearly people had been around recently – the ground was extremely trodden and worn. But there was nobody here now. Looking around, Clayton still couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew this place, but he still wasn’t sure why. Everything was new, yet so familiar to him.
Walking next to him, Ciarelli felt the same way. In the back of his mind he knew this place – he was sure of it. But why? And why was it so empty?
As they walked further on towards the center of town, they heard someone talking near what appeared to be a town hall. Ciarelli turned to Clayton. “Did you hear that?”
Clayton nodded. “Let’s go check it out.”
As they approached the town hall, they could hear muffled cheering coming from inside. At least they’d finally figured out where everyone went. They walked around the side of the building to try and find the front door, when suddenly they stopped in their tracks.
Ciarelli grabbed his friend’s arm. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Clayton didn’t respond. He was once again frozen, unable to speak.
There were six figures standing in front of them, and suddenly it all made sense. This wasn’t just any random place.
This was Equestria.
“I just love parties like this one, even if we can’t get inside! I should set up another one for when people leave! That would be great, everyone would love it!” Pinkie Pie stared through the window of the Town, her excitement palpable to all her friends.
“You know, that might not be such a bad idea,” Twilight replied. “This is a really important day for the town, with Cranky’s wedding, I’m sure they’d love it if we surprised them like that.”
“Ah can head over to Sweet Apple Acres and grab some pies – Granny’s been baking all day, ah’m sure we’ve got some to spare.”
“And I’ll perform some stunts overhead – maybe I can get a few of the Wonderbolts to join me! That would be SO COOL!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up as she shared her thoughts.
“Oh, um…this certainly sounds fun, but Angel might need me. He doesn’t like to be left alone for too long.” Fluttershy avoided looking at her friends. She felt bad, but she couldn’t think of any way to help out. “I’m sure you’ll all be fine without me.” She turned and started to walk away from the group. “Let me know how it…oh!” Startled, she stopped moving.
“What is it, darling?” Rarity asked. The group turned to see what she was looking at. They followed her gaze, as their eyes settled on a pair of newcomers.
“Does anypony know what’s going on here?” asked Applejack. “Fluttershy, you know all the woodland creatures, don’t you?”
“Oh, these aren’t like any creatures I’ve ever seen.” Fluttershy replied. “They’re kind of like Harry, only…less hairy.”
“Don’t let your guards down, who knows what they could be up to.” Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground in a threatening stance, ducking her head as if she was about to launch towards the two beasts.
“Girls, wait!” shouted Twilight. “I think I might have an idea who these two are. I have a book back at the library that mentioned something about these creatures called ‘humans,’ I think that might be what they are.” She took a few steps forward. “Hello! I’m Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. Welcome to Ponyville!”
The two humans just stared back at them. “Twi…light?” one of them responded slowly.
“Yes, I’m Twilight Sparkle!” she responded encouragingly.
“Ah don’t know if they understand you, sugar cube,” Applejack said pointedly. “Maybe you could talk to them, Fluttershy? You’ve got a way with strange creatures.”
“Oh, um…okay.” She looked towards the humans. “Um, hi. I’m Fluttershy, and these are my friends.”
The taller of the two shook his head quickly. “We know who you are. We know all about you six. I can’t believe we’re actually here. I can’t believe this is happening right now.”
The shorter nodded his head in agreement. “We’re HUGE fans.”
The ponies looked surprised. “You…know who we are?” asked Rarity.
“Of course!” said the shorter man again. “I’m Jasper Clayton, I’m a hockey player. This is my friend and teammate, Earnest Ciarelli.” He pointed to the man next to him. “I can’t even begin to tell you how exciting this is for us.”
Rainbow Dash looked over at Twilight. “Is this making any sense to you?”
Twilight shook her head. “I think we should head back to the library, maybe the books will shed some light on this weird situation.” She turned to the two men. “Would you two mind following us? We’re going to head back to my home and see if we can figure out what’s going on here.”
* * *
The library was a little crowded with five ponies, a dragon and an owl all trying to get a peek at these weird human creatures while trying to pretend they weren’t actually looking. The humans, on the other hand, had no qualms about trying to take it all in. They wanted to see everything, though they clearly tried to avoid touching anything. As they admired the various books, magical and otherwise, that were collected in the library, Twilight came walking back into the room, a book open and floating in front of her. “I found it!” She dropped the book on the table as the others all crowded around. “Right here it says that humans are mythical creatures not of this world. They’re thought to inhabit a parallel universe not unlike our own.”
She flipped a few pages ahead. “According to this, they have their own civilization and their own system of cities and towns just like us, in a land called Earth.” She looked up at Clayton and Ciarelli. “Only thing is, I can’t figure out how you got here.”
The two looked at each other, then back at the ponies who were looking back up at them. Ciarelli shrugged. “We don’t really know either. We were back in the locker room and something seemed off.” He nodded his head towards Clayton. “We went through his locker, and on the other side we found ourselves here.”
Clayton nodded. “That’s all we know, unfortunately. One moment we were in the locker room, the next we found ourselves here. Honestly, I’m not sure how we ended up here – or how we can get back.”
Twilight frowned. “That is a problem. I’ll try looking through the library to see if I can find anything. In the meantime, it’s getting late. We probably should find you all some place to stay. I’d offer you a spot in the library, but I think it might be best not to have you all right in the middle of town. We don’t want to scare anypony before we have a better idea of what’s going on ourselves.” She looked at the others. “Do any of you have room for them?”
“Ah could probably find space at Sweet Apple Acres, but ah don’t know how Granny would feel about it,” replied Applejack.
“I’m trying to fill some huge orders right now,” said Rarity, “I just simply don’t have the space for them right now.”
“Unless those two can walk on clouds, I don’t think they’ll be too comfortable in my home,” snorted Rainbow Dash.
Pinkie Pie bounced by the group. “There’s no room at the Cakes, but if we want to throw a party to welcome them just let me know and I can set up there!”
Twilight frowned. “Alright, AJ, can you talk to Granny and see if she’d be alright with–”
“Um…they can stay with me,” Fluttershy’s quiet voice cut Twilight off.
Twilight stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at Fluttershy. “What did you say, Fluttershy?”
“I have lots of room right now,” she replied. “I have some room downstairs, and I’m sure Angel wouldn’t mind.” She turned to the two humans. “I mean…only if you want to.”
Clayton smiled. “That would be great, thanks Fluttershy.” Ciarelli nodded in agreement.
“Alright then, they’ll spend the night at Fluttershy’s cottage. Let’s meet there tomorrow morning, girls. I’ll look through the library and see what I can find. I’ll send Princess Celestia a letter too, maybe she’ll be able to help.” She turned to the humans. “You two must be exhausted. Go rest, and we’ll meet up in the morning and see what we can do about getting you back home.”
