The hours immediately following the debacle in the now-burning 7-11 went by in a blur. The five odd people (and there had been five; Oliver had initially missed the meek pink-haired woman who had arrived with the so-called "princess") had all snuck off somewhere while his back had been turned, even managing to haul the wounded Applejack along with them. The police and fire department both arrived on the scene shortly after, and Oliver had fed them a very modified version of events. Of course, the officers readily believed his story about Rodney and Daryl showing up, demanding the money from the register with their gun, trashing the place, and accidentally starting the fire in the process. It sounded for all the world like how a pair of armed delinquent thugs would act.

Oliver counted his lucky stars that the detective they'd sent to the scene hadn't been his sister. He'd never been able to slip a lie past her.

His boss, the owner of this and a few other 7-11s in the area, showed up at around the same time as the ambulance did. As the paramedics loaded up Rodney's burned and unconscious body to be carted to the hospital, Oliver gave his boss the same story as he had the police. The meeting went a lot smoother than Oliver had expected, with his boss apologizing profusely for Oliver's injuries and offering him a week of paid-vacation to get over the shock of the event. He even assured Oliver that he'd be able to work at another 7-11 he owned across town for the foreseeable future, which eased Oliver's fears about being unemployed.

At the end of it all, the medics took a quick look at Oliver's hand (which he had thankfully already plucked the needles out of), which hadn't been nearly as bad as Oliver's panicked mind had thought it was. With some quick antiseptic and bandaging, he was free to go home. The police, ambulance, fire department, and his boss had all just finished leaving when Oliver trudged towards his own car.

He sighed, the weight of the whole situation still bearing down on him. The fact that he'd basically killed two... well, one guy was still heavy in his mind. Rodney had been a real scumbag, of that Oliver had no doubt, but it almost seemed like Daryl was just kind of... doing what he was told. He shook his head, trying to remind himself what Shining Armor had said.

"Ah, so this one is yours then. Good, I was right after all."

What? No, that hadn't been what he'd said, and yet Oliver heard it in the guy's voice, clear as day. He blinked twice, taking a moment to realize the voice hadn't been in his thoughts as he whirled around to see Shining emerging from a bush next to his parked car.

"You... you're still here?" Oliver asked, stepping back. "The hell are you doing in that bush, man?"

"Waiting for all those officials to leave," Shining offered, speaking as though it had been obvious. "I told you before, we can't really get caught up with them. It would cause problems."

Oliver opened his mouth to reply, but the words died in his throat as the rest of Shining's odd posse emerged from the nearby foliage. The pink-haired girl, the kid Spike, the gargantuan 6'4 woman Shining had called "Princess Celestia", and even Applejack. The needles seemed to have been removed from her body, and though she moved somewhat slowly she seemed surprisingly on the mend.

"Apologies that we had to wait so long, your highness," Shining said, turning and kneeling before the princess. "I did't think they'd linger for so long."

"Peace, Shining Armor," Celestia reassured, placing a hand on his shoulder. "They were simply doing their duty. It was no trouble."

She turned to face Oliver as Shining stood back up. "You have done us a great service, protecting my little ponies..."

Her what.

"...but I am afraid I must ask your help again. We must regroup somewhere safe where we can discuss our next move. Our enemies are moving against us faster than I anticipated. Do you know of somewhere we could go to rest, in relative safety?"

Oliver worked his jaw, trying to figure out what to say but failing utterly to find words. These bizarre people wanted more of his help? He'd already saved like, three of them, despite Shining's apparent hangups on the matter. He should just say no and get on with his life. He wanted to say no. These people were dangerous, and whatever they were mixed up in had nearly gotten him killed.

And yet, more than anything else: more than his fear, his nervousness, his survival instincts, and his common fucking sense, he was just so damn curious.

"...My apartment," he said, sighing as if in defeat. "You can go there, for a little while at least. It's small, but I live alone. No one else will be there to bother you."

He pulled out his keys and clicked the button, unlocking the old Tahoe with a beep beep and opening the driver's side door. He was lucky the old beater had enough seating space for this motley crew.

"Pile in."

He sat down in the driver's seat, putting the key into the ignition and starting the engine. The old SUV roared to life, and he relaxed into the seat a bit as his exhaustion began to set in.

The five of them seemed to hesitate, as if wary of the vehicle. Oliver rolled his eyes and lowered his window.

"Listen, I know it's old, but I had it serviced like, last week," he said, his voice carrying an undertone of annoyance. "Just come on already."

Slowly, they all made their way into the vehicle. Celestia deigned to sit in the passenger seat, while the others piled haphazardly into the second and third rows of seating. They all sat expectantly, looking at Oliver. He stared right back.

"...Seatbelts, people," he said, exasperated. Looks of confusion spread among them, but ironically it was the kid who figured it out first. He located his seatbelt and brought it over his lap, locking it into place with a click. Following his example, the others did the same.

He backed out of the parking space, then shifted into drive and headed for the road. Focusing on his driving, he didn't catch the bewildered looks of his passengers as the car moved about.

"Ah, Oliver, was it?" Celestia eventually asked once they were underway, breaking the silence. "You have my gratitude for your continued assistance to us. Opening your home to strangers is no small matter. I cannot thank you enough."

Oliver merely grunted in response. Eventually, he said, "hmm, yeah, s'fine I guess. Silver lining to all this, my boss gave me a week of paid vacation, so I guess in a roundabout way y'all did me a favor. Whoopie."

"I suppose that is nice."

The rest of the ride passed in a strained, awkward silence. Thankfully it wasn't too terribly long, as Fairweather was a small town and Oliver's apartment complex was just around the corner. Pulling in to park, Oliver motioned for everyone to get out before cutting the engine and leading them all up the stairs to his place.

Opening the door to his meager studio apartment gave Oliver a sense of security. He sighed again, something he realized he'd been doing a lot of, and flicked the lights on to reveal the interior. One corner of the room was occupied by his bed, which he unceremoniously flopped down onto with a groan. A small TV sat on a table against the wall, facing an old couch and coffee table. The kitchen portion of the studio featured a round table with four chairs, which combined with the couch and Oliver's place on the bed provided more than enough seating for everyone inside. It didn't stop the room from feeling cramped, though.

"Lock the door behind you," Oliver called, slightly muffled with his face pressed against his pillow. He couldn't see who did so, but he heard the distinct click. After a moment he lifted his head to see the five of them awkwardly milling about the small space.

"Well?" he asked. "Sit down somewhere. Get comfy I guess."

He himself got up from the bed as the rest of them took seats around the room. He headed for the kitchen, grabbing his percolator and a tub of ground coffee from a cabinet and setting it on the counter top. He had a feeling that he was going to need to stay up for a while yet.

"Anyone want coffee?" he asked the others, filling the percolator with water and dumping some ground coffee into the cup. He put the lid on the contraption and plugged the whole thing in. "It should be ready in a couple minutes."

"Oh, yes," Celestia said, seeming surprised by the offer. "I would love some. Thank you."

"Reckon I'll have a cup," Applejack added.

No one else spoke up. Going by Spike's expression he seemed to be mulling it over, but Oliver wasn't going to wait around for his answer. He grabbed three mugs from another cabinet and set them on the counter.

A few moments passed. The only sound in the room was the ticking of Oliver's clock, which read 2:13 AM, and the bubbling of the percolator. Oliver took the moment to scan the others' faces. The pink-haired one whose name he still didn't know was huddled on the couch, avoiding his gaze. Applejack, taking up the other side of the couch, actually seemed rather calm, but was scrutinizing him in a way not unlike how Shining had earlier. Shining himself was shifting his gaze constantly between Oliver and the Princess, and still seemed exhausted from the fight. Spike had taken notice of the bowl of cheap peppermint candies in the middle of the table and had already eaten a handful of them, if the pile of wrappers he was accumulating was any indication.

And the princess... or so-called princess, was staring at him with a passive, slightly pleasant expression. It was a very neutral look, that revealed absolutely nothing about what she was thinking. Oliver hated it.

The coffee finished right as Shining stifled a loud yawn. The sudden noise caused everyone in the room to look at him. He looked around, a sheepish expression crossing his face.

"I guess I'll have a cup too."

Celestia watched with amusement as Oliver, clearly annoyed, sighed and retrieved an extra mug from his cabinet and started pouring out cups of coffee. He was such an odd person, by her limited impression of him. Clearly she and her subjects caused him no small amount of exasperation, yet he had helped them against Discord's servants and was now entertaining them in his home. It didn't necessarily seem like he was doing any of this out of the kindness of his heart either. It had been so long since she'd last dealt with humans, she couldn't remember if they were all this strange. How curious...

She observed passively as he poured four cups of coffee, then set the coffee pot down and retrieved a bottle of what she imagined was creamer from the large, white machine next to his stove. Some kind of icebox, she imagined.

"Anyone take their coffee black?" he asked. No one replied, so he went about adding the cream to the coffee and stirring each.

"Oh, if you don't mind, I'd like some sugar in mine," Celestia said. Next to her, Shining mentioned he did as well.

"The creamer's full of sugar," Oliver said, giving them a sidelong glance. "Trust me."

He carried three of the cups, setting two down at the table for Shining and Celestia, and taking the third to Applejack, who nodded and thanked him. Heading back into the kitchen and retrieving his own cup, he took a sip before digging around in the icebox for something else.

Celestia took a sip of her cup, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very sweet. She hummed with satisfaction, while next to her she caught sight of Shining grimacing and heard a cough from Applejack.

"Hoo-ey," Applejack muttered, her face scrunching up a bit. "That's... really sweet."

Shining just grunted, and Celestia recalled that he liked his coffee extremely weak. She stifled a chuckle as Oliver spoke up again.

"I'm gonna make some hash. I'll make a lot, so y'all have some if you want."

"That's generous of you," Celestia said. "In the meantime, we should probably discuss what to do next, if you don't mind."

"Yeah, go ahead."

As Oliver got to work retrieving potatoes, onions, peppers, and eggs from his icebox and pantry, Celestia turned so that she was facing her subjects.

"So, we must decide our course of action, going forward."

"Discord knows where we are," Shining said, gingerly sipping his coffee. "It isn't surprising, considering he sent us here, but I didn't expect him to have recruited humans into his service so quickly."

"And tough fellers at that," Applejack grumbled. "And heck, not to second guess you or nothin' Princess, but I thought you said humans couldn't do magic anymore?"

In the background, there was a loud clatter and a muffled exclamation of "Fuck!" as Oliver dropped something. Celestia suppressed the urge to chuckle again.

"Indeed, this realm's denizens have long forgotten their old ways," she began. "Human spellcasters are strange. They can only ever learn one magical ability, which they call a 'focus', but each one is unique and inherent to them, as opposed to unicorn magic which is comprised of spells that must be taught and learned. A human's focus can potentially be extremely versatile though - especially if the user has practiced a great deal - to make up for it being the only thing they can use. Even if humans have forgotten the ways of magic, the potential for developing a focus would still reside in all of them."

"A-a-and," Fluttershy, huddled on the couch, managed to speak up, "you think... y-you think Discord is... using that potential?"

Celestia nodded. "Indeed. He's certainly powerful enough. It would be child's play for him to reach within someone and trigger the activation of their latent focus. Normally a human would unlock their focus through training under a tutor, or by prolonged and repeated exposure to other mages, but Discord could absolutely trigger the process artificially."

"So Discord's fiddlin' with humans to bring back their magic?" Applejack asked, essentially summing up the situation. "That's more'n just a problem for us. Human folks probably won't know what's goin' on if they've never heard of magic, and folks start croppin' up usin' it willy nilly."

"We've heard of magic," Oliver said, interjecting from the other side of the kitchen. "But it's confined to fiction for us. Fantasy stories and games and whatnot. Nobody thinks it's real. Hell, I sure didn't, but it's hard to think of a rational explanation for what happened back at the store."

Celestia caught sight of Shining and Applejack frowning as Oliver interjected. It was likely they didn't think he had a place in this conversation. Before either of them could say anything, Celestia continued.

"It's likely a shock for you, to have your understanding of the world twisted in such a way."

"I'll deal with it," he replied bluntly. "You guys want eggs with your hash?"

Celestia shared a look with the others. It was somewhat uncommon for ponies to eat eggs outside of using them in baking, but it wasn't particularly strange or anything. Celestia considered it lucky that Oliver hadn't tried to feed them some kind of meat. She knew he didn't know any better, but it may have caused an uproar among her subjects.

"I would, yes," she said. "Over easy, please."

"Sure!" Spike piped up. He'd been oddly quiet for the whole discussion so far, Celestia noted. "However you wanna cook them."

"Scrambled," Applejack said curtly.

"I'm... hmm, well, I probably need the protein," Shining muttered. "Sure then. Over medium."

They all looked at Fluttershy, save for Oliver who was starting to prepare the eggs, and she jumped a bit in surprise.

"O-o-oh! Oh, no, I'm... no thank you."

Oliver hummed passively and went back to cooking.

They discussed the implications of Discord bringing magic back to the human world a bit more, and the problems it might cause for their mission and for human society as a whole. Eventually, Oliver brought over a number of bowls filled with hash and topped with eggs, per everyone's requests. Celestia truly hadn't expected him to cook for them, considering how much they seemed to bother him. Perhaps he was simply dedicated to being a good host.

The food wasn't anything like what her chefs in Canterlot Palace would have served, but it smelled very good. It appeared to be a simple hash of potatoes, onions, and bell peppers, with salt and pepper and...

"I think that's... rosemary?" Celestia asked, lifting her fork and taking a bite. "Hmm! Oh, it is!"

"Hmm," Oliver hummed, nodding as he stood in the kitchen to eat his portion, despite the table having an empty seat. "Rosemary's good with potatoes."

"I agree," Celestia said, cutting up her egg a bit and letting the yolk run over the food before taking another bite. "It's quite good. Thank you, Oliver."

"It's pretty simple," he replied, deflecting the compliment. "I'm no great chef, but I like to cook what I can. It's... fun."

Celestia nodded, turning her attention back to the meal. She noticed the others handling the silverware with uncertainty, except for Spike who took to it rather quickly. A small giggle escaped her. Her subjects could be so funny sometimes.

After everyone had eaten and Oliver had cleaned up the dishes, the five went back to discussing their plans for battling this mysterious "Discord" character. Not sure how to contribute to this conversation he didn't particularly feel welcome in, he instead headed over to the small desk next to his bed, on which sat his laptop. He noticed the pink-haired girl whose name he still did not know cower a bit as he walked by. If that was how she was going to react to his presence, he figured it would be a bad time to ask her name now.

He sat down in the old rolling chair and opened the lid of the computer, the screen flickering to life before him. Once everything had booted up, he opened Chrome and checked his messenger.

[4 Messages from Penelope Rhine]

He sighed. Of course she'd been messaging him. He'd dared to assume she would still be asleep at this hour, but he should've known she'd be up going through case files or whatever it was she did. He opened the chat with her to reply.

Penelope: I heard about the gas station. Are you okay?
Penelope: What happened?
Penelope: Oliver, are you alright?
Penelope: Please.

A pang of guilt went through him. He should've checked sooner.

Oliver: I'm fine, Penny.
Penelope: Jesus, Oliver. What took so long? I was sick worrying.
Oliver: I left my phone behind in the building. It was on the counter and I forgot it. It's gone now.
Penelope: Oh, I see. Sorry.
Oliver: It's fine. I need someone to worry about me.
Penelope: You certainly don't worry about you.

He could tell this conversation was about to go in an annoying direction, so he sent a quick "Night sis" to finish things off and closed messenger.

He went to open up another page when a voice from behind startled him.

"Oh, and what is this?"

Oliver jumped in his seat, turning around to see Celestia leaning over and peering at the screen.

"It's my computer," he said, annoyed. "You know, a computer?"

"I see," she said, in a tone that definitely did not sound like she knew what that was. "They didn't have these last time I was here."

"What, computers?"

"Indeed."

He stared at her for a few moments, incredulous. She caught his gaze and offered a small chuckle. Oliver couldn't imagine at all what she was thinking. It was infuriating.

"Applejack mentioned that you showed her a map of the area on your... phone, was it? Is this device similar to that?"

"...Yeah," he said, turning back to the computer. "Here, I'll bring up maps and show you."

He brought up google maps and typed in the address of his apartment as the starting location, and "Key West, FL" as the ending location. The page displayed the best route available, indicating that the journey was roughly 350 miles and would take about 5-and-a-half hours, just like before.

"Remarkable," Celestia breathed, captivated. "You've come so far in such little time."

"Yeah... I guess you could say that."

"And... oh!" she continued. "As I thought, we're in Florida! I remember hearing about Florida before. The beaches are supposed to be nice, yes?"

"They're alright," Oliver said, shrugging. "It's no tropical paradise, but they're okay. Fairweather is kind of inland, but nowhere in Florida is really inland. Beach is always close by."

"Hmm, it's a shame we have no time to stop and enjoy them," Celestia said, and Oliver could have sworn he heard the barest hint of a pout in her voice. "No matter, there is more to discuss Oliver."

Celestia walked back to her seat at the table, and Oliver swiveled his seat around to face her and the others. The gears in his head were whirring.

"So... why do you need to go to Key West?" he dared to ask.

They all looked at him, and he saw Shining Armor's brow furrow. Oliver still couldn't get a read on how that guy felt about him. Applejack however was much more blatant, giving him a glare that sent a clear message of distrust. Oliver wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve such feelings. He was almost hurt. Almost.

"Discord is there," Shining said. "He brought us here, and he's the only one who can take us back home. We need to get to him, defeat him, and return to where we belong."

"O-kay," Oliver said slowly, nodding. "And how do you know this, exactly?"

"That's all thanks to me," Spike said, standing up and looking quite pleased with himself.

"I... don't follow."

Celestia began an explanation. "When we came to this world and became humans..."

When they what?

"...we gained the potential to develop focuses of our own, as humans do. Those of us who were already predisposed to magic in our original forms unlocked our focuses immediately, while those who were not still have yet to do so. Spike has a focus called Oracle."

Spike grinned and began a demonstration, raising his hands as wisps of green fire began to swirl around them. Oliver instinctively leaned back in his seat.

Spike grumbled a bit as the flames began to take shape. "Still not used to it coming from my hands..."

The flames licked at the air, coming dangerously close to lighting Spike's chair on fire, but it seemed as though while Spike held the fire in place it was relatively controlled and safe. An image began to form, as the flames morphed and twisted into a discernible shape.

It was a postcard. "Greetings from Key West, Florida," it read in bold lettering. It was a somewhat famous design. Oliver recalled seeing the postcard's likeness as a mural on some coffee shop, the last time he'd taken a trip down to Key West with his college pals. He frowned in distaste at the memory.

"Key West, Florida," Spike said, reading the text on the produced image. He narrowed his eyes, reading the smaller text underneath. "Southernmost Point in the US. Huh, what's the-"

"It's the country we're in," Oliver, anticipating the question, cut him off. "The United States of America. Florida, where we are now, is one of the states."

He saw Celestia nod and wasn't particularly surprised. She seemed to know a lot more about her surroundings than her companions, even if her knowledge seemed a bit... dated. Oliver idly wondered if they were time travelers or something.

"Indeed," Celestia said. "This is what comes up when Spike seeks information on Discord's location. Honestly, it is a relief that he even followed us here at all, but I suppose he'd never miss a chance to watch our misadventures in an unfamiliar world. With him here though, it means we have a chance to corner him and force him to take us home, but we need to get to him."

"Makes sense," Oliver said, shrugging. "What's your plan for getting there then?"

He barely caught the odd look Celestia gave him for a moment, and he inwardly praised himself for noticing. It was the first slip he'd seen her make.

"Well, I suppose that, lacking any superior options," she began, looking worriedly between her compatriots before turning back to Oliver, "we will begin our trek on foot in the morning. I do apologize Oliver, but I hope you will allow us to rest here for the night."

There. He'd caught it. Just barely, but he'd caught it. She was trying to manipulate him.

"...Yeah," he said after a moment, shrugging again. "You're already here, and it's not like I need to get any rest for work tomorrow since I got that vacation, so sure thing. Make yourselves at home."

Celestia's momentary look of surprise passed in an instant, but now that he knew what to look for he saw it.

"I'm probably not going to sleep any time soon," he continued, "so one or two of you can take the bed. The rest of you can take the couch or wherever. I'll get some spare blankets."

"Thank you," Celestia said with a nod, her lapse in composure gone entirely. "You've gone above and beyond for us, Oliver. I won't forget your help."

She was laying it on thick. Oliver just shrugged, standing up and heading to the small closet across from the bed. In his peripherals, he caught sight of Celestia observing him with a neutral expression. Nice try.

He slid open the closet door with a loud creak, and opened a drawer that held the spare blankets. He grabbed them, pulling them out one at a time and setting them on the floor next to the couch. He turned back to close the now-empty drawer...

...or would have, if he hadn't noticed the items left inside: his father's old service pistol, next to a couple boxes of ammunition. He'd forgotten that he'd hid it there. Hastily, he shut the drawer and closed the closet.

"Uh, if you need me, I'll be right here," he said awkwardly, sitting back down at his small desk and going back to his computer. He felt Celestia's eyes bore into his back, but did his best to ignore them.

Eventually, one by one, his five guests all picked a spot fell asleep.

Author's Note

Spike's focus, Oracle, is based on how his fire breath is used to send messages in the show. As his focus, it can be used both to attack and to divine information. The information might be cryptic of plain, and vague or specific. It might be of no help at all, or be exactly what Spike needs at the moment. It usually depends on how well Spike knows the subject he's inquiring about.

I mentioned in the story's description that Discord sprung his plan at the unveiling ceremony of the stained glass window depicting his "defeat" by the Mane 6. Shining Armor hadn't been there in the show, since he wasn't introduced until the Canterlot Wedding stuff, but I figured it wasn't much of a stretch to have him show up. If we ever do a flashback to the actual moment of Discord putting his plan into action, you'll see the specifics.