Truth, Justice and the Equestrian Way

It was quiet in the Kent home this evening. Clark had already gone off to school and Jonathan was working in the fields. Martha was sitting in the living room where she was reading the newest issue of Equestria Daily, the most popular newspaper from the busy city of Metrotpolis. The front page read: “Magic School Entrance Exams Today”. It didn’t seemed to spark her interest. She turned the page again. This article caught her attention.

“Mystery in New Marexico

written by Icy Shakes

Fifty years ago, the ponies of Roswell, New Marexico had a strange incident that none of them will ever forget. As many witnesses claim, they saw what was described as a large craft crash land near their town. Very soon after the event, Princess Celestia’s Royal guards were on the scene keeping all civilians away from the site as they investigated what was going on. What really went on during the investigation is only known to those royal guards, which gathered all evidence of this said crash up to Canterlot. After many days, the Royal Guard released a public statement that the object that landed in Roswell was a failed wind tracker made by Cloudsdale engineers.

As the years passed, many rumors surfaced about what was found at the site. Rusty Cage, the local rancher that discovered and reported the incident, claims that the object he found looked nothing like Cloudsdale could’ve been making. He stated that what he saw looked like a large round-tipped machine that had strange unfamiliar markings that weren’t of any language he knew of. When he had approached the object more closely, it had a large hole in the middle of it and a bright light coming out of it. Cage then hurried off to report this to the authorities, which later took him in for questioning. Although the royal guard disregards it, Cage stands by his testimony.

This claim soon became controversy as it implied a “Royal Cover-up” by Celestia’s Guards to hide any evidence that they withheld an unknown craft from the public. The claimed wreckage was never seen again since it’s recovery from Roswell, having officials state that it was returned to the undisclosed and nameless engineers from Cloudsdale.

At the end of this all, we look back at this as either some sort of conspiracy pulled off by the Royals or a hoax claimed by a farmer. Whichever may be the case, this event has sparked an unusual interest with ponies all over Equestria which has many looking for more instances like Roswell. Although none of the reports from these ponies has provided any results, supposed claims that other so-called crafts have been sighted in Whitetail Woods, Baltimare and Ponyville. One such instance near Baltimare was recorded by amateur.....”

Martha couldn’t read anymore. Her mind filled up with thoughts about how she and Jonathan found Clark. If the Royal Guards find out about Clark, will they take him away? Could there possibly be ponies like Clark inside craft? She put her hooves over her face and began crying. She didn’t want to believe that the colt she raised could be taken away from her and sent to some secret Canterlot base where he’ll never be seen again. Sitting in her chair, the tears rolled off her face. She knew she had to stay strong, that whatever happens must happen for a reason.

Martha put down the newspaper and walked over towards the backdoor. She just had to stay strong. The orange mare got ready to tend to her animals. She walked out the door, believing that things will work out.

The bell rang as the students were leaving the schoolhouse. Clark put his books and notes back into his saddlebag as the teacher came by.

“Pen, do you feel any better from yesterday?” the older mare asked her student.

Clark had actually felt better than ever today, despite feeling strange the day before. He put on his saddlebag over his back and said, “I feel way better today, ma'am.”

“Well, that’s good to hear”, his teacher said as she went back to her desk to tidy things up.

He trotted up to the door and saw his white unicorn friend waiting for him. He knew what was coming next.

“Pen. Do you think you could help me making the new costumes over at my house?”, she was smiling as big as she could, knowing that Clark couldn’t say no to a friend in need.

“umm... sure”, Clark said reluctantly after hearing that she was making all new costumes for the play that was later that night. Even though his Pa had something planned for later today, he knew that if he explained later it would be ok.

“Oh! Thank, you thank you, thank you, thank you Pen! You have no idea how much this means to me!”. The two young ponies began walking to towards Rarity’s carousel shaped home that wasn’t too far off from the school.

When they came up to the mailbox, Clark could see the carousel-shaped house. He’d never really been inside before. Rarity picked up the doormat and took the key that was right underneath it. The unicorn filly unlocked the door and led Clark inside. It was very fancy inside, like as if the interior was made by a Canterlot artist.

Rarity placed down her saddlebag and picked up a couple things from a table. She made her way towards Clark and said, “Pen, If you’re going to be my assistant for this. You have to at least look the part”.

“Look the part?”, what did Clark get himself into. She couldn’t be serious. Clark placed down his belongings and asked, “What do you mean by that?”.

Rarity chuckled a little, “Just let me tidy you up before we can start.” She sat Clark down in a nearby chair and pulled a comb from her things. Clark decided to relax, knowing that Rarity wasn’t one to say no to in these kind of situations. She started fixing up the colt’s black mane until it was tidy and neat. Next, the white filly placed a pair of black framed glasses on Clark.

“There we are, now you look perfect to be my assistant”, Rarity said. She gave him a mirror and waited to see his reaction.

Clark could see himself looking entirely different. His usually messy mane looked refined as it was slightly stylized to the left, it looked more business-like than what he was used to. He could see his blue eyes through the lenses. “This looks.... nice. A little nerdy, but nice”.

Rarity smiled as she trailed off into her workroom. The “fancy” colt followed his friend into a room full of various fabrics and sewing machines. She stopped a table in front of her that had many designs of costumes on them. Clark asked, “So what exactly did you need me to do?”.

“Can you bring me different materials and tools when I ask for them?”, She asked with a smile.

“Sure”, Clark said as he waited next to Rarity as she began to take a couple of designs to a nearby sewing machine. He watched as the filly began working on the brand new costumes. After a couple minutes, Clark’s eyes began to wander around the room. He saw many dresses that Rarity made, if he didn’t know any better, he probably would’ve thought they were made by professionals.

“Pen, I need the green fabric please”, Rarity ordered. Clark trotted to the piles of fabric laid about. After selecting the right one, he quickly grabbed the fabric roll and placed it on Rarity’s desk.

“Is there anything else you need?”, the assistant asked.

Rarity laughed a little, “Pen, you look like an entirely different pony now. It’s a little funny”. She continued on with her work, “But I don’t need anything at the moment”.

Even more minutes passed until, Rarity need something again. “Can you get me the red scissors?”

Clark carefully retrieved said scissors and placed them in Rarity’s reach.

After many about an hour of work, Rarity finally decided to walk away from her sewing machine. Clark was getting a little bored till he could hear something strange, like the sound of flapping wings. “Hey Rarity, can you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Clark could hear even more wings flapping, but couldn’t see any. Maybe the noise was coming outside. “Nothing, Rarity. Hey, can I go get some fresh air?”

“But of course Pen”, the unicorn said as she was drinking some water. Clark walked outside of the house and tried to look for anything that could be flying nearby. Past the trees, in the bushes and in the skies, he could see nothing. There had to be something making that noise. He aimed his ear towards the sky and tried to listen in on anything going on. He could hear something, something more than wings flapping. It was voices.

One was the voice of a colt saying “Nice going, Clutzershy! They oughta ground you permanently!”. Clark could continue to hear the colt to laugh as another colt was saying, “My baby brother can fly better than you!”. He could hear these two colts go on as he also heard what sounded like a whimpering sound. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t good. It sounded like as if those colts were bullying someone, but where were they?

Soon he could hear another noise whiz around from the same direction as the voices. “Leave her alone!”, a voice which sounded like a filly said. Someone was standing up for the pony being bullied.

“oooh what are you gonna do? Rainbow Crash!”, one of the colts said.

“Keep making fun of her and find out!”, the filly yelled as loud as she could.

This was getting too weird. Clark had been listening in on this for a while, but still couldn’t see anypony around. He decided maybe he could just ignore it and maybe it’ll go away. As soon as he was going to open the door, something had slammed the door open, which hit Clark right in the face. When he opened his eyes, he could see Rarity screaming and moving really fast with a bright light coming out of her horn.

“Rarity! What's going on!?”, Clark yelled as he saw his friend move out of his sight. He ran after her, but to no avail. She was moving too fast. This worried him, nothing like this ever happened. “If I just keep moving in the same direction she was going, I’ll find her”, Clark thought as he darted where he last saw her.

“What do ya have in mind?”, He could hear those voices again. Clark was getting tired and just couldn’t keep running much longer. He stopped and found that he was in a place he’s never been before, the deep woods. This wasn’t good.

The black-maned colt needed to know if there was a way he could get back. Maybe if he could find a road or a lake, he could find some help. Clark saw something large make a shadow above him. He looked up to see what appeared to be a swarm of butterflies making their way through the trees. Things just kept getting weirder.

BOOOOM!!

A large noise out of nowhere made Clark jump a little. What could it be? He looked up to see an enormous rainbow cover the landscape. It shook the trees and mountains as the wave of colors passed through it. “This was really an amazing sight”, Clark thought to himself. “Wait, how can I see all of this?”. Clark suddenly looked down and realised he was floating relatively high to the ground. He yelled as loud as he could, “HOLY MOLY!”

“How can this be happening?!”, Clark was beginning to panic. The tan pony was floating without anything holding him up. He felt weightless, like nothing was pushing him down. “Ok, maybe if I take deep breaths, it’ll get down”. He began slowly breathing, filling his lungs up with oxygen, each inhale getting larger and slower than the last. After exhaling his largest breath, he saw that the air he blew into froze, with small flakes of snow falling to the ground.

“Ok, someone has to be playing a trick on me!”, he reasoned. Since magic was the only thing he knew that could do something like this. “Come on out and let me down!”. Seconds passed as only silence could be heard between the trees. He looked at the rest of his body and saw no magical aura around him. “Could I be doing this?”. His mind full of thoughts, he didn’t even realise he was slowly descending towards the ground.

Clark felt the soft grass against his hooves which prompted him to knowing he was safely on the ground. He needed to get back home before anything else strange happens. He walked until he came across a clearing with fewer trees.

There, standing in the midst of many animals, was a cream colored pegasus with a pink mane like. She looked like she couldn’t be any older than Clark. Clark quietly moved towards the filly. He needed to know where he was.

None of the animals moved as the colt. Ducks, otters, bunnies, birds. Anytime Clark had seen these animals, they usually run from him. This time it was completely different. Clark quietly asked the pegasus, “Hello, do you know how to get to Ponyville from here?”

“Eeep!”, this spooked the pegasus. She hid behind her mane and tried not to look at him.

“I’m sorry, I’m just looking for a way home”, Clark tried to move in closer to the shy pony. “I’m from Ponyville”. Slowly, she looked up and made eye contact with Clark.

“I don’t know where I am right now”, She then looked up at the sky. “I fell here from flight camp, when a bunch of butterflies caught me”. She was starting to come out of her shell a little.

“Ok?”, a little confused on how some bugs could hold up a filly, let alone catch her. “I guess I’ll go on my way then”. Clark turned and started walking in the general direction he believed Ponyville was.

“Please don’t go, I don’t know where home is either. What if everyone is worrying about me? umm, can I tag along with you? I’ll be quiet... if you want me to”. Her voice was very nervous, shaking with each word she spoke. Clark couldn’t just leave her out here, lost in Celestia-knows-where.

“Sure, I don’t mind if you talk”, the black-maned colt stopped and waited for the filly to walk past the collection of animals that had formed around her. The animals the scurried off as they usually do once the filly left their immediate presence. Her steps were very graceful, like a deer as it passes through a field.

Clark looked up at the sun, it was falling west. He decided to go east, since his Pa had told him about the open fields that were west of Ponyville. The filly was very quiet as she trotted beside Clark.

“Hey, my name’s Clark by the way. But everyone calls me Pen. What’s your name?”, he asked. The young mare lifted her head, moving her mouth but no words coming out. Clark asked again, “... what's your name?”. She moved her mouth again.

“I’m Fluttershy”, Clark could barely hear the soft voice. She tried to avoid eye-contact by hiding behind her long pink mane again. Sure, Clark has seen some bashful ponies time and again, but this was probably another case entirely. He decided to probably keep quiet until they found Ponyville.

Trotting for what seemed like hours, the two ponies saw where the trees ended and a carrot field began. “This has to be the Carrot Family’s land. That means Ponyville is just that direction”, Clark pointed across the crops.

“Ok”, a whisper was heard.

They moved around the fields of produce before them and came across the road that leads to Ponyville. It won’t be much longer now. Their hooves were getting weary, Clark’s never had to walk this far before.

Fluttershy nudged Clark, “Pen. Is that Ponyville?”. In front of them was the little town Clark called home, the slowly falling sun shining across the humble buildings. At this time of day, many businesses were closing down. They could the ponies returning home from work through the streets.

“It is!”, Clark shouted, “We made it!”. He tried galloping, while also not trying to leave Fluttershy behind. They came into the town together. “Ok, now that you’re here, let’s find a phone so you can find a way back home”. Clark looked around, he couldn’t see many buildings open anymore. There had to be someplace open. “Let’s keep walking Fluttershy, we need to find somewhere that’s still open”. Past City Hall, he could see a shop with it’s lights still on. “Sugarcube Corner! The Cakes will surely let us use their phone”.

Clark led as he was mere inches in front of the door. His hoof barely touched the door as it swung open. All Clark knew next is that he was on the ground, covered in something moist and soft. He wiped the frosting off the glasses Rarity had given him to see what appeared to be some kind of pink THING in front of him. He could hear whatever it was talking a real fast, squeaky voice. Clark got up on his hooves.

“... and so that’s why I’m here getting a yummy cake for a super-duper special party I’m throwing for my family! It’s gonna have streamers and balloons and punch and...”, Clark could see this “thing” was another filly he’s never before. She was completely pink, with a mane and tail that looked like a tornado had flown through it. He wasn’t really listening to the words this filly was saying, they were too fast and her voice sounded like as if what little voice Fluttershy had was on helium. “.. I’m gonna go order another cake since the one I got kind of made a mess ALL over you”, She ran back into the store.

“I’m going to need a good shower after this”, Clark was covered in what he believed to be Red Velvet cake. He looked around and something was a miss, “Fluttershy? Are you still here?”. The bashful pegasus came out from a behind a nearby bush. “Ok, were you hiding from that pink filly just now?”.

“.. I saw something come out the door and hit you so I just tried to hide”, She said. “... are you hurt?”. Clark moved around a little bit to check for soreness, he nodded to show nothing happened.

“Let’s get in to get you to a phone”, this time opening the door very quickly so nothing else unexpected happens. Once inside, he could see the pink filly from earlier at the register with Mrs Cake taking her order.

Clark walked towards the back of the store to look for Mr Cake, he was usually somewhere in the kitchen. Coming out from behind a bunch of crates, the said stallion came out to where the two foals were standing.

“Pen? Why are you covered in.... Red Velvet?”, the lankey shop owner asked.

“That pink filly over there ran it right into me as I walked up to the door”, Clark explained.

“.... So is there any reason you decided to come to Sugarcube Corner?”

“Well, actually Fluttershy was lost in the woods earlier and she needs to use your phone to call someone”, Clark explained. He left the pegasus with Mr Cake, as he led her to the telephone.

Clark needed to get to Rarity’s house, maybe he could still get some help to find her. He dashed to the carousel shaped home where he could see Rarity standing outside with a large rock. “So she found her own way back. I need to be getting home too”.

He galloped down his familiar path going towards Sweet Apple Acres. “Just a little further and I can rest”, he thought as he used whatever energy left to get home and end this crazy day.

He saw the farm as the sun was finally setting. He’d never been so happy to be home. Smiling and still covered in a mesparents the door to stheirhis dad washing up afHeshing up his chores for the day. The colt said, “I’m back!”. Jonathan had came up to his son with a very puzzled look, he didn’t expect Clark to come home like this.

“Clark, go take a shower. I need to talk to you after that”, Jonathan said in a somewhat serious tone. “You’re not in trouble, there are somethings I have to talk with you about”. This was gonna be a long night.