Initial D: First Equestria Stageby SixShooterOutlawChaptersChapter 2: First ImpressionsChapter 3: School is Now in SessionChapter 4: Failure is Always an OptionChapter 5: A Helping HoofChapter 6: Mentors Chapter 7: Apple Trees and Haute CoutureChapter 8: How Hard Can It Be?Chapter 9.1: No WordsChapter 9.2: The SilenceChapter 10: Rain, Rain, Go AwayChapter 11: The DynamometerChapter 12: Shock You like a HurricaneChapter 13: Nightmare Night, What a Fright.Chapter 14: An Unexpected JourneyChapter 15: Merry Christmas, Happy Hearths WarmingChapter 16: Sweet Apple DownhillChapter 1.1: Impractical MagicChapter 1.2: Drifting AlongChapter 2: First ImpressionsTwilight stared in disbelief, she rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, but sure enough what she was seeing was real. There were four ponies lying on the floor, they looked unconscious so Twilight went over to check on them, Twilight slowly approached the pony that was closest to her, a light azure Unicorn stallion. "Are you alright?" she asked, poking him gently with her hoof. The stallion groaned quietly then began to stir as did the others, which Twilight noticed were also stallions, but unlike him, one was a rusty red Pegasus, a white Earth pony and a lemon yellow Pegasus. The yellow Pegasus sat up, shook his head and the started looking around frantically, the Unicorn lifted his hoof and started analyzing it, the red Pegasus looked around the room and the white Earth pony looking as if his brain had failed to comprehend the situation, he had a blank look on his face and was just staring off into the distance. The Pegasus looked at the other ponies and said "Why are you all horses?!?!" then looked at his hooves "Why am I a horse?!?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!?" sounding almost on the verge of tears. "Umm, Hello?" Twilight said to the four stallions who then turned to look at her. "Hi?" the red Pegasus replied questioningly. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, who are you?" Twilight asked politely. "My name's Iketani" the blue Unicorn answered. "I'm Kenji" the red Pegasus added. "I'm Itsuki" the yellow Pegasus told Twilight "and the guy that's probably daydreaming over there is Takumi" he gestured over to the white Earth pony, who then broke out of whatever trance he was in. "My name's Takumi" he said to her. "I already told her that" Itsuki explained to him. "Oh sorry" Takumi said quickly. "It's fine" Twilight said to him. "Can you tell us what happened?" Iketani asked "I mean, one minute we were on a mountain then there was a flash of light and we were here". "Well, the flash of light was my fault" Twilight admitted "I was using a summoning spell, but it wasn't to summon other ponies to me, just items". "SPELL?!?" Itsuki shouted "You mean, like magic spell?". "Yes, as an Alicorn, I can do all sorts of magic" Twilight explained "But as I said before, it wasn't meant for other ponies, I was trying to summon a book from the other room. I'm not sure what went wrong" Twilight then looked over to the book of spells, walked over to it, started flipping the pages to find the spell she had used. "Here it is!" she then looked closer and noticed something amiss and sure enough she was right. "It appears the last pony who used the spellbook ripped the item summoning spell out of the book, but for some reason left the title, so the spell I used is actually a pony summoning spell". "But how did it work on us? We're not ponies" Kenji asked her. "How is this possible?" Twilight wondered out loud "pulling other beings from another world, that is some spell". "Is there a spell to send us back?" Takumi asked. Twilight started flipping through the pages, after she did it once she double checked. "I can't seem to find one, if there is one it's missing" Twilight told them "SPIIIKEE!" she called. "I'm right here Twilight, you don't need to yell" Spike grumbled then the four stallions turned their attention to him. "Is that a dragon?" Kenji asked. "No, I'm a griffon" Spike answered sarcastically. "A talking dragon?" Itsuki added "I didn't know dragons could talk!". "That's totally the first time I've heard that one" Spike replied with a slight eye roll. "This is my number one assistant, Spike" Twilight told them "hey Spike, can you send a letter to the Princesses asking for help finding a spell?". "Sure thing!" Spike said smiling "what do you want it to say?" Twilight explained what had happened with the spell and about the missing return spell, Spike then sent the letter. "Alright, I sent a letter to the Princesses of Equestria if they can't help track down the missing spell, then nopony can!" Twilight told everyone. "Wait, you know your Princesses like that? You can ask them questions and they'll just help you?" Itsuki asked sounding surprised. "Well, it does help with her being Princess Celestia's personal student and being a princess herself" Spike explained and Twilight just blushed. "You're a princess??" they all asked in unison. "Yeah, I'm the Princess of Friendship, though I don't need to brag about it" Twilight said to them "it might be awhile before the Princesses respond, do you want to meet my friends?". "Sure, it's not like we're going anywhere anytime soon." Iketani replied. "Then let's go!" Twilight said, ignoring the sarcastic remark, as the six of them left the room. Once they were at Sugarcube Corner, after the introductions and explanations were finished, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh her flank off. "Okay okay, let me get this straight, since coming to Ponyville you've cast a spell to make everypony want your doll, then another one that changed our Cutie Marks around, now you've managed to pull four guys from another world into Equestria and turn them into ponies, What's next Twilight?" Rainbow said while laughing like it was the funniest thing ever. "Really, Rainbow? That's what you take from this situation?" Applejack said to her. "Come on, AJ it's pretty funny!" Rainbow argued. "Ignore her, darlings" Rarity told them "Rainbow Dash doesn't always have the most appropriate sense of humor". "Hey!" Rainbow shouted, sounding offended. "So, have you guys been friends forever?" Takumi asked "Because it seems that way". "Nah, we've only been friends since Twilight came to Ponyville a couple years ago when Nightmare Moon returned and we stopped her with the Elements of Harmony" Pinkie Pie explained "Unless you count the Sonic Rainboom Dashie did back when we were little fillies that gave us a Cutie Mark connection that was almost taken out when an evil-then- but-not-evil now unicorn bent on revenge went back in time to prevent the Rainboom from happening forever splitting us apart and dooming Equestria but like I said that's only if you count the Rainboom". The four guys just stood there, blinking in disbelief at what the just heard. "In other words, yes we have know each other for awhile but not forever" Twilight told them. "Isn't that what I said?" Pinkie asked innocently. "Not quite" Applejack answered. "Does she always talk that fast?" Takumi asked. "Prety much" Spike replied. "What's a 'Sonic Rainboom'?" Iketani asked. "It's when a Pegasus can go fast enough to break the sound barrier to cause a sonic boom and make a rainbow appear at the same time" Twilight answered. "Wow, that sounds so awesome!" Itsuki said smiling. "And I'm the only pony to ever pull it off" Rainbow added smugly "Not once, not twice, but three times". "Wow, you must be the coolest pony ever to do something like that" Itsuki told her. "Don't inflate her ego anymore than it already is" Rarity warned "You'll only encourage her to brag about it more". "If that's even possible" Applejack muttered sarcastically. "You said something about 'Cutie Marks', what's that?" Kenji asked. "A Cutie Mark shows what a pony's special talent is" Fluttershy answered "Mine represents my ability to communicate with animals". "Mine represents my ability to find the most stunning gems" Rarity added. "Mine represents running the family farm, Sweet Apple Acres" Applejack told them proudly. "Mine shows my amazingly awesome fast flying!" Rainbow explained. "Mine shows my love of party-planning!" Pinkie said giggling gleefully. "And mine represents my talents with magic" Twilight said smiling. "That's cool" Takumi told them. "So, now that you know a little bit about our world, why don't you tell us about yours?" Twilight suggested. "Okay. Well, where we're from, we don't look like this. We actually, well it's hard to explain." Iketani said. We don't have hooves, we have things called hands and feet and walk on two legs instead of four." "So you're humans" Twilight supplied. "Exactly. Wait how do you know what humans are? Do you have people in this world? Takumi asked. "No, but this isn't the first time we've dealt with interdimensional travel." Twilight explained. "Um, ok. Well, since you know the basics of human living, we'll tell you about ourselves." Kenji offered The Mane six nodded. "Well, Iketani and I work at a gas station" Itsuki said. "What's a gas station?" asked Fluttershy "Do you guys now what cars are?" asked Iketani. "I saw them when I was in the other dimension, but I don't know much about them" Twilight replied "Well you guys have carts, right?" asked Kenji "Yeah, we have a bunch of those down at the farm." replied Applejack "Well, cars are kinda like carts with engines that make them move without pulling them." Kenji explained "And the engines need gas to make them work." "So you guys work at the place that sells it?" Pinkie asked. "Exactly." replied Iketani "But that's not all we do there, we also repair cars and wash them." "And I'm a delivery truck driver by day and I deliver tofu at night/early morning for my family's tofu shop" Takumi added. "But when we're not working, we spend time working on our own cars" Kenji said "So you each have your own cars?" asked Rainbow. "Are they fast?" "Very and Takumi here's the fastest drifter ever" Itsuki replied "What's 'drifting'?" Rainbow asked "I've read about our version, but what's your's like?" "Well, it's a type of car racing, where you corner at higher speeds by sliding the car around the corner." Iketani explained. "That. Sounds. Awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed "It's alot of fun" replied Kenji. "And Takumi is the best drifter ever" Itsuki reiterated "Dude, I'm nothing special." Takumi replied "Takumi's just being modest. He's really good." Kenji said "Sounds like he's really fast" added Applejack "He is, but it takes a lot of practice." Iketani said "That's what we were doing just before we popped up here. We were at the top of mount Akina, that's a local mountain where we practice, taking a break and the next thing we know, we were here." After a short pause, Itsuki asked the question he'd been dying to ask. "So, Pegasus ponies all fly and Unicorns can do magic?" "Duh, why do you think we have wings?" Rainbow pointed out "You're a Pegasus if you hadn't noticed and you've got 'em too!" she added pointing at Kenji. "What?" Itsuki said curiously looking at his sides and sure enough he had a pair of wings "So, I can fly?". "Yes, if you want to" Rainbow told him, then she got a huge grin on her face "Do you want to learn how to, I can teach you both how to, that is if you want the most awesome teacher in the universe". "Heck yeah!" Itsuki shouted excitedly. "That sounds cool" Kenji added. "Alright, I'll be your coach, we'll start tomorrow, unless you get home before then". "Okay" Itsuki said nodding. "I'll go with you too, just to make sure Rainbow doesn't get too tough" Fluttershy told them. "Since you're a Unicorn, Iketani" Twilight said looking at him " Rarity and I could teach you magic if you want us to". "Sounds good to me" Iketani replied. "And, since you're an Earth pony, me and Pinkie Pie could teach ya about our strength and connection to the earth" Applejack explained to Takumi. "Sure" Takumi said to her. Just then Spike came into the room from the kitchen, he had a scroll in his claw. "Celestia just sent back this message" he said then Twilight used her magic to levitate the scroll. "It says that she is looking for the spell or any one that might work and will message me as soon as she finds something, but warns that it may take a long time to find it" Twilight announced to everyone "Well I guess it's good that we have plans to occupy ourselves with until Celestia finds something". "Yeah, that's good, but just one problem" Kenji said to the group. "What's that?" Twilight asked. "Where will we stay?" he asked. "You can stay with me and Spike, the castle has plenty of room" Twilight told him. "Alright" Kenji responded. "So, how about we all group up at the castle and decide where we'll do the training in the morning?" Twilight suggested and everyone agreed "Let's all head back to our homes, it's been a looong day, if you ask me" she added. Everyone agreed, said good night and headed back home. Chapter 3: School is Now in SessionThe next morning, after the ponies met up at the castle and decided where they were going to do the training, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy decided to do the Pegasus training in the park. Itsuki and Kenji were sitting in the park while Rainbow was giving a lecture on flying. "Alright" Rainbow began "The first thing you need to master is hovering, like this" Rainbow unfurled her wings and started flapping them softly, she then started hovering a few feet off the ground and then landed "Now you try it" she told them. Kenji spread his wings out and started flapping hard but wasn't getting anywhere. Rainbow shook her heard "You're flapping too hard, Kenji" she explained "Light, gentle flaps". "Got it" Kenji then started flapping his wings lighter and started to hover a little. "That's it! You've got it! Now just keep flapping!" Rainbow said encouragingly and Kenji managed to keep hovering for a few minutes longer before getting tired. "Great job, Kenji!" she turned her head "It's your turn, Itsuki". "Alright!" Itsuki said enthusiastically, he started flapping then he managed to hover a few feet above the ground for a few moments, before starting to flap too hard and promptly falling face first into the ground. "Ouch" Itsuki groaned. "I'll get the first aid kit" Fluttershy told everyone, flying away. At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were getting ready to teach Takumi about the strength of Earth ponies. "Aright Takumi, me and Pinkie are gonna teach ya what we Earth ponies can do!" Applejack told him. "What can Earth ponies do with their strength?" Takumi asked. "Well, that all depends on what ya wanna do or what your special talent is" Applejack explained "I run the family farm, so I have to haul apples around the farm and to the market, it's harder than it sounds". "I kinda have special abilities of my own for my party planning, but I did grow up on a rock farm so I did have a way to put my strength to good use" Pinkie Pie added. "Rock farm?" Takumi asked. "Yep, I grew up on a rock farm!" Pinkie Pie answered. "Let's get things back on track here, Pinkie" Applejack told her "Now Takumi, I'm gonna help you learn how to pull a cart of apples". "Alright" Takumi said to her. Applejack went over, pulled a cart that was full of apples over and Pinkie helped her hitch it up for Takumi to pull it. "Can you pull the cart from here to that tree over there?" Applejack asked as she pointed to a tree that was several feet away. "Okay" Takumi replied, he started walking then realized he was straining slightly "This cart is heavier than I thought". "Eeyup, it takes a while to build up the strength to haul apples like I do!" Applejack informed him. At Twilight's castle, Twilight and Rarity were preparing for Iketani's magic lessons, Twilight and Rarity decided that the best place to start was using telekinesis. So Twilight brought out some teacups to practice with, Iketani was waiting in the library when Twilight and Rarity walked in. "What's with the teacups?" Iketani asked curiously. "It's for your magic lesson" Twilight answered as she set one on the ground "I wanted to start with something simple, like a teacup". "It's something most ponies use on a regular basis" Rarity explained. "Alright, Iketani" Twilight began "Just focus on the cup, then try lifting it". "I can do this" Iketani told himself, he started focusing on the teacup, then it began to shake a little. "You almost got it" Twilight told him "Now try lifting it". Iketani attempted to lift it and the cup started shaking more and more. "Wait, Iketani, relax a little or you going to..." Twilight started but suddenly the teacup exploded, scattering little pieces everywhere "..break it" Twilight finished then let out a small sigh. "I'm sorry, Twilight" Iketani said apologetically "I guess I focused a little too hard". "It's alright, Iketani" Twilight replied with a smile "Every Unicorn has had trouble the first time they used magic" she told him "I had trouble turning a page in a book when I was first learning magic". "And I embedded a sewing needle in my bedroom wall" Rarity admitted with a blush. "And if I get the chance, I can tell ponies I managed to blow up a teacup!" Iketani told them, then they all started to laugh. "Let's get back to the lesson" Twilight said still chuckling. A few hours later, the guys met up at Twilight's castle to talk about how their lessons were going, they were sitting around a table, talking about the days events when Takumi noticed something about his friend. "Hey Itsuki, what's with the bandage on your nose?" Takumi asked. "Oh, I was learning how to hover and well.." Itsuki began explaining. "What happened?" Iketani urged. "I hovered several feet off the ground for a few moments, then I fell flat on my face" Itsuki finished telling his story. "Ouch" Takumi said wincing a little "That sounded painful". "It kinda was" Itsuki admitted "But I'll get better and be the best flyer ever!". "Yeah, how did your flying go Kenji?" Iketani asked. "I hovered a few feet off the ground" Kenji told him "Nothing special, but I learned if you flap too hard, you won't get anywhere" he then looked at Takumi and asked "How did your Earth pony lessons go?". "I will never look at apples the same way again" Takumi answered "I tried to move a cart full of them and I didn't get very far, they're heavy". "Wow, sounds like we all have had some interesting moments today" Kenji observed "Hey, Iketani, you're the only one to not have talked about what happened during your lessons, tell us what happened". "Nah, nothing exciting happened" Iketani told them. "Come on tell us!" Itsuki urged him. "I'd rather not.." Iketani insisted. "Come on dude, spit it out!" Kenji added. Iketani sighed then muttered "I made a teacup explode". "What?" Itsuki asked "I didn't hear you". "I made a teacup explode" Iketani said loud and clear. His friends stared at him in silence, then burst out laughing. "Seriously?" Kenji asked "You made a teacup explode?". "Yes, I apparently focused on it too much when I was trying to make it levitate" Iketani explained. "Wow, so we all managed to mess up somehow today" Takumi noted, thinking of the stories his friends had told him. "Hopefully, we'll do better tomorrow" Kenji added "but I kinda want to relax until then, my wings hurt". "Yeah, how about we get some sleep then regroup after our lessons tomorrow?" Iketani suggested and everyone agreed. They chatted for a while longer then decided to go to bed to get some sleep and prepare for their lessons tomorrow morning. Chapter 4: Failure is Always an OptionThree days after their first lesson, Rainbow Dash was getting ready to teach them about basic flying. "So, we've covered hovering and you're getting good at that" Rainbow started explaining "Next we are moving to basic flying, it's simple" Rainbow started flapping her wings, then began hovering "All you have to do is, when you start hovering is push yourself forward like this" she propelled herself forward and she started moving in a straight line then she turned around and landed in front of the others "Now you guys try it". Kenji started flapping his wings, then began hovering a few feet off the ground. "Alright Kenji, now push yourself forward" Rainbow instructed him. Kenji then started to move forward slowly. "That's it!" Rainbow encouraged him "Now flap a little harder to go faster!". Kenji nodded and did just that, flew a few feet forward and landed, the landing was a bit wobbly though. "Great job" Rainbow said clapping her hooves "You're gonna need to work on your landing, but that was great for your first time". "Great job, Kenji, woohoo!" Fluttershy added happily. "Thanks, Rainbow" Kenji said, smiling. "It's your turn now, Itsuki" Rainbow told him. "Okay" Itsuki replied, he started flapping his wings, then began hovering. "Like I told Kenji" Rainbow explained "Push yourself forward". Itsuki attempted to and moved forward a few inches before falling down. "Let me try that again" Itsuki told Rainbow. Rainbow then gave him a 'Go ahead' gesture. Itsuki started hovering again, then he pushed him forward and got a few more inches farther than his first attempt before falling flat on his face with his hooves spread out again. "Are you okay man?" Kenji asked, sounding concerned. "Oooww" Itsuki groaned. "I'll get the first aid kit" Fluttershy told everyone as she flew off. Down at Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie and Applejack were getting ready to teach Takumi to tote apples around in a cart. "You're getting better at this" Applejack told him "I want you to haul this cart of apples from here to the barn" Applejack pointed towards the barn, which was a couple yards away from them "And try to keep an eye out for rocks" Applejack warned "We don't wanna a repeat of the other day" Applejack added with a slight shudder. "Got it" Takumi responded, then Applejack hitched him up to the cart and he started to pull the cart slowly, still having a bit of a problem but not as much as before. He got half way there in just a few minutes, faster than he had before. "You're doing great, Takumi!" Pinkie said to him cheerfully, "If you keep this up, you'll be a pro in no time!". "Thanks, Pinkie" he replied smiling at her, once he got to the barn, he was slightly out of breath. Applejack and Pinkie Pie walked over to him. "That was great!" Applejack told him "Like Pinkie said, you'll be a master at this pretty soon if you keep improving like this". "That's cool" Takumi replied. "Let's keep working at it" Applejack said "You can't improve if you're not trying". "Alright" Takumi said and the three Earth ponies headed back to the tree they were standing under when they began the lesson. At Twilight's castle, Twilight and Rarity were getting ready for Iketani's next magic lesson. "Okay, Iketani" Twilight said to him "We are going try and have you lift something a little less...breakable" she pointed towards a broom lying on the floor "Now like with the teacup, focus on it". "But not too hard" Rarity added "We don't want broom splinters everywhere". "Alright" Iketani responded, he then started to focus on the broom, it started to lift off the ground. "Good job, now lift it a little higher" Twilight instructed, Iketani did it "Alright can you set it down by the wall over there?" Twilight asked him. "I can try" Iketani answered, he then tried to start moving it, but suddenly he lost control, launched it like a missile, Rarity and Twilight barely had time to jump out of the way of the low-flying broom and it embedded itself in the wall. "Sorry about that" Iketani said apologetically. "It's fine" Twilight replied as she walked over and tried to remove the broom from it's place in the wall. Twilight was struggling to get it out, so Rarity trotted over to help her pull it out. "How did he manage to embedded a broom into a crystal wall?" Rarity asked Twilight in a whisper "I mean, how much magic power would it take to do that?". "I have no idea" Twilight answered, keeping her voice low, they got the broom out of the wall and she brought it back to Iketani. "Let's try that again" Twilight told him. Iketani nodded his head in reply, then started to lift the broom again. It started to hover over the ground, but again he lost control of, it only this time instead of embedding it in the walls of the castle, it flew out of a nearby window and it was sticking bristle side up with it's handle deep in the ground. A brown Earth Pony stallion had a shocked expression on his face, knowing if he had walked a few inches more he would have been hit by it. Twilight stick her head out the window that was now broken "Sorry" she called to the Earth Pony who nodded in reply and continued on his way, Twilight pulled her head back in and sighed "This is going to be a loooong day" she added. Chapter 5: A Helping HoofA few days after their first few lessons, the guys were mostly improving, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Kenji and Itsuki were back in the park to practice flying more. "Aright guys, you've got hovering down pat" Rainbow told them "And you're getting better at flying" she looked at the two of them "I want you to show me your stuff, Kenji you're up first" she finished pointing at him. "Alright" Kenji responded, then took off to the sky, flying pretty fast. "You're doing great, Kenji!" Rainbow shouted "Keep it up!". Kenji then pulled off a corkscrew maneuver, perfectly! Rainbow, Fluttershy and Itsuki all looked on in shock, then Kenji performed three barrel rolls in a row before slowing down to land, his legs wobbled slightly when he did. "How was that?" Kenji asked. Rainbow still was in shock then she shook her head and said "That. Was. AMAZING!". "I don't know why I did that, it kinda just came to me" Kenji added modestly. "Alright Itsuki, your turn" Rainbow told him. Itsuki then got prepared to fly, he started flying and was flying at a normal pace, then decided to fly a little faster and did that pretty well, so he tried the corkscrew, which when he started to do it he did the first loop pretty well, the second one too then he tried the third one but didn't realize he was flying just a few feet above the ground. "ITSUKI!" Rainbow shouted "YOU'RE FLYING TO CLOSE TO THE GROUND YOU'RE GONNA.." Rainbow was cut off by Itsuki hitting the ground...hard. Rainbow Dash winced, Fluttershy had a horrified look on her face and Kenji cringed, using a wing to cover his face. "Oouuch" Itsuki groaned painfully "Flying sucks". "I'll go get the first aid kit" Fluttershy announced "Again". After Fluttershy returned with the first aid kit and wrapped Itsuki's hurt hoof in a bandage, she left to go check on her animals, Rainbow was talking with Kenji about his flying skills when she noticed Itsuki looked a little down. "Hey Kenji" Rainbow said to him "Why don't you practice a little more, I'm gonna go see if Itsuki's alright". "Got it" Kenji replied and he took off to the sky. Rainbow walked over to where Itsuki was sitting and sat down next to him. "Hey, Itsuki" Rainbow said to him "Is something bothering you?". "No" Itsuki replied sadly "It's nothing". "It sure sounds like something" Rainbow responded "You can tell me, is it about the flying?". Itsuki looked at her "Yeah" he then looked over and watched Kenji flying around with ease "Look how good Kenji's doing, he can do barrel rolls and I can't stay in the air for three seconds without falling on my face". "I know how that is" Rainbow admitted. "What?". "I know how it feels to fail at flying". "How can you?" Itsuki asked "From what I've heard, you're one of the best fliers ever". "I wasn't always that way". "What do you mean?". Rainbow looked around to make sure no one could hear her then she looked back at Itsuki. "When I was a filly, I couldn't fly all that well either" Rainbow told him. "Come on, you couldn't have been that bad". "They called me 'Rainbow Crash'" she said flatly. "Oh". "Yeah, but you know what I did? I trained and trained" Rainbow explained "I trained so hard, so I could achieve my life long dream to join the best flying team in Equestria, The Wonderbolts, and with all my practicing I finally reached my dream, so if a filly they called 'Rainbow Crash' can be a Wonderbolt, you can be an awesome flier" Rainbow then gave him a smile "And I'll help you any way I can, how about I become your personal flying coach? I think with a lot of practice, you'll be flying like a pro in no time. So, what do you say? ". Itsuki then reached over and gave Rainbow a hug "Thank you Rainbow Dash" he said tearfully. "Hehehe, thanks, I take that as a 'yes" Rainbow said, slightly blushing from the sudden hug, "Now, let's get back to training!". "Yes, ma'am!" Itsuki said. "And we'll start tomorrow morning" Rainbow told him. "Got it" Itsuki nodded and tried flying again. Down at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Takumi were getting ready to haul apples. "Alright, since you're gettin' so good at haulin' apples" Applejack drawled then she gave Takumi a determined stare "So we're gonna have ourselves a little race" she looked ahead "The race will be from here, at the edge of the road that leads to the farm, all the way over to the barn". Pinkie then hitched a cart to Applejack then one to Takumi, she then stood in front of them. "Okay ponies, on the count of three, you start this race, got it?" Pinkie asked. The two nodded their heads in response. "One".. They looked at each other. "Two.." They looked straight ahead. "THREE!!". Takumi and Applejack took off galloping quickly. "Alright, my little ponies, Applejack has the lead at the moment" Pinkie Pie announced as she watched them race, Applejack, like Pinkie said, had a good lead. "I think I've got this" Applejack thought to herself. "Okay, I've just got to focus" Takumi thought "I can do this" he then suddenly broke into a dead gallop. "Whoa-oh-oh" Pinkie sounded shocked "It looks like Takumi might be able to pull this off". Then right at that moment, Takumi pulled ahead of Applejack and won the race. "AND IT'S OVER!! TAKUMI WINS!!!!" Pinkie shouted, she then hopped over to the two tired ponies in front of the barn. "Wow, you did great Takumi" Applejack told him "I was sure surprised when you over took me". "Thanks" Takumi replied. "Well, that was an awesome race you two!" Pinkie Pie added happily. "Yeah, but I'm a might tired and wanna take a break" Applejack said to her. "Same here" Takumi added. At the castle, Twilight was trying to figure out what to do with Iketani's magic lessons. "So, we've tried teacups and brooms" Twilight said to him "And you couldn't control them, how about we try books?". Rarity trotted over to her and whispered "Are you sure that's a good idea? I hope you're using paperbacks because I don't think either one of us or anyone in the 10-foot radius wants to be hit with a low-flying hardcover book". "Relax, I'm only going to teach him how to turn the page of a book" Twilight told her. Twilight set a book on the floor in the middle of the three of them. "Okay Iketani, we're going to try something a little different" Twilight explained "You're going to try and turn a page in this book". "Do you think I can?" Iketani asked "I can't even lift up a teacup". "I think you can!" Twilight replied and opened the book "Just focus". Iketani focused on the page, it began to turn but quickly fell back down and the book slid across the ground and hit the wall. Iketani let out a defeated sigh, "I'll never get the hang of this" he said sounding disappointed. "You will get it, I know it!" Twilight said trying to cheer him up. "Some Unicorns have a harder time with magic than others, darling" Rarity added. "All I can do is make teacups explode and turn brooms into missiles" Iketani replied "I can't even turn a page in a book without having some sort of problem". Twilight walked over and placed a hoof on Iketani's shoulder "Listen Iketani" Twilight began "Not many ponies know about this, but I've had some problems with magic. Before I got into Celestia's school, I had to pass an entrance exam, I was very nervous and when the Sonic Rainboom happened, I lost control of my magic. I accidentally caused the ponies doing the exam to be caught in a magic bubble hovering over the ground, turned my parents into potted plants and caused a then a newly hatched Spike into a towering dragon!" she took a breath then continued "And I also had many failures before then! So, don't think that you're alone in having magic problems and don't ever, ever think that it's hopeless! You can do this". "Really?" Iketani asked hopefully. "I have the utmost confidence that you can!" Twilight told him. "I'm sure by the end of the week, you'll be a master of telekinsis" Rarity said with a smile. "You two really think so?" Iketani asked them. "Hey Twilight" Rarity said "I have and idea, why don't you do some one-on-one training with him?" she suggested "I mean, it might be easier for him and besides I've got to design some new outfits to sell at my boutiques". "That's a great idea" Twilight replied "Then I can really get to the historical and technical aspects of Unicorn magic!" she clapped her hooves excitedly "This is going to be so much fun! I'll have to get all my old magic training books from when I was still learning magic". "Well, if you think it will help" Iketani said "I'm up for anything". "Alright, let's do this!" Twilight said excitedly "We start in the morning!". Chapter 6: MentorsIt was very early in the morning the next day, Rainbow Dash had her coach's cap and whistle on, Itsuki looked like it was taking all of the energy he had just to keep his eyes open. "Rainbow" Itsuki said yawning tiredly "When you said 'tomorrow morning' I didn't think you meant dawn". "If you want to be the best, you've got to train as hard as possible for as long as possible" Rainbow told him "And that means getting up as early as possible to make the most out of everyday". "It's going to be like this everyday?". "It will be until you learn to fly" Rainbow answered "But it will be worth it, don't you want to be the best flier you can be?". "Yes, I do". "Then it's going to be like this, I got up early to learn in flight school and even earlier in the Wonderbolts Academy and now I'm a Wonderbolt, the best of the best, so if you want to be like that, you have to train like one, so either give up and go home or work your hardest to be the best, got it?" Itsuki then got a determined look in his eyes "Got it". "Are you ready?". "YEAH!". "Then let's get to it!" Rainbow said encouragingly "First things first, let see if you can fly in a straight line for a few yards before we get to advanced stuff". "Okay" Itsuki replied, he then began hovering, then pushed himself forward, he went a few feet then fell on his face. "Again" Rainbow told him. Itsuki shook it off and tried again only to have the same result. "Again". They repeated the process for a few hours until Itsuki covered almost twelve yards without falling, he flew back towards Rainbow and landed in front of her. "Great job, Itsuki!" Rainbow said proudly "Now let's keep going". Itsuki flew back up and flew in a straight line, covering more and more ground each time, of course most of his landings were due to falling, but at least he was covering more ground. A little while later, Rainbow and Itsuki were taking a short break, Rainbow had brought some water for them to drink while they relaxed. "You're doing a great job today" Rainbow told him "You're covering so much distance, I'd say in a day or two, you'll have basic flight mastered". "Yeah, but I keep crashing, how can I master flying when I keep crashing?" he asked her. "You'll get the hang of it, I mean, think of how far you got last time!". "I still crashed". "It was a pretty epic crash though" Rainbow pointed out, taking a drink out of her bottle of water "I crashed into a garbage can as a filly in flight school". "Eww". "Yeah, that's how I got the nickname 'Rainbow Crash'" Rainbow winced at the memory "How about after we get you flying without much crashing, we teach you how to do tricks? I don't think you'll get a better trainer for that than a Wonderbolt!". "Sounds like that might be fun!". "Alright, but you have to do several successful flights before then" Rainbow told him " you got that?". "Yes, ma'am!" Itsuki said preparing to fly. "Now fly and give me twenty laps!" Rainbow shouted and Itsuki took off to the sky. At Friendship castle, Twilight was preparing for Iketani's lesson, she had several stacks of books around the room for the lesson, Iketani was sitting on a wooden stool in the center of the room, waiting for Twilight to began, Twilight walked over and sat at her desk. "Alright Iketani, we're going to begin the lessons today with a piece of magic history" Twilight began "In Pre- Equestria history, Twilight the first, my ancestor, invented the spell to help Unicorns teleport, they called it 'Winking', but it was the only spell all Unicorns could do, but all Unicorns could do one spell, linked to their special talent that they could do" she then took a breath and continued "A couple hundred years later, Unicorns all but lost their magical abilities, only a select few could do magic and all it could do was help create rainbows, so they had a magic wand to do spells but even that was limited. So that era is now referred to as Magic's Lost Age, it wasn't until a few years before ponies settled in Equestria, a Unicorn wizard named Star Swirl the Bearded and his apprentice Clover the Clever started to redevelop magic spells and create new ones, like Telekinesis which is now one of the most basic spells for Unicorns to learn today" she then looked over to Iketani "That is why, I'm starting you with Telekinesis, it's a spell every Unicorn can do, now I want you to lift that book sitting in front of you". "Okay, Twilight" Iketani responded, he then started focusing on the book, it started floating. "You're getting it" Twilight told him "Now can you set it on my desk over here?". "I'll try" Iketani answered as he started to make the book float towards Twilight, it got about half way there when Iketani lost control of it and it flew right at Twilight's head! "AHH!" Twilight screamed and ducked, the book just missing her by about six inches hitting the wall behind her, she then sat back up "I think I know what your problem is". "What?". "You focus too hard" Twilight began explaining "You need to relax a little when trying to cast a spell, or it can have disastrous results". "But how do I relax when you say I have to focus?". "I never said not to focus I said not to focus too hard" Twilight reminded him "Just focus a little and if you feel like you're losing control of your magic, relax a little". "Okay, I'm going to try this again" Iketani told her as he lifted up another book, the book began to float so he started to move it towards Twilight. He then felt like it was going to fly out of his grip and it started to shake rapidly. "Take a deep breath" Twilight advised him "It will help you". Iketani took a deep breath and the book stopped shaking, he kept moving the book until it was floating right above the desk and he set it down gently. "I did it!" Iketani announced happily. "Very good!" Twilight clapped her hooves "Now can you bring that whole stack over here?". "At once?". "If you think you can". "I'll try it" he started to focus on the stack of books, they started to float, he tried to bring them to over to the desk, but when he got to the desk they fell out of his grip and on to Twilight's head "I am so sorry Twilight!". Twilight moved the books and stacked them in a neat pile next to her, "It's fine Iketani, but why don't you stick to moving them one at a time?" she suggested. "That sounds like a plan". Twilight nodded then said "Can you move that stack of books over here?" she pointed towards a stack of books about six feet away from them. "Sure". "And remember, do it one at a time" she reminded. "Yes" he said as he started lifting the top book, brought it over to them and set it on the desk. About ten minutes later, the whole stack, which was about ten books high, was now on top of the desk. "Great job!" Twilight congratulated him "I think with a few lessons, you'll have this down in no time". "Thanks Twilight" Iketani said smiling. "You're welcome, now let's get to the next lesson" Twilight told him. Chapter 7: Apple Trees and Haute CoutureChapter 7: Apple Trees and Haute Couture At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Takumi were harvesting the apples, it took Takumi a while to get the hang of applebucking, but after a few attempts he was doing it as well as any other pony. "Thanks for the help, Takumi" Applejack told him "With Big Mac and Granny Smith in Appleloosa, I needed the extra set of hooves". "No problem, AJ" Takumi replied as he started to move a cart full of apples towards the barn, he unloaded the cart and started heading back towards the orchard that he and Applejack were working in, when a little yellow filly came running towards him. "Hi there" the filly said happily "Are you that Takumi fella that my sister has been talkin' about?". Takumi smiled at her, "Yes I am" he said to her "You must be her little sister Apple Bloom". "Yup, that's me!" she replied with a huge grin "So ya helpin' out my sister today?". "Yes, I am". "That's cool, I heard you beat her in a cart pullin' race?". "I did". "Wow! How fast are ya?". "I'm not sure exactly" Takumi answered, he glanced at the cart he was pulling then looked back at Apple Bloom and smiled "Want to find out?". "How?". "Hop in the cart and I'll pull it". "Sure, sounds like fun!" she replied she then walked to the back of the cart and hopped in. "Hold on tight, Apple Bloom" Takumi said he then took off at gallop to where Applejack was standing, Takumi turned his head around and looked at Apple Bloom "how was that?". "That was fun!" Apple Bloom answered "I've never met an Earth pony that fast" she then hopped out of the cart "Thanks for the ride, Takumi". "You're welcome". Apple Bloom then ran off toward her clubhouse and then Applejack looked at Takumi. "That was mighty nice of ya, Takumi" Applejack told him "Looks like she had some fun". "She asked how fast I was, so I just showed her". "I'll just warn ya now, she'll probably ask you to take her and her friends on a ride one day". "And I'll take them on one if they do". Applejack smiled at him "Well, let's finish up collectin' these apples, we can get the rest in the mornin'". "Alright" Takumi nodded, just then Pinkie Pie came hopping up to them. "Hi guys!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "Hey Pinkie" Applejack responded "What brings ya here?". "I was on a walk through Ponyville and I walked by here and saw you two picking apples and just figured I'd stop by and say 'Hi'!" Pinkie explained, then saw all the apples that had been harvested "Wow, you guys are good, heeeey, Takumi, if you can't get back home I'm sure Applejack would love to give you a job working here at the farm!". Takumi chuckled "I'll keep that in mind". Suddenly Pinkie's tail started twitching. "My tail is twitching!" Pinkie told them "Somethings gonna fall from the sky!". "What?" Takumi asked clearly confused. "It's my Pinkie Sense" Pinkie began explaining to him "When my tail gets all twitchy it means something's going to fall". As if on cue there was some screaming, then a yellow blur came falling out of the sky and landed with a loud thud, knocking the cart full of apples over. "Ouuch" the yellow pony lying on the ground moaned. "Itsuki?" Takumi asked "Are you okay man?". "Been better" Itsuki replied as Rainbow Dash came flying up to them. "That was great Itsuki, you made it all the way to Sweet Apple Acres until you crashed" Rainbow told them. "Hooray for me" Itsuki said flatly with his face still on the ground, then Takumi helped his friend up. "How about we take a break for awhile and get back to flying later?" Rainbow suggested. "That sounds good" Itsuki answered and the two Pegasi headed off. "Well that was a little....weird" Takumi thought out loud. "That kinda stuff happens a lot" Applejack explained. "I'll remember that" Takumi responded as he collected the apples that had been knocked over and hauled them over to the barn. Kenji was sitting in the park, he was taking a break from flying and was kind of bored, so he walked around the park for awhile then stopped when he saw a certain white Unicorn waving at him. "Hello, Kenji" Rarity said to him. "Hi Rarity" Kenji waved back, then Rarity came trotting over to him. "Are you not training with Rainbow Dash anymore?" she asked him. "No, she's helping out Itsuki with his flying". "Are you doing anything at the moment?". "Nope, I'm taking a break from flying for awhile today". "Can I ask you for a favor?". "Sure, go ahead". "Would you mind being my model for a few hours?" Rarity asked "I'm designing some new outfits and I need a male model for my newest design" Rarity looked at him "So would you do that for me?" she asked hopefully. "Yeah, I've got nothing better to do right now". "Thank you, Kenji!" Rarity said enthusiastically "Now let's head to my shop". Once they were at Rarity's shop, she immediately started to look through her racks of newly designed outfits, she then found the suit she was looking for and brought it over to Kenji. "Is that the suit you want me to try on?" he asked. "Yes, it is" she said and started to help him put it on. After a few moments Kenji was in the suit and ready, then Rarity got a look on her face that said she was thinking of something. "IIIDEEEAAA" She said gleefully, she brought over her mini sewing kit and spools of thread "Now, if I just trim a little off the sleeves and fix the collar a bit..." she then set her thread and needles down "There, I think it looks perfect!". Kenji looked in the mirror at his reflection, "This looks great, you're good at this Rarity" he complimented. "Thank you, darling". "Anything else you need?". "If you wouldn't mind terribly to pose for some pictures to send to some potential clients?". "I don't mind at all". "Thank you so much". Rarity brought out her camera so she could send picture to clients when they asked for something or she wanted to show them one of her newest designs. "You know, Kenji?" Rarity said "I think you'd make a great fashion model, there aren't many stallion fashion models, so if you ever needed a job here in Equestria, come talk with me. I'd love to help get you a career in modeling". "Thank you, Rarity". "You're most welcome" Rarity told him "Now I need a few more pictures of this one and I have two more after that" she said as she snapped another picture. Chapter 8: How Hard Can It Be?A few days later, Twilight had gotten a letter from her sister-in-law Princess Cadence, reminding her that she and Shining Armor were going to visit Canterlot for the weekend and that Twilight said she and her friends were going to babysit Flurry Heart, so Twilight was busy packing her suitcase to take with her, she later helped Spike pack, Spike said he could do it himself but he wasn't using Twilight's method of proper suitcase packing. A few hours later Twilight, Spike and the rest had their suitcases packed and were ready to head down to the train station. The four guys and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were going to see them off when Rarity remembered something. "Oh no, I just remembered we didn't ask anypony if they'd watch the girls while we were gone" Rarity announced. "Our train arrives in ten minutes, who are we going to get to watch them?" Rainbow asked. "We could watch them" Iketani volunteered. "Are you sure about that?" Applejack questioned "They can be quite a hoofful". "Oh come on, they're just three little fillies" Itsuki replied "I mean, how hard can it be?". "Don't say that!" Kenji told him. "I think we can handle this" Takumi assured them. "If you think you can, then okay" Twilight said, then the train pulled into the station "It's time to go, see you guys in few days". The seven of them boarded the train, leaving the guys and fillies at the station. "What do we do now?" Kenji asked. "How about we had back to the castle and go from there?" Iketani suggested. "Let's do that" Scootaloo agreed "I think we should have lunch when we get there, I don't know about you guys but I'm a little hungry". When they got to the castle and had lunch, they were all sitting in the living area, trying to think of what to do next. "I'm bored" Scootaloo groaned as she looked around the room and noticed that everyone also looked bored. So she tried to come up with an idea, then one popped into her head. "Hey, have you guys gotten a tour of Ponyville yet?". "No, we haven't" Kenji answered "We've only been to the bakery and me and Itsuki went to the park". "I've been to Sweet Apple Acres" Takumi told them. "I've only been to the bakery" Iketani said sounding sad. "Would you like a tour of our awesome town?" Scootaloo asked. The guys looked at each other and Iketani replied "Sure, sounds fun". "Well then, let's go!" Sweetie Belle added enthusiastically. And the seven of them left the castle and headed into town. Once they were in town, the Crusaders gave them the grand tour of Ponyville. "Over there is the ice cream parlor" Scootaloo told them pointing a building with an ice cream on top, she then pointed at a different building "And that's the pizzeria". "That's my sister's dress shop" Sweetie Belle said pointing towards Carousel Boutique. "That's really nice on the inside" Kenji commented. "How would you know?" asked Itsuki "I might have been to visit Rarity while you were getting in some extra practice with Rainbow, It's no big deal" He replied sheepishly "It kinda sounds like it is, dude" replied Takumi "What did you do while you were there that's got you so worked up?" Iketani asked "It's nothing, I was just helping Rarity with one of her outfits, it's no big deal" Kenji replied "Did you like, play dress up or something?" Itsuki asked trying not to laugh "It was not dress up, it was modeling" Kenji snapped Itsuki, Iketani and Takumi looked at each other, then burst out laughing. "You guys suck" muttered Kenji "Anyway. That's Town Hall" Apple Bloom added gesturing towards the big building in the center of town, ignoring the uproarious laughter. "This is a nice little town" Takumi said, wiping tears from his eyes. "We may not live in a big city like Canterlot, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but Ponyville" Apple Bloom told them " I mean, my family helped found this town!". "Really?" Itsuki asked curiously. "It's true" Apple Bloom answered "I can tell y'all the story if you want". "Sure, it sounds interesting" Kenji replied. Apple Bloom proceeded to tell them the story of Ponyville's founding as they walked through the town. She told them about how her Grandma found the magical Zap Apple Trees that helped the settler ponies get through the winter and how that was the start of the little village that would become Ponyville. After she finished her story, they had walked out of town and were close to the Everfree Forest. "Let's go back into town" Apple Bloom said to them "Don't know about you guys, but I really don't want to go into the forest right now". "Oh come on! Don't be such a scaredy pony" Scootaloo told Apple Bloom "We wanted to give them a tour of our town, right? We just have to show them at least a small part of the forest". "I'm not so sure about that, Scootaloo" Iketani responded "Twilight has told me about the Everfree Forest, it's not the nicest place in Equestria". "It can't be that bad" Itsuki said "It might be cool to adventure into the unknown forest". "I think I'm with Iketani and Apple Bloom, let's just go home" Kenji replied. "I agree" Sweetie Belle added. "You guys are no fun" Scootaloo said pouting a little, then she got a determined look on her face and turned to Itsuki "Do you want to go with me into the forest?". "Sure, I'm up for a little adventure" Itsuki answered, they started to walk towards the forest entrance and then they looked back. "Are you sure you guys don't want to join us on an awesome adventure?" Scootaloo asked. "I think we're all sure" Apple Bloom answered. "Alright, we'll tell you all about what you missed when we get back" Scootaloo informed them "Let's go Itsuki" Scootaloo said, then they both headed into the forest. "Do you think we should follow them?" Kenji asked. "I don't think it will be a problem" Sweetie Belle told him. "Why is that?" Iketani inquired. "Scootaloo will want to come back after they walked a few yards" Apple Bloom explained. "And besides, when has Itsuki been the adventurous type?" Takumi pointed out. "You have a point there" Kenji responded. "I'm sure they'll be back in an hour or so" Apple Bloom said "Let's go back to the castle and wait for them". They all agreed and headed back to the castle to wait for their friends. A few hours later, they had been playing some games while they waited for their friends to come back. It had been almost four hours since they went into the forest, so they all decided to go and look for them. It didn't take too long to get to the beginning of the forest and once they were there, they took a moment to think about what they were going to do. "How far into the forest do you think they could be?" Iketani asked. "It's been awhile, they could be right at the front or somewhere in the middle" Apple Bloom answered "The Everfree Forest can be very confusing, believe me I know". "What do you think we should do?" Kenji asked her. "I think we should look for them" Sweetie Belle replied. "Well of course, we're gonna look for 'em" Apple Bloom responded "I think he was asking how". "Yeah, I was" Kenji told her "So, how do we do this? Do we go in pairs? Or by ourselves?". "NO!" Apple Bloom shouted "Never, ever, go into the Everfree Forest alone". "Alright, so do we split up into pairs or just stay as a group?" Takumi asked. "I think we should stay as a group" Apple Bloom told him "Much safer that way". "Got it" Kenji replied "Ready to go in?". "Yup" Apple Bloom said to him. They all slowly walked towards the forest, keeping an eye on their surroundings. They had already been searching for awhile and realized it was getting late. "We better hurry and find them before it gets dark" Apple Bloom urged "We don't want to be in the Everfree Forest at night". They quickened their pace to a trot and kept their eyes and ears open, when suddenly they heard a scream, then a howl. "Oh no" Apple Bloom said clearly worried "That sounded like a timberwolf!". "A what?" Kenji asked. "It's a wolf made of tree bark, leaves and vines" Apple Bloom explained "They try to eat ponies and anything else that wanders into Everfree". "Then let's hurry and find them" Iketani said and the group broke into a gallop, going towards the source of the scream. When they got there, they saw Scootaloo and Itsuki backed into a corner by a pack of timberwolves. "We have to get there attention!" Sweetie Belle told them. "We need a distraction" Apple Bloom added then turned and looked at the guys "Kenji do you think you could fly by them and take their attention away from Scootaloo and Itsuki?". "Sure" Kenji answered then he took off, flying low, he managed to buzz the timberwolves and make them turn towards him. "Hey timberwolves, come get me!". The timberwolves growled and ran towards him, Kenji took off to the sky and made the timberwolves look up at him. "Alright Takumi, I've seen you applebuck, do you think you could take out some of the timberwolves?". "On it" Takumi told her, then he ran, full gallop at the pack of timberwolves, one turned towards him and he bucked it in the head, making it collapse. The others charged him, but met similar fates, as more and more timberwolves showed up, Takumi took them done soon after. Kenji got into the fight by doing a nose dive and landing on top of two of them. Iketani noticed one charging at Scootaloo, so he ran towards it then used his magic to pick it up and threw it at a nearby rock. Soon all that remained was little piles of broken twigs and leaves. They went over to check on their frightened friends. "Are you okay, Scootaloo?" Iketani asked her. "Y-yeah" Scootaloo said nervously, she then looked up at him "Thank you for saving me Iketani" she then galloped over to him and attempted to wrap her hooves around him, Iketani then wrapped a hoof around her and pulled her close. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes "I don't want to go into Everfree like this again, I thought we were going to die". "I know" Itsuki added clearly shaken "It's terrifying out here!". All of a sudden, a glow formed over the piles of sticks and started to rebuild the timberwolves! Then with a howl, the newly formed timberwolves started running at them. Iketani used his magic to place a now shaking Scootaloo on his back then he and the rest of the group began running through the forest. "How are we going to lose them?!" Itsuki asked panicking "They're already gaining on us!". "We just have to keep moving" Apple Bloom told them. "But what if we get deeper into the forest and get lost?" Kenji asked. "I don't know" Apple Bloom answered. Then Iketani got an idea, he wasn't sure it would work but he had to try. He focused his magic like Twilight explained in one of her many magic lectures. His horn lit up in a brighter blue than usual and he and the group disappeared in a flash of light. They reappeared just outside of the forest, everyone of them out of breath, Iketani most exhausted due to the extreme amount of magic he just used. Scootaloo jumped off of the back of her rescuer and looked at him, "I didn't know any Unicorn could do that, the only one I know of is Twilight". "She...says..its..a..hard..spell..to do" Iketani explained to her, sounding very tired and slightly dazed "So...most Unicorns..avoid..using..it" he then looked about ready to collapse. "I think we should head back to the castle before Iketani falls over" Kenji told everyone. Everypony agreed and the headed off to the castle. Chapter 9.1: No WordsChapter 9.1: No Words The next day, everyone was nice and well-rested after the previous day's timberwolf encounter. Apple Bloom was making some breakfast while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were setting out plates. A little while later the guys walked into the kitchen and offered some assistance to the three filles. After they had finished breakfast, Takumi noticed something very strange about his friend. "You've been very quiet today Itsuki" Takumi said to him "Is something wrong?". Itsuki nodded his head slowly. "What's wrong man?" Kenji asked. Itsuki pointed at his mouth. "Can't you tell us?" Iketani asked him. Itsuki shook his head at him. "You can't tell us?" Takumi asked. Itsuki nodded his head. "Yes you can or yes you can't?" Kenji asked. Itsuki then opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out, so he used his hooves to make gestures. "What happened?" Sweetie Belle asked him curiously. Itsuki pointed his hooves up in an 'I don't know' gesture. "You lost your voice?" Scootaloo asked him from where she was sitting next to Iketani. Itsuki nodded his head sadly. "How?" Iketani wondered out loud. Itsuki did the same 'I don't know' gesture from before. "Do you feel sick?" Takumi inquired. Itsuki shook his head. "Can ponies just lose their voices?" Iketani asked. "No, they can't" Apple Bloom answered, then a thought came to her head "Unless..". "Unless what?" Takumi asked the little filly "What do you think happened?". Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo then at Itsuki "Did either of you see blue flowers?". Itsuki nodded his head quickly. "Did you walk in them?". Itsuki nodded again. "Uh oh". "What 'uh oh'? What happened?" Kenji asked "And what do blue flowers have to do with this?". "The blue flowers are called poison joke, there a plant that can make weird things happen to you" Apple Bloom told them "My big sister and her friends had a run-in with it a few years back" she then continued "It did all sorts of weird stuff, but luckily there is a cure and I have a friend who can make it!". Itsuki perked up when he had that. "Great!" Takumi said happily "Let's go get it!". "Are you sure you want to?" Kenji said teasingly "I mean, look how quiet he is". Itsuki looked ready to cry at that statement, Takumi placed a reassuring hoof on his best friends shoulder. "We're going to get the cure" he told him. After awhile they were out walking in Ponyville then came to the beginning of the Everfree Forest. Scootaloo stayed very close to Iketani like he was the only one who could save her if the timberwolves came back again. Iketani kept a close eye on her, making sure she was safe. He could almost feel the fear that the poor filly had, so he made sure to walk at the same pace as her. Just to make her feel more comfortable. Once they were in the middle of the forest, a little hut came into view. Apple Bloom went over and knocked on the front door, it was soon answered by a certain Zebra. "Who has come to visit me here?" She asked "Why, it's Apple Bloom my dear!" she then looked at the group of ponies behind her "Who are your new friends? Does one have a problem I must mend?". "Yes, Itsuki here got into some poison joke and he needs the cure you can make" Apple Bloom explained pointing her hoof towards Itsuki. "Alright now, just wait a minute or two, so I can make the special brew" Zecora told them and disappeared into her home. A little later she returned with the ingredients to make the cure, she then looked at Itsuki and said "Now that the poison joke has had its laugh, you just need to take a bath". "So, you don't drink it?" Takumi asked her. "Nope, you just need to bathe in it for a little while" Apple Bloom told him. "I think our visit is nearing its end, I hope to see you soon my friend" Zecora said before entering her hut and shutting the door. "Come on, let's get to the spa" Apple Bloom said "I'm sure we can borrow the relaxation pool like we did when my sister's friends had to get rid of their poison joke problems" "And I don't know about anypony else" Scootaloo added "I don't want to be in the forest any longer than I have to be". Everypony else agreed and quickly left the forest of Everfree. Once they were at the spa, the owners, Aloe and Lotus, let them borrow the relaxation pool like before, but unlike before the group encountered a slight problem. Itsuki refused to go in. "Come on man, just get in" Takumi urged "You want to be able to talk again right?". Itsuki nodded. "You have to get in for the cure to work Itsuki" Apple Bloom explained "My sister says it actually is quite nice". But for some reason, Itsuki still refused to go in. "What's the matter?" Iketani asked "Do you not like how it smells?". Itsuki shook his head. "Do you think the water is too hot?" Scootaloo asked. Itsuki shook his head again, then he pointed a hoof at Kenji. "Me?" Kenji asked and Itsuki nodded "What about me?". Itsuki used his hooves to gesture away from them, then he pointed to his mouth, then to himself and back at Kenji. "I think he wants you to apologize for what you said earlier" Takumi said to Kenji "When you suggested we leave him this way". "That hurt your feelings, that much?" Kenji asked. Itsuki nodded in reply. "I'm really sorry Itsuki" Kenji told him "I shouldn't have said that". Itsuki then smiled and nodded as if to say 'Apology accepted'. "Now well you go in?" Takumi asked. Itsuki stuck a hoof in the water then pulled it back out, Iketani getting tired of this whole charade, used his magic to grab Itsuki and drop him into the water. A moment later, a soaking wet Itsuki poked his head above the water. "Hey man!" Itsuki shouted at Iketani "That wasn't fair!". "At least you can talk again right?" Iketani asked him. "Yeah, hey wait, I can talk again!" Itsuki said happily "I don't ever want to feel that way again". "Alright then" Apple Bloom said "Now how about we get on outta here? We still have a whole day ahead of us!". Everypony agreed, and once Itsuki was all dried off, the seven of them head back into town. Later on, they were trying to figure out how to spend the rest of the day, ideas were thrown out here and there but were usually quickly shot down. Then Takumi thought of one. "How about I take you girls on a cart ride through town?" Takumi suggested. Apple Bloom jumped up excitedly "That's a great idea!" she beamed "Let's do that!". "What's so special about a cart ride through Ponyville" Scootaloo asked "I mean I could do that and, we have". "Not like this" Apple Bloom got a huge grin on her face "Takumi, you go get a cart and we'll need our helmets". "Huh?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said in unison. "Trust me" Apple Bloom smiled widely at her best friends "This is gonna be awesome!". After about fifteenth minutes, Takumi was in front of the castle, already hitched up to the cart, Iketani and Kenji help the girls get into it. "You ready guys?" Takumi asked while looking at them. "Yeah" they all answered. "Alright, get ready" Takumi told them "You might wanna hold on to something if I were you" Apple Bloom warned. "Why is that? It's not like he's-" Scootaloo was cut off as Takumi broke into a fast gallop, it surprised both her and Sweetie Belle, who was currently holding on for dear life to the back of the cart. "WHOO-HOO!" Apple Bloom whooped, then after the initial shock had passed, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle joined in on the happy shouting. Takumi glanced back at them and smiled, he was having a lot of fun too. He ran all the way from the castle to the edge of town, but after so much running, he was starting to get tired. So he headed back to the castle with the girls still excitedly shouting. He came to a stop right at the stairs to the castle's front door and the fillies hopped out of the cart. "That was awesome!" Scootaloo told him "Thanks Takumi, maybe me and you should have a race one day". Takumi smiled at her "Sounds like a plan". "I don't think I've been on a cart ride that fast!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed "I think he may be faster than Scootaloo!". "HEY!" Scootaloo shouted. "I told ya he was fast" Apple Bloom added then she looked at Takumi "Thanks again". "You're welcome" Takumi replied. It was beginning to get late so they headed inside to make dinner, after that they were about to head off to bed, there was a knock at the door. Apple Bloom yawned and went to answer it. She opened the door and saw a grey Pegasus mare standing there. "Oh hi Derpy" Apple Bloom said trying to hide a yawn "What brings you here?". "I just wanted to let you know that we have a big thunderstorm planned for all day tomorrow" Derpy explained "So, if you need to make any preparations, I'd do them now" she then turned to leave "I've got to go, got more ponies to talk to" she smiled at Apple Bloom as she left. Apple Bloom shut the door and locked it, then headed over to where everypony else was standing. "What was that about?" Kenji asked through a yawn. "Just Derpy telling us that Cloudsdale has a storm planned for all day tomorrow, but we don't have any preparations to make here or at the farm, Applejack knew about this before she left, she said "Everything is already prepped for this storm" Apple Bloom told him "We'll just be inside all day tomorrow, that's all". "Alright, I think it's time for us to all go to bed" Iketani said then he walked towards his room "Good night, everypony". "Good night" everyone replied and headed to their rooms for the night. Chapter 9.2: The SilenceWhen I woke up in the morning, I sat up in my bed and stretched my wings out. Rainbow Dash suggested that I do that every morning so my wings don't cramp up when I try to fly. I yawned and jumped out of bed, I walked over to the bedroom door, I opened it and saw my friends walking by. I tried to say good morning but I couldn't, my mouth just opened and the words didn't come out. "That was weird" I thought, I tried to get their attention but I couldn't say anything, It was very odd and concerned me, I tried to think of a reason why I couldn't talk and I thought of one. My voice was gone and I didn't know why, my throat didn't feel sore and I didn't feel sick, I never heard of anyone just losing their voice before. I wondered if the Timberwolf attack had anything to do with it, but I remembered none of them got that close to us. So I thought "Did I just lose my voice and would I get it back?". The thought of never being able to talk again scared me. A lot. So, I tried other ways to get them to notice me, I tried waving my hooves but that didn't work because they weren't looking at me. I then tried stomping my hooves but no sound came from that either. I was completely silenced and I felt like I wanted to cry. I quickly ran up to catch them, and they finally noticed I was there, lifting the worry that I turned invisible too. "Hey Itsuki" Takumi said to me and I nodded to him, he gave me a strange look but quickly shook his head and we continued to the kitchen. Once we were there, I saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders were making breakfast. Well Apple Bloom was, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were setting the table. When we entered the room, I saw that Scootaloo noticed Iketani and ran up to hug him. It was really cute and it made me smile for a moment. We then helped finish making breakfast and sat down to eat. I was wondering if they'd ever notice that I hadn't talked at all yet. "You've been very quiet today Itsuki" Takumi said to me "Is something wrong?". I nodded my head. "What's wrong man?" Kenji asked. I pointed at my mouth, hoping they'd get the idea. "Can't you tell us?" Iketani asked him. I shook my head at him. "You can't tell us?" Takumi asked. I nodded my head again. "Yes you can or yes you can't?" Kenji asked. I showed them that I couldn't talk, so I tried telling them that, letting the fact no words came out when I opened my mouth. "What happened?" Sweetie Belle asked me. I lifted my hooves to tell her I didn't know. "You lost your voice?" Scootaloo asked me. I nodded my head. "How?" Iketani asked me. I did the same gesture I did to Sweetie Belle. "Do you feel sick?" Takumi inquired. I shook my head again. "Can ponies just lose their voices?" Iketani asked. "No, they can't" Apple Bloom answered, then a thought came to her head "Unless..". "'Unless?' " I thought "What does she mean 'Unless'?". "Unless what?" Takumi asked her like he read my thoughts, can Earth Ponies do that? I'd have to ask Twilight that when she gets back, if I can talk again by then that is. "What do you think happened" he asked. Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo then at me "Did either of you see blue flowers?". I nodded my head, I remember seeing a huge patch of bright, blue flowers in the forest. "Did you walk in them?" she asked. I nodded. I noticed that Apple Bloom had a worried look on her face "Uh oh". "What 'uh oh'? What happened?" Kenji asked her "And what do blue flowers have to do with this?". "The blue flowers are called poison joke, there a plant that can make weird things happen to you" Apple Bloom told us "My big sister and her friends had a run-in with it a few years back" she then continued "It did all sorts of weird stuff, but luckly there is a cure and I have a friend who can make it!". I felt some relief when she said that there was a cure for this. "Great!" Takumi said happily "Let's go get it!". "Are you sure you want to?" Kenji said teasingly "I mean, look how quiet he is". That comment made me upset, I felt like I wanted to cry, it hurt my feelings. Does my talking bother him that much? Do I talk that much? I suddenly felt something on my shoulder, I turned and saw that Takumi had put his hoof on it. "We're going to get the cure" he told me reassuringly. When Apple Bloom told us that her friend lived in the Everfree Forest, I was a little nervous about going back there after last night. But I went along with my friends, even Scootaloo came along, which sorta surprised me after how scared she got. Then I noticed she hadn't left Iketani's side since we left the castle. After we met Apple Bloom's friend, a Zebra named Zecora, I found the way she talked kinda cool, trying to come up with rhymes for everything can't be easy, I wondered if I could try talking like that, but I think it would annoy everyone more. Zecora gave us the cure and told us I needed to take a bath with them. Apple Bloom said something about going to the spa. Zecora said goodbye and we left the forest. "And not a moment too soon" I thought. Once we were at the spa, Apple Bloom helped prepare the bath with the cure in it, but I didn't want to go in yet. Not until Kenji apologized for what he said to me at breakfast. "You have to get in for the cure to work Itsuki" Apple Bloom explained to me "My sister says it actually is quite nice". "Nope, not going in, not yet" I thought to myself. "What's the matter?" Iketani asked "Do you not like how it smells?". I shook my head. "Do you think the water is too hot?" Scootaloo asked me. I shook my head and pointed at Kenji. "Me?" Kenji asked and I nodded "What about me?". I used my hooves to gesture away from them, then I pointed to my mouth, I pointed to myself then back at Kenji. "I think he wants you to apologize for what you said earlier, when you suggested we leave him this way" Takumi said to Kenji, seriously can he read my thoughts? Kenji looked over to me "That hurt your feelings, that much?" he asked. I nodded my head. "I'm really sorry Itsuki" Kenji told me "I shouldn't have said that". I smiled and nodded my head "Apology accepted" I thought to myself. "Now well you go in?" Takumi asked me. I stuck my hoof in the water and quickly pulled it back out. "The water is really hot" I thought "I wonder if I wait a little longer it will-" my thoughts were cut off as I felt myself floating off the ground, then I was above the water. I turned and saw that Iketani had an irritated look on his face. "He must be using his magic to lift me up" I thought "He better put me down outside of the water or I'll-" my thoughts were once again cut off as I fell into the water with a splash, I stuck my head above the surface and glared at him. "Hey man! That wasn't fair!" I shouted at him. "At least you can talk again right?" Iketani asked me with a small grin. "Yeah, hey wait, I can talk again!" I said happily "I don't ever want to feel that way again". "Alright then" Apple Bloom said "Now how about we get on outta here? We still have a whole day ahead of us!". I dried off with a towel Scootaloo gave me, as we left Kenji walked up beside me. "I'm really sorry about what I said to you earlier" Kenji said to me "I didn't think it would hurt your feelings that much". "It did" I told him "But I also didn't realize that I talked that much, do I really annoy you that much?". "You can be extremely chatty, but not enough to make it that you should never talk again" Kenji answered "How did it feel not being able to talk?". "It was... The.. Worst thing... Ever!" I replied. "Wow, that bad?". "Yes" I said to him "I don't want to be like that ever again". "Then stay out of Poison Joke" Kenji said with a smile. We both laughed as we left the spa and headed back to the castle. Chapter 10: Rain, Rain, Go AwayThe clouds outside were a dark ominous grey, every so often there would be a strike of lightning and a crack of thunder. The rain pounded harshly against the windows and the group of ponies were sitting or laying around the living area, trying to think of something to do. Any ideas that were suggested were quickly shot down, but then Scootaloo got an idea. "How about we tell you some stories about what has happened in Equestria these past few years?" Scootaloo suggested, "I mean, Twilight and her friends have had some pretty awesome adventures". "Sure, sounds like a good idea" Kenji replied. Scootaloo looked at her friends, "How about we start with Nightmare Moon's return?". "That's a great one!" Apple Bloom responded. "Alright, let's start from the beginning" Scootaloo then cleared her throat "It all started in Canterlot and Twilight was reading a book.." "There's a surprise" Iketani muttered sarcastically. Scootaloo ignored that and continued, "She got to a part about the legend of The Mare in The Moon, she then tried to warn Princess Celestia about it, but she thought Twilight was getting all worked up about nothing, so she sent Twilight here to Ponyville to see how things were coming for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration" she took a breath "but Twilight was convinced that Nightmare Moon was returning that night, so she tried to get through checking all the preparations as quickly as possible. Then early the next morning when the sun was supposed to be coming up, the legendary Mare in the Moon appeared and threatened to make cause Eternal Night, and Twilight went on a quest to find the only thing that could stop her, The Elements of Harmony!". Apple Bloom then spoke up "My sister and her friends went into the Everfree Forest to find them, it seemed that each one of them had to pass some sort of test to prove their Element". Scootaloo nodded "Yeah, and when they finally got to the Castle of the Two Sisters, Twilight tried to make the Elements activate, but had no luck" she continued "But when Twilight was in trouble, she realized something, she was happy to hear the others and that she knew where the real Elements were, so they were able to stop Nightmare Moon and bring back Equestria's second Princess, Luna, ruler of the night!". "Wow, that is so cool!" Itsuki said "They're awesome!". "I know right?" Scootaloo responded "Want to hear another one?". "YES!" Itsuki nearly shouted. Scootaloo then told them the tales of the Elements of Harmony, about when they defeated Discord, how Twilight's brother Shining Armor and his then wife-to-be Princess Cadence, defeated Queen Chrysalis, right before their wedding, how Spike and Cadence saved the Crystal Empire from Sombra, about Twilight and her friends defeating Tirek, about returning the Cutie Marks to the ponies in Starlight's village and when Starlight returned for revenge and took Twilight on a trip through time and last but not least, earlier this year when Flurry Heart shattered the Crystal Heart and nearly doomed the Empire to be buried in a pile of snow. The guys seemed to be surprised and very impressed by what those six mares have done. "That is so amazing!" Itsuki said about all the stories "The six of them are so cool". "And I'm proud to say my big sis is among them!" Apple Bloom added holding her head up high. "Me too!" Sweetie Belle chimed in happily. "While she may not really be my sister" Scootaloo told them "I'm proud to say Rainbow Dash is my honorary big sister". "Hey, since you've told us stories about your friends, how about I tell you about my best friend?" Itsuki suggested. "Yeah!" The Crusaders answered in unison. Itsuki tapped his hoof against his chin, trying to think of the perfect one to start with, then he thought of it. "I'm going to tell you about the first time I saw Takumi drift race" Itsuki told them. The Crusaders gathered around him, eager to hear this tale. After awhile, Itsuki had told them a number of stories and was just finishing up the current one he was telling. "And that's how Takumi beat 'Akagi's White Comet', the legendary and at the time undefeated Ryosuke Takahashi!" Itsuki told them. "Woooow" The Crusaders said in unison sounding awestruck, smiles on all their faces. "I know, right?" Itsuki added "Isn't Takumi just the coolest?". "Drift racing sounds like flying" Scootaloo said "I wish I could go Drifting". "Me too!" Apple Bloom replied. "Me Three!" Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Maybe if we can go back and if you can come to our world, we could take you on a run" Itsuki suggested. "That would be so cool!" Apple Bloom responded. "What do you think, guys?" Itsuki asked "Do you think we could do that?". Takumi, Iketani and Kenji nodded their heads in reply. "YAY!" The Crusaders said together happily. "So, how has the 'How to be a Pony' training coming?" Apple Bloom asked "I kinda know how Takumi's has been going, but what about you guys?". "They've been going good" Iketani answered "Twilight's a great teacher". "So is Rainbow Dash" Itsuki added "She says I've really been improving". "Which means that he doesn't crash as much" Kenji said with a slight smirk. Everypony in the room burst out laughing at that remark. "I wish I could join you and Rainbow Dash flying" Scootaloo told them "It sounds like you have fun". "Why can't you?" Kenji asked "Haven't learned yet? I'm sure if that's the case, Rainbow would let you join us or I could help you if you'd like". "That's not it" Scootaloo explained then she let out a sad sigh, "I can't fly, my wings are too small to get me into the air, so I just use my scooter to go from place to place". "So, you've never been flying?" Iketani asked her. "No" Scootaloo answered, tearing up a little, "The closest I've gotten is Rainbow either holding me or letting me ride on her back". Iketani thought about something for a moment, then he walked over to Scootaloo. "I know it's not much different to being held up" Iketani told her "But I have a way for you to fly" he looked at her "How much do you trust me?". Scootaloo looked at him with a flicker of hope in her eyes "I trust you a lot". "Alright, just give me a moment" Iketani said, then he began to focus and then Scootaloo began to float a few inches off the ground "Are you ready?" he asked her. "Ready!" Scootaloo replied, then Iketani lifted her higher and higher off the ground, once she was near the castle's ceiling, he started to gently move her about, making Scootaloo giggle happily. "This is soo cool!" She exclaimed. "I'm glad you having fun!" Iketani replied with a huge grin, he was very happy seeing Scootaloo having so much fun. A few minutes later Iketani slowly lowered her back to the ground, her hooves touched the ground lightly, she then looked at Iketani with the biggest grin ever. "Thank you soo much, Iketani!" She told him excitedly, she then galloped over to him and wrapped her hooves around him. "It was no problem at all, Scootaloo" Iketani responded, returning her hug. "AWWWWWWWWWWWWW" All the ponies in the room said together. A few moments later, everypony was sitting around trying to plan what to do next. Several hours later, the castle's front doors opened up, revealing six mares and one dragon. "We're home guys!" Twilight called out and the seven of them walked over to the door that led to the living area, Twilight opened it slowly and let out a soft gasp. In the room, there were ponies that were sound asleep all over, Takumi was asleep on a chair, Itsuki and Kenji were both asleep on opposite ends of the couch, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were on the floor and Scootaloo was snuggled up with Iketani on a smaller couch. "AWWWWWWWWWWWWW" They all said at once. "Let's go to into the bedrooms, quietly" Twilight told her friends "I don't want to wake them up" then she got an idea, she carefully pulled out a camera from her saddlebags and took a few pictures of the scene then she put it back "Now, let's go to bed everypony, I'm very tired". The seven of them quietly headed to the bedrooms Twilight had made up just in case her friends needed or wanted to spend the night. The next morning, the ponies were all having breakfast together and the Crusaders were filling them in on the past weekend. "It sounds like you had a great time together" Twilight said to them, "But you never really explained how you guys escaped the timberwolves so easily" "Oh yeah, Iketani teleported us away from them" Scootaloo told her casually "It was awesome!". Twilight had chosen that moment to take a sip of her tea, which she quickly spat out. "WHAT?!?!" Twilight shouted in shock. Chapter 11: The Dynamometer"What?" Twilight asked again "You teleported? she asked Iketani. "Yeah, I did" Iketani answered "I just did what you said when talking about the history of Teleportation Spells". "Wow, that is really cool" Twilight told him "You must have been exhausted after that". "I felt like I was going to pass out" Iketani replied "But I made it back to the castle and into my room before I fell asleep". "So you made it all the way across town and back to your room?" Twilight asked. "Yes, why do you ask?" Iketani said to her. "I need to check something" Twilight said then she jumped off her chair and ran to the library, when everyone else joined her, she had several books floating around her. "What's up, Twilight?" Rainbow asked. Twilight didn't respond. "I don't think she's gonna be talking right now" Rainbow told everyone "So, I think we should head on out of here, come on Itsuki and Kenji, let's do some more flying". The three of them left. "I think I should go check on my animals" Fluttershy said as she left. "I've got to go too, my outfits don't design themselves" Rarity announced as she left. "I've got to make sure nothin' happened at the farm since last night's storm" Applejack said "I know we had it locked up tighter than a drum, but I still need to check". "I'll go with you, just in case you need some help" Takumi told her. "I'll come too!" Pinkie Pie added. "We better go too, I want to make sure nopony is waiting for us with a Cutie Mark problem" Apple Bloom told her friends. "Just a second" Scootaloo said then she galloped over to Iketani and hugged him "See you later!" she said to him happily. Iketani smiled at her "See you later, Scootaloo". Then the three fillies ran off, leaving Twilight and Iketani alone. It was silent for a few minutes until Iketani asked Twilight a question. "What are you looking for?". "A spell" Twilight answered "One that can tell me how strong your magic is". "Really?". Twilight nodded "After what you said about what happened after you teleported everypony out of the Everfree Forest, I'm curious as to how powerful you are". "But I told you I was completely exhausted after I did that". "Yes, but it was your first teleportation, you teleported six others with you and it was a long distance one" Twilight explained "A normal Unicorn would have passed out right after, but you walked all the way to the castle and to your bedroom, that would take a lot of magic and energy". "So you think I'm more powerful than a regular Unicorn?" "Possibly" Twilight said "It might have just been an adrenaline rush that night, but I'm still curious" she added as she flipped through the pages of a big, blue book "AH-HA!" Twilight exclaimed "I found it!" she said proudly "This spell is meant to see how powerful a Unicorn is". "How does it work?" Iketani asked. "I'm not quite sure" Twilight said "Nopony really understands how you check Unicorn magic, but I think it reads how much Magic Power you have". "Oh, like using a Dynamometer to check the Horse Power of a car!" Iketani thought out loud. "What?" Twilight asked "Horse Power? Dynamometer?". "I'll explain later" Iketani told her. "Ookaay" Twilight said questioningly but then continued "It will take a few minutes to get the full results but I really want to know and I bet you do too. Are you ready?". "Ready" Iketani answered. Twilight began casting the spell, suddenly a bright light flashed and lit the entire room up. Twilight looked over and noticed that Iketani's horn was glowing a bright blue. Iketani looked up at his horn then back to Twilight "What does that mean?". "It shows how powerful you are" Twilight told him "It says in the book, the brighter the glow the more powerful you are" she then continued "A few weeks before I left for Ponyville, Princess Celestia did this spell on me, she said my horn was extremely bright and not long after I became an Alicorn we re-did the test and it glowed so brightly, it lit up the room like somepony turned a spotlight on". "Wow" Iketani said "You must be very powerful!". Twilight blushed "Thank you, but you should have seen how powerful I was when I had all the Princesses magic, searchlight, no lie." she told him. "You could have used the glow to guide ships in a storm" she said with a chuckle "Wow" Iketani said with a grin. She then went back to research mode "I really wonder why a Unicorn that is actually a person from another world be so powerful..". "What do you mean?". "I mean that I'm curious as to why someone from a different world be more powerful than the average Unicorn" Twilight explained "I have another way to check, it's something I developed". Iketani tried to hide the near frightened look on his face before Twilight noticed but it was too late. "It's perfectly safe" Twilight reassured him "I've used it before, on Rarity, The Princesses and even myself" she explained "It works fine". "Alright, I'll let you use it" Iketani said, relieved to hear that the machine or what ever it was, was completely safe for use. Twilight lead him to her research room, she opened the door and Iketani looked in the room and saw a bunch of different machines and wires. They both entered the room and stood in the middle of it. "Can you just stay right here?" Twilight asked. "Okay" Iketani replied and did just that, Twilight trotted over, grabbed something that looked like it was out of an older science fiction/time traveling movie and she stuck it on his head. "Alright, I just turn this machine on and in a few moments we'll know just how powerful you are" Twilight told him. A few minutes later a long piece of paper came out of the printer part of the machine and Twilight began analyzing it. After several minutes went by and Twilight was still reading the paper, Iketani really wondered what was up. "What does it say?" he asked her. Twilight took a deep breath, "Okay Iketani, from what I read it says you have above average levels of magic" she told him. "You said that before". "I know, but it's how much more". "What do you mean?". "Your magic level is much higher than a normal Unicorn" Twilight explained "It's not as high as somepony like me but not much lower either". "So, I'm almost as powerful as you were as a Unicorn?" Iketani asked, completely shocked. "Yeah". "But why?". "I don't know" Twilight said "What kind of job do you have in your world?". "I work at a gas station". "So, nothing pertaining to magic in any form?". "No". "This is weird, cool, but weird" Twilight said "But this opens up so many possibilities" she grinned "I really want to work on your teleportation abilities first, since you have already done it once it should be easy to repeat it!" Twilight then looked over to Iketani "Let's go!" she said then the two of them disappeared in a flash of light. They reappeared in the library, Iketani was a little surprised by the sudden teleportation but shook it off. Twilight trotted over to a bookshelf and started looking for something. Twilight then walked over to a different shelf and looked there, a while later she had looked at every single one but she didn't find what she was looking for. "Where did I put that book.." Twilight thought out loud, then she remembered, she teleported away from the room then came back with a big box. "What's in the box?" Iketani asked. "This box has a bunch of my old magic school books from when I was learning magic" Twilight answered as she shuffled through the contents of the box "I know I have a book all about teleportation in here...Found it!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a book and showed it to Iketani "This book taught me everything there is to know about basic teleportation!" she then let Iketani use his own magic to hold the book "I have that book memorized so I know it like the back of my hoof" she told him "So, turn it to page fifty, that page has the teleportation spell in it. I want you to find it and cast it". "Alright" Iketani responded, he opened the book and started to flip through pages like Twilight taught him, but as he did it caused a huge cloud of dust to fly up at him, making him sneeze. "AAAACHHOO!" Iketani sneezed and disappeared in a flash of light, he reappeared a few feet over then sneezed again. Iketani kept sneezing and teleporting everywhere, finally coming to a stop, he was standing on top of the back of a chair, the chair tipped over with him on it. Twilight helped him back up. "Wow I've never seen a Unicorn do that before" Twilight said to him "I did that once when I was a filly, but it wasn't dust it was after I sniffed a flower" she then looked at a dazed Iketani whose eyes were watery due to the sneezing fit "I hope we can help you control your magic, Heaven forbid you get a cold before then" Twilight said "That would not be good". "I agree" Iketani said then he sniffed, then he started sounding like he was about to have another sneezing fit but stopped himself. "Let's get you some allergy medicine before continuing with the lesson" Twilight suggested and Iketani nodded trying to hold back a sneeze. After she got him the medicine they continued the lesson, without any more sneezing and random teleportation. Chapter 12: Shock You like a HurricaneChapter 12: Shock You like a Hurricane Down at Sweet Apple Acres, Takumi was helping Applejack and Apple Bloom pick up the branches that the wind knocked down, he was pulling around a cart and the Apple Sisters picked up the branches and threw them in. "That storm knocked down a lot of branches" Applejack noted "I don't think I've picked this many up in a long time". "Well, it was a powerful storm" Apple Bloom told her "Derpy came by the night before to tell us". "I'm just glad we knew in advance" Applejack said "I don't even want to think about how bad it would have been if we didn't". "Have you had a bad storm and you weren't prepared?" Takumi asked. "Yeah, it wasn't very long after Twilight came into town" Applejack began explaining "Me and Rarity had to hunker down with Twilight, it didn't do any serious damage but it did put a hole in the roof of the barn and it knocked down one of our younger trees but we were able to save it" Applejack then looked off into the distance "The worst one I've heard happen to the farm was when my Grandma was a filly, they just started planting and this horrible storm rolled in from the Everfree Forest and took out a small section of a newly planted orchard and ripped half of the roof off the barn they just built, thankfully none of the crop was ruined or there would've been major problems" Applejack let out a sigh, not long after that the Pegasi started helping keep the storms at bay and would warn us at least a week in advance so we could prepare". "Wow-ee!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she hopped over and put the branches she collected into the cart "That storm sounded like a doozy!". "Yeah" Applejack agreed "But since the Pegasi can get rid of the storms that come over from the forest, we don't have to worry about that kinda thing anymore". "That's a good thing" Takumi said as he pulled the cart away to drop off the branches in the firewood pile. "It is" Apple Bloom added "And a good thing about this past storm is all the firewood we can use this fall and winter". "Eeyup" Applejack replied. Takumi returned with the now empty cart, switched out with Applejack and he started to help Pinkie and Apple Bloom with collecting the fallen branches. Rainbow Dash, Kenji and Itsuki were back in the park to practice more flying. Rainbow once again had her favorite cap and whistle on, only this time she also had her sunglasses on, making her look similar to Spitfire when Rainbow went to the Wonderbolt Academy. Rainbow blew her whistle loudly then spoke up "Alright you two, you have passed your basic flying training and are moving on to advanced flying and weather manipulation". "Weather manipulation?" Kenji asked. "Yes, in Equestria, the Pegasi are tasked with managing the weather" Rainbow explained "And the most simple job is called Cloud-Busting" Rainbow then continued "Cloud-Busting is when we need to clear the skies of clouds, like this" Rainbow took off, flew towards a nearby cloud and kicked it, making it vanish. She turned around and flew back towards her trainees and landed "It's easy-peasy, you'll have it down quickly". she looked at the two of them "Who wants to go first?". Kenji stood up "I'll give it a try" he flew off towards a nearby cloud and went to kick it, but unlike flying. Kenji wasn't much for Cloud-Busting, as the cloud sent a small bolt of lightning that went through his whole body and sent him crashing to the ground, he shook his head and looked at Rainbow Dash "I thought you said it was easy?" he asked. "It is, but if you're not focused on clearing the cloud you can have..mixed results" Rainbow told him "Pegasi can also manipulate the weather with their emotions, and if you don't keep a clear mind it can do crazy things". "I'll keep that in mind" Kenji responded. "I'll give it a try!" Itsuki said to Rainbow. "Alright, but just be careful" Rainbow replied. Itsuki flapped his wings, flew towards the cloud and kicked it, immediately getting rid of the cloud. Much to the shock of the two ponies on the ground. "Can you get rid of the rest of them?" Rainbow asked. "I think so" Itsuki answered and he started systematically getting rid of the clouds over the park, after he finished he landed by the two other Pegasi who still wore shocked expressions on their faces "What?" he asked them. "That was amazing!" Rainbow told him happily "You're awesome at Cloud-Busting". "Thanks Rainbow!" Itsuki responded. "Okay, Kenji" Rainbow said to him "Your turn to try again". "I'll get it this time" Kenji said determinedly as he took off again, he found a cloud and kicked it, but got the same response as before, he crashed to the ground once again. Itsuki walked over to him "Not the same as flying, huh?" he said with a slight grin. Kenji shot him a death glare and growled a little at Itsuki's smugness, making Itsuki back off a little. Afraid of what Kenji might do to him if he stayed too close to him. Rainbow then decided to end this before something bad would happen. "Okay guy, how about we try some advanced flying maneuvers?" Rainbow suggested. "Sounds good" Kenji said "What do you have in mind?". "Well, I know some stuff that I'd love to teach you two" Rainbow told them. Rainbow proceeded to explain some tricks, that Pegasi learn in Flight Camp. Chapter 13: Nightmare Night, What a Fright.It was a chilly autumn evening, a light breeze rustled the leaves on nearby trees. Pumpkins, bats and ghosts were showing up everywhere in the town of Ponyville. A sure sign that Nightmare Night would soon be upon the citizens of Equestria. In the castle of Friendship, the Mane Six and Spike were getting their costumes ready for a Nightmare Night Ball they were attending in Canterlot with the Princesses. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were staying in Ponyville, because the idea of going to a ball bored them and the guys said that they'd keep in eye on them again. Twilight and her friends were leaving the night before so they could help set up the castle's ballroom for the ball. They would be leaving on an early train to make sure they could get there in time. "Alright" Twilight said to everypony "We have our plan, we're going to leave on the morning train to be in Canterlot to help the Princesses set up" Twilight looked at the Crusaders "What are you going to be doing for Nightmare Night?". "We're not sure yet" Scootaloo answered "But since it's their first Nightmare Night we want to make it awesome!" she added pointing at the guys. "Maybe you should have them hear the story of Nightmare Night?" Rainbow suggested "That's a good place to start". "We could tell them the story ourselves if we wanted too" Apple Bloom pointed out "We all know it by heart". "Well, you have a whole day to make plans out" Twilight told them then she yawned "But it's getting late and I want to make sure we all get enough sleep" she said looking at her friends "We have a long day of planning and decorating ahead of us tomorrow". The ponies all headed into their bedrooms to get some sleep. The next morning, the Mane Six and Spike were at the train station waiting for their train to arrive, the Crusaders and the guys were waiting with them so they could say good-bye to their friends and see them off. After the train arrived they put their suitcases on the train, boarded, and the group waved to them as the trai departed the station. Once the train was out of view the ponies turned to look at each other. "What do we do now?" Itsuki asked. "Let's go back to the castle and then we'll make plans" Apple Bloom answered and the seven of them left for the castle. Once they were back at the castle, the ponies had some breakfast then started to try and come up with ideas for how to spend their Nightmare Night. "How about we do what Rainbow suggested?" Kenji said "It sounds like a great idea". "Like Apple Bloom said, we could recite it by heart" Sweetie Belle told him. "Why don't you guys do that?" Takumi asked "If you can do it, why don't you?". "That sounds awesome!" Scootaloo said "We could make the living room all dark and super creepy to get the mood just right" "I have an even better idea" Apple Bloom said. "What?" Itsuki asked. "We could go to the Castle of the Two Sisters and tell it there, after that, we could spend the rest of the night there!" Apple Bloom told them "Granny Smith and Applejack have told me the place may be haunted" she said with a slightly evil grin "Doesn't that sound fun?". "I'm not so sure about that, Apple Bloom" Scootaloo said then she shuddered, the memory of her recent visit to the Everfree Forest came to the surface, she wasn't sure if she was ready to go back just yet, especially not on Nightmare Night. "Oh come on Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom said "It's not like we're going to be heading there at night, we'll go there before sundown". Scootaloo still wasn't convinced, she was afraid that they would get lost or that the Timberwolves would find them in the castle, she knew that there haven't been sightings of them even close to castle, but she wasn't sure she wanted to take that risk. "We'll have lanterns and there are candles there" Sweetie Belle added "It won't be pitch black there". "We'll bring all kinds of treats" Apple Bloom told her "I can bring some candy apples and other things". Itsuki then added "I'm still a little nervous about the forest too, but this sounds like fun". "And we'll stay as a group" Kenji said "So, we'll all be together". "Come on, Scootaloo" Takumi said to her "What do you think?". "I'm not sure guys.." Scootaloo told them, then Iketani placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I'll be with you the whole time" Iketani said to her reassuringly. "R-really?" Scootaloo asked hopefully. "I promise" Iketani replied. "Alright then!" Scootaloo said enthusiastically "Let's do this!". It was the day of Nightmare Night and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were busy getting all the things they'd need for their night in the Castle of the Two Sisters. They got sleeping bags, lanterns, snacks and flashlights, they were bringing the sleeping bags just in case they got tired but they doubted they'd need them. Scootaloo also snagged a book of different legends and myths, the one that included the legend of The Mare in the Moon, even though see knew her friends knew it wasn't a legend she thought telling that tale would be a perfect beginning for the night. They all decided to meet up on the edge of the Everfree Forest, once the Crusaders got there they began their adventure to the castle. It was almost time for the sun to set once they arrived. They entered the old castle and made their way to the main room and set their stuff down. "Alright, everypony" Apple Bloom announced "What are we gonna do first?". "How about we start with the legend of Nightmare Moon?" Scootaloo suggested "It just makes sense to start with that one". "Okay then, here it goes" Apple Bloom said as she opened the book, found the story and began reading it. After awhile they had told the tale of the Mare in the Moon, the story of why they celebrate Nightmare Night and of course, the story of the Pony of Shadows which if the legend is true, haunts the very castle they were currently in. Scootaloo told some stories that Rainbow Dash had told her about the ghosts of some of the castle's staff members that may also haunt the castle, she also told them about the Olden Pony and The Headless Horse and she told them a few she had read about after that. "Wow, I didn't think Equestria would have that many ghost stories" Itsuki said with a slight shudder "Some of them are really creepy". "I know right?" Scootaloo replied. "So, does anypony wanna explore the castle?" Apple Bloom asked "I thought that it might be a nice little addition to the night". "That sounds like a good idea" Itsuki replied. "But let's stay as a group, it'll be much safer that way" Iketani suggested. The ponies took some flashlights and headed down a long, dark hallway, the only sounds were the sounds of their hoofsteps reverberating off the walls, they journeyed farther down the hallway when suddenly there was a distant sounding crash. "What was that?!" Kenji asked. "I don't know" Apple Bloom answered. "M-maybe it was a ghost!" Itsuki said sounding panicked. "There aren't any ghosts, they're just things in stories" Apple Bloom assured him. Then there was a loud blast of organ music. that made the ponies scream and go running down the hallway! But what they didn't know is that they went in different directions. Iketani and Scootaloo sat in an unknown room trying to catch their breath. "Are you alright, Scootaloo?" Iketani asked. "Yeah" Scootaloo answered then she looked around the room "Where are we? And where is everypony else?". Iketani looked around and saw suits of armor and various weapons "it looks like some sort of armory, but you're right, where is everybody?". "I guess we got separated when we panicked and ran" Scootaloo said. "Let's go and see if we can find them" Iketani suggested and the two ponies started to head to the room's entrance. Then, the sound of metallic hoofsteps sounded from behind them, they turned around and saw that there was a suit of armor standing there! "Is somepony there?" Scootaloo asked. Iketani looked at it then shook his head "Very funny guys" he then used his magic to lift up the face-plate but there was no one in the armor. Both of them screamed and took off out of the room. Down in the library, Apple Bloom, Takumi and Itsuki were walking around looking for their friends when they came across what looked to be a ghostly apparition of a unicorn mare in a gown looking through the books. "Umm, A-Apple Bloom I-I thought you said ghosts weren't real?" Itsuki asked. "I thought they weren't!" she replied. "Tell that to her!" Takumi exclaimed. "Oh come on guys!" Apple Bloom rolled her eyes "I don't know about you two but I ain't afraid of no ghost!" she said as she went to walk past the ghostly figure. It apparently heard her and it turned and made a terrifying face and roared at them, "Okay, maybe I am!" she yelled and the three of them went running out of the library. In a different part of the castle, Kenji and Sweetie Belle were walking into a dark room. As they entered, the candles on the wall started lighting on their own, casting an eerie glow. Then suddenly, on the back wall, was aglow with many candles of all shapes and size, illuminating a small, round table with a small crystal ball and a stack of what looked to be tarot cards. Behind the table sat a dark, hooded figure. "Umm, why do I get the feeling we shouldn't be here?" Kenji asked. "Maybe it's the creepy hooded figure?" Sweetie Belle replied. "Come cloooser" a deep, slightly raspy yet feminine voice sounded from across the room, "Do you wish to see what lies in your future? Or maybe you have a question about the present?". "No, we're fine. thank you" Kenji answered and started heading for the door when Sweetie Belle galloped up and stood in front of him. "Maybe we should ask her where are friends are" Sweetie Belle suggested. "You go ask her!" Kenji told her "I'm not going near her!". Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and sighed "Fine" she walked over to the table and set her hooves on it "Excuse me, me and my friend here have a question" she told the hooded figure. "What is it, young filly?" the figure asked. "We came to the castle with a few of our friends but we all got separated, could you maybe tell us where they are?" Sweetie Belle asked. The figure looked at the crystal ball and said "If your friends are here, they may be lost forever in the halls of the castle I fear". "Lost forever?!" Sweetie Belle repeated in a scared squeak. "Yeesss, and you two shall join them soon as well!" the figure then yanked off her hood and revealed a creepily painted face that made her look like a skeleton, her eyes were an eerie, unearthly shade of red and she gave off the most chilling, wickedly evil laugh. The two ponies screamed and took off right out of the room. In an another part of the castle, Iketani and Scootaloo were taking a breather after their run in with the haunted armor, they were in a hallway with torches lining the side walls, portraits adorned the walls as well. The two ponies decided to walk down the hallway in a quick trot, they kept going until they saw a ghostly figure dressed in a suit. "A-are you seeing this?" Scootaloo asked nervously. "I think so" Iketani responded. The ghostly apparition begin to glide towards them, holding a tray. As the figure approached the pair noticed that it's head was missing. They stared, frozen in fear, as the specter lifted the lid and revealed it's missing head! It's features seemed lifeless, it's eyes black voids. The head then said, in a hollow, echoed voice "Welcome to the Castle of the Two Sisters, we hope you'll enjoy your eternity with us." It then laughed a deep, devilish laugh. The duo then looked at each other and ran as fast and far away as they could. Apple Bloom, Takumi and Itsuki were running through the halls, when they suddenly found themselves in the castle's kitchen. The trio then witnessed a phantasmal chef running back and forth through the room. As the spirit drew near, the group realized it was muttering to itself with a crazed look in it's eyes and wielding a cleaver. They began to back away slowly, when Itsuki tripped on a discarded pot. The chef's head snapped in their direction and in an instant the being was inches from Itsuki, the clever clenched firmly between it's teeth. Itsuki then said "Gu-gu-gu-guys, a little help here." Takumi and Apple Bloom, unsure of how to help their friend stared in shocked bewilderment. Something then clicked inside Apple Bloom and she grabbed Itsuki and Takumi and dragged them out as fast as she could. Kenji and Sweetie Belle had been running hard, so they need to catch their breath. They started to look around the room. "I wonder what this room was for?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Judging by the cradle and all the toys, I'd say a nursery" Kenji deduced. Just then a phantasm of young mare hovered into the room. She floated over to the cradle and began, rocking it and humming an eerie lullaby. "I wonder why she's here?" Kenji asked "She looks like a nanny." Sweetie Belle whispered The figure then looked up at them and whispered "Hush, you'll wake the baby". "I don't see a baby." said Sweetie Belle. "Are you really arguing with a ghost?" asked Kenji The ghostly being then leaped towards them and screamed in a blood-curdling screech "I SAID HUSH, IF YOU CAN'T BE QUIET, I THINK SOMEPONY NEEDS A TIME OUT! A PERMANENT TIME OUT!" Sweetie Belle and Kenji barely dodged her advance and took off. The ponies ran around the castle like crazy, running from the insane ghosts that haunted the castle, while haunting organ music echoed through the building.They kept running until they all managed to meet up in the castle throne room. The two tall torches that stood beisde the two thrones lit up in a deep, unnatural blue. "What's happening?!?" Itsuki wailed. "I-I have no idea" Apple Bloom answered. Then an ominous laugh filled the room, the ponies looked everywhere for the source of the laughter, but no one saw anything. "Where did that come from?" Scootaloo asked sounding shaken. What happened next made everypony's eyes grow wide with fear. A dark, shadowy mist manifested in the center of the room, then it made it's way to the thrones. "THE PONY OF SHADOWS!!" Everypony screamed. Then the mist changed shape, it twisted around until it formed what looked to be a shadow version of Nightmare Moon. It had glowing white eyes and it let out another evil laugh then set it's sight on the group of ponies, they all screamed, a high pitched one rang above them all. "Oh, my little ponies" it said in a sickeningly sweet tone "you have come to join us". "No we haven't!" Kenji shouted. "What you don't know is the minute you set hoof in here you joined me" it replied as it flew down and started walking towards them, "I guess I'll start with the foals. starting with the little Pegasus" she said grinning evilly at the three little fillies. Scootaloo hid beside Iketani and once he saw how scared Scootaloo was, got a determined look on his face. "YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME TO EVEN GET NEAR HER!" Iketani yelled. have just one thing to say to you!!" she responded, she got closer to the ponies, with a mischievous smile on her face, whispered "Gotcha". "What?" Kenji asked "What's going on?" as everyone's looks of fear turned into ones of confusion. A bright light shone around Nightmare Moon and she transformed into a different pony, a dark blue Alicorn. It was the Princess of the Night herself, Luna. "Surprise" Luna said "Happy Nightmare Night everypony!" she looked at the group of ponies, "I hope we didn't scare you too much". "'We'?" Scootaloo asked. Then the other 'ghosts' walked into the room, a glow surrounded them and they changed into six very familiar mares. "You guys were all playing a prank?" Iketani asked "What about that ball you were going to?". "It was a cover" Twilight explained "how else do you think we could pull this off?". "That's why I suggested the Nightmare Night story" Rainbow told them "I knew you would want to take it to another level than just telling it". "So you guys all did this?" Itsuki asked "AWESOME!!" he shouted, then he fainted. "Eeyup" Applejack replied. "Soo, which one of you screamed like a little filly" Rainbow asked. Murmurs of "no"s and "It wasn't me" went around the group, all except for one pony who was turning a deep shade of red. "You?!" Rainbow explained "Everything I've heard about you and you scream like that, Takumi?". "Umm" Takumi responded, still blushing. "So, if you guys were all playing ghosts, who was playing the creepy organ?" Iketani asked. Just then, a hooded figure walked up behind them and tapped Iketani on the shoulder, nearly making him jump out of his skin, the group nearly had another freak out when the figure removed it's hood". "Gotcha" The Princess of the Sun said mischievously. Chapter 14: An Unexpected JourneyThe next day, the group of ponies decided to take a break from training to have a picnic in the park. Since it was such a beautiful day, they didn't want to waste it. They all had just finished their lunch and were chatting happily about all sorts of things, talking about their training progress, swapping stories from each of their worlds and just things that have happened in the past few weeks. The calm, idle chatter was soon brought to a halt when there was a sudden flash of bright white light, suddenly there was a new arrival to the picnic. Discord. "Well, hello everypony" Discord greeted them "Isn't this such a lovely day?" he then saw four unfamiliar stallions staring at him "Who do we have here? Some new friends?" he teleported himself over to them "I don't remember you guys..". "Who and what are you?" Kenji asked him. "I am Discord, Sprit of Chaos and Disharmony" Discord announced "I am also a Draconequus". "A what?" Iketani asked, clearly confused. "A Draconequus, I have the head of a pony and a body made up of all different animals" Discord explained "If that isn't obvious, I'm sure they've told you all about me". "Not really" Takumi replied. "Are you sure?" Discord questioned "Not even Fluttershy?" he then glanced at Fluttershy who squeaked then shied away. Discord then growled and said "I see how I rate and I won't forget it." he then blinked out in a huff. "Um, do we need to be concerned about him?" Itsuki asked "You shouldn't have to worry. Discord may be upset right now, but he'll get over it, at least I hope so." Fluttershy replied "That's reassuring." Kenji added "Let's not let him get in the way of enjoying our picnic." Rarity said "I agree." said Iketani The group then continued their day of fun with some games then headed home at sunset. Back at the castle, the guys were discussing their run-in with Discord. "Is anyone else worried about what Discord said in the park?" Takumi asked. "About how upset he was that the girls didn't mention him to us? Yeah, a little. Kenji replied "I asked Scootaloo about him and she said he's this all-powerful creature that loves making mischief" Iketani said. "I don't like the sound of that." Itsuki said "Me either" Iketani replied Well, there's not much we can do about it now." Takumi said "So let's get some sleep." The group then headed to bed. The next morning Iketani woke to a darkened room."It's still dark, I wonder what time it is?" he said with a yawn. He walked towards the door, but before he could open it, it was flung open by a panicked Itsuki. "Iketani, you have to come see this!" he shouted The pair rushed out the door and joined Takumi and Kenji. "What's the matter you guys?" Iketanki asked? Takumi and Kenji raised shaky hooves and pointed towards the opening to the cave they were currently standing in, outside of which it was snowing. "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED? WHERE THE HECK ARE WE?!?!" Iketani shouted The pair shrugged. "I don't know, but we need to figure out how to get back to the castle" Kenji replied "First, we need to figure out where w......" Takumi was cut off mid-sentence as a big, white creature appeared out of the depths of the cave and let out a ferocious growl. "RUN!!!!!!" Itsuki shouted and the guys took off at full gallop. They ran out into the snow and didn't stop until they were sure whatever was chasing them was gone. "That was close" Kenji panted "I'll say." Takumi agreed "Well, now that we lost it maybe we can figure out where we go from here." Iketani said. "We're not going to figure out where we are unless we find someone or a town." Kenji said "Let's pick a direction and head that way." Takumi suggested. "That way." Itsuki said, pointing "That's as good a direction as any." Itketani said. "Let's go." The group then headed the way Itsuki had indicated. They walked for what seemed like hours when Kenji finally said "We never should have taken directions from Itsuki." "Hey, what's that...." Itsuki began but was cut off by the raised hoof of Takumi "Do you guys see that." he said pointing at what looked like the outline of a village. "It looks like a village" Iketani said "See, I told you guys this was the way to go!" Itsuki said smugly as he ran towards it. "Hey, Itsuki, wait up." Takumi shouted. The guys stopped short as they reached a large, wooden gate. "I wonder why the have such a big gate?" Itsuki asked "Maybe to keep whatever that thing back there was out." Kenji replied Iketani went to knock on the gate, when a large, wooly creature with horns popped up on the wall and asked "State business, pony" "We were wondering if you knew the way to Ponyville?" Iketani asked "Ponyville is far from here" the creature replied "Maybe you could tell where we are?" Kenji asked "This place called Yakyakistan" it replied "Okay, is that part of Equestria?" Itsuki asked The creature seemed angered by that question "HOW DARE YOU SAY YAKS PART OF PONYLAND, YAKS HAVE OWN LAND!!" the Yak shouted. "Yaks friends with ponies" he then added "Okay, so maybe you could point us towards Equestria?" Takumi asked "Ponies need go other way for long distance, to place where shiny ponies live." the Yak replied "Thank you" they called back "Have safe journey ponies" he called after them It was almost nightfall, they were getting tired and a big storm was brewing. "I wonder how much farther." Itsuki whined "Well the Yak's directions weren't exactly clear." Kenji replied Just then the Crystal Empire came into view. "I think we have arrived" Ikentani said. "Woohoo!" they cheered "Where do we go?" Itsuki asked "Twilight said if we were ever in the Crystal Empire to got to the castle and see her brother and sister-in-law, they're the Prince and Princess of the Empire." Iketani said "Let's go, then." Takumi said The group then headed for the castle. When they arrived at the gates a guard said "State your business." "This sounds familiar" Kenji said "My name is Iketani, tell the Prince we're friends with his sister" Iketani said. The guard then disappeared. A few minutes later the gates opened and they were greeted by Twilight's brother, Shining Armor. "Hey there, Twilight told me all about you, what brings you to the Empire?" he asked "We're not exactly sure. When we went to bed last night we were in the castle, when we woke up we were in a cave near Yakyakistan." Iketani said "Odd. Well you'll have to stay here tonight, the storm has shut down the train and we can't reach Ponyville or anywhere else for that matter." Shining Armor said "That would be awesome, thank you so much." Kenji said "No problem, any friends of Twily's are friends of ours." he replied The next morning, the group got to meet the Princess and their daughter, Flurry Heart. They decided to head out on foot since the couldn't go by train and were afraid their friends would be worried. "Just head along the tracks until you reach Dodge City" Shining Armor said "You can catch the train from their." "Thanks again, Shining Armor." Takumi said "Don't worry about, have a safe journey." he replied A few hours after traveling the storm let up and the terrain turned to sand as they approached Dodge City. "I can see the station from here, let's go." Itsuki shouted While they were waiting for the train, a cream colored pony with a red mane approached. "Y'all aren't from around here, are you?" She asked "No Ma'am, we're trying to get back to Ponyville." Takumi said "My name is Cherries Jubilee. You wouldn't by any chance, know Applejack, would you?" she asked "Hi miss Jubilee, my name is Takumi, and these guys are Iketani, Kenji and Itsuki. We do know her, how do you know AJ?" he asked "She worked for me at my ranch a few years back." she said as the train approached. "We'll it seems you train is here, tell Applejack that I said 'Hi' when you see her." she said "I will." Takumi replied "Have a safe trip fellas." she said They then boarded the train towards Ponyville The trip was uneventful until the reached Appleloosa, when the train suddenly stopped. "What's going on?" Itsuki asked "I'm not sure." Iketani said Then the conductor appeared and said "We have to make an unscheduled stop here in Appleloosa, mechanical trouble." "Hey Takumi, didn't AJ say she has family out here." Kenji asked "Actually, her family founded this town." Takumi said "Well, it doesn't look like we're going anywhere anytime soon, let's go check it out." Ikentai suggested. The group left the train and bumped into what was possibly the happiest pony ever. "Well, you folks are new in town" The pony said "If you're new in town that must mean you never seen Aaaaaaaaaplaossa before. My name's is Braeburn and I run this here town." "You're Applejack's cousin, right?" Takumi asked If it was at all possible Braeburn seemed even happier "You know AJ?" "We do" Iketani said "Well any friends of AJ are friends of mine. I'm going to personally show you the town!" Braeburn said Then lead them on a whirlwind tour of Aaaaaaaaplossa. By the time the tour was over the train whistle was blowing and the train was ready to depart. "Thanks for the tour, Braeburn, it was fun." Kenji said "Anytime. You guys have a safe journey back to Ponyville and say hi to AJ for me." He said "Will do." Takumi said They boarded the train and a few hours later arrived in Ponyville. "It's sooooo good to be back." Itsuki said as they disembarked. When they turned the corner they saw their friends had gathered at the station. "How'd you guys know we were going to be at the station?" Iketani asked "Shining Armor was able to get a hold of us earlier." Twilight said "What happened to you guys anyway?" Rainbow dash asked They then told their tale to the group. "Sounds like quite the adventure" Scootaloo said as she hugged Iketani "I wonder how we got up there in the first place." Ikentai said "I think I have an Idea." Fluttershy said "DISCORD!" she shouted. The Discord appeared out of nowhere. "Yes Fluttershy?" he said innocently "Don't you 'Yes Fluttershy' me mister!" she said "Did you send Kenji and the others to the far reaches of Equestria?" "I can't believe you would suggest I would do such an awful thing!" Discord said, putting his paw over his chest "What proof to you have to substantiate the accusations?" Back at the castle, Fluttershy pointed through the open door into Iketani's room, which wasn't there. "Oh, well, I might have done that." he admitted, waving his claw. "DISCORD!, I can't believe you would do such a mean thing!" Fluttershy said "Now you're going to apologize and bring their rooms back." "Okay fine." he snapped his fingers and brought their rooms back. Iketani opened his door and stood face to face with the snow monster. "DISCORD!" Fluttershy shouted "Send that poor creature back this instant!" "Fine" he snapped his fingers again. "Now apologize." she said "I'msorryforsendingyoutotheegdeofEquestria." he said very quickly "DISCORD!" she shouted "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. he said. "That's better." She said They all laughed as Discord grumbled. Chapter 15: Merry Christmas, Happy Hearths WarmingIt was a cold morning, the first snow had just fallen so everypony knew winter was just around the corner. Everypony was excited, for the wintertime holidays were coming up fast. Garland was wrapped around the light posts, brightly colored lights were on the rooftops of buildings and some ponies were preparing the town center for the giant tree. Ponies were laughing and singing both Hearths Warming and Christmas Carols, showing just how happy they were about the upcoming Holidays, well most everypony. There were a group of ponies that were feeling a little melancholy, sure they loved the Holidays, but they were missing their families and their home. The ponies were taking a walk through Ponyville admiring the sights when one of them spoke up. "Hey guys, do you think it's Christmas-time back home?" Itsuki asked his friends. "I don't know" Takumi answered "I'm not sure how time works here". "Do you think we'll ever get home?" Kenji asked. "I'm not sure, but I think we should make the most of it" Iketani suggested "This maybe our new home". The group continued down the road, they were headed back to Twilight's castle after their walk. They arrived at the castle's doors, opened them and went inside. They took off their hats and scarves and set them on the coat rack, then moved into the living area to relax. They currently had the castle to themselves because Twilight and her friends were in Canterlot to do a Holiday play and go shopping. "You know I hadn't really thought about it until now." Kenji said "About going home, I mean". "Same here" Itsuki added. "I guess we got so caught up with our new friends and our training. I think we just didn't think about it" Takumi said to them "I wonder if we'll be able to see them again, if we do go home". Looks of sadness went around the room as they thought about that statement, they wanted to go back home but they didn't want to lose the friends they made here. So, they felt like they wanted, and didn't want to return home. "I'd miss everyone here" Kenji said "Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, AJ and Rarity". I"d miss them too" Iketani added "I'd miss Scootaloo as well, I don't even want to think about how she would take it" he mused sadly. "I know, that little filly has grown quite attached to you" Takumi replied. "And me to her." Iketani told him "She's like a little sister to me" he then shook his head "I don't want to think about this kind of stuff right now, I don't care if this is my first Christmas here or my only, I want to make it special!". Murmurs of agreement spread around the room, sad faces were replaced with happy and excited ones as they started to plan what to do to make this a special Christmas for them and their friends. Several hours later, their friends returned home with festive looking bags in tow, they put the bags in a different room and joined their four friends in the living area. "So, how'd the play go?" Takumi asked. "It was awesome" Rainbow answered. "Is it a Christmas play?" Itsuki asked. "No, it's about the founding of Equestria and the start of Hearths Warming" Twilight explained. "That sounds cool" Kenji replied. "What's Hearths Warming anyway?" asked Itsuki. "Well, we could explain it to you or you could always come to the play." Applejack suggested. "That would be awesome." replied Iketani. "Sounds like fun" Kenji added. "I know, you can go with the girls." Rarity suggested "They always attend the play as our guests." "The Crusaders would love that." Rainbow said. "Especially a certain filly." "I can't wait to tell her." Iketani said. "She's going to be so excited." Pinkie added. "Well, we'd better hit the hay" Twilight said. "Goodnight guys, see you in the morning." "Goodnight" They replied in unison. "See ya tomorrow" they said to the other five mares as they headed to their respective homes. "This sounds like the perfect start to our special Christmas." Iketani said "This is going to be great!" Itsuki replied. The next morning the guys decided to finish their plans for Christmas. "What can we do to make the Holidays special?" Takumi asked "Well, Twilight and the girls want to teach us about their Holiday. Maybe we can show them some of our traditions?"Iketani suggested. "That sounds like a great idea, Iketani!" Itsuki exclaimed. "I can show them my mad karaoke skills!" "Yeah, sounds like a blast." Kenji deadpanned. "Maybe we could show them some of our less, shall we say, 'unique' traditions" Iketani added. "Awwwwwww, but I want to sing." Itsuki replied, pouting. "Okay, fine, we can have a karaoke machine, on one condition." Takumi said. "Anything." Itsuki said, perking up. "We limit the number of songs one pony can sing in a row." Takumi explained "Awwwww, man." Itsuki replied "Fine, but I get first dibs!" The trio winced internally but agreed. "So we have a plan to show them some of our traditions?" Iketani asked "If we're all in agreement, we should get ready to tell the Crusaders about our Hearths Warming plans.". A little while later, the four found the three little fillies, it sounded like they were singing carols. Once they caught sight of their friends they ran over to greet them. "Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Scootaloo asked. "We came here to ask what your plans are for Hearth's Warming" Iketani answered. "Eh, nothing special" Scootaloo told him "We usually go to the play in Canterlot and do some stuff here" she then looked kind of sad "I wish you guys could join us, that would be awesome!". The four guys exchanged small smiles and glances, then Iketani spoke up once again. "Well, the thing is" Iketani began "Twilight gave us some tickets to it". The Crusaders perked up. "Really?" Scootaloo asked excitedly. "Yeah" Iketani replied "So Scootaloo, I have a little question to ask". "What?" Scootaloo responded. "Would you be my date for the play?" Iketani asked her. "Yeah!" Scootaloo replied happily, then she caught herself "yeah, that sounds cool" she added calmly. Iketani chuckled and smiled at her then he gave her the ticket "I can't wait to see the play with you" he told her. Scootaloo smiled back "I can't wait either" she then hugged him, which he returned. "Well me and my friends have some stuff to do, see you guys later!" she said as she ran away with her friends. "I think you made her day" Kenji told Iketani. "You think so?" Iketani asked. His friends nodded in reply. "I also think she may have a bit of a crush on you" Kenji added. "No, I don't think she does" Iketani responded. "Have you seen the way she acts around you?" Itsuki nearly shouted. "I have to agree" Takumi said to him "it sure seems that way". Across town, Scootaloo and her friends were playing in the park, making snow angels and throwing snowballs back and forth. They were taking a little breather when Apple Bloom spoke up. "Hey Scoots, you seem very excited for the play this year, does it have to do with Iketani giving you that ticket?" she asked. "What do you mean?" Scootaloo said to her friend. "Oh come on Scootaloo, you have been talking about it since he gave it to you" Sweetie Belle added. "Well, he's a great friend and it's fun to hang out with your friends" Scootaloo answered. "Yeah, that and you have a little crush on him" Apple Bloom replied. Scootaloo turned to her friend "I-I do not!". "Yeah you do" Sweetie said with a little smile. "No I don't!" Scootaloo repeated. "You have a crush on him" Apple Bloom teased "just admit it". "I-I do not have a crush on him!" Scootaloo responded, blushing furiously. "You may be saying no. but your blushing says otherwise" Apple Bloom smirked. Scootaloo turned away from her friends, cheeks burning, then she sighed "Promise me you won't tell him or anypony else?". "Of course" her friends answered. "I may have a slight crush on him" Scootaloo told them turning back around "it's been since he saved me in the Everfree Forest" she shuddered at the memory "but I don't think he knows, so please don't tell him or anyone else" Scootaloo said, eyes pleading. "We won't" Apple Bloom promised. Scootaloo hugged her friends "You guys are the best!" she said happily. Apple Bloom leaned in and whispered to Sweetie Belle "We wouldn't have to tell him or anypony nothin', the way she acts around him makes it obvious". The morning of the play, the ponies met up at the train station. "I'm so excited to see the play with you guys!" Scootaloo exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down. "I'm actually a little excited myself" Iketani agreed. "The train should be here any minute" Twilight told them "Then it's just a quick ride to Canterlot and it will be time for the play". "So you don't have much longer to wait" Rainbow added. Just then, the train pulled into the station and they were on their way. After the play ended, everypony was exiting the theater, including a large group that was headed to the castle to spend the night. "That was awesome!" Itsuki said excitedly. "So, you enjoyed it, huh?" Rainbow asked him. "Yeah" Itsuki nodded. "Glad you did" Rainbow smiled "Of course. me being in it, made it at least twenty percent cooler". "Well there Miss Modesty" Applejack replied "I'm glad you think so much of everypony else". "You guys did great too" Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof "But I was the star as with tradition" she added smiling smugly. Applejack just rolled her eyes, then was hit in the face with a snowball. "If you want to play it that way" Applejack said then she built a snowball and hurled it towards Rainbow, who she hit in the side. Rainbow retaliated by throwing one back, which hit Applejack in the shoulder, Applejack made another ball and threw it, only this time Rainbow nimbly dodged it and it hit Iketani instead. Not missing a moment, Iketani used his magic to make a snowball, he threw it towards Applejack but missed and hit Twilight. Twilight then formed three snowballs and threw them at each of them. Signaling the beginning of war. The next few moments went by like a blur, snowballs were flying everywhere and ponies were falling down. Once the group got back to Twilight's castle, they had hot chocolate and cookies to finish off the night. A few days later, it was the day before Christmas Eve and the guys were planning their Christmas Eve get-together. "So, what do you want to do?" Kenji asked. "Well, I already rented a karaoke machine" Itsuki told him "My plan is set". "Remind me to get some ear plugs for everypony" Iketani replied smirking, earning a death glare from Itsuki. "Don't forget some party favors" Takumi added. "We will also need refreshments" Kenji replied. "I think Pinkie and Applejack can handle that" Itsuki chimed in. "Perfect" Iketani said happily "So, Itsuki, you ask Pinkie and AJ to handle refreshments, Takumi you go get the party favors, Kenji you go and see if Rarity can help with the decorations and I'm going to see if I can put together some party games". "Sounds like a plan" Takumi said as they nodded in agreement. "Then it's settled, we meet back here when we're done" Iketani told them. So they went their separate ways to complete their assignments. Itsuki headed to Sweet Apple Acres to talk to Applejack, he walked up to the door and knocked. Applejack answered and asked "What brings you out here?". "Well, as you know me and the guys are planning a Christmas Eve party" He said. "And I was wondering if you and Pinke could help with the refreshments." Pinke suddenly appeared out of nowhere above their heads "Absotly-lootly" Then she disappeared again. "Where did she come from?" Itsuki asked. "She's Pinkie Pie, who knows?" Applejack replied. "We've learned not to ask those 'how', 'why' and 'where' questions." "Gotcha." "So, what kind of refreshments are we talking about?" "Well, some Christmas-y treats, like a Yule log, and maybe some cider?" "Sounds good, maybe we can make some candy canes and ribbon candy" "That would be awesome, thanks so much AJ!" he said and the turned to leave "Yer welcome!" Applejack shouted after him. Takumi was in town looking for party favors, so he went to the local party store. "I don't know why they put me in charge of finding the party favors" Takumi said to himself "I have no idea what to get". As if on cue, Pinkie Pie appeared. "Hi, Takumi" Pinkie greeted "what brings you here?". "Well, I'm trying to find so stuff for a party" Takumi explained. "Lucky for you, you have the party pony of Ponyville to help you" Pinkie told him. "That would be a big help". "Okie doki" Pinkie said "what kind of stuff are you looking for?". "Noisemakers and..other things you need at a party". "Wow, you reeally don't know what you're doing, do you?". "Yeah". "Well, I'm glad I popped in when I did" Pinkie said to him "I'll help you out". The two ponies walked through the store, getting all the stuff needed for the party. "Thanks Pinkie" Takumi told her as the left the store "If you did come by when you did I still be standing there". "That's what friends do" Pinkie said "Now, I have somewhere else to be, see you later" she hopped off. "I really wonder how she does that" Takumi thought as he headed back to the castle. Meanwhile, Kenji had just arrived at Carousel Boutique, he went up and entered the building. "Hey Rarity? Are you there?" Kenji asked. "Just a moment" Rarity called, then she came down the stairs "Oh, hello Kenji, what brings you here?". "I have a favor to ask" Kenji told her "me and the guys are throwing a party Christmas Eve and were wondering if you could help with the decorations". "I would love too!" Rarity replied "I love making decor almost as much as designing outfits!". "Great!" Kenji said happily "Do you need any help?". "Help is always appreciated" Rarity said with a smile "do you think you could get some red and green fabric from over there" she asked pointing towards the self where she kept her fabrics. "Sure thing" Kenji said as he went and got the fabrics. The two ponies then worked on the decorations for a while. Back at the castle, Iketani was going through some books when Twilight walked in. "Hey Iketani" Twilight said "What are you doing?". "I'm trying to get some games for the party tomorrow" he answered "I wanted to see if you had any traditional games but I can't find anything". "Well, I have a closet full of games down the hallway if you want to take a look" Twilight told him "Oooh, I can finally have that out this year!" she said happily. "What can you finally have out and why does it make me nervous?". "You'll see". Iketani blinked then shook his head "I'll just go check on those games" Iketani said then both of them left the room. When they came back, Iketani had some board games and Twilight had something in a small box. "What's in the box?". Twilight opened the box and revealed its contents "Mistletoe!" she said happily holding it up "I have always wanted to have it at a Christmas party but never got the chance". "Uhh Twi, do you know what that's for?" Iketani said blushing slightly. "Of course" Twilight answered "I doubt any ponies are going to find themselves under it". "We shall see" Iketani replied. Later that day, the four guys met up and put the supplies away for Christmas Eve, "Looks like we have everything we need" Iketani told them "This is gonna be great!". "I'm so excited!" Itsuki exclaimed. "Me too" Kenji added. "I'm actually pretty excited myself" Takumi replied. "We better get some sleep so we can get up early and set the party up" Iketani said. "Sounds like a plan" Kenji responded. Then the four of them headed to their rooms for the night. It was Christmas Eve, the guys had gotten up early and began to set up the party. Kenji was putting up the banners, Takumi was setting out the party favors and Itsuki had finished setting the refreshment table up and was bringing out the karaoke machine. Iketani was setting up the game table and Twilight put up the sprig of mistletoe, at the sight of which the boys ran and Twilight rolled her eyes. After the guys came out of the hiding places, their friends began to arrive. "Merry Christmas Eve, everypony" Twilight greeted as the last of her friends came inside "Refreshments are over there" she pointed at the table with various snacks and cider "and there is the game table" she pointed to the table stacked with board games "and if anypony feels like dancing, feel free to do so over there" she pointed towards the area they dedicated to dancing. "And if anypony feels like singing, there's a karaoke machine over there" Itsuki added. "Oooh, that like sounds fun!" Pinkie replied. "Well, I don't feel like singing, I think I'm gonna do some dancing" Rainbow told them. That started a short period of dancing among the ponies. Then they started, Pinkie and Itsuki decided to use the karaoke machine and sang a holiday duet for everypony. Not that anypony had a say in the matter. After they had finally stopped after a ten song marathon session, Twilight decided to give it a go, then the Crusaders and even Rainbow Dash. A little later, everypony was around the refreshment table chatting away. Twilight went to the other side of the table to refill her cider glass when she bumped into somepony. "Oops, sorry Iketani" Twilight told him. "It's fine, Twi" Iketani replied. "Uh-oh, looks like somepony's under the mistletoe" Rainbow teased, smirking. Twilight and Iketani looked up then at each other, blushing. "Umm, did you know that hanging mistletoe dates back to the pre-Celestia and Luna era?" Twilight rambled "It's for good luck and-" Twilight was cut off when Iketani kissed her cheek, turning her history lesson into incoherent gibberish and making her blush madly. Everypony in the room smiled and chuckled at Twilight's reaction, which earned them a glare from her. The party went on for a while longer until everypony started to feel tired and they realized it had gotten late. Everyone was staying at the Castle so they could spend Christmas Morning together. The ponies were heading into their rooms for the night, Scootaloo was walking to her door when she felt somepony tap her shoulder, she turned and saw Iketani standing behind her with a smile. "Hi, Iketani" Scootaloo said "What's up?". "Just wanted to say good-night" Iketani replied "and do this" he used his magic to bring over the sprig of mistletoe to him. This made Scootaloo blush a little. "Looks like someponys under the mistletoe" Twilight said with a smile. Scootaloo's blush brightened as Iketani leaned down and kissed her cheek, which gained aww's from everypony watching. "Good-night, Scootaloo" Iketani said to her. "G-good-night, Iketani" Scootaloo responded then she did a slow walk to her room. "Good-night, Everypony" Twilight called out and everypony headed into their rooms for the night. The next morning, everypony came out of their rooms, headed to the kitchen and had a wonderful breakfast. After that, everyone went to the living room and exchanged little gifts they got or made for each other. Twilight walked over to the tree and pulled out four rectangular shaped gifts and gave them to the guys. "Come on" Twilight urged "open them up". They ripped off the wrapping paper, tossed it aside and opened up the box. Each of them held a book. They lifted the covers and found out the books were photo albums with pictures of their time in Equestria. "Wow" Iketani said at a near loss for words "This is great, thank you". "We thought you would like to have a way to keep your memories from here" Twilight told him. They began flipping through the book, looking at the different pictures. There were some that were taking not long after they arrived in Equestria, when they spent the weekend with the Crusaders, Nightmare Night and Hearth's Warming as well. There were even some pictures from the day Kenji helped Rarity out, which caused him to blush. "Rarity!" Kenji said sounding very embarrassed "Why did you put those in there?!". "I just had to!" Rarity answered "You look so stunning in that suit, not putting them in there would have been simply a crime I could not commit". The other ponies in the room snickered and laughed until they were silenced with a glare from Kenji. And with that, the ponies had a wonderful Christmas. Chapter 16: Sweet Apple DownhillIt was quite a pleasant winter's afternoon, the sun was shining and there was snow on the ground. Down at Sweet Apple Acres, a group of ponies were preparing for what looked to be a race. "So, are we racing with or without carts?" Takumi asked. "Without" Rainbow answered "I don't think the path we're using could fit the ten of us with carts". "Good point" Kenji replied. "This path runs around the orchard to the barn, that's the finish line" Applejack told them "No shoving, ramming or any kind of cheating allowed or you'll be disqualified" she finished, glaring at Rainbow Dash. "What? Do you think I'll cheat like I did in the Running of the Leaves?" Rainbow asked "If I may recall you cheated too!" she said pointing a hoof at Applejack "I'm past that, I'd rather run a clean race and win fair and square". "I know I cheated and I highly regret it, letting my competitiveness get the best of me like that" Applejack admitted "I wanna run a clean race too". "Do I even want to know what happened?" Iketani asked. "It's a long story" Twilight told him. "Come on guys!" Itsuki exclaimed "let's stop chatting and get on with the race!". "Yeah, I wanna see who wins this" Apple Bloom added "I'm bettin' it's gonna be Takumi". Applejack looked at her little sister with a look of shock and betrayal while Rainbow Dash snorted and laughed loudly. "Looks like your lil' sis is betting against ya" Rainbow said still laughing then her gaze turned towards Scootaloo "I bet you're rooting for your honorary big sister" she added proudly. "Actually, I'm rooting for Iketani" Scootaloo told her with a blush. Rainbow's proud smile turned into a look of pure shock and horror, Applejack laughed loudly. "Not so funny when it happens to you, is it Rainbow?" Applejack asked chuckling. Rainbow Dash shot her a glare and snorted in annoyance. "Alright everypony, let's get this race started" Twilight announced and everyone lined up on the starting line. Scootaloo ran up to Iketani, put her hooves on his side and kissed him on the cheek "Umm...that's for good luck" Scootaloo said nervously, rubbing the back of her neck and blushing furiously. Iketani chuckled and wrapped a hoof around her "Thank you" he told her with a smile, then he got ready to race. Three, two, one go!" The Crusaders shouted happily. "And they're off". Spike said as the group began to gallop, with Scootaloo pulling Spike, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in a wagon on her scooter. "Applejack takes an early lead with Takumi close behind and Rainbow dash in third". "Rounding the first bend, Takumi edges out Applejack as Iketani passes Rainbow". "Further down the line we have Pinkie Pie in fifth, Kenji in sixth, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity in seventh and eighth, Fluttershy and Itsuki are trailing behind in ninth and tenth". "Back at the front Iketani has pulled off a surprising move and has moved into first, with Rainbow in second, Takumi is holding Applejack at bay for third". "Rounding the next group of trees Iketani has swung too wide cutting of Rainbow Dash, Takumi and Applejack, allowing Pinke Pie to take a short-lived lead, as Kenji takes off with a new found burst of speed." "Coming to a straightaway, Takumi and Rainbow Dash take off for a neck-at-neck lead, with Iketani in third followed by Kenji and Applejack running side-by-side for fourth". "Pinke Pie is running out of steam and Rarity and Twilight have moved in for fifth and sixth, with Fluttershy and Itsuki still bringing up the rear". "The leaders are coming up to the final bend and, oh my gosh! Rainbow Dash is down and she slid right into Takumi, Applejack Kenji and Iketani. Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie have been slowed down by the carnage and it's...Itsuki, followed by Fluttershy in second, Rarity in third, Pinkie Pie in fourth and Twilight in fifth". Down at Ponyville General, after the race, the five racers had just been released with a few bumps and bruises. "That was wild" Iketani said as they walked through town. "What happened back there?" Kenji asked. "Yeah, Rainbow. What happened?" Applejack asked. "Well, I was trying to beat Takumi in that last bend and, I guess I pushed it a little too far". Rainbow replied. "I'm sorry you guys". "It's okay Rainbow" Takumi said "It's not like you were trying to take me out." "I still feel bad about it" she said. "No one got seriously hurt and that's all that matters" Iketani said "I don't know what I would have done if my two favorite ponies were hurt" Scootaloo said, not having left either of their sides. "We're okay Squirt" Rainbow said "No thanks to me" "Rainbow Dash, you need to stop beating yourself up." Rarity said "All has been forgiven, darling." Suddenly Spike stopped, got a weird look on his face and belched a green flame. Then a scroll fell into his hands. Spike handed it to Twilight. "It's an urgent letter from the Princesses regarding the four of you" she said, gesturing towards their new friends. Chapter 1.1: Impractical MagicTwilight Sparkle woke up one summer morning, stretched her legs out, let out a yawn and got out of bed. She headed into her bathroom, picked up her hairbrush and brushed her mane and tail, then she picked up her toothbrush, put some toothpaste on it and proceeded to brush her teeth, she rinsed her mouth out then headed downstairs to prepare breakfast for herself and Spike, since Starlight was on an extended visit to the Crystal Empire, it was just the two of them. Once she was in the kitchen, she started thinking about what to make for breakfast. "We just had waffles the other day since Spike wanted them, so today I think pancakes sounds like a great idea." she thought to herself as she got out the cookbook, she then flipped through the pages to find the pancake recipe and then proceeded to get the necessary ingredients and started baking. Once she had a few pancakes it made the kitchen smell of them, she knew that soon a certain dragon would awaken from his slumber. As if on cue, Spike came walking into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Morning Twilight." he said. "Good morning Spike, would you like some pancakes?". "Yeah!" Spike said happily. "Would you get some plates, forks and knives and set them on the table?". "Sure!" Spike then got some plates out of the cabinet and some utensils out of a drawer and set them on the kitchen table. Twilight then brought the pancakes and some syrup over too. They both then sat down, got some pancakes and started eating. "So Spike, read anything good lately?". "Yeah, I was reading the latest Power Ponies comic, it's about Zapp's evil brother trying to take over the world". "Oh Spike, you and your comic books." Twilight said giggling. "Says the mare who has a huge collection of Manga and Graphic Novels". "Touche". After a little while, they finished their breakfast and were in the living area of the castle when there was a knock on the front door. Twilight trotted over to the door and opened it, she then saw Rainbow Dash standing there. "Hi Rainbow" Twilight greeted her friend "What brings you here?". "I was heading out to start my weather duties for the day and saw you left your copy of Daring-Do and the Griffon's Goblet on the table in my living room. You must have left it there the night when you came over to see if I found a copy with spelling errors in it at that yard sale" Rainbow explained and gave Twilight the book "Oh and I also wanted to let you borrow a Manga series me and Scootaloo read, it's about a kind of cart racing called Drifting". "Sounds interesting" Twilight said "If you'd like we could do a trade off, I have a series about video games and sword fighting you might like, it's one of mine and Princess Luna's favorites". "Is it the one that caused you to nearly freak out when Neightendo announced they were starting development on virtual reality gaming?" "I did not 'nearly freak out'!" Twilight exclaimed. "Suuurre you didn't, Twilight." Spike said from inside the castle. "Anyway, sure I would love to read it, just bring them by my house later, gotta dash" Rainbow said then took off to the sky, then suddenly came back "I almost forgot to give you the book, it's the first one in the series" she then gave Twilight the book and was off once again. Twilight went inside, shut the door and gave out a long sigh. "That's the fourth thing I left at a friend's house this month" Twilight said out loud as she set the books down. "Yeah, you seem to be forgetting little things like that" Spike told her, "too bad there isn't a spell to be able to get things you have from other places if you've forgotten them". Twilight thought for a moment, "I think I saw one in a book at the Castle of the Two Sisters, let's go and try to find it!". "Alright, I think it might be fun to go back there, it's been awhile". "Then let's go!" Twilight said enthusiastically, Spike climbed up on Twilight's back and they headed out the door. Once they were at the Castle of The Two Sisters, the two began searching through the castle's library, hours went by as they went through book after book, not having any luck. "I know I saw one" Twilight thought to herself as she finished looking through an entire shelf of books, "having any luck, Spike?". "Nope, sorry". "Uggh" Twilight groaned and continued searching, then she came across a book entitled 'Summoning and Teleportation for Advanced Magic Users'. "Spike, I think I found it!". "That's great Twilight, how about you see if it's in the before we go?" Spike suggested. "Good idea" Twilight then flipped through the pages until she came across a spell called 'summoning an object to you'. "Here it is." she said showing Spike. "Great, now let's head back home, it's probably lunchtime by now and all this searching has made me hungry". Twilight chuckled "Alright let's go home". After they got home and had lunch, Twilight and Spike were in the library looking at the spellbook they brought home. "Alright, it says for the spell to work I need to focus on the what I want to summon to me" Twilight said. "Why don't you give it a try with something nearby before you try using it for something that's a long ways away?" Spike suggested to her. "I think I will" Twilight told him, she then started to think about things she could try to summon, then she remembered the book Rainbow gave her and that she left it in the living room. "Alright, let's do this." she thought in her head. She began focusing on the book, like what the book was about and what it looked like. Suddenly the was a huge flash of light and a minor shockwave that sent Twilight and Spike flying backward. Once Twilight stood up again, she looked around the room for Spike. "Are you okay Spike?" she asked. "I'm fine, Twilight, what happened?". "I don't know, I cast the spell, then there was that flash of light and then we were thrown across the room". Twilight then looked for the book, her eyes then fell on the center of the room and she let out a huge gasp when she saw what she had summoned. "That's not what I excepted at all." she said with a worried look on her face. Chapter 1.2: Drifting AlongIt was a warm summer evening, Iketani and Itsuki were just finishing up with a customer, the car pulled out of the gas station and a few moments later a white Nissan 130X pulled in. The car pulled up to where they were standing, and their friend, Kenji stepped out. "Hey guys" Kenji greeted his friends. "Hey Kenji" replied Iketani "'Sup Kenji" said Itsuki "Is Takumi here yet?" asked Kenji "Not yet, he said he might be a bit late" replied Iketani Just then a Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 pulled into the station and Takumi rolled down the window and asked "Hey guys, you ready to go?" "Yeah, just give us a minute to change and we'll be ready" Iketani replied A few minutes later Iketani rolled out in his Nissan Silvia K S13 and Itsuki in his Toyota AE85, the four cars whipped out of the gas station and headed for Mount Akina. "Ah, to be young and reckless" commented Yuichi as he looked on. The four drivers were having a drift session for the first time since Takumi joined 'Project D'. "It's been so long since I've driven Akina when I'm not making the deliveries" Takumi thought to himself. "I almost feel like I'm, well, home. It feels good to just relax" he thought as he slid effortlessly into a hairpin turn. "I can't believe that guy wants to hang out with the likes of us" Iketani thought "I mean, the guy's a legend around here and he's fast becoming the bane of the best drifters in all of Japan. And he's out here driving with us." "That guy's amazing" Kenji thought. "It's no wonder Ryosuke made him part of 'Project D'. Takumi's sure to go far with his help. " "Takumi's been so busy being awesome and defeating, like, everyone he goes up against, I'm happy he was able to do this." thought Itsuki. "He just makes drifting look so easy" he commented aloud as he watched Takumi drift. "I, on the other hand, need a lot more practice" he thought as he wobbled through a turn. After a few hours of going up and down the mountain, the guys decided to take a break at their favorite coffee machine. "I'm so glad we were able to do this." Takumi said as he sat down with his drink. "It's really great to just drive." "I'm just glad you had the time to do this, what with 'Project D' and all." Iketani said "Yeah, 'D' keeps me pretty busy" he replied "It must be great to be able to learn from someone like Ryosuke" Kenji commented "Ryosuke's is amazing." Takumi replied, "He's teaching me a lot." "Takumi, you're the best dr....." Itsuki began, but was cut off as a weird, sparkly light, swirled around them. "What the h..." Iketani said as they all vanished.
Chapter 2: First ImpressionsTwilight stared in disbelief, she rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, but sure enough what she was seeing was real. There were four ponies lying on the floor, they looked unconscious so Twilight went over to check on them, Twilight slowly approached the pony that was closest to her, a light azure Unicorn stallion. "Are you alright?" she asked, poking him gently with her hoof. The stallion groaned quietly then began to stir as did the others, which Twilight noticed were also stallions, but unlike him, one was a rusty red Pegasus, a white Earth pony and a lemon yellow Pegasus. The yellow Pegasus sat up, shook his head and the started looking around frantically, the Unicorn lifted his hoof and started analyzing it, the red Pegasus looked around the room and the white Earth pony looking as if his brain had failed to comprehend the situation, he had a blank look on his face and was just staring off into the distance. The Pegasus looked at the other ponies and said "Why are you all horses?!?!" then looked at his hooves "Why am I a horse?!?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!?" sounding almost on the verge of tears. "Umm, Hello?" Twilight said to the four stallions who then turned to look at her. "Hi?" the red Pegasus replied questioningly. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, who are you?" Twilight asked politely. "My name's Iketani" the blue Unicorn answered. "I'm Kenji" the red Pegasus added. "I'm Itsuki" the yellow Pegasus told Twilight "and the guy that's probably daydreaming over there is Takumi" he gestured over to the white Earth pony, who then broke out of whatever trance he was in. "My name's Takumi" he said to her. "I already told her that" Itsuki explained to him. "Oh sorry" Takumi said quickly. "It's fine" Twilight said to him. "Can you tell us what happened?" Iketani asked "I mean, one minute we were on a mountain then there was a flash of light and we were here". "Well, the flash of light was my fault" Twilight admitted "I was using a summoning spell, but it wasn't to summon other ponies to me, just items". "SPELL?!?" Itsuki shouted "You mean, like magic spell?". "Yes, as an Alicorn, I can do all sorts of magic" Twilight explained "But as I said before, it wasn't meant for other ponies, I was trying to summon a book from the other room. I'm not sure what went wrong" Twilight then looked over to the book of spells, walked over to it, started flipping the pages to find the spell she had used. "Here it is!" she then looked closer and noticed something amiss and sure enough she was right. "It appears the last pony who used the spellbook ripped the item summoning spell out of the book, but for some reason left the title, so the spell I used is actually a pony summoning spell". "But how did it work on us? We're not ponies" Kenji asked her. "How is this possible?" Twilight wondered out loud "pulling other beings from another world, that is some spell". "Is there a spell to send us back?" Takumi asked. Twilight started flipping through the pages, after she did it once she double checked. "I can't seem to find one, if there is one it's missing" Twilight told them "SPIIIKEE!" she called. "I'm right here Twilight, you don't need to yell" Spike grumbled then the four stallions turned their attention to him. "Is that a dragon?" Kenji asked. "No, I'm a griffon" Spike answered sarcastically. "A talking dragon?" Itsuki added "I didn't know dragons could talk!". "That's totally the first time I've heard that one" Spike replied with a slight eye roll. "This is my number one assistant, Spike" Twilight told them "hey Spike, can you send a letter to the Princesses asking for help finding a spell?". "Sure thing!" Spike said smiling "what do you want it to say?" Twilight explained what had happened with the spell and about the missing return spell, Spike then sent the letter. "Alright, I sent a letter to the Princesses of Equestria if they can't help track down the missing spell, then nopony can!" Twilight told everyone. "Wait, you know your Princesses like that? You can ask them questions and they'll just help you?" Itsuki asked sounding surprised. "Well, it does help with her being Princess Celestia's personal student and being a princess herself" Spike explained and Twilight just blushed. "You're a princess??" they all asked in unison. "Yeah, I'm the Princess of Friendship, though I don't need to brag about it" Twilight said to them "it might be awhile before the Princesses respond, do you want to meet my friends?". "Sure, it's not like we're going anywhere anytime soon." Iketani replied. "Then let's go!" Twilight said, ignoring the sarcastic remark, as the six of them left the room. Once they were at Sugarcube Corner, after the introductions and explanations were finished, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh her flank off. "Okay okay, let me get this straight, since coming to Ponyville you've cast a spell to make everypony want your doll, then another one that changed our Cutie Marks around, now you've managed to pull four guys from another world into Equestria and turn them into ponies, What's next Twilight?" Rainbow said while laughing like it was the funniest thing ever. "Really, Rainbow? That's what you take from this situation?" Applejack said to her. "Come on, AJ it's pretty funny!" Rainbow argued. "Ignore her, darlings" Rarity told them "Rainbow Dash doesn't always have the most appropriate sense of humor". "Hey!" Rainbow shouted, sounding offended. "So, have you guys been friends forever?" Takumi asked "Because it seems that way". "Nah, we've only been friends since Twilight came to Ponyville a couple years ago when Nightmare Moon returned and we stopped her with the Elements of Harmony" Pinkie Pie explained "Unless you count the Sonic Rainboom Dashie did back when we were little fillies that gave us a Cutie Mark connection that was almost taken out when an evil-then- but-not-evil now unicorn bent on revenge went back in time to prevent the Rainboom from happening forever splitting us apart and dooming Equestria but like I said that's only if you count the Rainboom". The four guys just stood there, blinking in disbelief at what the just heard. "In other words, yes we have know each other for awhile but not forever" Twilight told them. "Isn't that what I said?" Pinkie asked innocently. "Not quite" Applejack answered. "Does she always talk that fast?" Takumi asked. "Prety much" Spike replied. "What's a 'Sonic Rainboom'?" Iketani asked. "It's when a Pegasus can go fast enough to break the sound barrier to cause a sonic boom and make a rainbow appear at the same time" Twilight answered. "Wow, that sounds so awesome!" Itsuki said smiling. "And I'm the only pony to ever pull it off" Rainbow added smugly "Not once, not twice, but three times". "Wow, you must be the coolest pony ever to do something like that" Itsuki told her. "Don't inflate her ego anymore than it already is" Rarity warned "You'll only encourage her to brag about it more". "If that's even possible" Applejack muttered sarcastically. "You said something about 'Cutie Marks', what's that?" Kenji asked. "A Cutie Mark shows what a pony's special talent is" Fluttershy answered "Mine represents my ability to communicate with animals". "Mine represents my ability to find the most stunning gems" Rarity added. "Mine represents running the family farm, Sweet Apple Acres" Applejack told them proudly. "Mine shows my amazingly awesome fast flying!" Rainbow explained. "Mine shows my love of party-planning!" Pinkie said giggling gleefully. "And mine represents my talents with magic" Twilight said smiling. "That's cool" Takumi told them. "So, now that you know a little bit about our world, why don't you tell us about yours?" Twilight suggested. "Okay. Well, where we're from, we don't look like this. We actually, well it's hard to explain." Iketani said. We don't have hooves, we have things called hands and feet and walk on two legs instead of four." "So you're humans" Twilight supplied. "Exactly. Wait how do you know what humans are? Do you have people in this world? Takumi asked. "No, but this isn't the first time we've dealt with interdimensional travel." Twilight explained. "Um, ok. Well, since you know the basics of human living, we'll tell you about ourselves." Kenji offered The Mane six nodded. "Well, Iketani and I work at a gas station" Itsuki said. "What's a gas station?" asked Fluttershy "Do you guys now what cars are?" asked Iketani. "I saw them when I was in the other dimension, but I don't know much about them" Twilight replied "Well you guys have carts, right?" asked Kenji "Yeah, we have a bunch of those down at the farm." replied Applejack "Well, cars are kinda like carts with engines that make them move without pulling them." Kenji explained "And the engines need gas to make them work." "So you guys work at the place that sells it?" Pinkie asked. "Exactly." replied Iketani "But that's not all we do there, we also repair cars and wash them." "And I'm a delivery truck driver by day and I deliver tofu at night/early morning for my family's tofu shop" Takumi added. "But when we're not working, we spend time working on our own cars" Kenji said "So you each have your own cars?" asked Rainbow. "Are they fast?" "Very and Takumi here's the fastest drifter ever" Itsuki replied "What's 'drifting'?" Rainbow asked "I've read about our version, but what's your's like?" "Well, it's a type of car racing, where you corner at higher speeds by sliding the car around the corner." Iketani explained. "That. Sounds. Awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed "It's alot of fun" replied Kenji. "And Takumi is the best drifter ever" Itsuki reiterated "Dude, I'm nothing special." Takumi replied "Takumi's just being modest. He's really good." Kenji said "Sounds like he's really fast" added Applejack "He is, but it takes a lot of practice." Iketani said "That's what we were doing just before we popped up here. We were at the top of mount Akina, that's a local mountain where we practice, taking a break and the next thing we know, we were here." After a short pause, Itsuki asked the question he'd been dying to ask. "So, Pegasus ponies all fly and Unicorns can do magic?" "Duh, why do you think we have wings?" Rainbow pointed out "You're a Pegasus if you hadn't noticed and you've got 'em too!" she added pointing at Kenji. "What?" Itsuki said curiously looking at his sides and sure enough he had a pair of wings "So, I can fly?". "Yes, if you want to" Rainbow told him, then she got a huge grin on her face "Do you want to learn how to, I can teach you both how to, that is if you want the most awesome teacher in the universe". "Heck yeah!" Itsuki shouted excitedly. "That sounds cool" Kenji added. "Alright, I'll be your coach, we'll start tomorrow, unless you get home before then". "Okay" Itsuki said nodding. "I'll go with you too, just to make sure Rainbow doesn't get too tough" Fluttershy told them. "Since you're a Unicorn, Iketani" Twilight said looking at him " Rarity and I could teach you magic if you want us to". "Sounds good to me" Iketani replied. "And, since you're an Earth pony, me and Pinkie Pie could teach ya about our strength and connection to the earth" Applejack explained to Takumi. "Sure" Takumi said to her. Just then Spike came into the room from the kitchen, he had a scroll in his claw. "Celestia just sent back this message" he said then Twilight used her magic to levitate the scroll. "It says that she is looking for the spell or any one that might work and will message me as soon as she finds something, but warns that it may take a long time to find it" Twilight announced to everyone "Well I guess it's good that we have plans to occupy ourselves with until Celestia finds something". "Yeah, that's good, but just one problem" Kenji said to the group. "What's that?" Twilight asked. "Where will we stay?" he asked. "You can stay with me and Spike, the castle has plenty of room" Twilight told him. "Alright" Kenji responded. "So, how about we all group up at the castle and decide where we'll do the training in the morning?" Twilight suggested and everyone agreed "Let's all head back to our homes, it's been a looong day, if you ask me" she added. Everyone agreed, said good night and headed back home.
Chapter 3: School is Now in SessionThe next morning, after the ponies met up at the castle and decided where they were going to do the training, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy decided to do the Pegasus training in the park. Itsuki and Kenji were sitting in the park while Rainbow was giving a lecture on flying. "Alright" Rainbow began "The first thing you need to master is hovering, like this" Rainbow unfurled her wings and started flapping them softly, she then started hovering a few feet off the ground and then landed "Now you try it" she told them. Kenji spread his wings out and started flapping hard but wasn't getting anywhere. Rainbow shook her heard "You're flapping too hard, Kenji" she explained "Light, gentle flaps". "Got it" Kenji then started flapping his wings lighter and started to hover a little. "That's it! You've got it! Now just keep flapping!" Rainbow said encouragingly and Kenji managed to keep hovering for a few minutes longer before getting tired. "Great job, Kenji!" she turned her head "It's your turn, Itsuki". "Alright!" Itsuki said enthusiastically, he started flapping then he managed to hover a few feet above the ground for a few moments, before starting to flap too hard and promptly falling face first into the ground. "Ouch" Itsuki groaned. "I'll get the first aid kit" Fluttershy told everyone, flying away. At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were getting ready to teach Takumi about the strength of Earth ponies. "Aright Takumi, me and Pinkie are gonna teach ya what we Earth ponies can do!" Applejack told him. "What can Earth ponies do with their strength?" Takumi asked. "Well, that all depends on what ya wanna do or what your special talent is" Applejack explained "I run the family farm, so I have to haul apples around the farm and to the market, it's harder than it sounds". "I kinda have special abilities of my own for my party planning, but I did grow up on a rock farm so I did have a way to put my strength to good use" Pinkie Pie added. "Rock farm?" Takumi asked. "Yep, I grew up on a rock farm!" Pinkie Pie answered. "Let's get things back on track here, Pinkie" Applejack told her "Now Takumi, I'm gonna help you learn how to pull a cart of apples". "Alright" Takumi said to her. Applejack went over, pulled a cart that was full of apples over and Pinkie helped her hitch it up for Takumi to pull it. "Can you pull the cart from here to that tree over there?" Applejack asked as she pointed to a tree that was several feet away. "Okay" Takumi replied, he started walking then realized he was straining slightly "This cart is heavier than I thought". "Eeyup, it takes a while to build up the strength to haul apples like I do!" Applejack informed him. At Twilight's castle, Twilight and Rarity were preparing for Iketani's magic lessons, Twilight and Rarity decided that the best place to start was using telekinesis. So Twilight brought out some teacups to practice with, Iketani was waiting in the library when Twilight and Rarity walked in. "What's with the teacups?" Iketani asked curiously. "It's for your magic lesson" Twilight answered as she set one on the ground "I wanted to start with something simple, like a teacup". "It's something most ponies use on a regular basis" Rarity explained. "Alright, Iketani" Twilight began "Just focus on the cup, then try lifting it". "I can do this" Iketani told himself, he started focusing on the teacup, then it began to shake a little. "You almost got it" Twilight told him "Now try lifting it". Iketani attempted to lift it and the cup started shaking more and more. "Wait, Iketani, relax a little or you going to..." Twilight started but suddenly the teacup exploded, scattering little pieces everywhere "..break it" Twilight finished then let out a small sigh. "I'm sorry, Twilight" Iketani said apologetically "I guess I focused a little too hard". "It's alright, Iketani" Twilight replied with a smile "Every Unicorn has had trouble the first time they used magic" she told him "I had trouble turning a page in a book when I was first learning magic". "And I embedded a sewing needle in my bedroom wall" Rarity admitted with a blush. "And if I get the chance, I can tell ponies I managed to blow up a teacup!" Iketani told them, then they all started to laugh. "Let's get back to the lesson" Twilight said still chuckling. A few hours later, the guys met up at Twilight's castle to talk about how their lessons were going, they were sitting around a table, talking about the days events when Takumi noticed something about his friend. "Hey Itsuki, what's with the bandage on your nose?" Takumi asked. "Oh, I was learning how to hover and well.." Itsuki began explaining. "What happened?" Iketani urged. "I hovered several feet off the ground for a few moments, then I fell flat on my face" Itsuki finished telling his story. "Ouch" Takumi said wincing a little "That sounded painful". "It kinda was" Itsuki admitted "But I'll get better and be the best flyer ever!". "Yeah, how did your flying go Kenji?" Iketani asked. "I hovered a few feet off the ground" Kenji told him "Nothing special, but I learned if you flap too hard, you won't get anywhere" he then looked at Takumi and asked "How did your Earth pony lessons go?". "I will never look at apples the same way again" Takumi answered "I tried to move a cart full of them and I didn't get very far, they're heavy". "Wow, sounds like we all have had some interesting moments today" Kenji observed "Hey, Iketani, you're the only one to not have talked about what happened during your lessons, tell us what happened". "Nah, nothing exciting happened" Iketani told them. "Come on tell us!" Itsuki urged him. "I'd rather not.." Iketani insisted. "Come on dude, spit it out!" Kenji added. Iketani sighed then muttered "I made a teacup explode". "What?" Itsuki asked "I didn't hear you". "I made a teacup explode" Iketani said loud and clear. His friends stared at him in silence, then burst out laughing. "Seriously?" Kenji asked "You made a teacup explode?". "Yes, I apparently focused on it too much when I was trying to make it levitate" Iketani explained. "Wow, so we all managed to mess up somehow today" Takumi noted, thinking of the stories his friends had told him. "Hopefully, we'll do better tomorrow" Kenji added "but I kinda want to relax until then, my wings hurt". "Yeah, how about we get some sleep then regroup after our lessons tomorrow?" Iketani suggested and everyone agreed. They chatted for a while longer then decided to go to bed to get some sleep and prepare for their lessons tomorrow morning.
Chapter 4: Failure is Always an OptionThree days after their first lesson, Rainbow Dash was getting ready to teach them about basic flying. "So, we've covered hovering and you're getting good at that" Rainbow started explaining "Next we are moving to basic flying, it's simple" Rainbow started flapping her wings, then began hovering "All you have to do is, when you start hovering is push yourself forward like this" she propelled herself forward and she started moving in a straight line then she turned around and landed in front of the others "Now you guys try it". Kenji started flapping his wings, then began hovering a few feet off the ground. "Alright Kenji, now push yourself forward" Rainbow instructed him. Kenji then started to move forward slowly. "That's it!" Rainbow encouraged him "Now flap a little harder to go faster!". Kenji nodded and did just that, flew a few feet forward and landed, the landing was a bit wobbly though. "Great job" Rainbow said clapping her hooves "You're gonna need to work on your landing, but that was great for your first time". "Great job, Kenji, woohoo!" Fluttershy added happily. "Thanks, Rainbow" Kenji said, smiling. "It's your turn now, Itsuki" Rainbow told him. "Okay" Itsuki replied, he started flapping his wings, then began hovering. "Like I told Kenji" Rainbow explained "Push yourself forward". Itsuki attempted to and moved forward a few inches before falling down. "Let me try that again" Itsuki told Rainbow. Rainbow then gave him a 'Go ahead' gesture. Itsuki started hovering again, then he pushed him forward and got a few more inches farther than his first attempt before falling flat on his face with his hooves spread out again. "Are you okay man?" Kenji asked, sounding concerned. "Oooww" Itsuki groaned. "I'll get the first aid kit" Fluttershy told everyone as she flew off. Down at Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie and Applejack were getting ready to teach Takumi to tote apples around in a cart. "You're getting better at this" Applejack told him "I want you to haul this cart of apples from here to the barn" Applejack pointed towards the barn, which was a couple yards away from them "And try to keep an eye out for rocks" Applejack warned "We don't wanna a repeat of the other day" Applejack added with a slight shudder. "Got it" Takumi responded, then Applejack hitched him up to the cart and he started to pull the cart slowly, still having a bit of a problem but not as much as before. He got half way there in just a few minutes, faster than he had before. "You're doing great, Takumi!" Pinkie said to him cheerfully, "If you keep this up, you'll be a pro in no time!". "Thanks, Pinkie" he replied smiling at her, once he got to the barn, he was slightly out of breath. Applejack and Pinkie Pie walked over to him. "That was great!" Applejack told him "Like Pinkie said, you'll be a master at this pretty soon if you keep improving like this". "That's cool" Takumi replied. "Let's keep working at it" Applejack said "You can't improve if you're not trying". "Alright" Takumi said and the three Earth ponies headed back to the tree they were standing under when they began the lesson. At Twilight's castle, Twilight and Rarity were getting ready for Iketani's next magic lesson. "Okay, Iketani" Twilight said to him "We are going try and have you lift something a little less...breakable" she pointed towards a broom lying on the floor "Now like with the teacup, focus on it". "But not too hard" Rarity added "We don't want broom splinters everywhere". "Alright" Iketani responded, he then started to focus on the broom, it started to lift off the ground. "Good job, now lift it a little higher" Twilight instructed, Iketani did it "Alright can you set it down by the wall over there?" Twilight asked him. "I can try" Iketani answered, he then tried to start moving it, but suddenly he lost control, launched it like a missile, Rarity and Twilight barely had time to jump out of the way of the low-flying broom and it embedded itself in the wall. "Sorry about that" Iketani said apologetically. "It's fine" Twilight replied as she walked over and tried to remove the broom from it's place in the wall. Twilight was struggling to get it out, so Rarity trotted over to help her pull it out. "How did he manage to embedded a broom into a crystal wall?" Rarity asked Twilight in a whisper "I mean, how much magic power would it take to do that?". "I have no idea" Twilight answered, keeping her voice low, they got the broom out of the wall and she brought it back to Iketani. "Let's try that again" Twilight told him. Iketani nodded his head in reply, then started to lift the broom again. It started to hover over the ground, but again he lost control of, it only this time instead of embedding it in the walls of the castle, it flew out of a nearby window and it was sticking bristle side up with it's handle deep in the ground. A brown Earth Pony stallion had a shocked expression on his face, knowing if he had walked a few inches more he would have been hit by it. Twilight stick her head out the window that was now broken "Sorry" she called to the Earth Pony who nodded in reply and continued on his way, Twilight pulled her head back in and sighed "This is going to be a loooong day" she added.
Chapter 5: A Helping HoofA few days after their first few lessons, the guys were mostly improving, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Kenji and Itsuki were back in the park to practice flying more. "Aright guys, you've got hovering down pat" Rainbow told them "And you're getting better at flying" she looked at the two of them "I want you to show me your stuff, Kenji you're up first" she finished pointing at him. "Alright" Kenji responded, then took off to the sky, flying pretty fast. "You're doing great, Kenji!" Rainbow shouted "Keep it up!". Kenji then pulled off a corkscrew maneuver, perfectly! Rainbow, Fluttershy and Itsuki all looked on in shock, then Kenji performed three barrel rolls in a row before slowing down to land, his legs wobbled slightly when he did. "How was that?" Kenji asked. Rainbow still was in shock then she shook her head and said "That. Was. AMAZING!". "I don't know why I did that, it kinda just came to me" Kenji added modestly. "Alright Itsuki, your turn" Rainbow told him. Itsuki then got prepared to fly, he started flying and was flying at a normal pace, then decided to fly a little faster and did that pretty well, so he tried the corkscrew, which when he started to do it he did the first loop pretty well, the second one too then he tried the third one but didn't realize he was flying just a few feet above the ground. "ITSUKI!" Rainbow shouted "YOU'RE FLYING TO CLOSE TO THE GROUND YOU'RE GONNA.." Rainbow was cut off by Itsuki hitting the ground...hard. Rainbow Dash winced, Fluttershy had a horrified look on her face and Kenji cringed, using a wing to cover his face. "Oouuch" Itsuki groaned painfully "Flying sucks". "I'll go get the first aid kit" Fluttershy announced "Again". After Fluttershy returned with the first aid kit and wrapped Itsuki's hurt hoof in a bandage, she left to go check on her animals, Rainbow was talking with Kenji about his flying skills when she noticed Itsuki looked a little down. "Hey Kenji" Rainbow said to him "Why don't you practice a little more, I'm gonna go see if Itsuki's alright". "Got it" Kenji replied and he took off to the sky. Rainbow walked over to where Itsuki was sitting and sat down next to him. "Hey, Itsuki" Rainbow said to him "Is something bothering you?". "No" Itsuki replied sadly "It's nothing". "It sure sounds like something" Rainbow responded "You can tell me, is it about the flying?". Itsuki looked at her "Yeah" he then looked over and watched Kenji flying around with ease "Look how good Kenji's doing, he can do barrel rolls and I can't stay in the air for three seconds without falling on my face". "I know how that is" Rainbow admitted. "What?". "I know how it feels to fail at flying". "How can you?" Itsuki asked "From what I've heard, you're one of the best fliers ever". "I wasn't always that way". "What do you mean?". Rainbow looked around to make sure no one could hear her then she looked back at Itsuki. "When I was a filly, I couldn't fly all that well either" Rainbow told him. "Come on, you couldn't have been that bad". "They called me 'Rainbow Crash'" she said flatly. "Oh". "Yeah, but you know what I did? I trained and trained" Rainbow explained "I trained so hard, so I could achieve my life long dream to join the best flying team in Equestria, The Wonderbolts, and with all my practicing I finally reached my dream, so if a filly they called 'Rainbow Crash' can be a Wonderbolt, you can be an awesome flier" Rainbow then gave him a smile "And I'll help you any way I can, how about I become your personal flying coach? I think with a lot of practice, you'll be flying like a pro in no time. So, what do you say? ". Itsuki then reached over and gave Rainbow a hug "Thank you Rainbow Dash" he said tearfully. "Hehehe, thanks, I take that as a 'yes" Rainbow said, slightly blushing from the sudden hug, "Now, let's get back to training!". "Yes, ma'am!" Itsuki said. "And we'll start tomorrow morning" Rainbow told him. "Got it" Itsuki nodded and tried flying again. Down at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Takumi were getting ready to haul apples. "Alright, since you're gettin' so good at haulin' apples" Applejack drawled then she gave Takumi a determined stare "So we're gonna have ourselves a little race" she looked ahead "The race will be from here, at the edge of the road that leads to the farm, all the way over to the barn". Pinkie then hitched a cart to Applejack then one to Takumi, she then stood in front of them. "Okay ponies, on the count of three, you start this race, got it?" Pinkie asked. The two nodded their heads in response. "One".. They looked at each other. "Two.." They looked straight ahead. "THREE!!". Takumi and Applejack took off galloping quickly. "Alright, my little ponies, Applejack has the lead at the moment" Pinkie Pie announced as she watched them race, Applejack, like Pinkie said, had a good lead. "I think I've got this" Applejack thought to herself. "Okay, I've just got to focus" Takumi thought "I can do this" he then suddenly broke into a dead gallop. "Whoa-oh-oh" Pinkie sounded shocked "It looks like Takumi might be able to pull this off". Then right at that moment, Takumi pulled ahead of Applejack and won the race. "AND IT'S OVER!! TAKUMI WINS!!!!" Pinkie shouted, she then hopped over to the two tired ponies in front of the barn. "Wow, you did great Takumi" Applejack told him "I was sure surprised when you over took me". "Thanks" Takumi replied. "Well, that was an awesome race you two!" Pinkie Pie added happily. "Yeah, but I'm a might tired and wanna take a break" Applejack said to her. "Same here" Takumi added. At the castle, Twilight was trying to figure out what to do with Iketani's magic lessons. "So, we've tried teacups and brooms" Twilight said to him "And you couldn't control them, how about we try books?". Rarity trotted over to her and whispered "Are you sure that's a good idea? I hope you're using paperbacks because I don't think either one of us or anyone in the 10-foot radius wants to be hit with a low-flying hardcover book". "Relax, I'm only going to teach him how to turn the page of a book" Twilight told her. Twilight set a book on the floor in the middle of the three of them. "Okay Iketani, we're going to try something a little different" Twilight explained "You're going to try and turn a page in this book". "Do you think I can?" Iketani asked "I can't even lift up a teacup". "I think you can!" Twilight replied and opened the book "Just focus". Iketani focused on the page, it began to turn but quickly fell back down and the book slid across the ground and hit the wall. Iketani let out a defeated sigh, "I'll never get the hang of this" he said sounding disappointed. "You will get it, I know it!" Twilight said trying to cheer him up. "Some Unicorns have a harder time with magic than others, darling" Rarity added. "All I can do is make teacups explode and turn brooms into missiles" Iketani replied "I can't even turn a page in a book without having some sort of problem". Twilight walked over and placed a hoof on Iketani's shoulder "Listen Iketani" Twilight began "Not many ponies know about this, but I've had some problems with magic. Before I got into Celestia's school, I had to pass an entrance exam, I was very nervous and when the Sonic Rainboom happened, I lost control of my magic. I accidentally caused the ponies doing the exam to be caught in a magic bubble hovering over the ground, turned my parents into potted plants and caused a then a newly hatched Spike into a towering dragon!" she took a breath then continued "And I also had many failures before then! So, don't think that you're alone in having magic problems and don't ever, ever think that it's hopeless! You can do this". "Really?" Iketani asked hopefully. "I have the utmost confidence that you can!" Twilight told him. "I'm sure by the end of the week, you'll be a master of telekinsis" Rarity said with a smile. "You two really think so?" Iketani asked them. "Hey Twilight" Rarity said "I have and idea, why don't you do some one-on-one training with him?" she suggested "I mean, it might be easier for him and besides I've got to design some new outfits to sell at my boutiques". "That's a great idea" Twilight replied "Then I can really get to the historical and technical aspects of Unicorn magic!" she clapped her hooves excitedly "This is going to be so much fun! I'll have to get all my old magic training books from when I was still learning magic". "Well, if you think it will help" Iketani said "I'm up for anything". "Alright, let's do this!" Twilight said excitedly "We start in the morning!".
Chapter 6: MentorsIt was very early in the morning the next day, Rainbow Dash had her coach's cap and whistle on, Itsuki looked like it was taking all of the energy he had just to keep his eyes open. "Rainbow" Itsuki said yawning tiredly "When you said 'tomorrow morning' I didn't think you meant dawn". "If you want to be the best, you've got to train as hard as possible for as long as possible" Rainbow told him "And that means getting up as early as possible to make the most out of everyday". "It's going to be like this everyday?". "It will be until you learn to fly" Rainbow answered "But it will be worth it, don't you want to be the best flier you can be?". "Yes, I do". "Then it's going to be like this, I got up early to learn in flight school and even earlier in the Wonderbolts Academy and now I'm a Wonderbolt, the best of the best, so if you want to be like that, you have to train like one, so either give up and go home or work your hardest to be the best, got it?" Itsuki then got a determined look in his eyes "Got it". "Are you ready?". "YEAH!". "Then let's get to it!" Rainbow said encouragingly "First things first, let see if you can fly in a straight line for a few yards before we get to advanced stuff". "Okay" Itsuki replied, he then began hovering, then pushed himself forward, he went a few feet then fell on his face. "Again" Rainbow told him. Itsuki shook it off and tried again only to have the same result. "Again". They repeated the process for a few hours until Itsuki covered almost twelve yards without falling, he flew back towards Rainbow and landed in front of her. "Great job, Itsuki!" Rainbow said proudly "Now let's keep going". Itsuki flew back up and flew in a straight line, covering more and more ground each time, of course most of his landings were due to falling, but at least he was covering more ground. A little while later, Rainbow and Itsuki were taking a short break, Rainbow had brought some water for them to drink while they relaxed. "You're doing a great job today" Rainbow told him "You're covering so much distance, I'd say in a day or two, you'll have basic flight mastered". "Yeah, but I keep crashing, how can I master flying when I keep crashing?" he asked her. "You'll get the hang of it, I mean, think of how far you got last time!". "I still crashed". "It was a pretty epic crash though" Rainbow pointed out, taking a drink out of her bottle of water "I crashed into a garbage can as a filly in flight school". "Eww". "Yeah, that's how I got the nickname 'Rainbow Crash'" Rainbow winced at the memory "How about after we get you flying without much crashing, we teach you how to do tricks? I don't think you'll get a better trainer for that than a Wonderbolt!". "Sounds like that might be fun!". "Alright, but you have to do several successful flights before then" Rainbow told him " you got that?". "Yes, ma'am!" Itsuki said preparing to fly. "Now fly and give me twenty laps!" Rainbow shouted and Itsuki took off to the sky. At Friendship castle, Twilight was preparing for Iketani's lesson, she had several stacks of books around the room for the lesson, Iketani was sitting on a wooden stool in the center of the room, waiting for Twilight to began, Twilight walked over and sat at her desk. "Alright Iketani, we're going to begin the lessons today with a piece of magic history" Twilight began "In Pre- Equestria history, Twilight the first, my ancestor, invented the spell to help Unicorns teleport, they called it 'Winking', but it was the only spell all Unicorns could do, but all Unicorns could do one spell, linked to their special talent that they could do" she then took a breath and continued "A couple hundred years later, Unicorns all but lost their magical abilities, only a select few could do magic and all it could do was help create rainbows, so they had a magic wand to do spells but even that was limited. So that era is now referred to as Magic's Lost Age, it wasn't until a few years before ponies settled in Equestria, a Unicorn wizard named Star Swirl the Bearded and his apprentice Clover the Clever started to redevelop magic spells and create new ones, like Telekinesis which is now one of the most basic spells for Unicorns to learn today" she then looked over to Iketani "That is why, I'm starting you with Telekinesis, it's a spell every Unicorn can do, now I want you to lift that book sitting in front of you". "Okay, Twilight" Iketani responded, he then started focusing on the book, it started floating. "You're getting it" Twilight told him "Now can you set it on my desk over here?". "I'll try" Iketani answered as he started to make the book float towards Twilight, it got about half way there when Iketani lost control of it and it flew right at Twilight's head! "AHH!" Twilight screamed and ducked, the book just missing her by about six inches hitting the wall behind her, she then sat back up "I think I know what your problem is". "What?". "You focus too hard" Twilight began explaining "You need to relax a little when trying to cast a spell, or it can have disastrous results". "But how do I relax when you say I have to focus?". "I never said not to focus I said not to focus too hard" Twilight reminded him "Just focus a little and if you feel like you're losing control of your magic, relax a little". "Okay, I'm going to try this again" Iketani told her as he lifted up another book, the book began to float so he started to move it towards Twilight. He then felt like it was going to fly out of his grip and it started to shake rapidly. "Take a deep breath" Twilight advised him "It will help you". Iketani took a deep breath and the book stopped shaking, he kept moving the book until it was floating right above the desk and he set it down gently. "I did it!" Iketani announced happily. "Very good!" Twilight clapped her hooves "Now can you bring that whole stack over here?". "At once?". "If you think you can". "I'll try it" he started to focus on the stack of books, they started to float, he tried to bring them to over to the desk, but when he got to the desk they fell out of his grip and on to Twilight's head "I am so sorry Twilight!". Twilight moved the books and stacked them in a neat pile next to her, "It's fine Iketani, but why don't you stick to moving them one at a time?" she suggested. "That sounds like a plan". Twilight nodded then said "Can you move that stack of books over here?" she pointed towards a stack of books about six feet away from them. "Sure". "And remember, do it one at a time" she reminded. "Yes" he said as he started lifting the top book, brought it over to them and set it on the desk. About ten minutes later, the whole stack, which was about ten books high, was now on top of the desk. "Great job!" Twilight congratulated him "I think with a few lessons, you'll have this down in no time". "Thanks Twilight" Iketani said smiling. "You're welcome, now let's get to the next lesson" Twilight told him.
Chapter 7: Apple Trees and Haute CoutureChapter 7: Apple Trees and Haute Couture At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Takumi were harvesting the apples, it took Takumi a while to get the hang of applebucking, but after a few attempts he was doing it as well as any other pony. "Thanks for the help, Takumi" Applejack told him "With Big Mac and Granny Smith in Appleloosa, I needed the extra set of hooves". "No problem, AJ" Takumi replied as he started to move a cart full of apples towards the barn, he unloaded the cart and started heading back towards the orchard that he and Applejack were working in, when a little yellow filly came running towards him. "Hi there" the filly said happily "Are you that Takumi fella that my sister has been talkin' about?". Takumi smiled at her, "Yes I am" he said to her "You must be her little sister Apple Bloom". "Yup, that's me!" she replied with a huge grin "So ya helpin' out my sister today?". "Yes, I am". "That's cool, I heard you beat her in a cart pullin' race?". "I did". "Wow! How fast are ya?". "I'm not sure exactly" Takumi answered, he glanced at the cart he was pulling then looked back at Apple Bloom and smiled "Want to find out?". "How?". "Hop in the cart and I'll pull it". "Sure, sounds like fun!" she replied she then walked to the back of the cart and hopped in. "Hold on tight, Apple Bloom" Takumi said he then took off at gallop to where Applejack was standing, Takumi turned his head around and looked at Apple Bloom "how was that?". "That was fun!" Apple Bloom answered "I've never met an Earth pony that fast" she then hopped out of the cart "Thanks for the ride, Takumi". "You're welcome". Apple Bloom then ran off toward her clubhouse and then Applejack looked at Takumi. "That was mighty nice of ya, Takumi" Applejack told him "Looks like she had some fun". "She asked how fast I was, so I just showed her". "I'll just warn ya now, she'll probably ask you to take her and her friends on a ride one day". "And I'll take them on one if they do". Applejack smiled at him "Well, let's finish up collectin' these apples, we can get the rest in the mornin'". "Alright" Takumi nodded, just then Pinkie Pie came hopping up to them. "Hi guys!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "Hey Pinkie" Applejack responded "What brings ya here?". "I was on a walk through Ponyville and I walked by here and saw you two picking apples and just figured I'd stop by and say 'Hi'!" Pinkie explained, then saw all the apples that had been harvested "Wow, you guys are good, heeeey, Takumi, if you can't get back home I'm sure Applejack would love to give you a job working here at the farm!". Takumi chuckled "I'll keep that in mind". Suddenly Pinkie's tail started twitching. "My tail is twitching!" Pinkie told them "Somethings gonna fall from the sky!". "What?" Takumi asked clearly confused. "It's my Pinkie Sense" Pinkie began explaining to him "When my tail gets all twitchy it means something's going to fall". As if on cue there was some screaming, then a yellow blur came falling out of the sky and landed with a loud thud, knocking the cart full of apples over. "Ouuch" the yellow pony lying on the ground moaned. "Itsuki?" Takumi asked "Are you okay man?". "Been better" Itsuki replied as Rainbow Dash came flying up to them. "That was great Itsuki, you made it all the way to Sweet Apple Acres until you crashed" Rainbow told them. "Hooray for me" Itsuki said flatly with his face still on the ground, then Takumi helped his friend up. "How about we take a break for awhile and get back to flying later?" Rainbow suggested. "That sounds good" Itsuki answered and the two Pegasi headed off. "Well that was a little....weird" Takumi thought out loud. "That kinda stuff happens a lot" Applejack explained. "I'll remember that" Takumi responded as he collected the apples that had been knocked over and hauled them over to the barn. Kenji was sitting in the park, he was taking a break from flying and was kind of bored, so he walked around the park for awhile then stopped when he saw a certain white Unicorn waving at him. "Hello, Kenji" Rarity said to him. "Hi Rarity" Kenji waved back, then Rarity came trotting over to him. "Are you not training with Rainbow Dash anymore?" she asked him. "No, she's helping out Itsuki with his flying". "Are you doing anything at the moment?". "Nope, I'm taking a break from flying for awhile today". "Can I ask you for a favor?". "Sure, go ahead". "Would you mind being my model for a few hours?" Rarity asked "I'm designing some new outfits and I need a male model for my newest design" Rarity looked at him "So would you do that for me?" she asked hopefully. "Yeah, I've got nothing better to do right now". "Thank you, Kenji!" Rarity said enthusiastically "Now let's head to my shop". Once they were at Rarity's shop, she immediately started to look through her racks of newly designed outfits, she then found the suit she was looking for and brought it over to Kenji. "Is that the suit you want me to try on?" he asked. "Yes, it is" she said and started to help him put it on. After a few moments Kenji was in the suit and ready, then Rarity got a look on her face that said she was thinking of something. "IIIDEEEAAA" She said gleefully, she brought over her mini sewing kit and spools of thread "Now, if I just trim a little off the sleeves and fix the collar a bit..." she then set her thread and needles down "There, I think it looks perfect!". Kenji looked in the mirror at his reflection, "This looks great, you're good at this Rarity" he complimented. "Thank you, darling". "Anything else you need?". "If you wouldn't mind terribly to pose for some pictures to send to some potential clients?". "I don't mind at all". "Thank you so much". Rarity brought out her camera so she could send picture to clients when they asked for something or she wanted to show them one of her newest designs. "You know, Kenji?" Rarity said "I think you'd make a great fashion model, there aren't many stallion fashion models, so if you ever needed a job here in Equestria, come talk with me. I'd love to help get you a career in modeling". "Thank you, Rarity". "You're most welcome" Rarity told him "Now I need a few more pictures of this one and I have two more after that" she said as she snapped another picture.
Chapter 8: How Hard Can It Be?A few days later, Twilight had gotten a letter from her sister-in-law Princess Cadence, reminding her that she and Shining Armor were going to visit Canterlot for the weekend and that Twilight said she and her friends were going to babysit Flurry Heart, so Twilight was busy packing her suitcase to take with her, she later helped Spike pack, Spike said he could do it himself but he wasn't using Twilight's method of proper suitcase packing. A few hours later Twilight, Spike and the rest had their suitcases packed and were ready to head down to the train station. The four guys and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were going to see them off when Rarity remembered something. "Oh no, I just remembered we didn't ask anypony if they'd watch the girls while we were gone" Rarity announced. "Our train arrives in ten minutes, who are we going to get to watch them?" Rainbow asked. "We could watch them" Iketani volunteered. "Are you sure about that?" Applejack questioned "They can be quite a hoofful". "Oh come on, they're just three little fillies" Itsuki replied "I mean, how hard can it be?". "Don't say that!" Kenji told him. "I think we can handle this" Takumi assured them. "If you think you can, then okay" Twilight said, then the train pulled into the station "It's time to go, see you guys in few days". The seven of them boarded the train, leaving the guys and fillies at the station. "What do we do now?" Kenji asked. "How about we had back to the castle and go from there?" Iketani suggested. "Let's do that" Scootaloo agreed "I think we should have lunch when we get there, I don't know about you guys but I'm a little hungry". When they got to the castle and had lunch, they were all sitting in the living area, trying to think of what to do next. "I'm bored" Scootaloo groaned as she looked around the room and noticed that everyone also looked bored. So she tried to come up with an idea, then one popped into her head. "Hey, have you guys gotten a tour of Ponyville yet?". "No, we haven't" Kenji answered "We've only been to the bakery and me and Itsuki went to the park". "I've been to Sweet Apple Acres" Takumi told them. "I've only been to the bakery" Iketani said sounding sad. "Would you like a tour of our awesome town?" Scootaloo asked. The guys looked at each other and Iketani replied "Sure, sounds fun". "Well then, let's go!" Sweetie Belle added enthusiastically. And the seven of them left the castle and headed into town. Once they were in town, the Crusaders gave them the grand tour of Ponyville. "Over there is the ice cream parlor" Scootaloo told them pointing a building with an ice cream on top, she then pointed at a different building "And that's the pizzeria". "That's my sister's dress shop" Sweetie Belle said pointing towards Carousel Boutique. "That's really nice on the inside" Kenji commented. "How would you know?" asked Itsuki "I might have been to visit Rarity while you were getting in some extra practice with Rainbow, It's no big deal" He replied sheepishly "It kinda sounds like it is, dude" replied Takumi "What did you do while you were there that's got you so worked up?" Iketani asked "It's nothing, I was just helping Rarity with one of her outfits, it's no big deal" Kenji replied "Did you like, play dress up or something?" Itsuki asked trying not to laugh "It was not dress up, it was modeling" Kenji snapped Itsuki, Iketani and Takumi looked at each other, then burst out laughing. "You guys suck" muttered Kenji "Anyway. That's Town Hall" Apple Bloom added gesturing towards the big building in the center of town, ignoring the uproarious laughter. "This is a nice little town" Takumi said, wiping tears from his eyes. "We may not live in a big city like Canterlot, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but Ponyville" Apple Bloom told them " I mean, my family helped found this town!". "Really?" Itsuki asked curiously. "It's true" Apple Bloom answered "I can tell y'all the story if you want". "Sure, it sounds interesting" Kenji replied. Apple Bloom proceeded to tell them the story of Ponyville's founding as they walked through the town. She told them about how her Grandma found the magical Zap Apple Trees that helped the settler ponies get through the winter and how that was the start of the little village that would become Ponyville. After she finished her story, they had walked out of town and were close to the Everfree Forest. "Let's go back into town" Apple Bloom said to them "Don't know about you guys, but I really don't want to go into the forest right now". "Oh come on! Don't be such a scaredy pony" Scootaloo told Apple Bloom "We wanted to give them a tour of our town, right? We just have to show them at least a small part of the forest". "I'm not so sure about that, Scootaloo" Iketani responded "Twilight has told me about the Everfree Forest, it's not the nicest place in Equestria". "It can't be that bad" Itsuki said "It might be cool to adventure into the unknown forest". "I think I'm with Iketani and Apple Bloom, let's just go home" Kenji replied. "I agree" Sweetie Belle added. "You guys are no fun" Scootaloo said pouting a little, then she got a determined look on her face and turned to Itsuki "Do you want to go with me into the forest?". "Sure, I'm up for a little adventure" Itsuki answered, they started to walk towards the forest entrance and then they looked back. "Are you sure you guys don't want to join us on an awesome adventure?" Scootaloo asked. "I think we're all sure" Apple Bloom answered. "Alright, we'll tell you all about what you missed when we get back" Scootaloo informed them "Let's go Itsuki" Scootaloo said, then they both headed into the forest. "Do you think we should follow them?" Kenji asked. "I don't think it will be a problem" Sweetie Belle told him. "Why is that?" Iketani inquired. "Scootaloo will want to come back after they walked a few yards" Apple Bloom explained. "And besides, when has Itsuki been the adventurous type?" Takumi pointed out. "You have a point there" Kenji responded. "I'm sure they'll be back in an hour or so" Apple Bloom said "Let's go back to the castle and wait for them". They all agreed and headed back to the castle to wait for their friends. A few hours later, they had been playing some games while they waited for their friends to come back. It had been almost four hours since they went into the forest, so they all decided to go and look for them. It didn't take too long to get to the beginning of the forest and once they were there, they took a moment to think about what they were going to do. "How far into the forest do you think they could be?" Iketani asked. "It's been awhile, they could be right at the front or somewhere in the middle" Apple Bloom answered "The Everfree Forest can be very confusing, believe me I know". "What do you think we should do?" Kenji asked her. "I think we should look for them" Sweetie Belle replied. "Well of course, we're gonna look for 'em" Apple Bloom responded "I think he was asking how". "Yeah, I was" Kenji told her "So, how do we do this? Do we go in pairs? Or by ourselves?". "NO!" Apple Bloom shouted "Never, ever, go into the Everfree Forest alone". "Alright, so do we split up into pairs or just stay as a group?" Takumi asked. "I think we should stay as a group" Apple Bloom told him "Much safer that way". "Got it" Kenji replied "Ready to go in?". "Yup" Apple Bloom said to him. They all slowly walked towards the forest, keeping an eye on their surroundings. They had already been searching for awhile and realized it was getting late. "We better hurry and find them before it gets dark" Apple Bloom urged "We don't want to be in the Everfree Forest at night". They quickened their pace to a trot and kept their eyes and ears open, when suddenly they heard a scream, then a howl. "Oh no" Apple Bloom said clearly worried "That sounded like a timberwolf!". "A what?" Kenji asked. "It's a wolf made of tree bark, leaves and vines" Apple Bloom explained "They try to eat ponies and anything else that wanders into Everfree". "Then let's hurry and find them" Iketani said and the group broke into a gallop, going towards the source of the scream. When they got there, they saw Scootaloo and Itsuki backed into a corner by a pack of timberwolves. "We have to get there attention!" Sweetie Belle told them. "We need a distraction" Apple Bloom added then turned and looked at the guys "Kenji do you think you could fly by them and take their attention away from Scootaloo and Itsuki?". "Sure" Kenji answered then he took off, flying low, he managed to buzz the timberwolves and make them turn towards him. "Hey timberwolves, come get me!". The timberwolves growled and ran towards him, Kenji took off to the sky and made the timberwolves look up at him. "Alright Takumi, I've seen you applebuck, do you think you could take out some of the timberwolves?". "On it" Takumi told her, then he ran, full gallop at the pack of timberwolves, one turned towards him and he bucked it in the head, making it collapse. The others charged him, but met similar fates, as more and more timberwolves showed up, Takumi took them done soon after. Kenji got into the fight by doing a nose dive and landing on top of two of them. Iketani noticed one charging at Scootaloo, so he ran towards it then used his magic to pick it up and threw it at a nearby rock. Soon all that remained was little piles of broken twigs and leaves. They went over to check on their frightened friends. "Are you okay, Scootaloo?" Iketani asked her. "Y-yeah" Scootaloo said nervously, she then looked up at him "Thank you for saving me Iketani" she then galloped over to him and attempted to wrap her hooves around him, Iketani then wrapped a hoof around her and pulled her close. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes "I don't want to go into Everfree like this again, I thought we were going to die". "I know" Itsuki added clearly shaken "It's terrifying out here!". All of a sudden, a glow formed over the piles of sticks and started to rebuild the timberwolves! Then with a howl, the newly formed timberwolves started running at them. Iketani used his magic to place a now shaking Scootaloo on his back then he and the rest of the group began running through the forest. "How are we going to lose them?!" Itsuki asked panicking "They're already gaining on us!". "We just have to keep moving" Apple Bloom told them. "But what if we get deeper into the forest and get lost?" Kenji asked. "I don't know" Apple Bloom answered. Then Iketani got an idea, he wasn't sure it would work but he had to try. He focused his magic like Twilight explained in one of her many magic lectures. His horn lit up in a brighter blue than usual and he and the group disappeared in a flash of light. They reappeared just outside of the forest, everyone of them out of breath, Iketani most exhausted due to the extreme amount of magic he just used. Scootaloo jumped off of the back of her rescuer and looked at him, "I didn't know any Unicorn could do that, the only one I know of is Twilight". "She...says..its..a..hard..spell..to do" Iketani explained to her, sounding very tired and slightly dazed "So...most Unicorns..avoid..using..it" he then looked about ready to collapse. "I think we should head back to the castle before Iketani falls over" Kenji told everyone. Everypony agreed and the headed off to the castle.
Chapter 9.1: No WordsChapter 9.1: No Words The next day, everyone was nice and well-rested after the previous day's timberwolf encounter. Apple Bloom was making some breakfast while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were setting out plates. A little while later the guys walked into the kitchen and offered some assistance to the three filles. After they had finished breakfast, Takumi noticed something very strange about his friend. "You've been very quiet today Itsuki" Takumi said to him "Is something wrong?". Itsuki nodded his head slowly. "What's wrong man?" Kenji asked. Itsuki pointed at his mouth. "Can't you tell us?" Iketani asked him. Itsuki shook his head at him. "You can't tell us?" Takumi asked. Itsuki nodded his head. "Yes you can or yes you can't?" Kenji asked. Itsuki then opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out, so he used his hooves to make gestures. "What happened?" Sweetie Belle asked him curiously. Itsuki pointed his hooves up in an 'I don't know' gesture. "You lost your voice?" Scootaloo asked him from where she was sitting next to Iketani. Itsuki nodded his head sadly. "How?" Iketani wondered out loud. Itsuki did the same 'I don't know' gesture from before. "Do you feel sick?" Takumi inquired. Itsuki shook his head. "Can ponies just lose their voices?" Iketani asked. "No, they can't" Apple Bloom answered, then a thought came to her head "Unless..". "Unless what?" Takumi asked the little filly "What do you think happened?". Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo then at Itsuki "Did either of you see blue flowers?". Itsuki nodded his head quickly. "Did you walk in them?". Itsuki nodded again. "Uh oh". "What 'uh oh'? What happened?" Kenji asked "And what do blue flowers have to do with this?". "The blue flowers are called poison joke, there a plant that can make weird things happen to you" Apple Bloom told them "My big sister and her friends had a run-in with it a few years back" she then continued "It did all sorts of weird stuff, but luckily there is a cure and I have a friend who can make it!". Itsuki perked up when he had that. "Great!" Takumi said happily "Let's go get it!". "Are you sure you want to?" Kenji said teasingly "I mean, look how quiet he is". Itsuki looked ready to cry at that statement, Takumi placed a reassuring hoof on his best friends shoulder. "We're going to get the cure" he told him. After awhile they were out walking in Ponyville then came to the beginning of the Everfree Forest. Scootaloo stayed very close to Iketani like he was the only one who could save her if the timberwolves came back again. Iketani kept a close eye on her, making sure she was safe. He could almost feel the fear that the poor filly had, so he made sure to walk at the same pace as her. Just to make her feel more comfortable. Once they were in the middle of the forest, a little hut came into view. Apple Bloom went over and knocked on the front door, it was soon answered by a certain Zebra. "Who has come to visit me here?" She asked "Why, it's Apple Bloom my dear!" she then looked at the group of ponies behind her "Who are your new friends? Does one have a problem I must mend?". "Yes, Itsuki here got into some poison joke and he needs the cure you can make" Apple Bloom explained pointing her hoof towards Itsuki. "Alright now, just wait a minute or two, so I can make the special brew" Zecora told them and disappeared into her home. A little later she returned with the ingredients to make the cure, she then looked at Itsuki and said "Now that the poison joke has had its laugh, you just need to take a bath". "So, you don't drink it?" Takumi asked her. "Nope, you just need to bathe in it for a little while" Apple Bloom told him. "I think our visit is nearing its end, I hope to see you soon my friend" Zecora said before entering her hut and shutting the door. "Come on, let's get to the spa" Apple Bloom said "I'm sure we can borrow the relaxation pool like we did when my sister's friends had to get rid of their poison joke problems" "And I don't know about anypony else" Scootaloo added "I don't want to be in the forest any longer than I have to be". Everypony else agreed and quickly left the forest of Everfree. Once they were at the spa, the owners, Aloe and Lotus, let them borrow the relaxation pool like before, but unlike before the group encountered a slight problem. Itsuki refused to go in. "Come on man, just get in" Takumi urged "You want to be able to talk again right?". Itsuki nodded. "You have to get in for the cure to work Itsuki" Apple Bloom explained "My sister says it actually is quite nice". But for some reason, Itsuki still refused to go in. "What's the matter?" Iketani asked "Do you not like how it smells?". Itsuki shook his head. "Do you think the water is too hot?" Scootaloo asked. Itsuki shook his head again, then he pointed a hoof at Kenji. "Me?" Kenji asked and Itsuki nodded "What about me?". Itsuki used his hooves to gesture away from them, then he pointed to his mouth, then to himself and back at Kenji. "I think he wants you to apologize for what you said earlier" Takumi said to Kenji "When you suggested we leave him this way". "That hurt your feelings, that much?" Kenji asked. Itsuki nodded in reply. "I'm really sorry Itsuki" Kenji told him "I shouldn't have said that". Itsuki then smiled and nodded as if to say 'Apology accepted'. "Now well you go in?" Takumi asked. Itsuki stuck a hoof in the water then pulled it back out, Iketani getting tired of this whole charade, used his magic to grab Itsuki and drop him into the water. A moment later, a soaking wet Itsuki poked his head above the water. "Hey man!" Itsuki shouted at Iketani "That wasn't fair!". "At least you can talk again right?" Iketani asked him. "Yeah, hey wait, I can talk again!" Itsuki said happily "I don't ever want to feel that way again". "Alright then" Apple Bloom said "Now how about we get on outta here? We still have a whole day ahead of us!". Everypony agreed, and once Itsuki was all dried off, the seven of them head back into town. Later on, they were trying to figure out how to spend the rest of the day, ideas were thrown out here and there but were usually quickly shot down. Then Takumi thought of one. "How about I take you girls on a cart ride through town?" Takumi suggested. Apple Bloom jumped up excitedly "That's a great idea!" she beamed "Let's do that!". "What's so special about a cart ride through Ponyville" Scootaloo asked "I mean I could do that and, we have". "Not like this" Apple Bloom got a huge grin on her face "Takumi, you go get a cart and we'll need our helmets". "Huh?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said in unison. "Trust me" Apple Bloom smiled widely at her best friends "This is gonna be awesome!". After about fifteenth minutes, Takumi was in front of the castle, already hitched up to the cart, Iketani and Kenji help the girls get into it. "You ready guys?" Takumi asked while looking at them. "Yeah" they all answered. "Alright, get ready" Takumi told them "You might wanna hold on to something if I were you" Apple Bloom warned. "Why is that? It's not like he's-" Scootaloo was cut off as Takumi broke into a fast gallop, it surprised both her and Sweetie Belle, who was currently holding on for dear life to the back of the cart. "WHOO-HOO!" Apple Bloom whooped, then after the initial shock had passed, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle joined in on the happy shouting. Takumi glanced back at them and smiled, he was having a lot of fun too. He ran all the way from the castle to the edge of town, but after so much running, he was starting to get tired. So he headed back to the castle with the girls still excitedly shouting. He came to a stop right at the stairs to the castle's front door and the fillies hopped out of the cart. "That was awesome!" Scootaloo told him "Thanks Takumi, maybe me and you should have a race one day". Takumi smiled at her "Sounds like a plan". "I don't think I've been on a cart ride that fast!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed "I think he may be faster than Scootaloo!". "HEY!" Scootaloo shouted. "I told ya he was fast" Apple Bloom added then she looked at Takumi "Thanks again". "You're welcome" Takumi replied. It was beginning to get late so they headed inside to make dinner, after that they were about to head off to bed, there was a knock at the door. Apple Bloom yawned and went to answer it. She opened the door and saw a grey Pegasus mare standing there. "Oh hi Derpy" Apple Bloom said trying to hide a yawn "What brings you here?". "I just wanted to let you know that we have a big thunderstorm planned for all day tomorrow" Derpy explained "So, if you need to make any preparations, I'd do them now" she then turned to leave "I've got to go, got more ponies to talk to" she smiled at Apple Bloom as she left. Apple Bloom shut the door and locked it, then headed over to where everypony else was standing. "What was that about?" Kenji asked through a yawn. "Just Derpy telling us that Cloudsdale has a storm planned for all day tomorrow, but we don't have any preparations to make here or at the farm, Applejack knew about this before she left, she said "Everything is already prepped for this storm" Apple Bloom told him "We'll just be inside all day tomorrow, that's all". "Alright, I think it's time for us to all go to bed" Iketani said then he walked towards his room "Good night, everypony". "Good night" everyone replied and headed to their rooms for the night.
Chapter 9.2: The SilenceWhen I woke up in the morning, I sat up in my bed and stretched my wings out. Rainbow Dash suggested that I do that every morning so my wings don't cramp up when I try to fly. I yawned and jumped out of bed, I walked over to the bedroom door, I opened it and saw my friends walking by. I tried to say good morning but I couldn't, my mouth just opened and the words didn't come out. "That was weird" I thought, I tried to get their attention but I couldn't say anything, It was very odd and concerned me, I tried to think of a reason why I couldn't talk and I thought of one. My voice was gone and I didn't know why, my throat didn't feel sore and I didn't feel sick, I never heard of anyone just losing their voice before. I wondered if the Timberwolf attack had anything to do with it, but I remembered none of them got that close to us. So I thought "Did I just lose my voice and would I get it back?". The thought of never being able to talk again scared me. A lot. So, I tried other ways to get them to notice me, I tried waving my hooves but that didn't work because they weren't looking at me. I then tried stomping my hooves but no sound came from that either. I was completely silenced and I felt like I wanted to cry. I quickly ran up to catch them, and they finally noticed I was there, lifting the worry that I turned invisible too. "Hey Itsuki" Takumi said to me and I nodded to him, he gave me a strange look but quickly shook his head and we continued to the kitchen. Once we were there, I saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders were making breakfast. Well Apple Bloom was, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were setting the table. When we entered the room, I saw that Scootaloo noticed Iketani and ran up to hug him. It was really cute and it made me smile for a moment. We then helped finish making breakfast and sat down to eat. I was wondering if they'd ever notice that I hadn't talked at all yet. "You've been very quiet today Itsuki" Takumi said to me "Is something wrong?". I nodded my head. "What's wrong man?" Kenji asked. I pointed at my mouth, hoping they'd get the idea. "Can't you tell us?" Iketani asked him. I shook my head at him. "You can't tell us?" Takumi asked. I nodded my head again. "Yes you can or yes you can't?" Kenji asked. I showed them that I couldn't talk, so I tried telling them that, letting the fact no words came out when I opened my mouth. "What happened?" Sweetie Belle asked me. I lifted my hooves to tell her I didn't know. "You lost your voice?" Scootaloo asked me. I nodded my head. "How?" Iketani asked me. I did the same gesture I did to Sweetie Belle. "Do you feel sick?" Takumi inquired. I shook my head again. "Can ponies just lose their voices?" Iketani asked. "No, they can't" Apple Bloom answered, then a thought came to her head "Unless..". "'Unless?' " I thought "What does she mean 'Unless'?". "Unless what?" Takumi asked her like he read my thoughts, can Earth Ponies do that? I'd have to ask Twilight that when she gets back, if I can talk again by then that is. "What do you think happened" he asked. Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo then at me "Did either of you see blue flowers?". I nodded my head, I remember seeing a huge patch of bright, blue flowers in the forest. "Did you walk in them?" she asked. I nodded. I noticed that Apple Bloom had a worried look on her face "Uh oh". "What 'uh oh'? What happened?" Kenji asked her "And what do blue flowers have to do with this?". "The blue flowers are called poison joke, there a plant that can make weird things happen to you" Apple Bloom told us "My big sister and her friends had a run-in with it a few years back" she then continued "It did all sorts of weird stuff, but luckly there is a cure and I have a friend who can make it!". I felt some relief when she said that there was a cure for this. "Great!" Takumi said happily "Let's go get it!". "Are you sure you want to?" Kenji said teasingly "I mean, look how quiet he is". That comment made me upset, I felt like I wanted to cry, it hurt my feelings. Does my talking bother him that much? Do I talk that much? I suddenly felt something on my shoulder, I turned and saw that Takumi had put his hoof on it. "We're going to get the cure" he told me reassuringly. When Apple Bloom told us that her friend lived in the Everfree Forest, I was a little nervous about going back there after last night. But I went along with my friends, even Scootaloo came along, which sorta surprised me after how scared she got. Then I noticed she hadn't left Iketani's side since we left the castle. After we met Apple Bloom's friend, a Zebra named Zecora, I found the way she talked kinda cool, trying to come up with rhymes for everything can't be easy, I wondered if I could try talking like that, but I think it would annoy everyone more. Zecora gave us the cure and told us I needed to take a bath with them. Apple Bloom said something about going to the spa. Zecora said goodbye and we left the forest. "And not a moment too soon" I thought. Once we were at the spa, Apple Bloom helped prepare the bath with the cure in it, but I didn't want to go in yet. Not until Kenji apologized for what he said to me at breakfast. "You have to get in for the cure to work Itsuki" Apple Bloom explained to me "My sister says it actually is quite nice". "Nope, not going in, not yet" I thought to myself. "What's the matter?" Iketani asked "Do you not like how it smells?". I shook my head. "Do you think the water is too hot?" Scootaloo asked me. I shook my head and pointed at Kenji. "Me?" Kenji asked and I nodded "What about me?". I used my hooves to gesture away from them, then I pointed to my mouth, I pointed to myself then back at Kenji. "I think he wants you to apologize for what you said earlier, when you suggested we leave him this way" Takumi said to Kenji, seriously can he read my thoughts? Kenji looked over to me "That hurt your feelings, that much?" he asked. I nodded my head. "I'm really sorry Itsuki" Kenji told me "I shouldn't have said that". I smiled and nodded my head "Apology accepted" I thought to myself. "Now well you go in?" Takumi asked me. I stuck my hoof in the water and quickly pulled it back out. "The water is really hot" I thought "I wonder if I wait a little longer it will-" my thoughts were cut off as I felt myself floating off the ground, then I was above the water. I turned and saw that Iketani had an irritated look on his face. "He must be using his magic to lift me up" I thought "He better put me down outside of the water or I'll-" my thoughts were once again cut off as I fell into the water with a splash, I stuck my head above the surface and glared at him. "Hey man! That wasn't fair!" I shouted at him. "At least you can talk again right?" Iketani asked me with a small grin. "Yeah, hey wait, I can talk again!" I said happily "I don't ever want to feel that way again". "Alright then" Apple Bloom said "Now how about we get on outta here? We still have a whole day ahead of us!". I dried off with a towel Scootaloo gave me, as we left Kenji walked up beside me. "I'm really sorry about what I said to you earlier" Kenji said to me "I didn't think it would hurt your feelings that much". "It did" I told him "But I also didn't realize that I talked that much, do I really annoy you that much?". "You can be extremely chatty, but not enough to make it that you should never talk again" Kenji answered "How did it feel not being able to talk?". "It was... The.. Worst thing... Ever!" I replied. "Wow, that bad?". "Yes" I said to him "I don't want to be like that ever again". "Then stay out of Poison Joke" Kenji said with a smile. We both laughed as we left the spa and headed back to the castle.
Chapter 10: Rain, Rain, Go AwayThe clouds outside were a dark ominous grey, every so often there would be a strike of lightning and a crack of thunder. The rain pounded harshly against the windows and the group of ponies were sitting or laying around the living area, trying to think of something to do. Any ideas that were suggested were quickly shot down, but then Scootaloo got an idea. "How about we tell you some stories about what has happened in Equestria these past few years?" Scootaloo suggested, "I mean, Twilight and her friends have had some pretty awesome adventures". "Sure, sounds like a good idea" Kenji replied. Scootaloo looked at her friends, "How about we start with Nightmare Moon's return?". "That's a great one!" Apple Bloom responded. "Alright, let's start from the beginning" Scootaloo then cleared her throat "It all started in Canterlot and Twilight was reading a book.." "There's a surprise" Iketani muttered sarcastically. Scootaloo ignored that and continued, "She got to a part about the legend of The Mare in The Moon, she then tried to warn Princess Celestia about it, but she thought Twilight was getting all worked up about nothing, so she sent Twilight here to Ponyville to see how things were coming for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration" she took a breath "but Twilight was convinced that Nightmare Moon was returning that night, so she tried to get through checking all the preparations as quickly as possible. Then early the next morning when the sun was supposed to be coming up, the legendary Mare in the Moon appeared and threatened to make cause Eternal Night, and Twilight went on a quest to find the only thing that could stop her, The Elements of Harmony!". Apple Bloom then spoke up "My sister and her friends went into the Everfree Forest to find them, it seemed that each one of them had to pass some sort of test to prove their Element". Scootaloo nodded "Yeah, and when they finally got to the Castle of the Two Sisters, Twilight tried to make the Elements activate, but had no luck" she continued "But when Twilight was in trouble, she realized something, she was happy to hear the others and that she knew where the real Elements were, so they were able to stop Nightmare Moon and bring back Equestria's second Princess, Luna, ruler of the night!". "Wow, that is so cool!" Itsuki said "They're awesome!". "I know right?" Scootaloo responded "Want to hear another one?". "YES!" Itsuki nearly shouted. Scootaloo then told them the tales of the Elements of Harmony, about when they defeated Discord, how Twilight's brother Shining Armor and his then wife-to-be Princess Cadence, defeated Queen Chrysalis, right before their wedding, how Spike and Cadence saved the Crystal Empire from Sombra, about Twilight and her friends defeating Tirek, about returning the Cutie Marks to the ponies in Starlight's village and when Starlight returned for revenge and took Twilight on a trip through time and last but not least, earlier this year when Flurry Heart shattered the Crystal Heart and nearly doomed the Empire to be buried in a pile of snow. The guys seemed to be surprised and very impressed by what those six mares have done. "That is so amazing!" Itsuki said about all the stories "The six of them are so cool". "And I'm proud to say my big sis is among them!" Apple Bloom added holding her head up high. "Me too!" Sweetie Belle chimed in happily. "While she may not really be my sister" Scootaloo told them "I'm proud to say Rainbow Dash is my honorary big sister". "Hey, since you've told us stories about your friends, how about I tell you about my best friend?" Itsuki suggested. "Yeah!" The Crusaders answered in unison. Itsuki tapped his hoof against his chin, trying to think of the perfect one to start with, then he thought of it. "I'm going to tell you about the first time I saw Takumi drift race" Itsuki told them. The Crusaders gathered around him, eager to hear this tale. After awhile, Itsuki had told them a number of stories and was just finishing up the current one he was telling. "And that's how Takumi beat 'Akagi's White Comet', the legendary and at the time undefeated Ryosuke Takahashi!" Itsuki told them. "Woooow" The Crusaders said in unison sounding awestruck, smiles on all their faces. "I know, right?" Itsuki added "Isn't Takumi just the coolest?". "Drift racing sounds like flying" Scootaloo said "I wish I could go Drifting". "Me too!" Apple Bloom replied. "Me Three!" Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Maybe if we can go back and if you can come to our world, we could take you on a run" Itsuki suggested. "That would be so cool!" Apple Bloom responded. "What do you think, guys?" Itsuki asked "Do you think we could do that?". Takumi, Iketani and Kenji nodded their heads in reply. "YAY!" The Crusaders said together happily. "So, how has the 'How to be a Pony' training coming?" Apple Bloom asked "I kinda know how Takumi's has been going, but what about you guys?". "They've been going good" Iketani answered "Twilight's a great teacher". "So is Rainbow Dash" Itsuki added "She says I've really been improving". "Which means that he doesn't crash as much" Kenji said with a slight smirk. Everypony in the room burst out laughing at that remark. "I wish I could join you and Rainbow Dash flying" Scootaloo told them "It sounds like you have fun". "Why can't you?" Kenji asked "Haven't learned yet? I'm sure if that's the case, Rainbow would let you join us or I could help you if you'd like". "That's not it" Scootaloo explained then she let out a sad sigh, "I can't fly, my wings are too small to get me into the air, so I just use my scooter to go from place to place". "So, you've never been flying?" Iketani asked her. "No" Scootaloo answered, tearing up a little, "The closest I've gotten is Rainbow either holding me or letting me ride on her back". Iketani thought about something for a moment, then he walked over to Scootaloo. "I know it's not much different to being held up" Iketani told her "But I have a way for you to fly" he looked at her "How much do you trust me?". Scootaloo looked at him with a flicker of hope in her eyes "I trust you a lot". "Alright, just give me a moment" Iketani said, then he began to focus and then Scootaloo began to float a few inches off the ground "Are you ready?" he asked her. "Ready!" Scootaloo replied, then Iketani lifted her higher and higher off the ground, once she was near the castle's ceiling, he started to gently move her about, making Scootaloo giggle happily. "This is soo cool!" She exclaimed. "I'm glad you having fun!" Iketani replied with a huge grin, he was very happy seeing Scootaloo having so much fun. A few minutes later Iketani slowly lowered her back to the ground, her hooves touched the ground lightly, she then looked at Iketani with the biggest grin ever. "Thank you soo much, Iketani!" She told him excitedly, she then galloped over to him and wrapped her hooves around him. "It was no problem at all, Scootaloo" Iketani responded, returning her hug. "AWWWWWWWWWWWWW" All the ponies in the room said together. A few moments later, everypony was sitting around trying to plan what to do next. Several hours later, the castle's front doors opened up, revealing six mares and one dragon. "We're home guys!" Twilight called out and the seven of them walked over to the door that led to the living area, Twilight opened it slowly and let out a soft gasp. In the room, there were ponies that were sound asleep all over, Takumi was asleep on a chair, Itsuki and Kenji were both asleep on opposite ends of the couch, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were on the floor and Scootaloo was snuggled up with Iketani on a smaller couch. "AWWWWWWWWWWWWW" They all said at once. "Let's go to into the bedrooms, quietly" Twilight told her friends "I don't want to wake them up" then she got an idea, she carefully pulled out a camera from her saddlebags and took a few pictures of the scene then she put it back "Now, let's go to bed everypony, I'm very tired". The seven of them quietly headed to the bedrooms Twilight had made up just in case her friends needed or wanted to spend the night. The next morning, the ponies were all having breakfast together and the Crusaders were filling them in on the past weekend. "It sounds like you had a great time together" Twilight said to them, "But you never really explained how you guys escaped the timberwolves so easily" "Oh yeah, Iketani teleported us away from them" Scootaloo told her casually "It was awesome!". Twilight had chosen that moment to take a sip of her tea, which she quickly spat out. "WHAT?!?!" Twilight shouted in shock.
Chapter 11: The Dynamometer"What?" Twilight asked again "You teleported? she asked Iketani. "Yeah, I did" Iketani answered "I just did what you said when talking about the history of Teleportation Spells". "Wow, that is really cool" Twilight told him "You must have been exhausted after that". "I felt like I was going to pass out" Iketani replied "But I made it back to the castle and into my room before I fell asleep". "So you made it all the way across town and back to your room?" Twilight asked. "Yes, why do you ask?" Iketani said to her. "I need to check something" Twilight said then she jumped off her chair and ran to the library, when everyone else joined her, she had several books floating around her. "What's up, Twilight?" Rainbow asked. Twilight didn't respond. "I don't think she's gonna be talking right now" Rainbow told everyone "So, I think we should head on out of here, come on Itsuki and Kenji, let's do some more flying". The three of them left. "I think I should go check on my animals" Fluttershy said as she left. "I've got to go too, my outfits don't design themselves" Rarity announced as she left. "I've got to make sure nothin' happened at the farm since last night's storm" Applejack said "I know we had it locked up tighter than a drum, but I still need to check". "I'll go with you, just in case you need some help" Takumi told her. "I'll come too!" Pinkie Pie added. "We better go too, I want to make sure nopony is waiting for us with a Cutie Mark problem" Apple Bloom told her friends. "Just a second" Scootaloo said then she galloped over to Iketani and hugged him "See you later!" she said to him happily. Iketani smiled at her "See you later, Scootaloo". Then the three fillies ran off, leaving Twilight and Iketani alone. It was silent for a few minutes until Iketani asked Twilight a question. "What are you looking for?". "A spell" Twilight answered "One that can tell me how strong your magic is". "Really?". Twilight nodded "After what you said about what happened after you teleported everypony out of the Everfree Forest, I'm curious as to how powerful you are". "But I told you I was completely exhausted after I did that". "Yes, but it was your first teleportation, you teleported six others with you and it was a long distance one" Twilight explained "A normal Unicorn would have passed out right after, but you walked all the way to the castle and to your bedroom, that would take a lot of magic and energy". "So you think I'm more powerful than a regular Unicorn?" "Possibly" Twilight said "It might have just been an adrenaline rush that night, but I'm still curious" she added as she flipped through the pages of a big, blue book "AH-HA!" Twilight exclaimed "I found it!" she said proudly "This spell is meant to see how powerful a Unicorn is". "How does it work?" Iketani asked. "I'm not quite sure" Twilight said "Nopony really understands how you check Unicorn magic, but I think it reads how much Magic Power you have". "Oh, like using a Dynamometer to check the Horse Power of a car!" Iketani thought out loud. "What?" Twilight asked "Horse Power? Dynamometer?". "I'll explain later" Iketani told her. "Ookaay" Twilight said questioningly but then continued "It will take a few minutes to get the full results but I really want to know and I bet you do too. Are you ready?". "Ready" Iketani answered. Twilight began casting the spell, suddenly a bright light flashed and lit the entire room up. Twilight looked over and noticed that Iketani's horn was glowing a bright blue. Iketani looked up at his horn then back to Twilight "What does that mean?". "It shows how powerful you are" Twilight told him "It says in the book, the brighter the glow the more powerful you are" she then continued "A few weeks before I left for Ponyville, Princess Celestia did this spell on me, she said my horn was extremely bright and not long after I became an Alicorn we re-did the test and it glowed so brightly, it lit up the room like somepony turned a spotlight on". "Wow" Iketani said "You must be very powerful!". Twilight blushed "Thank you, but you should have seen how powerful I was when I had all the Princesses magic, searchlight, no lie." she told him. "You could have used the glow to guide ships in a storm" she said with a chuckle "Wow" Iketani said with a grin. She then went back to research mode "I really wonder why a Unicorn that is actually a person from another world be so powerful..". "What do you mean?". "I mean that I'm curious as to why someone from a different world be more powerful than the average Unicorn" Twilight explained "I have another way to check, it's something I developed". Iketani tried to hide the near frightened look on his face before Twilight noticed but it was too late. "It's perfectly safe" Twilight reassured him "I've used it before, on Rarity, The Princesses and even myself" she explained "It works fine". "Alright, I'll let you use it" Iketani said, relieved to hear that the machine or what ever it was, was completely safe for use. Twilight lead him to her research room, she opened the door and Iketani looked in the room and saw a bunch of different machines and wires. They both entered the room and stood in the middle of it. "Can you just stay right here?" Twilight asked. "Okay" Iketani replied and did just that, Twilight trotted over, grabbed something that looked like it was out of an older science fiction/time traveling movie and she stuck it on his head. "Alright, I just turn this machine on and in a few moments we'll know just how powerful you are" Twilight told him. A few minutes later a long piece of paper came out of the printer part of the machine and Twilight began analyzing it. After several minutes went by and Twilight was still reading the paper, Iketani really wondered what was up. "What does it say?" he asked her. Twilight took a deep breath, "Okay Iketani, from what I read it says you have above average levels of magic" she told him. "You said that before". "I know, but it's how much more". "What do you mean?". "Your magic level is much higher than a normal Unicorn" Twilight explained "It's not as high as somepony like me but not much lower either". "So, I'm almost as powerful as you were as a Unicorn?" Iketani asked, completely shocked. "Yeah". "But why?". "I don't know" Twilight said "What kind of job do you have in your world?". "I work at a gas station". "So, nothing pertaining to magic in any form?". "No". "This is weird, cool, but weird" Twilight said "But this opens up so many possibilities" she grinned "I really want to work on your teleportation abilities first, since you have already done it once it should be easy to repeat it!" Twilight then looked over to Iketani "Let's go!" she said then the two of them disappeared in a flash of light. They reappeared in the library, Iketani was a little surprised by the sudden teleportation but shook it off. Twilight trotted over to a bookshelf and started looking for something. Twilight then walked over to a different shelf and looked there, a while later she had looked at every single one but she didn't find what she was looking for. "Where did I put that book.." Twilight thought out loud, then she remembered, she teleported away from the room then came back with a big box. "What's in the box?" Iketani asked. "This box has a bunch of my old magic school books from when I was learning magic" Twilight answered as she shuffled through the contents of the box "I know I have a book all about teleportation in here...Found it!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a book and showed it to Iketani "This book taught me everything there is to know about basic teleportation!" she then let Iketani use his own magic to hold the book "I have that book memorized so I know it like the back of my hoof" she told him "So, turn it to page fifty, that page has the teleportation spell in it. I want you to find it and cast it". "Alright" Iketani responded, he opened the book and started to flip through pages like Twilight taught him, but as he did it caused a huge cloud of dust to fly up at him, making him sneeze. "AAAACHHOO!" Iketani sneezed and disappeared in a flash of light, he reappeared a few feet over then sneezed again. Iketani kept sneezing and teleporting everywhere, finally coming to a stop, he was standing on top of the back of a chair, the chair tipped over with him on it. Twilight helped him back up. "Wow I've never seen a Unicorn do that before" Twilight said to him "I did that once when I was a filly, but it wasn't dust it was after I sniffed a flower" she then looked at a dazed Iketani whose eyes were watery due to the sneezing fit "I hope we can help you control your magic, Heaven forbid you get a cold before then" Twilight said "That would not be good". "I agree" Iketani said then he sniffed, then he started sounding like he was about to have another sneezing fit but stopped himself. "Let's get you some allergy medicine before continuing with the lesson" Twilight suggested and Iketani nodded trying to hold back a sneeze. After she got him the medicine they continued the lesson, without any more sneezing and random teleportation.
Chapter 12: Shock You like a HurricaneChapter 12: Shock You like a Hurricane Down at Sweet Apple Acres, Takumi was helping Applejack and Apple Bloom pick up the branches that the wind knocked down, he was pulling around a cart and the Apple Sisters picked up the branches and threw them in. "That storm knocked down a lot of branches" Applejack noted "I don't think I've picked this many up in a long time". "Well, it was a powerful storm" Apple Bloom told her "Derpy came by the night before to tell us". "I'm just glad we knew in advance" Applejack said "I don't even want to think about how bad it would have been if we didn't". "Have you had a bad storm and you weren't prepared?" Takumi asked. "Yeah, it wasn't very long after Twilight came into town" Applejack began explaining "Me and Rarity had to hunker down with Twilight, it didn't do any serious damage but it did put a hole in the roof of the barn and it knocked down one of our younger trees but we were able to save it" Applejack then looked off into the distance "The worst one I've heard happen to the farm was when my Grandma was a filly, they just started planting and this horrible storm rolled in from the Everfree Forest and took out a small section of a newly planted orchard and ripped half of the roof off the barn they just built, thankfully none of the crop was ruined or there would've been major problems" Applejack let out a sigh, not long after that the Pegasi started helping keep the storms at bay and would warn us at least a week in advance so we could prepare". "Wow-ee!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she hopped over and put the branches she collected into the cart "That storm sounded like a doozy!". "Yeah" Applejack agreed "But since the Pegasi can get rid of the storms that come over from the forest, we don't have to worry about that kinda thing anymore". "That's a good thing" Takumi said as he pulled the cart away to drop off the branches in the firewood pile. "It is" Apple Bloom added "And a good thing about this past storm is all the firewood we can use this fall and winter". "Eeyup" Applejack replied. Takumi returned with the now empty cart, switched out with Applejack and he started to help Pinkie and Apple Bloom with collecting the fallen branches. Rainbow Dash, Kenji and Itsuki were back in the park to practice more flying. Rainbow once again had her favorite cap and whistle on, only this time she also had her sunglasses on, making her look similar to Spitfire when Rainbow went to the Wonderbolt Academy. Rainbow blew her whistle loudly then spoke up "Alright you two, you have passed your basic flying training and are moving on to advanced flying and weather manipulation". "Weather manipulation?" Kenji asked. "Yes, in Equestria, the Pegasi are tasked with managing the weather" Rainbow explained "And the most simple job is called Cloud-Busting" Rainbow then continued "Cloud-Busting is when we need to clear the skies of clouds, like this" Rainbow took off, flew towards a nearby cloud and kicked it, making it vanish. She turned around and flew back towards her trainees and landed "It's easy-peasy, you'll have it down quickly". she looked at the two of them "Who wants to go first?". Kenji stood up "I'll give it a try" he flew off towards a nearby cloud and went to kick it, but unlike flying. Kenji wasn't much for Cloud-Busting, as the cloud sent a small bolt of lightning that went through his whole body and sent him crashing to the ground, he shook his head and looked at Rainbow Dash "I thought you said it was easy?" he asked. "It is, but if you're not focused on clearing the cloud you can have..mixed results" Rainbow told him "Pegasi can also manipulate the weather with their emotions, and if you don't keep a clear mind it can do crazy things". "I'll keep that in mind" Kenji responded. "I'll give it a try!" Itsuki said to Rainbow. "Alright, but just be careful" Rainbow replied. Itsuki flapped his wings, flew towards the cloud and kicked it, immediately getting rid of the cloud. Much to the shock of the two ponies on the ground. "Can you get rid of the rest of them?" Rainbow asked. "I think so" Itsuki answered and he started systematically getting rid of the clouds over the park, after he finished he landed by the two other Pegasi who still wore shocked expressions on their faces "What?" he asked them. "That was amazing!" Rainbow told him happily "You're awesome at Cloud-Busting". "Thanks Rainbow!" Itsuki responded. "Okay, Kenji" Rainbow said to him "Your turn to try again". "I'll get it this time" Kenji said determinedly as he took off again, he found a cloud and kicked it, but got the same response as before, he crashed to the ground once again. Itsuki walked over to him "Not the same as flying, huh?" he said with a slight grin. Kenji shot him a death glare and growled a little at Itsuki's smugness, making Itsuki back off a little. Afraid of what Kenji might do to him if he stayed too close to him. Rainbow then decided to end this before something bad would happen. "Okay guy, how about we try some advanced flying maneuvers?" Rainbow suggested. "Sounds good" Kenji said "What do you have in mind?". "Well, I know some stuff that I'd love to teach you two" Rainbow told them. Rainbow proceeded to explain some tricks, that Pegasi learn in Flight Camp.
Chapter 13: Nightmare Night, What a Fright.It was a chilly autumn evening, a light breeze rustled the leaves on nearby trees. Pumpkins, bats and ghosts were showing up everywhere in the town of Ponyville. A sure sign that Nightmare Night would soon be upon the citizens of Equestria. In the castle of Friendship, the Mane Six and Spike were getting their costumes ready for a Nightmare Night Ball they were attending in Canterlot with the Princesses. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were staying in Ponyville, because the idea of going to a ball bored them and the guys said that they'd keep in eye on them again. Twilight and her friends were leaving the night before so they could help set up the castle's ballroom for the ball. They would be leaving on an early train to make sure they could get there in time. "Alright" Twilight said to everypony "We have our plan, we're going to leave on the morning train to be in Canterlot to help the Princesses set up" Twilight looked at the Crusaders "What are you going to be doing for Nightmare Night?". "We're not sure yet" Scootaloo answered "But since it's their first Nightmare Night we want to make it awesome!" she added pointing at the guys. "Maybe you should have them hear the story of Nightmare Night?" Rainbow suggested "That's a good place to start". "We could tell them the story ourselves if we wanted too" Apple Bloom pointed out "We all know it by heart". "Well, you have a whole day to make plans out" Twilight told them then she yawned "But it's getting late and I want to make sure we all get enough sleep" she said looking at her friends "We have a long day of planning and decorating ahead of us tomorrow". The ponies all headed into their bedrooms to get some sleep. The next morning, the Mane Six and Spike were at the train station waiting for their train to arrive, the Crusaders and the guys were waiting with them so they could say good-bye to their friends and see them off. After the train arrived they put their suitcases on the train, boarded, and the group waved to them as the trai departed the station. Once the train was out of view the ponies turned to look at each other. "What do we do now?" Itsuki asked. "Let's go back to the castle and then we'll make plans" Apple Bloom answered and the seven of them left for the castle. Once they were back at the castle, the ponies had some breakfast then started to try and come up with ideas for how to spend their Nightmare Night. "How about we do what Rainbow suggested?" Kenji said "It sounds like a great idea". "Like Apple Bloom said, we could recite it by heart" Sweetie Belle told him. "Why don't you guys do that?" Takumi asked "If you can do it, why don't you?". "That sounds awesome!" Scootaloo said "We could make the living room all dark and super creepy to get the mood just right" "I have an even better idea" Apple Bloom said. "What?" Itsuki asked. "We could go to the Castle of the Two Sisters and tell it there, after that, we could spend the rest of the night there!" Apple Bloom told them "Granny Smith and Applejack have told me the place may be haunted" she said with a slightly evil grin "Doesn't that sound fun?". "I'm not so sure about that, Apple Bloom" Scootaloo said then she shuddered, the memory of her recent visit to the Everfree Forest came to the surface, she wasn't sure if she was ready to go back just yet, especially not on Nightmare Night. "Oh come on Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom said "It's not like we're going to be heading there at night, we'll go there before sundown". Scootaloo still wasn't convinced, she was afraid that they would get lost or that the Timberwolves would find them in the castle, she knew that there haven't been sightings of them even close to castle, but she wasn't sure she wanted to take that risk. "We'll have lanterns and there are candles there" Sweetie Belle added "It won't be pitch black there". "We'll bring all kinds of treats" Apple Bloom told her "I can bring some candy apples and other things". Itsuki then added "I'm still a little nervous about the forest too, but this sounds like fun". "And we'll stay as a group" Kenji said "So, we'll all be together". "Come on, Scootaloo" Takumi said to her "What do you think?". "I'm not sure guys.." Scootaloo told them, then Iketani placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I'll be with you the whole time" Iketani said to her reassuringly. "R-really?" Scootaloo asked hopefully. "I promise" Iketani replied. "Alright then!" Scootaloo said enthusiastically "Let's do this!". It was the day of Nightmare Night and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were busy getting all the things they'd need for their night in the Castle of the Two Sisters. They got sleeping bags, lanterns, snacks and flashlights, they were bringing the sleeping bags just in case they got tired but they doubted they'd need them. Scootaloo also snagged a book of different legends and myths, the one that included the legend of The Mare in the Moon, even though see knew her friends knew it wasn't a legend she thought telling that tale would be a perfect beginning for the night. They all decided to meet up on the edge of the Everfree Forest, once the Crusaders got there they began their adventure to the castle. It was almost time for the sun to set once they arrived. They entered the old castle and made their way to the main room and set their stuff down. "Alright, everypony" Apple Bloom announced "What are we gonna do first?". "How about we start with the legend of Nightmare Moon?" Scootaloo suggested "It just makes sense to start with that one". "Okay then, here it goes" Apple Bloom said as she opened the book, found the story and began reading it. After awhile they had told the tale of the Mare in the Moon, the story of why they celebrate Nightmare Night and of course, the story of the Pony of Shadows which if the legend is true, haunts the very castle they were currently in. Scootaloo told some stories that Rainbow Dash had told her about the ghosts of some of the castle's staff members that may also haunt the castle, she also told them about the Olden Pony and The Headless Horse and she told them a few she had read about after that. "Wow, I didn't think Equestria would have that many ghost stories" Itsuki said with a slight shudder "Some of them are really creepy". "I know right?" Scootaloo replied. "So, does anypony wanna explore the castle?" Apple Bloom asked "I thought that it might be a nice little addition to the night". "That sounds like a good idea" Itsuki replied. "But let's stay as a group, it'll be much safer that way" Iketani suggested. The ponies took some flashlights and headed down a long, dark hallway, the only sounds were the sounds of their hoofsteps reverberating off the walls, they journeyed farther down the hallway when suddenly there was a distant sounding crash. "What was that?!" Kenji asked. "I don't know" Apple Bloom answered. "M-maybe it was a ghost!" Itsuki said sounding panicked. "There aren't any ghosts, they're just things in stories" Apple Bloom assured him. Then there was a loud blast of organ music. that made the ponies scream and go running down the hallway! But what they didn't know is that they went in different directions. Iketani and Scootaloo sat in an unknown room trying to catch their breath. "Are you alright, Scootaloo?" Iketani asked. "Yeah" Scootaloo answered then she looked around the room "Where are we? And where is everypony else?". Iketani looked around and saw suits of armor and various weapons "it looks like some sort of armory, but you're right, where is everybody?". "I guess we got separated when we panicked and ran" Scootaloo said. "Let's go and see if we can find them" Iketani suggested and the two ponies started to head to the room's entrance. Then, the sound of metallic hoofsteps sounded from behind them, they turned around and saw that there was a suit of armor standing there! "Is somepony there?" Scootaloo asked. Iketani looked at it then shook his head "Very funny guys" he then used his magic to lift up the face-plate but there was no one in the armor. Both of them screamed and took off out of the room. Down in the library, Apple Bloom, Takumi and Itsuki were walking around looking for their friends when they came across what looked to be a ghostly apparition of a unicorn mare in a gown looking through the books. "Umm, A-Apple Bloom I-I thought you said ghosts weren't real?" Itsuki asked. "I thought they weren't!" she replied. "Tell that to her!" Takumi exclaimed. "Oh come on guys!" Apple Bloom rolled her eyes "I don't know about you two but I ain't afraid of no ghost!" she said as she went to walk past the ghostly figure. It apparently heard her and it turned and made a terrifying face and roared at them, "Okay, maybe I am!" she yelled and the three of them went running out of the library. In a different part of the castle, Kenji and Sweetie Belle were walking into a dark room. As they entered, the candles on the wall started lighting on their own, casting an eerie glow. Then suddenly, on the back wall, was aglow with many candles of all shapes and size, illuminating a small, round table with a small crystal ball and a stack of what looked to be tarot cards. Behind the table sat a dark, hooded figure. "Umm, why do I get the feeling we shouldn't be here?" Kenji asked. "Maybe it's the creepy hooded figure?" Sweetie Belle replied. "Come cloooser" a deep, slightly raspy yet feminine voice sounded from across the room, "Do you wish to see what lies in your future? Or maybe you have a question about the present?". "No, we're fine. thank you" Kenji answered and started heading for the door when Sweetie Belle galloped up and stood in front of him. "Maybe we should ask her where are friends are" Sweetie Belle suggested. "You go ask her!" Kenji told her "I'm not going near her!". Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes and sighed "Fine" she walked over to the table and set her hooves on it "Excuse me, me and my friend here have a question" she told the hooded figure. "What is it, young filly?" the figure asked. "We came to the castle with a few of our friends but we all got separated, could you maybe tell us where they are?" Sweetie Belle asked. The figure looked at the crystal ball and said "If your friends are here, they may be lost forever in the halls of the castle I fear". "Lost forever?!" Sweetie Belle repeated in a scared squeak. "Yeesss, and you two shall join them soon as well!" the figure then yanked off her hood and revealed a creepily painted face that made her look like a skeleton, her eyes were an eerie, unearthly shade of red and she gave off the most chilling, wickedly evil laugh. The two ponies screamed and took off right out of the room. In an another part of the castle, Iketani and Scootaloo were taking a breather after their run in with the haunted armor, they were in a hallway with torches lining the side walls, portraits adorned the walls as well. The two ponies decided to walk down the hallway in a quick trot, they kept going until they saw a ghostly figure dressed in a suit. "A-are you seeing this?" Scootaloo asked nervously. "I think so" Iketani responded. The ghostly apparition begin to glide towards them, holding a tray. As the figure approached the pair noticed that it's head was missing. They stared, frozen in fear, as the specter lifted the lid and revealed it's missing head! It's features seemed lifeless, it's eyes black voids. The head then said, in a hollow, echoed voice "Welcome to the Castle of the Two Sisters, we hope you'll enjoy your eternity with us." It then laughed a deep, devilish laugh. The duo then looked at each other and ran as fast and far away as they could. Apple Bloom, Takumi and Itsuki were running through the halls, when they suddenly found themselves in the castle's kitchen. The trio then witnessed a phantasmal chef running back and forth through the room. As the spirit drew near, the group realized it was muttering to itself with a crazed look in it's eyes and wielding a cleaver. They began to back away slowly, when Itsuki tripped on a discarded pot. The chef's head snapped in their direction and in an instant the being was inches from Itsuki, the clever clenched firmly between it's teeth. Itsuki then said "Gu-gu-gu-guys, a little help here." Takumi and Apple Bloom, unsure of how to help their friend stared in shocked bewilderment. Something then clicked inside Apple Bloom and she grabbed Itsuki and Takumi and dragged them out as fast as she could. Kenji and Sweetie Belle had been running hard, so they need to catch their breath. They started to look around the room. "I wonder what this room was for?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Judging by the cradle and all the toys, I'd say a nursery" Kenji deduced. Just then a phantasm of young mare hovered into the room. She floated over to the cradle and began, rocking it and humming an eerie lullaby. "I wonder why she's here?" Kenji asked "She looks like a nanny." Sweetie Belle whispered The figure then looked up at them and whispered "Hush, you'll wake the baby". "I don't see a baby." said Sweetie Belle. "Are you really arguing with a ghost?" asked Kenji The ghostly being then leaped towards them and screamed in a blood-curdling screech "I SAID HUSH, IF YOU CAN'T BE QUIET, I THINK SOMEPONY NEEDS A TIME OUT! A PERMANENT TIME OUT!" Sweetie Belle and Kenji barely dodged her advance and took off. The ponies ran around the castle like crazy, running from the insane ghosts that haunted the castle, while haunting organ music echoed through the building.They kept running until they all managed to meet up in the castle throne room. The two tall torches that stood beisde the two thrones lit up in a deep, unnatural blue. "What's happening?!?" Itsuki wailed. "I-I have no idea" Apple Bloom answered. Then an ominous laugh filled the room, the ponies looked everywhere for the source of the laughter, but no one saw anything. "Where did that come from?" Scootaloo asked sounding shaken. What happened next made everypony's eyes grow wide with fear. A dark, shadowy mist manifested in the center of the room, then it made it's way to the thrones. "THE PONY OF SHADOWS!!" Everypony screamed. Then the mist changed shape, it twisted around until it formed what looked to be a shadow version of Nightmare Moon. It had glowing white eyes and it let out another evil laugh then set it's sight on the group of ponies, they all screamed, a high pitched one rang above them all. "Oh, my little ponies" it said in a sickeningly sweet tone "you have come to join us". "No we haven't!" Kenji shouted. "What you don't know is the minute you set hoof in here you joined me" it replied as it flew down and started walking towards them, "I guess I'll start with the foals. starting with the little Pegasus" she said grinning evilly at the three little fillies. Scootaloo hid beside Iketani and once he saw how scared Scootaloo was, got a determined look on his face. "YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME TO EVEN GET NEAR HER!" Iketani yelled. have just one thing to say to you!!" she responded, she got closer to the ponies, with a mischievous smile on her face, whispered "Gotcha". "What?" Kenji asked "What's going on?" as everyone's looks of fear turned into ones of confusion. A bright light shone around Nightmare Moon and she transformed into a different pony, a dark blue Alicorn. It was the Princess of the Night herself, Luna. "Surprise" Luna said "Happy Nightmare Night everypony!" she looked at the group of ponies, "I hope we didn't scare you too much". "'We'?" Scootaloo asked. Then the other 'ghosts' walked into the room, a glow surrounded them and they changed into six very familiar mares. "You guys were all playing a prank?" Iketani asked "What about that ball you were going to?". "It was a cover" Twilight explained "how else do you think we could pull this off?". "That's why I suggested the Nightmare Night story" Rainbow told them "I knew you would want to take it to another level than just telling it". "So you guys all did this?" Itsuki asked "AWESOME!!" he shouted, then he fainted. "Eeyup" Applejack replied. "Soo, which one of you screamed like a little filly" Rainbow asked. Murmurs of "no"s and "It wasn't me" went around the group, all except for one pony who was turning a deep shade of red. "You?!" Rainbow explained "Everything I've heard about you and you scream like that, Takumi?". "Umm" Takumi responded, still blushing. "So, if you guys were all playing ghosts, who was playing the creepy organ?" Iketani asked. Just then, a hooded figure walked up behind them and tapped Iketani on the shoulder, nearly making him jump out of his skin, the group nearly had another freak out when the figure removed it's hood". "Gotcha" The Princess of the Sun said mischievously.
Chapter 14: An Unexpected JourneyThe next day, the group of ponies decided to take a break from training to have a picnic in the park. Since it was such a beautiful day, they didn't want to waste it. They all had just finished their lunch and were chatting happily about all sorts of things, talking about their training progress, swapping stories from each of their worlds and just things that have happened in the past few weeks. The calm, idle chatter was soon brought to a halt when there was a sudden flash of bright white light, suddenly there was a new arrival to the picnic. Discord. "Well, hello everypony" Discord greeted them "Isn't this such a lovely day?" he then saw four unfamiliar stallions staring at him "Who do we have here? Some new friends?" he teleported himself over to them "I don't remember you guys..". "Who and what are you?" Kenji asked him. "I am Discord, Sprit of Chaos and Disharmony" Discord announced "I am also a Draconequus". "A what?" Iketani asked, clearly confused. "A Draconequus, I have the head of a pony and a body made up of all different animals" Discord explained "If that isn't obvious, I'm sure they've told you all about me". "Not really" Takumi replied. "Are you sure?" Discord questioned "Not even Fluttershy?" he then glanced at Fluttershy who squeaked then shied away. Discord then growled and said "I see how I rate and I won't forget it." he then blinked out in a huff. "Um, do we need to be concerned about him?" Itsuki asked "You shouldn't have to worry. Discord may be upset right now, but he'll get over it, at least I hope so." Fluttershy replied "That's reassuring." Kenji added "Let's not let him get in the way of enjoying our picnic." Rarity said "I agree." said Iketani The group then continued their day of fun with some games then headed home at sunset. Back at the castle, the guys were discussing their run-in with Discord. "Is anyone else worried about what Discord said in the park?" Takumi asked. "About how upset he was that the girls didn't mention him to us? Yeah, a little. Kenji replied "I asked Scootaloo about him and she said he's this all-powerful creature that loves making mischief" Iketani said. "I don't like the sound of that." Itsuki said "Me either" Iketani replied Well, there's not much we can do about it now." Takumi said "So let's get some sleep." The group then headed to bed. The next morning Iketani woke to a darkened room."It's still dark, I wonder what time it is?" he said with a yawn. He walked towards the door, but before he could open it, it was flung open by a panicked Itsuki. "Iketani, you have to come see this!" he shouted The pair rushed out the door and joined Takumi and Kenji. "What's the matter you guys?" Iketanki asked? Takumi and Kenji raised shaky hooves and pointed towards the opening to the cave they were currently standing in, outside of which it was snowing. "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED? WHERE THE HECK ARE WE?!?!" Iketani shouted The pair shrugged. "I don't know, but we need to figure out how to get back to the castle" Kenji replied "First, we need to figure out where w......" Takumi was cut off mid-sentence as a big, white creature appeared out of the depths of the cave and let out a ferocious growl. "RUN!!!!!!" Itsuki shouted and the guys took off at full gallop. They ran out into the snow and didn't stop until they were sure whatever was chasing them was gone. "That was close" Kenji panted "I'll say." Takumi agreed "Well, now that we lost it maybe we can figure out where we go from here." Iketani said. "We're not going to figure out where we are unless we find someone or a town." Kenji said "Let's pick a direction and head that way." Takumi suggested. "That way." Itsuki said, pointing "That's as good a direction as any." Itketani said. "Let's go." The group then headed the way Itsuki had indicated. They walked for what seemed like hours when Kenji finally said "We never should have taken directions from Itsuki." "Hey, what's that...." Itsuki began but was cut off by the raised hoof of Takumi "Do you guys see that." he said pointing at what looked like the outline of a village. "It looks like a village" Iketani said "See, I told you guys this was the way to go!" Itsuki said smugly as he ran towards it. "Hey, Itsuki, wait up." Takumi shouted. The guys stopped short as they reached a large, wooden gate. "I wonder why the have such a big gate?" Itsuki asked "Maybe to keep whatever that thing back there was out." Kenji replied Iketani went to knock on the gate, when a large, wooly creature with horns popped up on the wall and asked "State business, pony" "We were wondering if you knew the way to Ponyville?" Iketani asked "Ponyville is far from here" the creature replied "Maybe you could tell where we are?" Kenji asked "This place called Yakyakistan" it replied "Okay, is that part of Equestria?" Itsuki asked The creature seemed angered by that question "HOW DARE YOU SAY YAKS PART OF PONYLAND, YAKS HAVE OWN LAND!!" the Yak shouted. "Yaks friends with ponies" he then added "Okay, so maybe you could point us towards Equestria?" Takumi asked "Ponies need go other way for long distance, to place where shiny ponies live." the Yak replied "Thank you" they called back "Have safe journey ponies" he called after them It was almost nightfall, they were getting tired and a big storm was brewing. "I wonder how much farther." Itsuki whined "Well the Yak's directions weren't exactly clear." Kenji replied Just then the Crystal Empire came into view. "I think we have arrived" Ikentani said. "Woohoo!" they cheered "Where do we go?" Itsuki asked "Twilight said if we were ever in the Crystal Empire to got to the castle and see her brother and sister-in-law, they're the Prince and Princess of the Empire." Iketani said "Let's go, then." Takumi said The group then headed for the castle. When they arrived at the gates a guard said "State your business." "This sounds familiar" Kenji said "My name is Iketani, tell the Prince we're friends with his sister" Iketani said. The guard then disappeared. A few minutes later the gates opened and they were greeted by Twilight's brother, Shining Armor. "Hey there, Twilight told me all about you, what brings you to the Empire?" he asked "We're not exactly sure. When we went to bed last night we were in the castle, when we woke up we were in a cave near Yakyakistan." Iketani said "Odd. Well you'll have to stay here tonight, the storm has shut down the train and we can't reach Ponyville or anywhere else for that matter." Shining Armor said "That would be awesome, thank you so much." Kenji said "No problem, any friends of Twily's are friends of ours." he replied The next morning, the group got to meet the Princess and their daughter, Flurry Heart. They decided to head out on foot since the couldn't go by train and were afraid their friends would be worried. "Just head along the tracks until you reach Dodge City" Shining Armor said "You can catch the train from their." "Thanks again, Shining Armor." Takumi said "Don't worry about, have a safe journey." he replied A few hours after traveling the storm let up and the terrain turned to sand as they approached Dodge City. "I can see the station from here, let's go." Itsuki shouted While they were waiting for the train, a cream colored pony with a red mane approached. "Y'all aren't from around here, are you?" She asked "No Ma'am, we're trying to get back to Ponyville." Takumi said "My name is Cherries Jubilee. You wouldn't by any chance, know Applejack, would you?" she asked "Hi miss Jubilee, my name is Takumi, and these guys are Iketani, Kenji and Itsuki. We do know her, how do you know AJ?" he asked "She worked for me at my ranch a few years back." she said as the train approached. "We'll it seems you train is here, tell Applejack that I said 'Hi' when you see her." she said "I will." Takumi replied "Have a safe trip fellas." she said They then boarded the train towards Ponyville The trip was uneventful until the reached Appleloosa, when the train suddenly stopped. "What's going on?" Itsuki asked "I'm not sure." Iketani said Then the conductor appeared and said "We have to make an unscheduled stop here in Appleloosa, mechanical trouble." "Hey Takumi, didn't AJ say she has family out here." Kenji asked "Actually, her family founded this town." Takumi said "Well, it doesn't look like we're going anywhere anytime soon, let's go check it out." Ikentai suggested. The group left the train and bumped into what was possibly the happiest pony ever. "Well, you folks are new in town" The pony said "If you're new in town that must mean you never seen Aaaaaaaaaplaossa before. My name's is Braeburn and I run this here town." "You're Applejack's cousin, right?" Takumi asked If it was at all possible Braeburn seemed even happier "You know AJ?" "We do" Iketani said "Well any friends of AJ are friends of mine. I'm going to personally show you the town!" Braeburn said Then lead them on a whirlwind tour of Aaaaaaaaplossa. By the time the tour was over the train whistle was blowing and the train was ready to depart. "Thanks for the tour, Braeburn, it was fun." Kenji said "Anytime. You guys have a safe journey back to Ponyville and say hi to AJ for me." He said "Will do." Takumi said They boarded the train and a few hours later arrived in Ponyville. "It's sooooo good to be back." Itsuki said as they disembarked. When they turned the corner they saw their friends had gathered at the station. "How'd you guys know we were going to be at the station?" Iketani asked "Shining Armor was able to get a hold of us earlier." Twilight said "What happened to you guys anyway?" Rainbow dash asked They then told their tale to the group. "Sounds like quite the adventure" Scootaloo said as she hugged Iketani "I wonder how we got up there in the first place." Ikentai said "I think I have an Idea." Fluttershy said "DISCORD!" she shouted. The Discord appeared out of nowhere. "Yes Fluttershy?" he said innocently "Don't you 'Yes Fluttershy' me mister!" she said "Did you send Kenji and the others to the far reaches of Equestria?" "I can't believe you would suggest I would do such an awful thing!" Discord said, putting his paw over his chest "What proof to you have to substantiate the accusations?" Back at the castle, Fluttershy pointed through the open door into Iketani's room, which wasn't there. "Oh, well, I might have done that." he admitted, waving his claw. "DISCORD!, I can't believe you would do such a mean thing!" Fluttershy said "Now you're going to apologize and bring their rooms back." "Okay fine." he snapped his fingers and brought their rooms back. Iketani opened his door and stood face to face with the snow monster. "DISCORD!" Fluttershy shouted "Send that poor creature back this instant!" "Fine" he snapped his fingers again. "Now apologize." she said "I'msorryforsendingyoutotheegdeofEquestria." he said very quickly "DISCORD!" she shouted "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. he said. "That's better." She said They all laughed as Discord grumbled.
Chapter 15: Merry Christmas, Happy Hearths WarmingIt was a cold morning, the first snow had just fallen so everypony knew winter was just around the corner. Everypony was excited, for the wintertime holidays were coming up fast. Garland was wrapped around the light posts, brightly colored lights were on the rooftops of buildings and some ponies were preparing the town center for the giant tree. Ponies were laughing and singing both Hearths Warming and Christmas Carols, showing just how happy they were about the upcoming Holidays, well most everypony. There were a group of ponies that were feeling a little melancholy, sure they loved the Holidays, but they were missing their families and their home. The ponies were taking a walk through Ponyville admiring the sights when one of them spoke up. "Hey guys, do you think it's Christmas-time back home?" Itsuki asked his friends. "I don't know" Takumi answered "I'm not sure how time works here". "Do you think we'll ever get home?" Kenji asked. "I'm not sure, but I think we should make the most of it" Iketani suggested "This maybe our new home". The group continued down the road, they were headed back to Twilight's castle after their walk. They arrived at the castle's doors, opened them and went inside. They took off their hats and scarves and set them on the coat rack, then moved into the living area to relax. They currently had the castle to themselves because Twilight and her friends were in Canterlot to do a Holiday play and go shopping. "You know I hadn't really thought about it until now." Kenji said "About going home, I mean". "Same here" Itsuki added. "I guess we got so caught up with our new friends and our training. I think we just didn't think about it" Takumi said to them "I wonder if we'll be able to see them again, if we do go home". Looks of sadness went around the room as they thought about that statement, they wanted to go back home but they didn't want to lose the friends they made here. So, they felt like they wanted, and didn't want to return home. "I'd miss everyone here" Kenji said "Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, AJ and Rarity". I"d miss them too" Iketani added "I'd miss Scootaloo as well, I don't even want to think about how she would take it" he mused sadly. "I know, that little filly has grown quite attached to you" Takumi replied. "And me to her." Iketani told him "She's like a little sister to me" he then shook his head "I don't want to think about this kind of stuff right now, I don't care if this is my first Christmas here or my only, I want to make it special!". Murmurs of agreement spread around the room, sad faces were replaced with happy and excited ones as they started to plan what to do to make this a special Christmas for them and their friends. Several hours later, their friends returned home with festive looking bags in tow, they put the bags in a different room and joined their four friends in the living area. "So, how'd the play go?" Takumi asked. "It was awesome" Rainbow answered. "Is it a Christmas play?" Itsuki asked. "No, it's about the founding of Equestria and the start of Hearths Warming" Twilight explained. "That sounds cool" Kenji replied. "What's Hearths Warming anyway?" asked Itsuki. "Well, we could explain it to you or you could always come to the play." Applejack suggested. "That would be awesome." replied Iketani. "Sounds like fun" Kenji added. "I know, you can go with the girls." Rarity suggested "They always attend the play as our guests." "The Crusaders would love that." Rainbow said. "Especially a certain filly." "I can't wait to tell her." Iketani said. "She's going to be so excited." Pinkie added. "Well, we'd better hit the hay" Twilight said. "Goodnight guys, see you in the morning." "Goodnight" They replied in unison. "See ya tomorrow" they said to the other five mares as they headed to their respective homes. "This sounds like the perfect start to our special Christmas." Iketani said "This is going to be great!" Itsuki replied. The next morning the guys decided to finish their plans for Christmas. "What can we do to make the Holidays special?" Takumi asked "Well, Twilight and the girls want to teach us about their Holiday. Maybe we can show them some of our traditions?"Iketani suggested. "That sounds like a great idea, Iketani!" Itsuki exclaimed. "I can show them my mad karaoke skills!" "Yeah, sounds like a blast." Kenji deadpanned. "Maybe we could show them some of our less, shall we say, 'unique' traditions" Iketani added. "Awwwwwww, but I want to sing." Itsuki replied, pouting. "Okay, fine, we can have a karaoke machine, on one condition." Takumi said. "Anything." Itsuki said, perking up. "We limit the number of songs one pony can sing in a row." Takumi explained "Awwwww, man." Itsuki replied "Fine, but I get first dibs!" The trio winced internally but agreed. "So we have a plan to show them some of our traditions?" Iketani asked "If we're all in agreement, we should get ready to tell the Crusaders about our Hearths Warming plans.". A little while later, the four found the three little fillies, it sounded like they were singing carols. Once they caught sight of their friends they ran over to greet them. "Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Scootaloo asked. "We came here to ask what your plans are for Hearth's Warming" Iketani answered. "Eh, nothing special" Scootaloo told him "We usually go to the play in Canterlot and do some stuff here" she then looked kind of sad "I wish you guys could join us, that would be awesome!". The four guys exchanged small smiles and glances, then Iketani spoke up once again. "Well, the thing is" Iketani began "Twilight gave us some tickets to it". The Crusaders perked up. "Really?" Scootaloo asked excitedly. "Yeah" Iketani replied "So Scootaloo, I have a little question to ask". "What?" Scootaloo responded. "Would you be my date for the play?" Iketani asked her. "Yeah!" Scootaloo replied happily, then she caught herself "yeah, that sounds cool" she added calmly. Iketani chuckled and smiled at her then he gave her the ticket "I can't wait to see the play with you" he told her. Scootaloo smiled back "I can't wait either" she then hugged him, which he returned. "Well me and my friends have some stuff to do, see you guys later!" she said as she ran away with her friends. "I think you made her day" Kenji told Iketani. "You think so?" Iketani asked. His friends nodded in reply. "I also think she may have a bit of a crush on you" Kenji added. "No, I don't think she does" Iketani responded. "Have you seen the way she acts around you?" Itsuki nearly shouted. "I have to agree" Takumi said to him "it sure seems that way". Across town, Scootaloo and her friends were playing in the park, making snow angels and throwing snowballs back and forth. They were taking a little breather when Apple Bloom spoke up. "Hey Scoots, you seem very excited for the play this year, does it have to do with Iketani giving you that ticket?" she asked. "What do you mean?" Scootaloo said to her friend. "Oh come on Scootaloo, you have been talking about it since he gave it to you" Sweetie Belle added. "Well, he's a great friend and it's fun to hang out with your friends" Scootaloo answered. "Yeah, that and you have a little crush on him" Apple Bloom replied. Scootaloo turned to her friend "I-I do not!". "Yeah you do" Sweetie said with a little smile. "No I don't!" Scootaloo repeated. "You have a crush on him" Apple Bloom teased "just admit it". "I-I do not have a crush on him!" Scootaloo responded, blushing furiously. "You may be saying no. but your blushing says otherwise" Apple Bloom smirked. Scootaloo turned away from her friends, cheeks burning, then she sighed "Promise me you won't tell him or anypony else?". "Of course" her friends answered. "I may have a slight crush on him" Scootaloo told them turning back around "it's been since he saved me in the Everfree Forest" she shuddered at the memory "but I don't think he knows, so please don't tell him or anyone else" Scootaloo said, eyes pleading. "We won't" Apple Bloom promised. Scootaloo hugged her friends "You guys are the best!" she said happily. Apple Bloom leaned in and whispered to Sweetie Belle "We wouldn't have to tell him or anypony nothin', the way she acts around him makes it obvious". The morning of the play, the ponies met up at the train station. "I'm so excited to see the play with you guys!" Scootaloo exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down. "I'm actually a little excited myself" Iketani agreed. "The train should be here any minute" Twilight told them "Then it's just a quick ride to Canterlot and it will be time for the play". "So you don't have much longer to wait" Rainbow added. Just then, the train pulled into the station and they were on their way. After the play ended, everypony was exiting the theater, including a large group that was headed to the castle to spend the night. "That was awesome!" Itsuki said excitedly. "So, you enjoyed it, huh?" Rainbow asked him. "Yeah" Itsuki nodded. "Glad you did" Rainbow smiled "Of course. me being in it, made it at least twenty percent cooler". "Well there Miss Modesty" Applejack replied "I'm glad you think so much of everypony else". "You guys did great too" Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof "But I was the star as with tradition" she added smiling smugly. Applejack just rolled her eyes, then was hit in the face with a snowball. "If you want to play it that way" Applejack said then she built a snowball and hurled it towards Rainbow, who she hit in the side. Rainbow retaliated by throwing one back, which hit Applejack in the shoulder, Applejack made another ball and threw it, only this time Rainbow nimbly dodged it and it hit Iketani instead. Not missing a moment, Iketani used his magic to make a snowball, he threw it towards Applejack but missed and hit Twilight. Twilight then formed three snowballs and threw them at each of them. Signaling the beginning of war. The next few moments went by like a blur, snowballs were flying everywhere and ponies were falling down. Once the group got back to Twilight's castle, they had hot chocolate and cookies to finish off the night. A few days later, it was the day before Christmas Eve and the guys were planning their Christmas Eve get-together. "So, what do you want to do?" Kenji asked. "Well, I already rented a karaoke machine" Itsuki told him "My plan is set". "Remind me to get some ear plugs for everypony" Iketani replied smirking, earning a death glare from Itsuki. "Don't forget some party favors" Takumi added. "We will also need refreshments" Kenji replied. "I think Pinkie and Applejack can handle that" Itsuki chimed in. "Perfect" Iketani said happily "So, Itsuki, you ask Pinkie and AJ to handle refreshments, Takumi you go get the party favors, Kenji you go and see if Rarity can help with the decorations and I'm going to see if I can put together some party games". "Sounds like a plan" Takumi said as they nodded in agreement. "Then it's settled, we meet back here when we're done" Iketani told them. So they went their separate ways to complete their assignments. Itsuki headed to Sweet Apple Acres to talk to Applejack, he walked up to the door and knocked. Applejack answered and asked "What brings you out here?". "Well, as you know me and the guys are planning a Christmas Eve party" He said. "And I was wondering if you and Pinke could help with the refreshments." Pinke suddenly appeared out of nowhere above their heads "Absotly-lootly" Then she disappeared again. "Where did she come from?" Itsuki asked. "She's Pinkie Pie, who knows?" Applejack replied. "We've learned not to ask those 'how', 'why' and 'where' questions." "Gotcha." "So, what kind of refreshments are we talking about?" "Well, some Christmas-y treats, like a Yule log, and maybe some cider?" "Sounds good, maybe we can make some candy canes and ribbon candy" "That would be awesome, thanks so much AJ!" he said and the turned to leave "Yer welcome!" Applejack shouted after him. Takumi was in town looking for party favors, so he went to the local party store. "I don't know why they put me in charge of finding the party favors" Takumi said to himself "I have no idea what to get". As if on cue, Pinkie Pie appeared. "Hi, Takumi" Pinkie greeted "what brings you here?". "Well, I'm trying to find so stuff for a party" Takumi explained. "Lucky for you, you have the party pony of Ponyville to help you" Pinkie told him. "That would be a big help". "Okie doki" Pinkie said "what kind of stuff are you looking for?". "Noisemakers and..other things you need at a party". "Wow, you reeally don't know what you're doing, do you?". "Yeah". "Well, I'm glad I popped in when I did" Pinkie said to him "I'll help you out". The two ponies walked through the store, getting all the stuff needed for the party. "Thanks Pinkie" Takumi told her as the left the store "If you did come by when you did I still be standing there". "That's what friends do" Pinkie said "Now, I have somewhere else to be, see you later" she hopped off. "I really wonder how she does that" Takumi thought as he headed back to the castle. Meanwhile, Kenji had just arrived at Carousel Boutique, he went up and entered the building. "Hey Rarity? Are you there?" Kenji asked. "Just a moment" Rarity called, then she came down the stairs "Oh, hello Kenji, what brings you here?". "I have a favor to ask" Kenji told her "me and the guys are throwing a party Christmas Eve and were wondering if you could help with the decorations". "I would love too!" Rarity replied "I love making decor almost as much as designing outfits!". "Great!" Kenji said happily "Do you need any help?". "Help is always appreciated" Rarity said with a smile "do you think you could get some red and green fabric from over there" she asked pointing towards the self where she kept her fabrics. "Sure thing" Kenji said as he went and got the fabrics. The two ponies then worked on the decorations for a while. Back at the castle, Iketani was going through some books when Twilight walked in. "Hey Iketani" Twilight said "What are you doing?". "I'm trying to get some games for the party tomorrow" he answered "I wanted to see if you had any traditional games but I can't find anything". "Well, I have a closet full of games down the hallway if you want to take a look" Twilight told him "Oooh, I can finally have that out this year!" she said happily. "What can you finally have out and why does it make me nervous?". "You'll see". Iketani blinked then shook his head "I'll just go check on those games" Iketani said then both of them left the room. When they came back, Iketani had some board games and Twilight had something in a small box. "What's in the box?". Twilight opened the box and revealed its contents "Mistletoe!" she said happily holding it up "I have always wanted to have it at a Christmas party but never got the chance". "Uhh Twi, do you know what that's for?" Iketani said blushing slightly. "Of course" Twilight answered "I doubt any ponies are going to find themselves under it". "We shall see" Iketani replied. Later that day, the four guys met up and put the supplies away for Christmas Eve, "Looks like we have everything we need" Iketani told them "This is gonna be great!". "I'm so excited!" Itsuki exclaimed. "Me too" Kenji added. "I'm actually pretty excited myself" Takumi replied. "We better get some sleep so we can get up early and set the party up" Iketani said. "Sounds like a plan" Kenji responded. Then the four of them headed to their rooms for the night. It was Christmas Eve, the guys had gotten up early and began to set up the party. Kenji was putting up the banners, Takumi was setting out the party favors and Itsuki had finished setting the refreshment table up and was bringing out the karaoke machine. Iketani was setting up the game table and Twilight put up the sprig of mistletoe, at the sight of which the boys ran and Twilight rolled her eyes. After the guys came out of the hiding places, their friends began to arrive. "Merry Christmas Eve, everypony" Twilight greeted as the last of her friends came inside "Refreshments are over there" she pointed at the table with various snacks and cider "and there is the game table" she pointed to the table stacked with board games "and if anypony feels like dancing, feel free to do so over there" she pointed towards the area they dedicated to dancing. "And if anypony feels like singing, there's a karaoke machine over there" Itsuki added. "Oooh, that like sounds fun!" Pinkie replied. "Well, I don't feel like singing, I think I'm gonna do some dancing" Rainbow told them. That started a short period of dancing among the ponies. Then they started, Pinkie and Itsuki decided to use the karaoke machine and sang a holiday duet for everypony. Not that anypony had a say in the matter. After they had finally stopped after a ten song marathon session, Twilight decided to give it a go, then the Crusaders and even Rainbow Dash. A little later, everypony was around the refreshment table chatting away. Twilight went to the other side of the table to refill her cider glass when she bumped into somepony. "Oops, sorry Iketani" Twilight told him. "It's fine, Twi" Iketani replied. "Uh-oh, looks like somepony's under the mistletoe" Rainbow teased, smirking. Twilight and Iketani looked up then at each other, blushing. "Umm, did you know that hanging mistletoe dates back to the pre-Celestia and Luna era?" Twilight rambled "It's for good luck and-" Twilight was cut off when Iketani kissed her cheek, turning her history lesson into incoherent gibberish and making her blush madly. Everypony in the room smiled and chuckled at Twilight's reaction, which earned them a glare from her. The party went on for a while longer until everypony started to feel tired and they realized it had gotten late. Everyone was staying at the Castle so they could spend Christmas Morning together. The ponies were heading into their rooms for the night, Scootaloo was walking to her door when she felt somepony tap her shoulder, she turned and saw Iketani standing behind her with a smile. "Hi, Iketani" Scootaloo said "What's up?". "Just wanted to say good-night" Iketani replied "and do this" he used his magic to bring over the sprig of mistletoe to him. This made Scootaloo blush a little. "Looks like someponys under the mistletoe" Twilight said with a smile. Scootaloo's blush brightened as Iketani leaned down and kissed her cheek, which gained aww's from everypony watching. "Good-night, Scootaloo" Iketani said to her. "G-good-night, Iketani" Scootaloo responded then she did a slow walk to her room. "Good-night, Everypony" Twilight called out and everypony headed into their rooms for the night. The next morning, everypony came out of their rooms, headed to the kitchen and had a wonderful breakfast. After that, everyone went to the living room and exchanged little gifts they got or made for each other. Twilight walked over to the tree and pulled out four rectangular shaped gifts and gave them to the guys. "Come on" Twilight urged "open them up". They ripped off the wrapping paper, tossed it aside and opened up the box. Each of them held a book. They lifted the covers and found out the books were photo albums with pictures of their time in Equestria. "Wow" Iketani said at a near loss for words "This is great, thank you". "We thought you would like to have a way to keep your memories from here" Twilight told him. They began flipping through the book, looking at the different pictures. There were some that were taking not long after they arrived in Equestria, when they spent the weekend with the Crusaders, Nightmare Night and Hearth's Warming as well. There were even some pictures from the day Kenji helped Rarity out, which caused him to blush. "Rarity!" Kenji said sounding very embarrassed "Why did you put those in there?!". "I just had to!" Rarity answered "You look so stunning in that suit, not putting them in there would have been simply a crime I could not commit". The other ponies in the room snickered and laughed until they were silenced with a glare from Kenji. And with that, the ponies had a wonderful Christmas.
Chapter 16: Sweet Apple DownhillIt was quite a pleasant winter's afternoon, the sun was shining and there was snow on the ground. Down at Sweet Apple Acres, a group of ponies were preparing for what looked to be a race. "So, are we racing with or without carts?" Takumi asked. "Without" Rainbow answered "I don't think the path we're using could fit the ten of us with carts". "Good point" Kenji replied. "This path runs around the orchard to the barn, that's the finish line" Applejack told them "No shoving, ramming or any kind of cheating allowed or you'll be disqualified" she finished, glaring at Rainbow Dash. "What? Do you think I'll cheat like I did in the Running of the Leaves?" Rainbow asked "If I may recall you cheated too!" she said pointing a hoof at Applejack "I'm past that, I'd rather run a clean race and win fair and square". "I know I cheated and I highly regret it, letting my competitiveness get the best of me like that" Applejack admitted "I wanna run a clean race too". "Do I even want to know what happened?" Iketani asked. "It's a long story" Twilight told him. "Come on guys!" Itsuki exclaimed "let's stop chatting and get on with the race!". "Yeah, I wanna see who wins this" Apple Bloom added "I'm bettin' it's gonna be Takumi". Applejack looked at her little sister with a look of shock and betrayal while Rainbow Dash snorted and laughed loudly. "Looks like your lil' sis is betting against ya" Rainbow said still laughing then her gaze turned towards Scootaloo "I bet you're rooting for your honorary big sister" she added proudly. "Actually, I'm rooting for Iketani" Scootaloo told her with a blush. Rainbow's proud smile turned into a look of pure shock and horror, Applejack laughed loudly. "Not so funny when it happens to you, is it Rainbow?" Applejack asked chuckling. Rainbow Dash shot her a glare and snorted in annoyance. "Alright everypony, let's get this race started" Twilight announced and everyone lined up on the starting line. Scootaloo ran up to Iketani, put her hooves on his side and kissed him on the cheek "Umm...that's for good luck" Scootaloo said nervously, rubbing the back of her neck and blushing furiously. Iketani chuckled and wrapped a hoof around her "Thank you" he told her with a smile, then he got ready to race. Three, two, one go!" The Crusaders shouted happily. "And they're off". Spike said as the group began to gallop, with Scootaloo pulling Spike, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in a wagon on her scooter. "Applejack takes an early lead with Takumi close behind and Rainbow dash in third". "Rounding the first bend, Takumi edges out Applejack as Iketani passes Rainbow". "Further down the line we have Pinkie Pie in fifth, Kenji in sixth, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity in seventh and eighth, Fluttershy and Itsuki are trailing behind in ninth and tenth". "Back at the front Iketani has pulled off a surprising move and has moved into first, with Rainbow in second, Takumi is holding Applejack at bay for third". "Rounding the next group of trees Iketani has swung too wide cutting of Rainbow Dash, Takumi and Applejack, allowing Pinke Pie to take a short-lived lead, as Kenji takes off with a new found burst of speed." "Coming to a straightaway, Takumi and Rainbow Dash take off for a neck-at-neck lead, with Iketani in third followed by Kenji and Applejack running side-by-side for fourth". "Pinke Pie is running out of steam and Rarity and Twilight have moved in for fifth and sixth, with Fluttershy and Itsuki still bringing up the rear". "The leaders are coming up to the final bend and, oh my gosh! Rainbow Dash is down and she slid right into Takumi, Applejack Kenji and Iketani. Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie have been slowed down by the carnage and it's...Itsuki, followed by Fluttershy in second, Rarity in third, Pinkie Pie in fourth and Twilight in fifth". Down at Ponyville General, after the race, the five racers had just been released with a few bumps and bruises. "That was wild" Iketani said as they walked through town. "What happened back there?" Kenji asked. "Yeah, Rainbow. What happened?" Applejack asked. "Well, I was trying to beat Takumi in that last bend and, I guess I pushed it a little too far". Rainbow replied. "I'm sorry you guys". "It's okay Rainbow" Takumi said "It's not like you were trying to take me out." "I still feel bad about it" she said. "No one got seriously hurt and that's all that matters" Iketani said "I don't know what I would have done if my two favorite ponies were hurt" Scootaloo said, not having left either of their sides. "We're okay Squirt" Rainbow said "No thanks to me" "Rainbow Dash, you need to stop beating yourself up." Rarity said "All has been forgiven, darling." Suddenly Spike stopped, got a weird look on his face and belched a green flame. Then a scroll fell into his hands. Spike handed it to Twilight. "It's an urgent letter from the Princesses regarding the four of you" she said, gesturing towards their new friends.
Chapter 1.1: Impractical MagicTwilight Sparkle woke up one summer morning, stretched her legs out, let out a yawn and got out of bed. She headed into her bathroom, picked up her hairbrush and brushed her mane and tail, then she picked up her toothbrush, put some toothpaste on it and proceeded to brush her teeth, she rinsed her mouth out then headed downstairs to prepare breakfast for herself and Spike, since Starlight was on an extended visit to the Crystal Empire, it was just the two of them. Once she was in the kitchen, she started thinking about what to make for breakfast. "We just had waffles the other day since Spike wanted them, so today I think pancakes sounds like a great idea." she thought to herself as she got out the cookbook, she then flipped through the pages to find the pancake recipe and then proceeded to get the necessary ingredients and started baking. Once she had a few pancakes it made the kitchen smell of them, she knew that soon a certain dragon would awaken from his slumber. As if on cue, Spike came walking into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Morning Twilight." he said. "Good morning Spike, would you like some pancakes?". "Yeah!" Spike said happily. "Would you get some plates, forks and knives and set them on the table?". "Sure!" Spike then got some plates out of the cabinet and some utensils out of a drawer and set them on the kitchen table. Twilight then brought the pancakes and some syrup over too. They both then sat down, got some pancakes and started eating. "So Spike, read anything good lately?". "Yeah, I was reading the latest Power Ponies comic, it's about Zapp's evil brother trying to take over the world". "Oh Spike, you and your comic books." Twilight said giggling. "Says the mare who has a huge collection of Manga and Graphic Novels". "Touche". After a little while, they finished their breakfast and were in the living area of the castle when there was a knock on the front door. Twilight trotted over to the door and opened it, she then saw Rainbow Dash standing there. "Hi Rainbow" Twilight greeted her friend "What brings you here?". "I was heading out to start my weather duties for the day and saw you left your copy of Daring-Do and the Griffon's Goblet on the table in my living room. You must have left it there the night when you came over to see if I found a copy with spelling errors in it at that yard sale" Rainbow explained and gave Twilight the book "Oh and I also wanted to let you borrow a Manga series me and Scootaloo read, it's about a kind of cart racing called Drifting". "Sounds interesting" Twilight said "If you'd like we could do a trade off, I have a series about video games and sword fighting you might like, it's one of mine and Princess Luna's favorites". "Is it the one that caused you to nearly freak out when Neightendo announced they were starting development on virtual reality gaming?" "I did not 'nearly freak out'!" Twilight exclaimed. "Suuurre you didn't, Twilight." Spike said from inside the castle. "Anyway, sure I would love to read it, just bring them by my house later, gotta dash" Rainbow said then took off to the sky, then suddenly came back "I almost forgot to give you the book, it's the first one in the series" she then gave Twilight the book and was off once again. Twilight went inside, shut the door and gave out a long sigh. "That's the fourth thing I left at a friend's house this month" Twilight said out loud as she set the books down. "Yeah, you seem to be forgetting little things like that" Spike told her, "too bad there isn't a spell to be able to get things you have from other places if you've forgotten them". Twilight thought for a moment, "I think I saw one in a book at the Castle of the Two Sisters, let's go and try to find it!". "Alright, I think it might be fun to go back there, it's been awhile". "Then let's go!" Twilight said enthusiastically, Spike climbed up on Twilight's back and they headed out the door. Once they were at the Castle of The Two Sisters, the two began searching through the castle's library, hours went by as they went through book after book, not having any luck. "I know I saw one" Twilight thought to herself as she finished looking through an entire shelf of books, "having any luck, Spike?". "Nope, sorry". "Uggh" Twilight groaned and continued searching, then she came across a book entitled 'Summoning and Teleportation for Advanced Magic Users'. "Spike, I think I found it!". "That's great Twilight, how about you see if it's in the before we go?" Spike suggested. "Good idea" Twilight then flipped through the pages until she came across a spell called 'summoning an object to you'. "Here it is." she said showing Spike. "Great, now let's head back home, it's probably lunchtime by now and all this searching has made me hungry". Twilight chuckled "Alright let's go home". After they got home and had lunch, Twilight and Spike were in the library looking at the spellbook they brought home. "Alright, it says for the spell to work I need to focus on the what I want to summon to me" Twilight said. "Why don't you give it a try with something nearby before you try using it for something that's a long ways away?" Spike suggested to her. "I think I will" Twilight told him, she then started to think about things she could try to summon, then she remembered the book Rainbow gave her and that she left it in the living room. "Alright, let's do this." she thought in her head. She began focusing on the book, like what the book was about and what it looked like. Suddenly the was a huge flash of light and a minor shockwave that sent Twilight and Spike flying backward. Once Twilight stood up again, she looked around the room for Spike. "Are you okay Spike?" she asked. "I'm fine, Twilight, what happened?". "I don't know, I cast the spell, then there was that flash of light and then we were thrown across the room". Twilight then looked for the book, her eyes then fell on the center of the room and she let out a huge gasp when she saw what she had summoned. "That's not what I excepted at all." she said with a worried look on her face.
Chapter 1.2: Drifting AlongIt was a warm summer evening, Iketani and Itsuki were just finishing up with a customer, the car pulled out of the gas station and a few moments later a white Nissan 130X pulled in. The car pulled up to where they were standing, and their friend, Kenji stepped out. "Hey guys" Kenji greeted his friends. "Hey Kenji" replied Iketani "'Sup Kenji" said Itsuki "Is Takumi here yet?" asked Kenji "Not yet, he said he might be a bit late" replied Iketani Just then a Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 pulled into the station and Takumi rolled down the window and asked "Hey guys, you ready to go?" "Yeah, just give us a minute to change and we'll be ready" Iketani replied A few minutes later Iketani rolled out in his Nissan Silvia K S13 and Itsuki in his Toyota AE85, the four cars whipped out of the gas station and headed for Mount Akina. "Ah, to be young and reckless" commented Yuichi as he looked on. The four drivers were having a drift session for the first time since Takumi joined 'Project D'. "It's been so long since I've driven Akina when I'm not making the deliveries" Takumi thought to himself. "I almost feel like I'm, well, home. It feels good to just relax" he thought as he slid effortlessly into a hairpin turn. "I can't believe that guy wants to hang out with the likes of us" Iketani thought "I mean, the guy's a legend around here and he's fast becoming the bane of the best drifters in all of Japan. And he's out here driving with us." "That guy's amazing" Kenji thought. "It's no wonder Ryosuke made him part of 'Project D'. Takumi's sure to go far with his help. " "Takumi's been so busy being awesome and defeating, like, everyone he goes up against, I'm happy he was able to do this." thought Itsuki. "He just makes drifting look so easy" he commented aloud as he watched Takumi drift. "I, on the other hand, need a lot more practice" he thought as he wobbled through a turn. After a few hours of going up and down the mountain, the guys decided to take a break at their favorite coffee machine. "I'm so glad we were able to do this." Takumi said as he sat down with his drink. "It's really great to just drive." "I'm just glad you had the time to do this, what with 'Project D' and all." Iketani said "Yeah, 'D' keeps me pretty busy" he replied "It must be great to be able to learn from someone like Ryosuke" Kenji commented "Ryosuke's is amazing." Takumi replied, "He's teaching me a lot." "Takumi, you're the best dr....." Itsuki began, but was cut off as a weird, sparkly light, swirled around them. "What the h..." Iketani said as they all vanished.
