Lifetime Salvage

Chapters

Charon Presents Itself - Prologue
A Familiar Town, A Familiar Reality - Chapter One
A Chilly Day Out - Chapter Two
A Stranger's Devotion - Chapter Three
A Resolution - Chapter Four

Charon Presents Itself - Prologue

It stood in a black abyss, in-front. Close, yet far. A human silhouette, cradling an oar, but featureless in every other regard.

"Wake."

"I am Charon."

"Do not be afraid. You will be unable to speak - for you no longer posses a physical vessel. I will understand your thoughts however, and answer your questions."

"I come to souls such as yours. Though, what I describe as a soul, would accurately be more described as a consciousness. Your soul has lost its physical vessel - and without one you cannot inhabit any plane of existence tangible to your mind. However, the circumstances of this death call upon my intervention."

"Souls that live unfulfilled lives are given to me. Souls without loved ones, without achievements, and without purpose. Souls who have lived short lives where death came as fast as the years passed. I dislike using basic terms, however - the being your mind conceptualizes as "God" puts meticulous craft and effort into every living being. It would be waste for your soul to expire - and yet not reach its potential."

"It isn't your fault - and even if it was, the simplified concept of "God" wouldn't deprive you of this second chance. They know all the circumstances - past, present, future. It is the fault of others of your kind - but this is the only reference to your previous physical form I shall ever speak of."

"You never knew love, nor friendship. A human that does alone may still experience a fulfilling life - but you died too young to experience such success. This is not pity. But They do not wish to see you expire, and be treated so unfairly. This is why, Human, I am here to take you away."

"I am here to take you away to one place. One place only. One galaxy only. One universe only. One reality only. I am here to take you to a single place. Not merely a Place that physically exists in your understanding of "your world". I will deliver you to any place that resides in your mind. Any place you wish to be in."

"Fictional worlds are of course allowed. I wish to explain that what your understanding of "fiction" is different than what it really is. Fictional worlds aren't such because they are "not real". Fictional worlds are those you assume you have conceptualized. Worlds where you believe you have made the characters and the world that people will observe and consider a mere concept."

"But the truth is that "fictional worlds" exist physically, between the loops and paradoxes of different realities. There are countless dimensions. countless worlds - and countless possibilities. You Humans did not "create" these characters, yet you also did - at the same time. When a thought is sparked, there is an immediate explosion. A new understanding, and a new reality. Think, and conceptualize any reality right now - no matter how different from yours - and if it doesn't exist already, it will spawn anew. Visualize a world where the world is identical save for the existence of a single microbe - it too will exist."

"And no. I do not find the world you are considering the most right now to be in any way, as the Humans call it, "Shameful", "Embarrassing", or "Strange". On the contrary, it makes sense. You are wishing for a world of peace, harmony, and friendship - three components that have lacked to make your life fulfilling. You wish for a world without the flaws of Humanity - where the world isn't reduced to a violent reality of terror, deceit, and hopelessness. Mortals have come to me demanding worlds that they insist they wanted to inhabit - and it was not my place to revert their choice. I know you will be happy with your choice, Human."

"I will insert you to this world - but there are conditions. I will not erase your memory, nor give you a new physical form. Your consciousness - your soul - must remain the same. This is the only way you can appreciate a new start and find happiness. I will however provide you with a complete understanding of the language of this world's locals. I will also grant you the objects from your past that would ensure you do not feel the need to return home. In-fact, I have taken the liberty of compacting the things you love. Any beloved memorophilia, objects of novelty, and any tools of your hobby have been placed into a pack you will awake with. I shall also grant you a device capable of playing music, and have taken the liberty of installing your most beloved songs onto it. Clothing, food, and other objects that expire however, will only be found in this new world."

"Human, I want you to understand this. You will never see me again after this. Which is why you need to understand the weight of your responsibility, and your choices. In other words, your interaction with the locals is a hands-off-manner. Should you explain to them that in your understanding they are mere "fiction", the consequences of these implications are yours to manage. Further, any attempts of the locals to "help" return you to your "home" may only be prevented by you alone."

"My advice is this, human. Communicate. You are now the master of your own fate. You will now be in a world where the decisions of your peers and family will not lead you to the death that has come to you. I will not ask how it happened, but I hope you will find happiness and safety in this new world."

"Take care of yourself, Human. Remember my words, and remember the mechanism of reality. I truly wish you the best. Happiness, hope, friendship, and life itself have been wrongly stripped for you. "They", do not wish to see their creation treated so wrongly. So now, you will have the chance to salvage your consciousness - to salvage a life."

"Embrace me, Human."

Though they lacked a physical form, they felt Charon come for their soul itself, and hugged them.

It gave just the right distraction for them not to notice that the oar in its hands had turned into a scythe...And a single slash had annihilated them - and the black void within which they were stuck. All was white.

A Familiar Town, A Familiar Reality - Chapter One

It was as if laying on a bed of clouds - floating without a care in the world, lightweight and surrounded by a soft nothing. Like flying among the stars, in the void of space. It was a black abyss - completely muffled in sound, where not even heartbeat nor breath could be noticed.

It was like floating underwater, moved by the currents, and surrounded by warm water on all sides, merely laying at the bottom of a lake on a warm spring day, without a care for the world nor a care for one's problems.

...And it happened to be as wet as floating under water. And just as devoid of oxygen.

It took some realization that the second paragraph was not a metaphor.

The human's eyes shot open, and panic had strained what little oxygen supply they had. They thrashed in the water like a person who was just frightened under their bedsheets - unable to throw off this blanket of water around them. In reflex, they looked up desperately for the surface - and there it was; with the sun glaring through the sheet of water, and the orange - warm morning sun radiating off deep into the lake.

The human swam up, limbs paddling and thrashing against the water and gravity itself, fighting back the exhaustion and exertion that came from the mere motion. It all went against the human's air supply, as the hard work actively reduced their ability to hold their breath. Vision was fading, and it had appeared as if the sun was setting much earlier than it should have - that the sheet of surface's water above was no longer sparkling.

With one triumphant stroke of their arms, the human had broken above the surface, and into the fresh air of a very, very unfamiliar land.

The human, in panic, swam to the nearest beach - which was some ten seconds of frantic swimming until their feet were able to touch the mud of the lake. They crawled onto the grass and hyperventilated, turning onto their side and coughing up the water that had been stuck in their throat. Only then did they realized they were clothed the whole time - in a pair of comfortable shoes (now sullied by mud), black pants (also sullied by mud), and a comfortable black jacket with a t-shirt underneath (partially sullied). They recognized these clothes as familiar articles, and felt relief that they wouldn't be naked out in the wilderness.

Their assumptions about the wilderness were broken as they turned to the other side, and saw it...

And now, the unfamiliar land became very, very familiar. And the human gasped, stumbling onto their feed and taking a step back in awe.

"N-No way..."

The familiar architecture, the familiar landscape - and the familiar silhouettes of the buildings they knew as a boutique, castle, and town hall confirmed it. It really was it.

Ponyville.

To hold back tears, they immediately returned to their immediate circumstances, and nearly tripped on a backpack that lay perfectly dry and untouched right under their feet. They recalled the words spoken to them by the mysterious Charon, and sat on their knees to look inside of it.

As promised, they found several objects that they indeed been considered "important". A few small beloved possessions, electronic devices that didn't include a phone - including an MP3 player that was, allegedly, filled with the most important songs. A few books had been there too, and the backpack would have at-least given the human something to hold onto. Not to the previous world, but to the things they actually enjoyed in the previous life.

The human tried their best not to admit any of it - how simply shocking it was that all of this was true. What they didn't want to interpret as an overwhelming rush of emotions, they merely played off as confusion and surprise, picking up their backpack and staring into the distance the whole time - into the town they have seen so much, and have been to - not physically, but through a screen.

And so, the human set off, treading through the outskirts of the town to enter it.

By the time they reached it, the sun had only slightly shifted - that the morning was shifting into afternoon. A deep fear had been in the back of their mind - if all of this was but a dream. They've had such moments before - a dream where upon approaching the town, it would become miles more distant with each taken step. Unreachable and untouchable.

This time, they had been able to make it face-to-face with a sign and a fence - that officially marked the entrance to Ponyville. The sign had welcomed inside the town's official perimeter, as it read...

Welcome to Ponyville! The Birthplace of Harmony!

A deep breath was cast from the human's nostrils, their body shivering in anticipation and excitement. Was this really real? Was this going to be their new reality? Would this dream finally come true?

Absorbed in this delighted thinking, and in the excitement...The human forgot the first rule of Ponyville, and allowed their foot to step an inch past the entrance.

There was an odd rumble. A weird distortion in the air. A very strange feeling that was approaching fast. A very peculiar speck of pink in the distance just down the road.

And it was getting closer.

And closer--

The first rule came back to the human's memory a nanosecond before a lighting-strike of pink struck their face, and crashed into their body like a truck, the sound produced by its speed making the engine of racing cars sound like kittens. It just so happened that the said "truck" was soft and harmless - Charon wouldn't need to visit the human again. In-fact, the "truck" wasn't nearly the size of one, and was barely the human's height, let alone overall size.

As the blur of pink finished its collision into the human, it left them laying on their back, with the wind knocked out of their lungs, and with the blur of pink now standing on top of them.

The human hadn't even registered that they were smiling, with their mouth agape. Happiness and disbelief overwhelmed down, as their vision had started to re-focus.

"No way...Y-You're..." The human whispered softly.

"Well hey there, silly! Kinda late to take a dip in ol' Saddle Lake! Unless you were looking for the Mirror Pool! In which case, I do NOT recommend trying that because I kinda tried it once and that ended in so many words that are NOT synonyms for "great". Oh! Did you anger a Pegasus and they dumped all the water in a cloud on ya!? You musta said something really rude, huh? I mean, how'd your clothes get wet? That's not how you wash 'em! I mean golly, you're soaked all over! Here!"

The pink mare started to rapidly spin her tail at a speed that rivalled a drill, before brushing it mid-spin at the human, acting as both as makeshift towel and a sort of dryer, removing the dirt and the water. With the speed, wind, and soaking-power involved in the tail, the human was suddenly completely dry, and with their hair a little fluffier to boot. A look at the tail revealed it to be utterly soaked and covered in mud, but the pony had a plan for that too. Putting her own hoof into her mouth, she blew into it - which resulted her tail in suddenly puffing out like a cotton-candy-pufferfish, and splattering all the dirt and wetness over the surrounding streets, accidentally getting some over the sign.

"Heh, whoops..." Winced the pink pony, and turned back to the human, before wrapping her hoof around their hand and starting shaking it with such power that the human was raised back onto their feet.

"Welcome to Ponyville, lake monster! I'm--"

"Pinkie Pie!" The human blurted out...And felt their heart sink at the mistake they have just made.

It made sense - Charon's words. It wasn't easy to allow another being to hear that your perception of it is that it's a mere work of fiction. The human immediately realized their error - that they have shown insight into the world that they shouldn't have had. Have they really squandered their first chance in their new life? Have they already ruined everything? The yoke of guilt had held them tightly - that two words had done such a terrible deed. Cold sweat began to ooze from their forehead, worrying about just how this would continue, and what they would need to-

"Wow! You're really good at name guessing!" Pinkie giggled. "Even I can't guess names that well! You must have a real talent for it!" She exclaimed, bouncing up and down happily from the sheer excitement of being excited. "I wanna guess your name too! Is it, uhm...Bitter Sweets? No? Uhm...Oh! Blue Monday? Nuh, that sounds like a song name...Ah! Gotcha! It's totally Anon E. Moose, right?...No, that's not right..."

The human nervously grinned. "W-Well, my name's actually--"

"NO!" Pinkie jumped up. "I'm gonna guess it, I promise! Uh, what about--...Oh! I totally forgot!" She landed. "You're a human, right? Twilight's met you guys before! But...It's kinda weird that you're a human in Equestria! I mean, the way it works that if you go into the human world you become a human, and if you go into the pony world you become a pony, and if you go into the human world you can't stay as a pony, and if you go into the pony world you can't stay as a human, and if you aren't in the human world then you're a pony - and if you aren't in the pony world then you're a human--You get it!"

"Ah, yeah-..." The human felt a bit of dizziness trying to keep up with her, but got surprised as they felt something soft and cotton-candy-consistency-like touch their hand.

"Here!" Pinkie grinned, and with her mane, produced an appendage similar to a hand, using it to hold onto the human's own hand. "Follow me! Twilight's totally gonna wanna see you! Maybe you just got lost! Don't worry! We'll figure out how to get you home any time!"

At these words, the human's heart sank. But they knew it's possibly because Pinkie was merely just so good-hearted, she immediately assumed that their wish was to return home - when it was in-fact the opposite. But as the human was led through the streets of Ponyville, they supposed that there was a chance they could explain the predicament in...some way.

They were immediately taken back and distracted however as they found themselves led through the very familiar streets of the very familiar town. Though its residents regarded the human as anything but familiar, they didn't seem terrified or disgusted by the sight. Confused and rather wondering gazes fell upon the bipedal being - eyeing the human and trying to understand just what they were. The human had considered their wonder - they supposed they'd easily be compared to a monkey, but they remembered the presence of Tirek - who's appearance was in some parts similar to the human anatomy - especially in terms of torso.

The human had even managed to spot familiar faces! There was Lyra and BonBon, sitting on the outside of the cafe and staring with dumbfounded eyes at the human - with Lyra giving BonBon a big "I told you so!" look. Big Macintosh was currently delivering something to Sugarcube corner, also staring at the human alongside Mr. and Mrs. Cake standing at the door - to whom Pinkie Pie happily waved with her hoof, mid-bounce and mid hand-to-mane holding with the human. The human even saw Derpy Hooves fly overhead - at an odd semi-diagonal angle at which she narrowly missed a wall, and instead crashed straight into a cloud with a soft poof!, a second passing before her cross-eyed face stuck out of the cloud in embarrassment.

A tear in the end did escape from the human. It was all here - all a reality - all these familiar ponies and streets, all these familiar buildings. The memories from every episode flushed back the more they looked around, the more they saw familiar ponies and other creatures - all the moments they had cherished. This felt like a fever dream in the nicest meaning of the world - impossible to imagine a scenario in which it could have happened to them, harder to believe it was real that it happened to them.

Passing by other landmarks, they had gasped when they finally looked up into the sky to see the towering grace that was indeed, Twilight's second home after the old library. The castle - standing tall and proud, sparkling gloriously under the sun - the school of Friendship practically in its backyard with its rushing waters and mighty doors.

"It's really here..." Quietly whispered the human - not even Pinkie's accurate ears catching the words.

And in the most anticipated moment, Pinkie Pie finally reached the doors.

"Here!" Pinkie grinned and produced an object from her mane. It appeared like something of a brochure - or a small map for tourists. "Welcome to Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle! It's pretty big, so in-case you run into the bathroom and you get lost, you can orient yourself with this! Or you can just yell REALLY LOUD until someone hears you and helps you navigate!...Actually, maybe Twilight's not even here right now! Hmm, let's seeeee..."

Pinkie's hoof began to strike at the large door several times while the human analyzed the small brochure given to them. They were taken back by how complex and twisted the castle really was - as the show had only really shown portions such as the kitchens, some bedrooms, and of course - the central room containing the map. There were several levels, wings, and alleged "secret rooms" that weren't marked anywhere on the map. It centered on the room where the map was, indicating it to be the "heart" of the castle.

The human's ears perked at the moment that made them freeze in place, and turn their head to the door with excitement and wonder.

Behind the door stood a horned pony - her colours pink and purple.

Indeed, that wasn't Twilight Sparkle - but that was certainly nopony other than Starlight Glimmer.

And the human was as fond of Glimmer as they were of Sparkle - suppressing a big smile by putting a hand to their face and pretending to scratch their cheek.

"Starlight! Starlight!" Pinkie started bouncing.

"Pinkie! Hey!" Starlight patiently smiled at the mare. "What's up? You don't have to knock to enter the castle, y'know."

"Starlight! Look!" She said, and used her tail to make an arrow that pointed at the human who awkwardly stood there.

Starlight blinked uncertainly - but her silence hadn't lasted long, and neither was her surprise, for she herself was rather familiar with what she saw. "Interesting. A human in Equestria...? But humans transform into ponies when they enter Equestria - and vice versa..."

"I know!" Pinkie beamed. "Super cool, right? Wait till Twi hears about this!"

"Well, let's not make our guest feel like some kinda test subject." Chuckled Starlight, and walked up to the human. "Pleased to meet you! Welcome to the castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

The human retracted as much of their smile as they could, which still left them with a relatively wide one on their face. "I-It's nice to meet you too St--"

The human hit the brakes harder than on a rally race gone wrong - but Starlight was still left with a momentary dumbfound look, so the human did their best to salvage the situation.

"I-I mean, yeah! Nice to meet you too - strange how all of this is happening, huh?"

"Oh." Starlight blinked, and waved her hoof with a humored laugh. "Yeah, I guess - but don't worry. I've actually been to the human world before, same as Twilight! She and I are even friends with a pony who basically lives there so much she can't even walk on four legs here - so we're really familiar with you guys!...Although, other than it being weird how you're not a pony here, you don't exactly look like the humans I'm used to seeing at CHS..." Starlight said, curiously squinting her eyes and humming thoughtfully.

The human did their best not to surrender the fact they knew all of this information - even going as far as scratching their face again to prevent their glee escaping at the mention of Sunset Shimmer and everything else.

"Anyways!" Starlight bowed her head. "My name is Starlight Glimmer. I'm a student of Twilight Sparkle...Aaand kind of her secondary assistant. What's your name?"

The human just took an inhale to say their name before they were interrupted by Pinkie, as the mare bounced in-between the two. "Starlight, c'mon! Let's show 'em the castle! Twilight's here, right!?"

"Oh." Starlight blinked in surprise at Pinkie's sudden jolt of energy. "Yeah - Twi's here! She was just writing a letter to Princess Luna, should be free any minute."

"Huuuuuh?" Pinkie scratched her chin. "But doesn't she usually write to Princess Celestia?"

"Well, that's just it." Glimmer looked at the floor of the castle's stairs in concern. "Twilight's been having some weird dreams that not even Luna has noticed - so she's writing a letter to figure that out. B-But anyways! Hey, come on in, you two! No point standing around outside."

Glimmer opened the door once more and held it for the two - Pinkie bounced inside, while the human awkwardly walked in with one hand holding the other arm anxiously. The moment they stepped in, the human was unable to prevent their gasp of amazement and awe - despite having seen the massive foyer of Twilight's Castle before. Its sheer size and grace haven't even compared to that of human architecture - the tall ceilings and the sparkling crystals decorating it, coupled with the colorful banners and the gorgeous light-green windows through which shone the godrays of the soon-setting sun, occasional dust particles floating like snowflakes in the sunlight.

"It's amazing..." Whispered the human. Pinkie Pie softly chortled, nudging the human playfully.

"Pretty cool, huh? Then again, you've been looking like that at everything ever since you got here! Don'tcha have streets or castles in your world?"

"Oh, we do!" The human blurted out. "But they're nowhere near as pretty as yours!"

"Whaaa? But Twilight told me so much about the CHS world!" Pinkie said. "She told me it's pretty cool there too! They have these weird things called "phones", and these self-driving chariots called "cars", and--"

"Uh, Pinkie - not to burst your bubble, but I don't reaallly think they're from the CHS world." Chuckled Starlight as she led the two further into the castle, the human constantly looking around in amazement, but focused on the conversation.

"Whaaa? But why not? I mean..." Pinkie slid behind the human and began to raise and present their limbs as if showing off a doll. "Look! They've got hands, fingers, they stand on two legs - and the legs have feet - and they also got no fur, just manes, and they've got these silly faces without a muzzle - just a nose and a mouth, and eyes! Oh, and they got these small ears you were talking about! How come they're not a human?"

"No no no." Starlight laughed softly. "I'm not saying they're not human, but..." Starlight took a closer look at the human and squinted her eyes thoughtfully once again. "They just look...different? Remember how both ponies and humans have the same colour schemes as their manes and coats?"

"Yeaaaaaaaaaah?" Pinkie blinked unsurely, scanning the human all over once again.

"Their skin tone and hair looks a lot more...neutral? Brownish and not as saturated in color? They just don't look like they're from CHS..." Starlight hummed - but blushed as she forgot the fact that the human listened to them. For the sake of politeness, she had included them in the conversation. "I'm curious, if you don't mind me asking. How did you get here?"

"I, uh..." The human had to spend a few solid seconds to think of an answer, hoping that the two took this as a sign of putting a complicated situation into words, instead of lying. "I woke up in the lake and just...swam up to shore. I have no idea how I actually got here..." They said - mostly saying the truth.

"Huh, so you woke up in Saddle Lake and just...Poof? Equestria?" Tilted her head the unicorn, and turned to Pinkie. "Well, it could have been a portal? Sunset Shimmer told me how back in her world, a puddle on an island ended up being a portal to Equestria. Apparently a lot of reflecting surfaces can act as portals? Even a handheld mirror like the one I faced in the human world when I encountered Juniper Montage had a lot of potent power related to dimensions...Maybe Saddle Lake acted as some kind of portal too?"

"Yeaaaaah? But then, why are they still a human?" Asked Pinkie.

"Well..." The human spoke up. "I did wake up at the bottom of the lake...And, wouldn't a portal only cover the surface of the lake? I'm probably not making much sense but, portals are kind of a flat construct, right?"

Starlight Glimmer's eyes slightly widened in surprise as the human's statements, but she found herself nodding attentively as the words registered. "Huh - in most cases they actually are. I don't get why you'd wake up at the bottom, unless you started sinking - but then you'd've woken up back home.. I guess it wasn't a portal after all. Well, thanks for not making me chase after a doomed theory." Glimmer laughed.

The human blinked at Starlight, and a warm smile came to them.

To hear the pony actually react to their words was heartwarming. To see that their actions and words have had a reaction from this world made it feel as if now they mattered, as if they were really real. Then again, it came to the human that thinking about the reality of this situation was futile - for this is what they wanted and, somehow, this is what they got.

"Saaay, you never heard of CHS in your world, right?" Starlight inquisitively asked in a futile attempt to piece together a glass jigsaw. "I mean, Canterlot High School? Maybe Crystal Prep Academy? Uh, you know, the city of Canterlot? Er, the other Canterlot?"

The names made sense, but the human resolved to shaking their head and being truthful in a partial sense - it didn't exist in their world, after all.

"Oh..." Starlight frowned. "Well, what do you have in your world?"

"Er..." The human rubbed their arm. "Maaaybe I could tell you together with Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

Starlight's inquisitive gaze turned into a warm and understanding smile, before guiding the human deeper into the castle. "Good plan, that way you won't have to say the same thing twice, huh? Pinkie! Coming along?"

"Oooon my way!" Pinkie grinned - the whole time having had raided the pantry, and licking the vanilla off of her cheeks with one big gulp, bouncing after the pony and human.

They stepped up to the familiar, tall double doors. Starlight paused before it, turning to the human and watching them with rather sparkly eyes - excitement abound. "I love to see the reaction of newcomers. What you're about to see is baaasically the heart of what Princess Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony do. The "nerve center of Friendship", as you might consider it." She said, and opened the door.

The excitement the human saw on Starlight made them smile a little, and they saw just how eager she was to get a reaction out of them. Just as they thought they needed to fake it (due to having seen it before), they were immediately taken back by the room. It was indeed the room that had contained the Friendship Map - and the remainders of Golden Oak library, it's roots hanging from the ceiling alongside a plethora of colourful and sparkling lights. It was pretty enough in 2D. Actually seeing it with full depth perception and all the dimensions made a world of difference in comparison.

Only when the human's eyes finally came down did they gasp slightly. They saw the form of a young Alicorn - the catalyst of everything that had happened; the beginning of so many events that shaped the land, and the human themselves. A very familiar pony indeed - both to the human, and the many residents of Equestria.

Twilight Sparkle, albeit with an expression of mild anxiety and worry, sat on her designated seat at the Friendship Map - while a very familiar baby dragon wrote her words into letter.

Spike, to the human, was a heroic, supportive, and endearingly mischievous dragon. They recalled moments when Spike had done silly things - such as giving orders on the behalf of Princess Twilight Sparkle while she slept, or offering her and her friends to take care of their pets for gems, while in actuality using it as an excuse to make a gem-cake and neglecting any actual critter-caretaking - but it was impossible to say that Spike didn't have a good heart. His heroic deeds have shown immense bravery and kindness - saving the Crystal Empire (and even Canterlot, in the comics) on multiple occasions, and being there for Twilight as her loyal assistant, not to mention all the other times he had helped the ponies he had grown up with. They adored Spike, for he had a heart of gold, and a seemingly bottomless stomach for gems. In other words - he was a real bro.

The human took a glance to notice that Spike had wings, making them understand just how far enough chronologically they were. They then focused back to Twilight - who hadn't quite noticed them yet due to the quietness of the door opening, and the fact she had been thoughtfully looking at the roots.

Twilight was an icon to the human - of many things. A character who had a long journey that spanned both years in Equestria, and years in the human world. The perils, achievements, and many other moments that this unicorn-turned-alicorn faced had shaped her to be the best pony to bear the title of "Princess of Friendship". The determination, studiousness, and sheer curiosity to the world around her made her such a fascinating mare; there was an admirable drive to learn and develop, not only in regards to knowledge, but also friendship. And despite the pressure she experienced and experiences - she would never turn down a friend in need.

Perhaps those like Moondancer, or Twilight's Human counterpart were perfect examples of what she would've been if Celestia hadn't sent her to Ponyville, and it struck the human how one hot air balloon ride and one night changed her fate as it did. The human did remember how many times Twilight struggled with one common folly - that many had depended on her, and had expected success of her. It pressured the poor mare to no end - but each time she came out on top.

With the quill putting in the final period as Spike finished final the writing words, he sent the letter to Luna, having blown it into the air with his fiery, green flames.

Starlight took a step further in, and gave a slight knock to the opened doorway. "Hey Twi!"

Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship - yelped in surprise and nearly fell off of her cutie-mark-marked throne as focus returned to her. While she had scrambled to get her bearings, Starlight had approached her with a humored, but kind smile, as Twilight sat back proper on her seat.

"Starlight! Hey! Sorry, I didn't see you there!" Twilight chuckled awkwardly, Spike waving to Glimmer, who waved back as he sat on the smaller throne to the right of Twilight's. "What's up? Is there an emergency in the school? Trouble in the Everfree forest? Or--"

"Twilight, calm down." Starlight disarmed her worries by softly putting her hoof on Twilight's as the Alicorn placed both on the Cutie Map. "I know these dreams have been intense and terrifying, but it doesn't mean it's a sign for bad things to come."

"But the Windigos, what if--"

"Twilight." Starlight brought her face a little closer to give her a serious, understanding - yet firm stare. "The Windigos aren't coming back. Not only ours - but the Friendship in Equestria as a whole has developed and grown so much that they wouldn't even have room to show up in the North. They simply just won't be able to get through the Friendship - and thanks to you, they won't be coming back ever, no matter how hard they try. You've made Friendship leave a permanent mark on its world - not just for Equestria, but for all the creatures that inhabit the land altogether."

Twilight wanted to find a way to counter this argument and enable her paranoia - but her exhale came harder than the inhale she would have used to present her counter-argument; which was now nonexistent. The weary and worried face turned into a soft, and genuine smile. "Heh...Thanks Starlight. That helps..."

"That's what I've been saying all day..." Spike folded his arms and rolled his eyes, earning a soft unoffended groan from Twilight, and a soft chuckle from Glimmer.

Starlight looked at Twilight with a proud and content smile, eyes half-lidded to give a look that basically screamed - "Told ya so". Now that Twilight was calm, Starlight turned her head to Pinkie and the human. "Nooow Twilight..." Starlight softly said. "Could I bring your attention to another matter?"

Curiously, Twilight looked past Starlight and beamed when she saw Pinkie Pie. "Oh! Hi Pinkie! Hi--"

The "Hi Twilight!" from Pinkie went completely muffled to the Alicorn - as her smile was dropped into a wide-eyed, baffled, and slightly shocked stare - before dropping to a mild surprise akin to finding a coin randomly on the ground.

"O-Oh..." Twilight blinked. She gently tilted her head towards Starlight and whispered. "Well...This is new."

"Pft, you're telling me." Starlight chuckled. "Hope you don't mind - but we were hoping you could help us out a little with...Well...It's not that this is an emergency but, it's really strange, isn't it? A-Anyways, you should probably introduce yourself--"

"Oh, right!" Twilight yelped and quickly stood up. She had approached the human as quickly as she could without running - not wanting to look clumsy or unofficial. "Hello! My name is Twilight Sparkle! I'm the Princess of Friendship of Equestria - b-but please--!" She noticed that the human was preparing to take a bow out of respect, so she ran up to them and placed a hoof on their shoulder to assure them it wasn't necessary.

In a brief moment, they made eye contact. The human looked at her with awe and wonder that she hadn't even seen from other ponies. In the human's eyes, saw something she wasn't able to describe. Something that wasn't repulsive nor distressing, but there was a depth in the human's eyes she wasn't able to put a hoof on. A strange glimmer of sadness and hurt that apparently had payed off. It was a curious sight - but not one she should have dwelled on in the middle of introductions.

"--there's no need to bow..." She chuckled softly. "I may be a Princess, but I am the Princess of Friendship. No need to be so formal around me, after all..."

"Y-Yeah..." Was all that the human was able to immediately blurt out. "It's...Good to see--, uh...meet you, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Just Twilight will do." The Alicorn softly smiled, and gave a soft nod as let go of the human's shoulder. "Welcome to Equestria. Iiiiii'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're not really from here, huh?"

The human shook their head. "Nope...I guess it's pretty clear, huh?"

"Aaaaand I assume you're not familiar with Canterlot High School by chance?"

They were indeed familiar with it - but neither could they lie that it was the world they truly came from. "Nope - not at all..."

"That's what I was afraid of..." Frowned Twilight, her eyes cast to the floor with uncertainty, before shifting them to look at Pinkie. "Aaaand I'm gonna guess you found them, Pinkie?"

"Sure did!" Grinned the Pink Pony. "They came from Saddle Lake before they stepped into Ponyville! All wet and soaked to the bone! Huh..." Pinkie turned to the human. "You're either your world's best free diver, or the worst scuba diver!"

"Well I did wake up underwater - and I don't assume sleep-walking and diving are really safe things to put together." Chuckled the human, which had earned a giggle from Pinkie Pie, and an "Oh come on" smirk from Glimmer.

"So you just woke up at the bottom? I don't recall Saddle Lake having a portal or any such element to it..." Twilight hummed thoughtfully, Glimmer stepping up to shake her head and take initiative to speak.

"Well, that's because it doesn't - they brought up a good point." Glimmer nodded to the human. "A portal wouldn't have just made them wake up at the bottom of a lake with a risk of drowning - that's just...awful portal design. Plus...There was a thought they gave to me. Maybe you know what I'm thinking about." Glimmer said, putting a hoof to her chin.

"What's on your mind then, Starlight?" Asked the Alicorn.

"Y'know the portal to CHS you've set up? I think we might be able to use it to find a connection between them and Equestria - maybe see just where they came from relative to us. If they don't have CHS in their world, it must have been a completely different world, or maybe just from a different part of the human world we're used to? It's better than nothing, right?"

"W-Well..." Twilight blushed a little in embarrassment. "I think we're getting a little...Uh, ahead of ourselves." She whispered to Starlight.

"How so?" Whispered Starlight back, squinting her eyes curiously.

"Ahem..." Twilight made a point by turning around back to the human, and speaking. "Do you remember anything before you got here?"

This is when the human had to lie for their own gain. And although it pained them to do this, the human was still on a mild form of alert the whole time. They heard the discussion of portals - and their immediate concern was the possibility of being sent back home...

How? How were they going to do it? How were they going to convince the ponies that they didn't have to go back? They weren't prepared for this - for presenting themselves in a way that didn't cause trouble. They had a hunch that the moment they mentioned they "Chose" to come to Equestria...It would bring a whole lot of trouble.

Unable to spend more time thinking of an answer, the human resorted to merely saying - "No, I don't...."

"Well, don't worry! I-I'm sure we'll be able to get you back home!" Twilight chirped up. "Your family and friends must be worried sick, but that's okay - this won't take us too long! Come, I'm sure we'd be able to fine-tune the portal to help you go back! U-Unless of course, maybe you'd be interested in spending more time here in Equestria? There's much that we can show you here!"

"O-Oh. I, uhm, welll..."

The human wanted to say something the moment the talk of the portal came up. They didn't have an opportunity to express it - nor did they know a way to bring it up. But it was fortunate that in the same room was the guidance counselor the School of Friendship, for Starlight Glimmer saw a moment in the human's facial expression that indicated a moment of brief panic - apprehension, and disapproval. Using the skills she had learned in the school - she confidently walked up to the human, and looked at Twilight.

"Hey, Twi?" She asked with a patient smile. "Would you mind giving us a minute, please?"

Twilight blinked unsurely as to why Starlight made the request - but she had nothing but utter faith in her student, so there wasn't a second of hesitation as Twilight nodded with a warm smile, and gave Starlight the greenlight. The unicorn looked up at the human and gestured toward the door slightly, before using magic to guide them by the wrist outside of the room, leaving Pinkie, Spike, and Twilight alone.

The human had felt they had done something wrong - yet they partially felt as if they knew what they were pulled aside for. When Starlight's words came, the human blushed and their eyes widened slightly, yet still cast onto the floor.

"You don't wanna leave, huh?"

"W...H-How did you know?"

"When Twilight mentioned friends or family you seemed a little...uneasy. And the moment she mentioned returning you home you suddenly tensed up - yet you seemed pretty comfortable in being here. You seem to like it at-least based on first impressions - I'd assume anypony who up and...woke up at the bottom of a lake and appeared in an unfamiliar land would've just started freaking out and panicking, begging to be returned home. And yet, here you are..." Starlight said.

Hearing these words made the human feel oddly embarrassed - like a guest who didn't want to admit to the fact they wanted to stay longer - or even move in at this point. Yet their worries were disarmed by Starlight, who took a step further so that the human's flood-bound eyes would be able to see her - with her big, sparkling kind eyes - and an understanding smile.

"Do you have a home? Back where you came from?" Asked Starlight - her response a small shake of the human's head and a down-cast gaze.

"Only physically speaking - it's a--...was a place to sleep and eat. That's about it--"

"Don't worry." Reassuringly spoke the unicorn, voice full of understanding and empathy, which had reduced the human's tension.

She had an idea - and the meticulous planner and idealist she was, she almost understood what was going on. The idea had risks, but even on a face that didn't resemble that of a pony she was still able to pick up emotions and piece together a puzzle - a puzzle of glass that only she could really see.

"Listen..." Starlight said, using her magic to gently move the human's chin up so that they didn't have to bend their neck looking down. "If maybe you came from a world that isn't so great - maybe if going back isn't what you want at all, Twilight and the rest wouldn't mind it if you stayed! I mean, sure it's kind of weird - well, unusual to see a human here - but the School literally next to the castle is full of all creatures from around the world. And I think making you an exception would be some preeetty bad hypocrisy on our part, huh?"

"You really think that I'd be able to stay here? I mean...Twilight..."

"Hm? What about Twilight?"

"She...Really wants me to leave, doesn't she?"

"..." Starlight suppressed a small laugh, shaking her head. "Promise not to tell Twilight what I'm about to tell you?"

"H-Huh? Oh! O-Of course! I promise!"

"It's not that she wants you to leave. But she's so dedicated on doing the right thing, sometimes she might forget what the right thing to do is. Sometimes she doesn't like to take a step back and re-asses. In this case, she might actually forget to ask if it's something you really want. So, since she assumes you want to go back home, she'll do her very best to get it done - even if it means forgetting to ask if it's what you want."

"Still...Kind of awkward to tell the Princess of Friendship that "Oh, you're wrong - this isn't what I want", y-y'know?"

"Don't worry. I've got this. Just wait here." Starlight smiled, and stepped back into the room.

Twenty or so seconds passed. When the door slammed open and a pony practically drifted through like a car from Initial D, one could have assumed it was Pinkie Pie. That assumption was crushed when it was revealed that the hyper-excited pony who, out of the blue, broke through the door was none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle herself.

"F-For real!? You actually want to stay!?"

"U-Uh...Y-Yeah--"

"You won't regret it! This is so exciting! To see that a human resident will be in Equestria! Oh Celestia, this is so exciting--"

"Y-You already said that!" Yelped Spike as he attempted to run after Twilight to catch up with her.

"Oooooh I know Spike! But this is a historical moment! Humans turn into ponies when they step through portals into Equestria - and this is the first time a human would get to interact with Equestria as a human! A-And there's so much to learn about their world, since they're not from the mirror!"

The human felt a slight moment of unease at the idea of discussing their world - but Twilight's words had continued as the Alicorn bounced up and down, making Pinkie look at her with a concerned expression - irony itself all things considered.

"On top of that, I'd be happy to show you Equestria, and maybe teach you a bit about Friendship!" Twilight grinned. "Sorry if I'm getting a bit overbearing, just...I'm glad that you chose to stay! I'd really love to see what you think about Equestria! We're always happy to bring new ponies, creatures, and now - well, people here!"

"What she said!" Pinkie bounced up once to catch everyone's attention. "Okay, well, what she said aaaand - parties! There's gonna be so many parties - including surprise--...U-Uh, I mean - no surprise parties! I-I mean, wouldn't a surprise party be juuuuust soooo predictable, riiight?"

"Well..." Starlight chuckled. "How about we take it slow?" Asked the unicorn as she took a step towards the human, and turned to the other ponies. "I don't exactly know what happened, but if they're okay with staying here then, and since we're all fine with it - that must mean we're gonna have pleeeeenty of time, right? We should maybe help you get settled down, maybe give you a quick crash course on Equestria and all that - help you get your bearings."

"And a place to live, obviously!" Spike chirped up, nudging Twilight. "C'mon! We've still got tons of bedrooms free! Right?"

"Of course!" Twilight chuckled warmly at her assistant, turning back to the human with a content smile. "Then, small things first. As the Princess of Friendship, I officially declare you a citizen of Equestria, and a resident of the Castle of Friendship!"

"...Isn't there like, paperwork and stuff before you can declare someone a citizen? Or is this another Rockhoof moment when you can give ponies titles on the spot?" Spike put his hands on his hips and tilted his head, Twilight winking at Spike instead with a cocky smirk.

"Eeeh. Well once a year I can afford playing the "I'm the Princess of Friendship" card. Nopony will mind! Not like I'm going to make a newcomer fill out papers on their first day of arriving."

"Aw, not even RSVP cards?" Frowned Pinkie.

"Liiike Starlight said." Twilight approached the human. "Small things first. Let's do this - I'm gonna show them their room, and after that we could maybe have Starlight briefly tell you about Equestria! After that - maybe you could show them around Ponyville, Pinkie?"

A gasp came from the pink pony before excitedly zoomed over to Twilight. "A tour around Ponyville!? You bet I could show them around Ponyville, Twilight!"

"Great!" Twilight smiled. "In that case we'll be right back, I'll help them to their room! Come on, you'll basically be next-door to Starlight." The alicorn said. The human, unsure what to say or when to speak, gave a chipper nod, and followed the princess.

***

"Huh, I guess you really are packing light!" Said Twilight while Spike had been putting in new bedsheets and blankets for the single bed in the room about the same size as Starlight's - comfortable, with enough space for essential furniture and to indulge in hobbies and exercise - but modest and reasonable. Twilight hadn't been standing around either, opening the curtains, checking that everything was in order, and then using her magic to fumble with the door's lock to randomly generate a new pattern, and then mold a key for it, which she then levitated over to the desk.

The human indeed had few things - a few miscellaneous electronics, books of different sorts enough to fill a shelf half-way, a couple of figurines and memorophilia that could compactly be placed around the desk that was set up in their room. There were a handful of clothes that would really last the human a day or two, but it was enough to change into for the time being. The MP3 player was indeed there - holding a large selection of personally important songs to the human, alongside some comfortable human-ear-tailored headphones. Twilight took the liberty of being the one to place the books on the shelf, to peek at the titles.

Twilight smiled at the selection and was intrigued by what she saw. A mix of fiction and non-fiction that she would have used to gain insight into the guest's world - but had no time just yet. She found it admirable that they had books - even if she could struggle to understand them considering the lack of context or understanding of this "other" human world.

"I don't exactly assume there's much of a choice." The human chuckled in response to Twilight's statement as they sorted their things on the desk. "I don't really think I want to dive back to the bottom of Saddle Lake to see if there's anything else I might have arrived with. But I'm glad that most of my important things are with me..."

"Yeah..." Twilight squinted her eyes thoughtfully at the wall as she helped put up a poster of one of the human's favorite musical artists. "That's...Convenient...Hm."

"Byyyy the way..." Spike nervously asked. "What's your eating habits like? I mean, I basically cook here so I gotta know. Do you eat, uhm...You know..."

The human considered this, and ultimately decided that they had to fit in as best as they could. "Uh...Nope. I'm perfectly fine going vegetarian. I'd rather respect the ways of how things are done here, you know?"

"We cooould maybe find substitutes?" Asked Twilight. "In CHS, I heard some students have tofu. And they're even developing this technology that replicates meat."

"Yeaaaaah..." The human scratched their head. "If I had to choose between no meat and fake meat, I choose no meat. Tofu is nice but, no. I really appreciate the concern, Spike - but really, you don't have to do that for me. Whatever you guys have, I'll have it too."

Spike gave a big friendly nod as he slipped a pillow into its case. "Okay, cool. Well next meal is gonna be--...Wait, how do you know my name?"

"...O-Oh, sorry, I uh...Heard Twilight call you by it."

"...Oh." Spike blinked at a pillow, and set it on the bed. "Right. Whoops. Sorry, I got caught up, didn't have time for introductions."

"Hey, listen." Twilight turned to the human, having just levitated the last book onto the shelf, taking a short delay to briefly decide how she wanted to categorize them, and did so alphabetically by author. "If there's anything you'd like for your room, let me know. You can take any of my books, ask for new furniture - if you want I can always hire someone to style it in any way."

"Actually, for now I'm happy with the way it is." The human said, legs unable to support them from the shock that hasn't left them as they sat down on the chair of the desk. "It's definitely nicer than the room I had. Not to mention the place itself is so nice...A-Are you sure you're okay with me staying here, Twilight?"

"Aaabsolutely!" Exclaimed Twilight - her smirk confident and fiery. "This is a castle - not only is it meant for more than one resident, but I barely even use all of the rooms it has. I mainly use my room, the Cutie Map room, the library, the balconies whenever I use the telescope and...That's pretty much it! It gets lonely sometimes here, and even when Spike and Starlight live here with me I always feel like it's just so empty and spacious...Eeeh, besiiiides..."

Twilight leaned in to nudge the human with a cheeky, but playful and harmless grin. "I wouldn't mind a tertiary assistant~."

"Really? Tertiary assistant?" Spike folded his arms and rose a brow.

"I was kidding!" Twilight laughed it off and rolled her eyes. "But I'd love if you could help me out with things once in a while, if you're up for it."

"Of course I am!" The human smiled wide. "I don't think I can repay your generosity - so I'll take any chance I can get to do something in return, Twilight!"

"Great!" Said the Alicorn. "Okay! So, the room's ready! What say you join Starlight? I was thinking she could help explain some things, discuss them - help you settle down. You'll have all the privacy you'll ever want, too."

"R-Right!" The human stood up. They followed Twilight out of the room and started to follow her and Spike through the hallway. "And after that...?"

"The tour! Pinkie loves to show newcomers around Ponyville. Actually, this is how you might meet the rest of my friends. Starlight will explain in detail, buuuut--"

Spike interrupted as he nudged the human on the thigh. "She and her friends are the elements of Harmony - which are responsible for saving Equestria aaaat-least once a year, in-between going around solving Friendship problems and making Equestria a better place. That's all ya need to know!"

"Spiiiiike!" Twilight groaned. "I...Wanted to say that...Just with a bit more, oh I dunno...humility?"

"Aha, until you get their reaction." Giggled Spike. "C'mon, you can't deny it feels great when ponies are in awe when they find out you're an element of Harmony!"

"..." Twilight rolled her eyes at the ceiling, and bashfully looked at the floor - a small smile escaping her lips. "...Hrm...A little, I guess."

***

Starlight and the human sat together side by side around the Cutie Map. She would point at places and describe them, tell the human briefly of Equestria's history, and describe what the elements of Harmony are. She gave them a general crash-course on everything that the human was already aware of, but in their interest, they had pretended that all of this was new.

That didn't stop them from asking questions, out of making sure Starlight knew she had their interest, but also to fulfill personal curiosities that they otherwise hadn't known.

"So, are you sure nobody would mind my presence here? I know you've mentioned that the School of Friendship had gotten ponies used to all different sorts of creatures, but I'm not exactly...well-documented in this part of the world."

"Don't worry - you'll be fine. Matter of fact, one of our residents - Lyra Heartstrings, is pretty obsessed with you guys...Huh, now I wonder how she's feeling..." She hummed, referring to a pony who, at the moment, had been vibrating from joy and excitement, much to the dismay of their partner Bonbon.

"Anyways..." Starlight continued. "I wouldn't call humans un-documented. Buuuut it's not like we had any substantial information for any presence outside of the mirror portal in the castle here. Either way, it's not like we're gonna freak out when Ponyville's motto is all about sharing the magic of Friendship with others. Matter of fact, your opposable thumbs might actually be pretty useful around here...!"

The human blinked at Starlight.

"...Bad joke." Chuckled the unicorn, before getting back to the point.

"I do have...One last question so that I know what to do here." Muttered the human as they rubbed their neck.

"Of course! What is it?"

"...Is there anything I should be careful about? Something I should be aware of? Some sort of taboos or...Y'know..."

"...Ah." Starlight chuckled lowly, finding something in their words that helped piece her more of her glass puzzle. "I take it that it's something of a...sensitive thing in your world?"

"To an extent..." The human murmured as they rubbed their arm. "One wrong word or one wrong move and you might as well start a fight or even lose friends..."

"...Eeeesh..." Starlight winced a little at these words - but wasted no time. "Well, look - in Ponyville, the only real way of success is to just...Not be mean. That's literally the only thing that you'd need to be aware of. Even if you do something that gets you strange looks it's not like it's gonna doom your chances of making new friends. You'd just maybe be seen as, hrm...quirky!"

"Right." Said the human. "Thank you, Starlight. You've really helped me. Now I at-least know where I am and what this place is all about." They nervously smiled, trying hard to hide that, once again - they knew all of this. However, the sheer fact Starlight spared the time and effort to tell them about it all made them feel grateful - it was heartwarming to say the least.

"Hey, come to me if you ever have questions! So, how about Pinkie gives you that tour? There's so many cool places in Ponyville to check out. And, to be fair..." She leaned in to whisper. "It's much better than Canterlot, Manehattan, and Las Pegasus combined. Not to mention the ponies are a lot more...friendly."

"Well, good thing I woke up here then." The human smiled. "Thank you, Starlight, I'd love to look around the town."

"Hey, anytime." She smiled back.

"Diiiiiiiiiiid someone say touuur~?" Pinkie exclaimed as she hopped into the room.

"A-Ah! Pinkie!" Starlight yelped. "Were you listening in on us!?"

"Nope! I just had a feeling how long you two would take to finish up here! Now c'mon! Ponyville's waiting for ya! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Pinkie said, rather assertively biting the collar of the human's shirt and starting to tug them - the human getting up on their legs with a yelp.

"Pinkie!" Starlight stood up, and was about to protest - but seeing as how she had already dragged the human beyond the doorway, she sighed instead. "At-least be gentle with them!"

A Chilly Day Out - Chapter Two

Through the clouds and through the cold air it descended, carried by the wind that bit sharper than normal. It descended past the lower clouds, past the pegasi that flew, and then past the roofs of buildings, and finally it descended down onto something pink, and soft.

Pinkie had no idea that the snowflake had been stuck in her hair - nor would anypony notice, for it was but one of the first of billions, in the sky that had been changing, and yet unnoticeably so. Regardless, nestled in the field of fluffy cotton, the snowflake accompanied Pinkie as she trotted - the human doing their best to catch up.

"So, you've seen the Castle of Friendship, School of Friendship, town square, town hall, the Marketplace, the Ponyville Café and Café Hay, and of course just now - Sugarcube Corner! We've still got a ton of other places to see!" Happily exclaimed the bubbly mare as she hopped along.

The human had struggled to follow for a number of reasons, for they were dressed in the same way as the RPG character of a person who suffers from compulsive hoarding - courtesy of Pinkie Pie's "tour gift giving". They had been forced in-all-but-name to wear a little hat resembling the Castle of Friendship, a T-Shirt depicting a photograph of themselves and Pinkie Pie with the School of Friendship in the background, a pair of sunglasses with the price tag still attached, a baseball cap on top of the Castle-hat, a handful of pens "borrowed" from Mayor Mare herself behind the human's ears, a bag full of groceries from the Marketplace - and on top of all that they were dealing with their stomach full after visits to two separate cafes, and finally Sugarcube Corner - which put a figurative nail into the human's mobility, plus a lollipop that was lodged between their lips. This may, or may not have included heaps of other things.

Not to put a finer point into the fact that the previous paragraph suffers from a terribly overloaded sentence - the human wasn't having an easy time following her. The Pink Mare insisted to give every place a "try", and the human would have missed the mention of the "Carousel Boutique" had they not known who awaited them there.

"You're really gonna like Rarity! Well, you're gonna like all my friends - but Rarity's like, really likeable!" Pinkie beamed as they approached the door to the boutique - the human barely being able to see anything due to the apparel forced upon their head. When the door opened, they hadn't seen anything either.

"Oh, Pinkie! I'm so glad to see you! I--"

Other than the words from the familiarly eloquently-spoken unicorn, they did then hear a terrified female scream. Considering the dramatic energy and the sheer sound, it didn't take long to figure who it was.

"Darling! What have you done to them!? I should thank you that all of this junk conceals their face!"

"Well, good day to you too, Rarity!" Pinkie's voice sounded offended, but in a playful and jesting way. "I'll have to remind you of my #1 policy when giving tours - nopony's walking away without a souvenir!"

"Pinkie Pie, sweetie - whenever I visit a new place, I always opt for a fridge magnet, o-or a pretty accessory, or a wonderfully framed photograph. NOT an enormous heap of things they can't even navigate with! H-Help me guide them inside!"

Rarity came closer, as the human heard by the voice becoming closer by proximity. "Oh dear, right this way! I'll help you out of all of...all "this". Goodness gracious, I don't even know how you can even breathe under all of that..." Said the voice as she helped guide the human past the door. Then came the sound of magic activated via horn, and work began as Rarity unearthed the human from underneath all the things. As the first object - the hat, was finally removed, the human was finally able to gaze upon the familiar, white pony.

"Muuuch better." Smiled the unicorn. "Well, good day to you! My name is Rarity, and welcome to Carousel Boutique! It's a pleasure to meet you, my good--..."

In a desperate request for help, Rarity's eyes went to Pinkie's, who giggled. "They're a human, silly! Remember? Just like the ones Twilight visits sometimes through the mirror!"

"Oh!" Rarity pieced together the fact, and clapped her hooves together as she briefly stood on her hind legs. "Truly? How fascinating! Are you visiting, dear - or...?"

"Oh!" The human took their que to speak. "Well...I was allowed to stay in Ponyville, sooo--"

The gasp had startled the human, and they barely had time to notice Rarity whip out her measuring tape and immediately work on the human's dimensions. "Darling! Say these things first! Oh, Pinkie, why didn't you tell me either?" Rarity huffed, looking at the human as she took measurements. "I too have a policy, you see! Any new residents in Ponyville shall have an outfit designed by moi - yours truly - the mare you see before you. It's the best welcoming gift, you see!"

"Oooh! You're gonna make pants for 'em, right? Or are you gonna make like a really weird dresses that go like, from their shoulders to their feet? Oooh! You can make a mascot costume, or--"

"Pinkie!" Huffed Rarity. "I shall have you know I know what course of action to take. I may be making clothing for a species I have yet seen with my own eyes - but I certainly intend to put the knowledge I do have for good use! I shall make them an outfit that shall let them walk through Ponyville's streets both in fashion AND comfort! Not to mention, on this fine Spring day, you'd need clothes that give your body freedom, and yet shield you from the leftover cold of winter! Ah yes, I see it already! You are going to ADORE it, darling!"

The needles and threads, the fabrics and scissors, the measuring tape and rulers - the sewing machine, and the pins and needles. Much to the human's inability to catch up with the sheer grace and speed of her work, Rarity's process of making clothes was the same as a conductor performing Vivaldi. They could merely observe with the equally astonished Pinkie the orchestra of materials and tools played, seamlessly sewing the seams and making pieces of thread and fabric into a proper composition.

The human was so hypnotized by it all that they hadn't even noticed when they were donning their new outfit, and were now standing in-front of a mirror, with an awestruck Pinkie and an excited Rarity by their side.

They found themselves in a light, comfortable beige pea coat, unbuttoned to reveal a black turtleneck underneath comfortably snug on their torso. Black denim pants hugged their legs, and their feet were now wearing perfectly-fitting boots, with only a slight heel that still made these shoes rather unisex. Their hands were now also held within light cotton gloves that hadn't sacrificed their ability to hold things, and a thin belt had made sure their pants sat snug and secure.

"Almost there darling~!" Rarity said as she dressed the human. While she did, the human noticed how unisex the outfit felt - they weren't sure if maybe Rarity considered they'd be offended by a leaning towards a particular level of masculinity or femininity, or perhaps she wanted a surprise outfit to be rather netural.

"Coup de grâce~!" Said the white unicorn as she levitated over a satchel, which had appeared like the one worn by ponies, except with modified belts and dimensions that would fit the human perfectly on their hip. She slung it over their shoulder, and gave one final look before turning to the human with a hopeful, elated gaze. "Well darling~? Impressions?"

"I've never been dressed so good my entire life..." The human softly said, turning to the unicorn. "This is great! It fits amazingly and just...Whoa. I love it, Rarity! T-Thank you so much!"

"Hmhm~." She giggled with a proud and pleased gaze. "Do open the satchel so that I can witness your reaction!"

Curiously the human did as asked - undoing the lock of their new satchel and peeking inside to pick up a small bottle; transparent and yet slightly tinted a creamy orange. The human read the label, saying "Madame Scentia's Mango Essence". The human's eyes went back to Rarity's, who's eyes were still as expectant as ever. Rolling up their sleeve, the human squeezed with their thumb the little thumb on the "sprayer", and allowed it to drizzle upon their wrist. They took a whiff, and found themselves hit with a very sweet, aromatic scent of mango - overwhelming in large quantities of course - but in a little amount, very refreshing and enticing.

"Wow, and you've got me perfume to go along with this outfit too?" The human awkwardly chuckled. "I-I'm very grateful Rarity, b-but I don't know if I deserve this much. It's a bit more than I can give back a-at the moment."

"Everypony deserves the right to dress well darling." Proclaimed Rarity as she came close to the human, adjusting parts of the collar and sleeves to make sure that the outfit fit as well as it could. "Granted, I don't quite know much about your sense of style yet nor what sort of outfit you may need to wear when you go about your ordeal in Ponyville - however I hope this shall be a versatile tenue for you! Something pleasant - not overly formal nor casual, and something certainly warm, but not hot in the physical sense. And cease this talk of "giving back"! I am, as you'll find - the element of generosity. Generosity doesn't expect anything in return!...Well, other than appreciation for her craft, heh."

"Of course..." Continued Rarity as she finally finished up the last presentational touches by adjusting the shoulders and looking at the human's eyes. "I do hope to rectify the fact I don't quite know much about you. I'd be delighted to get to know a fellow resident of this wonderful town. I do suppose you're not quite local to Equestria, are you?"

"Not at all, no." The human shook their head, which prompted a delighted squeal from the unicorn as she clapped her hooves together.

"Wonderful! Then you can tell me all about fashion in your world! I certainly wonder how the dresses and suits look like in a world where the clothes are made...well, so to speak - "vertically"!"

"It's not pretty..." The human whispered softly, but didn't delve into it. "B-But anyways, thank you, really! This outfit is perfect. I'm just, not sure what I can give in return--"

They were interrupted by the unicorn putting a hoof to their lip. "Ahp! Tsk tsk tsk, nuh-uh-uh! A gift shall never be paid for nor repaid! It comes from my heart darling, and the only thing I ask for in lieu of a payment is merely to develop our newlyfound friendship. Tu comprends, mon ami?" She said with a sweet voice, and gave the human a wink.

The human got the message and acquiesced with a humble nod of their own, taking a look once more to admire their clothing. Rarity in the meantime, approached Pinkie Pie.

"Now Pinkie, there's something I wanted to bring up. I was wondering if you've seen Dash today at all? She promised to come see me today - she told me she would hoof me the measurements of the Wonderbolt's team so that I could be able to prepare their dresses and suits for the Wonderbolt's Ball! I expected her hours ago but she hadn't shown up - and I certainly don't expect laziness to hold back the Element of Loyalty on a promise!"

"Did ya check for her under the rug?" Pinkie asked.

"...Oh. I suppose I haven't..." Muttered Rarity and levitated one of the rug upon which she stood - to find it devoid of a blue pegasus. Realizing the ridiculousness of it, she gave Pinkie a tired, but patient gaze. "Ugh, Pinkie, darling, please! This is serious! I'm growing rather concerned for Rainbow Dash right now, you know?"

"Well..." Pinkie put a hoof to her mouth in thought. "I really dunno! Rainbow Dash usually begins with a quick morning exercise at around sunrise, then gets breakfast, and then either participates in weather control, training, or heads to teach at the school - and I lost track of her right after the breakfast! I thought maybe she's gonna do a surprise party, but my birthday isn't nearly within the "surprise party preparation" time range, and neither is yours, Gummy's, Twilight's, Fluttershy's, Bulk Bicep's, Lyra's, or--"

"Yes, yes - I get it darling!" Exclaimed Rarity. "It's really...upsetting. I do hope she hasn't forgotten - but now I'm worried that someone who's as astute and perceptive as you hasn't seen her either...I just hope she shows up sooner than later."

"Well our tour ain't finished yet, soooo..." Pinkie grabbed the human by their gloved wrist. "How about we sweep around Ponyville on the way and send her your way when we see her? I'm sure we're gonna find her, right?" She asked, looking up at the human.

"I'll keep my eyes open! Blue pegasus, rainbow mane - can't miss her!" Happily exclaimed the human...From which Rarity cast a surprised look.

"Oh! How did you know her mane is rainbow-coloured?" Asked the unicorn, prompting the human to compensate their slip-up with yet another panicked lie.

"A-Ah, uhm...I...Saw one of her fans holding a poster! A, uh...small orange filly who was riding a scooter!"

"Whoa!" Pinkie gasped. "You saw Scootaloo today!? Wow, that means you must have seen more ponies today than I have! Shucks, how did I miss her!? I was supposed to congratulate her and throw a party in honor the newest foal they helped find their cutie mark! You're reallllyyy percpetive, homeslice!"

"Oh! Scootaloo?" Rarity squinted her eyes. "...Peculiar, isn't she supposed to be in school...? You don't reckon that you saw a small unicorn filly next to her, do you? Pink-and-purple slightly curled mane? Cutie-mark similar to the orange pegasus filly? Oh I hope to Celestia she isn't skipping school..."

"O-Oh, uh..." The human didn't dare risk throwing anypony under the bus, and already felt concerned that they had thrown poor Scootaloo under the bus - a pony they haven't actually met, if Rainbow Dash decides to scold her de facto little sister on it. "No! Not at all! S-She was totally alone!"

"Well, that's fine. For Rainbow Dash's sake though, and Scootaloo's, I hope the filly hasn't been skipping school, and there's a reason for her to wander Ponyville during school hours." Sighed Rarity, and shook her head. "A-Anyhow! No matter. You should be on your way now - soak in what your new home has to offer!" She said as Pinkie Pie gravitated towards the front door - helped by Rarity as the unicorn opened the door with her magic. As the two stepped out, Rarity poked the human on the shoulder with her magic, prompting them to turn around.

"And, darling?" Rarity gave a small smile. "It's nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too, Rarity! Uh, see you around!" Said the human - and was yanked away by Pinkie Pie.

***

"Brrrr..." Shivered Pinkie as she led on the human. "Weird! First Rainbow Dash isn't showing up when she promised to, and now it's 10.2 degrees Celcius when it was a nice 18.7 just an hour ago! The Pegasi are having a really weird time with weather control today!"

"You can just...tell the weather accurately?" Asked the human, finding that the clothes provided generously by Rarity had indeed shielded them from a cold that the previous clothes couldn't hope to match. "Don't you need a thermometer for that?"

"Oh silly! I don't need that!" Pinkie suddenly stopped and waggled her tail. "My tail is so sensitive I can get any kinda information you'd ever need! Look!" She chirped and waggled her tail around like an antenna, licking her lips in concentration, and grinning when she got what she was looking for. "The temperature is currently 10.2 degrees Celcius with a precipitation of 15 percent and a humidity of 20%, at wind speeds of 18 kilometers per hour! The time is 2:26 P.M., and you need to drink 2 more liters of water today for your daily hydration quota! Carrot Top is going shopping today with Junebug, and four foals have earned their cutie marks today. You lucky numbers are 7, 2, 3, 3, 5, and 3.141592--"

The human's desire to stop the imminent near-infinite countdown was helped by an exclamation that rocked the ground audibly, while the following impact had rocked it physically. Yelping in surprise, Pinkie ducked her head at the last second as a flurry of seven colours had crashed straight through and into a bush full of flowers. A cyan pegasus stumbled out, now sporting about two more colours as she was decorated with petunias and azaleas. She apologetically smiled to a very disgruntled Roseluck, soon accompanied by an annoyed Lily Valley and saddened Daisy, wondering to themselves why of all places to crash it had to be straight into the recently bloomed flowers. The horror...

"Oh! Dash! There you are! We were gonna scour all of Ponyville to find you!" Said Pinkie - her eyes scanning to notice a plethora of petals on the blue pegasus. "Heeey, you're looking good!...Too good!" She exclaimed, opening her mouth to allow her long tongue to slip out, and coming close to the pegasus. With one big lap, Pinkie was able to lap up all of the flowers covering Rainbow Dash, leaving the Pegasus mildly perturbed and dizzy.

"Ugh, hey Pinkie..." Rainbow Dash regained her balance and focus. "Sorry about nearly crashing into you...I lost balance trying to kick away some clouds! They're really weird today! Like, tough! Real tough! I just push my hoof into it and it almost starts to pull it in like it's made outta bubble gum or thick cotton candy something!"

"Huh, that's weird! Discord's next chocolate rain was scheduled on the opening of that new chocolate factory in Manehattan!" Pinkie hummed thoughtfully. "Huuuuuh, either one of us doesn't have their time right, or something fishy is going on!"

"Well I'm definitely gonna ask Discord about this, cause I'm putting five bits that he's responsible!" Exclaimed Rainbow Dash, casually walking past the human towards Pinkie and giving them a cool, greeting nod. "'Sup?"

The human blinked at the lack of reaction and surprise to seeing a human, but they suppressed a stutter with a cough. "Uh, yo."

"Sorry, not the best first impression, but I'm always glad to see a fan who comes all the way here for an autograph!" Said the Pegasus with a proud smile as she approached Pinkie Pie. Fishing for something in her cotton-candy mane, she had plucked out a poster of the Wonderbolts (with Rainbow Dash in-front), and a pen. Briefly signing her signature, she hoofed the poster over to the human. "Stay awesome! And don't you sell it on eHay, ya hear?"

"Oh...Thanks!" The human said and put the poster into their satchel - rather surprised yet welcoming of this development. "I won't!"

"Dash, silly!" Snortled Pinkie. "They didn't come here for an autograph!"

"...Huh?" Blinked Rainbow Dash at Pinkie like she said that the sky was green. "Pinkie? For real? Come on - all the tourists in Ponyville practically run the first thing to me to get an autograph! I mean, if you had to spend a day in Ponyville, what would you even do?"

"Well..." Pinkie started to count using her hooves - to the point additional hooves were coming out of nowhere. "Visit the Castle of Friendship, School of Friendship, town square, town hall, the Marketplace, the Ponyville Café and Café Hay, Sugarcube Corner, Carousel Boutique, and--"

Pinkie stopped herself with a big grin. "Oh! I forgot though! They're not a tourist, silly me!" She beamed and, in a blink of an eye, appeared right behind the human, clinging onto their back as she hugged them with one hoof, and pointed at them with another. "Rainbow Dash, meet our newest resident! Human-who's-name-I'm-still-guessing, meet Rainbow Dash - Element of Loyalty, Wonderbolt, and the creator of the Sonic Rainboom!"

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed with furrowed brows. "That's not all! You're forgetting; Number One Cider Lover, Number One Fan of Daring Do and personal friend of A.K. Yearling, and owner of Tank - AKA the most awesome tortoise ever--...Wait. Resident? Human...?"

Rainbow Dash took a good look at the human, up and down before a slow gaze of realization fell towards Pinkie.

"Oooh..." The Pegasus awkwardly let out. "I thought that was just a dragon who got a hair transplant...Wait, whoa. A human? Like, the--"

"Ayup!" Pinkie nodded, getting off of the human's back and "teleporting" next to Rainbow Dash. "Just like the ones that are behind Twilight's mirror portal!...Almost. Not super similar - not super different. Twi and Starlight are having a hard time figuring that bit out."

"Huh, and you're our new resident too...Uh, sorry about that! I really thought you were just a fan who wanted to get an autograph, so lemme start over. I'm Rainbow Dash. It's nice to meet you, and welcome to Ponyville - the most awesome place in Equestria. You'll love it here!"

"Thanks! It's nice to meet you too, Rainbow Dash. Uh, mind if I keep the poster?"

"Psht, obviously!" Said the Pegasus, dismissively waving her hoof. "It's a basic right for anypony and anycreature to have a signed poster of me! I can't imagine an Equestria without it! Speaking of which, you've already met Twilight, Starlight, Pinkie, and uh..." She gently felt the fabric of the human's coat. "Rarity, right?"

"I have! Pinkie basically greeted me first-thing, and I met Starlight, Twilight, and also Spike in the Castle. And uh..." They gestured to their outfit. "This is a dead giveaway that I met Rarity, huh?"

"Hah, totally! Well guess what - a friend of my friends is an awesome friend, automatically and without argument! So for that, any time I see you at a Wonderbolts show, I'm getting you free seats! You totally deserve to see the Wonderbolts and I in action! You could also just watch me practice, but you better come early to get the best spots."

"Thanks!" The human said. "I'd love that!"

"By the way, sorry about the cold! I know it's spring but..." The Pegasus groaned. "It's weird. The clouds have been getting pretty intense..."

"Why haven't you called up the rest of the Wonderbolts for help?" Asked Pinkie with a tilted head.

"I wish they'd help!" Rainbow murmured. "But they've already split into two teams - reservists included - to deal with the weather in Manehattan and Canterlot. We think that Cloudsdale might've made some kind of mistake or maybe something's broken, but we need to focus on the weather clearing and hope that the Pegasi can work it out - I am NOT having that ball cancelled! I mean, Princess Celestia AND Luna are gonna get to see me fly, and if we can't clear out the weather, who am I gonna show off to!?"

"Weird, 'cause it was totally nice and warm this morning where I found the Lake Monster!" Pinkie said, poking the human's hip. "What do you think might've been causing it..."

"Y'know, when you brought up Discord..." Dash muttered. "Aha! It's Discord! It's totally him!"

"Huh? Why do you say that, Dash?" Pinkie blinked with concern.

"Think about it! Reformed or not, he can still be up to no good! Either just because he's bored or wants somepony's attention! Like the time he sent Twi and Princess Cadence for a cure for an illness he didn't have just 'cause he wanted to make sure that they "cared about him", or the time he sent us on a fake Friendship Quest!"

"But what does he have to gain from making some thick clouds appear?" Pinkie asked, surprised to see Rainbow Dash so passionate about her accusation.

"Who cares? Besides, if he isn't responsible, we're gonna figure out if he can do something about it! Now! Pinkie, newbie!" She pointed at the human. "Come together! We're gonna get to the bottom of this mystery!"

"Oh, great idea!" Pinkie said, now running and pulling the human by the wrist using her tail, forcing them to also run after Rainbow Dash who was flying towards Fluttershy's cottage. "That way we're gonna be able to meet Discord AND Fluttershy! Rainbow, you're a genius!" She yelled up to the pegasus, who could barely hear her due to the distance she maintained in the sky.

***

It surprised the human how truly far away the cottage was - Pinkie frantically pointed out other landmarks, including the Sanctuary which was visible from a distance. As they ran up to the cottage, the door had already been opened, and the sounds of Rainbow Dash's angry voice was heard from inside. By the time Pinkie and the human ran in, they saw a familiar Draconequus listen with rolled eyes to Rainbow's accusations. Literally, as two yellow eyeballs had been rolling around the floor, his eyelids closed in the meantime.

In the meantime, an even more familiar yellow Pegasus stood with a big frown and worried eyes, attempting to defuse the fire between the two. Sure - she was a much more assertive and confident Pegasus, but even someone as confident as Rainbow herself or Pinkie Pie wouldn't have an easy time stopping an argument between two of their friends.

"I know it's you, Discord!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Cloudsdale would never make a mistake - you're clearly manipulating the weather!"

"Oh, Rainbow Dash." Groaned Discord and opened his eyelids, revealing that his eyes were in-fact still in-place, and the rolling ones disappeared in a quick flash. "I'll have you know that if I wanted to mess with the entirety of Equestria, simply making it a little chillier is one of the most banal and uninteresting options! The clouds would, as I have proven before, rain chocolate, or any other delicious syrup or sauce! Oh, speaking of which!" Discord looked past Pinkie Pie, and waved happily with his talon.

"Hello Pinkie!" Said the draconequus excitedly, and Pinkie Pie was happy to wave back.

"Hi Discord!"

"Discord, don't change the subject--" Rainbow Dash was about to say, but her voice was drowned out by Discord starting to casually talk to Pinkie Pie instead.

"Pinkie Pie - I wanted to ask about that chocolate factory's opening ceremony! I had a wonderful idea! What if the chocolate rain drops would come together to form a big chocolate mud monster that would offer ponies to take a bite out of him? That way we don't waste all the rain drops that fall to the ground."

"Discord!" Pinkie frowned. "That sounds amazing!...But that sounds really, really, really unsanitary! We don't want anypony to get sick!..." She said, and leaned in to whisper to Discord. "How about you make the raindrops grow into edible candy flowers?"

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea, Pinkie! And what if--"

"DISCORD!" Yelled Rainbow Dash, spooking off all the animals in the cottage, sending Fluttershy in a panic as she ran after them to calm them, not even acknowledging the human as they stood there.

Discord looked at Rainbow Dash with wide eyes, and took out two small drums - which were both raptured. With a sigh, he took out another pair of tiny ear-hole-wide drums, and stuck them back into his ears. "Ahem. Rrrainbow Dash." He said with a rolled "R". "I am going to insist as much as I physically - and meta-physically can; I am not responsible for these little "clouds" that you can't seem to deal with. What am I - the entirety of Cloudsdale's industry? Tut tut."

"Well fix it!" Groaned the pegasus. "I don't have all day to fight clouds that feel like rubber-band balls! Do you have any idea what's gonna happen if the weather isn't staying on schedule?! It's Spring Time - not...Winter Time!"

"Rainbow Dash - I implore you to listen to me." Sighed Discord, clicking his fingers as suddenly the roof of the cottage became transparent - and a group of Discord's trademark bubble-gum clouds had appeared alongside the gloomy ones. The pink clouds hadn't lasted long, bashing and struggling against the dark mist, before becoming swallowed entirely. "I was, as a matter of fact - planning to have a nice out-door afternoon tea with Fluttershy. Alas, these clouds have rained on our parade--er, tea time. Or were about to anyhow. We have a common goal, but even I can't make anything budge against these ugly, depressing puffs of condensed water drops. Somepony in Cloudsdale is getting fired, it seems." He finished, and the ceiling once again became normal and non-see-through.

"Rainbow Dash!" Exclaimed Fluttershy as she ran back into the cottage after returning all the animals safely, huffing and puffing tiredly - but finding just enough oxygen to lecture her friend, as the blue pegasus was already awkwardly looking aside in embarrassment over the false accusation. "You should feel ashamed for so aggressively blaming this on Discord! We were going to have a nice day out, and he has nothing to gain from doing this! B-Besides, Discord would never do something so...unfun and un-chaotic as a few clouds and colder temperature!"

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry, okay?" Sighed Rainbow Dash as she closed her eyes. "I didn't mean to be so hostile, Discord. I'm so--"

"Apology taken." Smugly smiled Discord, and briefly put his talon inside of Dash's mouth to take out what seemed to be a floating text saying "I'm sorry, okay?", and putting it into a little box labelled 'Evidence of every instance of me being right all along'. The box appeared as suddenly as came the attention to the humanoid - the situation defused, and the two locals of the area now looking at the human who stood there.

Pinkie saw this and grinned, sliding in to the human and wrapped one hoof around them. "Right, almost forgot! Fluttershy, here's our newest resident! They woke up at the bottom of the lake--" And Pinkie Pie said the full story in a dozen of blinks, before allowing Fluttershy and Discord to soak in the information.

"Oh!" Fluttershy smiled politely and pranced over to them. "I'm really sorry about the uhm, scene here! Not a really good first impression for my house...B-But that's okay! We're gonna make up for it!" She said. "My name is Fluttershy! And that's Discord! And--"

"Fluttershyyyyy..." Softly whined Discord, earning a humored roll of Fluttershy's eyes, and a giggle.

"Excuse me - I meant - Discord; the Spirit of Chaos, and a true friend." She spoke softly. "Don't let the title scare you - he's good!"

"...At-least he is now." Coughed Rainbow Dash.

"Nice to meet you two! And, don't worry..." The human shook their head. "First impressions weren't ruined at all. This cloud business seems really weird for what you call a "Spring Day"."

"Let's not worry about that for now. Please, get comfortable!" Smiled Fluttershy as she offered to hang the human's coat. "The weather outside isn't, well...Pretty, but we can have some tea inside! Will you join me girls?" Fluttershy asked Rainbow Dash and Pinkie.

Rainbow Dash reluctantly sighed - genuinely wishing to have stayed to be with her friend even if it was during "tea time". "Sorry Fluttershy, but I can't stop right now. I've already dealt with a massive cloud that made things worse for Ponyville - and I'm not gonna stop knowing that I've managed it once."

"Hey, wait!" Pinkie frowned. "The last time you tried that, you nearly couldn't fly for the rest of your life! I can't let that happen again!"

"These aren't the Cloud Gremlins, Pinkie..." Sighed Rainbow Dash. "So I don't think this has anything to do with bad emotions or negativity. It's something else and I don't think I'd need to do another Double Sonic Rainboom. I'll be fine."

"Then I'm coming with you to make sure you don't do anything silly, silly!" Pinkie huffed her chest. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy - but I'm going to formally decline your invitation so that I can make sure that our Rainbow-maned friend doesn't hurt herself! A-And I'm really sorry about cutting the tour short! B-But I promise I'll show you the rest - uh...ugh, I'll guess your name more later, I promise!" She exclaimed to both the yellow pegasus and the human, smiling apologetically.

"Oh!" Fluttershy gasped, nodding her head. "O-Of course. Rainbow, please - what Pinkie said...Be careful. I-If not for your sake, then for ours..."

A reluctant sigh was stopped with the realization that the words held genuine care and love, and so Rainbow Dash smiled warmly and nodded to the yellow pegasus. "I promise. Have a nice, er...tea...?" She blurted out, and zipped out through the door at light speed - joined by Pinkie who was no slower on land.

Left alone with the Element of Kindness, and a literal god of Chaos, the Human blinked awkwardly to the sound of a ticking time clock and the sound of animals.

"...Nice weather out today, huh...?" Were the words said - by whom of the three was one's interpretation.

***

The hour passed with the room now active in engagement from the pony, human, and draconequus who sat at the table drinking tea, having started conversations that made time itself appear as a mere suggestion rather than a construct.

"So, wait..." The human took a quick sip of their green tea. "You've actually gotten Fluttershy into Dungeons--...Uh, Ogres and Oubliettes?"

"Gotten her into it...Well..." Discord looked at the yellow Pegasus who merely giggled, and then looked back at the human. "Not in the sense you'd think. But she enjoys it when I retell her some of the stories Spike and Big Macintosh come up with as we alternate who leads the story."

"Mhm!" Fluttershy took a refreshing gulp of peppermint tea. "I really enjoyed the stories about the vampire bat-pony world!"

"Oh, that wasn't quite Ogres and Oubliettes - but it was a table-top roleplaying game nonetheless." Discord said.

"..." The human squinted their eyes, thinking of this was analogous to yet another game that existed in their old world. "...What's the game called if I may ask, Discord?"

"It's called Vampire Batpony: The Bal Masque! A part of a little series of games called Plane of Dimness!"

The human blinked at how uncanny it was - but they recall references such as Hocuspocus: The Get-Together from the comics, so it was charming nonetheless.

"By the way..." Asked Fluttershy as she leaned in a little. "Do you like animals? I was thinking maybe you'd like a pet? You will be staying with us, and Twilight's castle has a lot of storage for pet necessities! She appreciates the company too, after all."

The human beamed for a moment. "I do like animals! A lot! Just..." They deflated a little. "I don't think it's the right time for me to be responsible with an animal. I don't have the right amount of...I dunno - confidence? Assurance? I don't think it's the right time, I guess?"

"Weellll, I do understand." Smiled Fluttershy. "I still wonder though! There's many options! And with the right care, you'd even be able to raise a predator animal like a harmless and friendly one - like Pinkie Pie has gummy - a baby gator! Or there's a bear here called Harry! He might be a bear, but he's such a soft and gentle soul! So, maybe if, hypothetically - what's your favourite animal?"

"Well, I don't wanna give you ideas and I don't have a single favorite animal, so..." The human pondered. "I do like red pandas a lot. I also think the axolotl is a cute type of animal. I do enjoy cats and dogs - dogs more. Reptiles are a cool type of pet too..."

"I'm so glad you like animals!" Smiled Fluttershy. "I'm even surprised you know about the axolotl They're not a very common type of animal! And while cats and dogs are considered very "common" types of pets, they're actually very special in their own ways! Red pandas are also just so adorable...Oh! And Twilight told me how her friend behind the mirror world has a pet lizard named "Ray"! I've seen pictures - he's just shooo adowaaable!"

"Pppft~." Chuckled Discord dismissively. "Surely you have an interest in other creatures too, my new friend. What more...interesting creatures are you more lenient towards? Y'know...Hydras, sea monsters, dragons - you must have something...more exotic in your world you could've taken an interest to?"

"Well..." The human put a finger to their chin. "There's a lot of mythology where I'm--...Where I was from..." Said the human - not noticing that Fluttershy's expression softened more as she noticed a facial cue. "Where I was from, we had a lot of mythological creatures. I really think phoenixes are cool! And I also liked creatures like gryphons and y'know, I just have a big interest in the whole field of "not normal animals", if that makes sense...I don't know...I..."

The human sighed. "Heh, sorry, it's just when it comes to discussing where I came from...I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh please, no need to bring up the obvious." Discord smiled. "Fluttershy and I can clearly see it on your face it's not something you feel like talking about."

"Huh? How did you know?" Asked the human - surprised when Discord had suddenly revealed that behind the human was a massive neon sign pointing at them saying 'Does not want to talk about it'. Discord and Fluttershy giggled - and in the end, so did the human. Discord was mischievous after his redemption, but in a charming and endearing way. They had forgotten about it until Fluttershy gave them a reassuring - small and very welcoming smile.

"I understand how it feels to not want to discuss something or bring it up. But Discord and I are happy to have given you such an environment you don't think about it too much. Whenever you feel overwhelmed or need someone to listen or want support, you're always welcome here you know. I even have emergency puppies if you feel really down!...O-Or cats if you prefer! Birds, or lizards, or--"

"Ooooor." Leaned in Discord. "I can always bring you along for a REAL night of guy fun. Y'know - if you feel like your bad mood or unease can only be fixed by a good rowdy night. Whether we're talking about my "classical" definition of a "guy fun", or the one introduced to me by Spike and Big Macintosh - either works really~."

Fluttershy giggled at Discord. "Okay - what we're saying is, if you need our help - we'll be here."

The human looked at their cup for a moment - strangely having broken off eye contact for a bit as they had settled deep into thought. A second after their words did they finally nod and give a thankful smile, blinking just a few times extra as they did. "...Thank you. I really appreciate it..." They said.

Smiling contently to the sound of a ticking time clock and the sound of animals, there was a brief moment of happy, comfortable silence.

And the thundering sound of the door being slammed open.

"Fluttershy!" Exclaimed a familiar voice. One with a Southern twang, and an easily-identifiable appearance; hat or no hat.

"Applejack!" Gasped Fluttershy, nearly spilling her tea in surprise as she turned to the door. "H-Hi! What's wrong--"

"'Ah need your help! A-And yours too, Discord! A-And you, uhm..." She turned to the human, blinked, and continued. "H-Half centaur-thing! W-We need all the help we can get in the Acres, stat!"

"Applejack, calm down..." Whimpered Fluttershy. "What's happening? Please, calm--"

"Discord, 'ah need you to teleport us to Sweet Apple Acres!"

"Tsk..." The draconequus rolled his eyes. "What am I now, Applejack? A taxi? I am not a mere draconequus who can teleport you--"

"Please, darn it!" Exclaimed Applejack - with enough desperation and emergency in her voice that it even managed to get Discord's eyes to widen, and as he wrapped his paw around the three others in the room, snapped his talon - and with a bright flash, they disappeared.

***

It had been near evening, the sun now reaching its twilight phase, preparing to set, but not surrendering yet as Celestia had been only slowly moving it towards the horizon, and no faster. It gave the freshly-teleported group a perfect view on what was happening.

Trees were being ripped off, from the root - and throw up at the sky like discarded trash. Through the flurry of trees and splinters, in the distance - they could see a buzzing force akin to a sandstorm - a sandstorm of furry winged beasts was fast approaching, getting closer and closer.

"F-Fruit bats!?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Vampire fruit bats! Bats!" Exclaimed Applejack. "B-But they ain't right! Something's wrong! T-They're just, groupin' up on trees and going wild on them! T-There's gotta be tens of thousands! M-Maybe a hundred thousand - a million - 'ah don't know! Fluttershy!" Applejack desperately looked at her. "Twi', Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie are here too, b-but it ain't enough! They just, k-keep coming!"

"At this rate...T-They'll destroy Sweet Apple Acres..." Fluttershy said, and took a firm step forward. "W-We need to stop this! Discord, please help us!"

The Spirit of Chaos rolled his eyes. "Ah, well, if you ask so nicely. Plus I do enjoy the Apple Crumble Big Macintosh makes...And I suppose he'd be sad if you lost the acres, and ever since that Sugar Belle incident I really do not have the strength to cheer him up again, and--"

"Discord!" Fluttershy and Applejack exclaimed in unison.

"Er...Right!" The draconequus said, and disappeared in a flash - appearing closer to the oncoming cloud to deal with it.

Applejack looked at the human. "H-Hay pardner, sorry for not introducin' myself, but this ain't the time. Ah' need all the hooves - in this case - hands 'ah can get. 'Ah need you to head to the barn and grab a crate! It's marked with "Repellant". Grab it and bring it!"

"Repellant?" Fluttershy asked, worrying for the safety of the critters.

"Zecora helped us - it makes a smell that scares the bats off - makes 'em think the apple's rotten! W-We've stockpiled on it, but no matter how much we use it, they keep comin'! A-Ah think there's one last crate of it in the barn."

"I-I'll get it!" The human exclaimed. "W-Where do I look for it inside?"

"It'll be at the end of the barn! Shouldn't be too big or heavy. P-Please hurry up! Fluttershy, come with me! W-We might get your stare to work!"

"I'm on it!" Exclaimed the human, and began to sprint for the building they immediately recognized as the barn. Just what was going on? Fruit bats didn't seem so aggressive that they could simply just tear trees apart. This felt wrong - something they hadn't recognized from the show.

Two minutes was what it took for them to get into the barn, opening the door wide open and frantically looking for their target. They were lucky enough to find the box - not too big nor heavy, and just enough for them to grab with both arms and run outside. A quick turn of their head allowed them to notice Applejack, who was a minute of running away.

"Over here!" Exclaimed the earth pony, gesturing the human to place the crate down - during which they nearly tripped over, but were stabilized by Applejack who wrapped her hoof around their wrist, and helped them stand still. Once that was done, she kicked open the lid of the box, revealing what appeared to be rolled up cylinders of paper.

"Right..." She reached deeper into the box to take out a tinderbox. Taking out one of the rolls, it took her one attempt to get a spark and ignite the roll, so that smoke was oozing from the tip. "Here! Wave it at the critters! If they get one whiff, they'll start running! If you run out, get more 'ere!"

The human took the roll and gave a nod - gestured by Applejack towards where to run.

They were face-to-face with appeared to be a cloud descending towards them - but even the untrained eye could see it consisted of thousands of vampire fruit bats...A lot of them oddly smaller than the ones the human remembered in the show. They didn't hesitate, raising their arm and allowing the smoke from the repellant become consumed by the cloud. An ear-piercing shriek had followed that made the human stumble - the bats crying out and scrambling. Followed by it came a rain of a sweet-smelling sort as chunks of apples were raining down upon the human. The covered their face with the arm and put away the repellant, hoping it wouldn't extinguish.

The victory had appeared like a won war - but the tunnel vision was strong. The fleeing horde was but a mere piece of the whole army of vampire fruit bats. The human looked aside to see Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash - the former using a comically large net to catch them, while the latter flew around the bats and used the air resistance to push them aside. Rarity had stood beside Spike - the unicorn using a magic spell haphazardly and quickly taught by Twilight to emit a sound that would scare them off, while the dragon swatted away any bats trying to attack her.

Fluttershy and Twilight had attempted to use the stare in a similar fashion to the way it was used in the same episode where Fluttershy turned into a vampony (possibly being able to turn into one at will), only this time the side-effect accounted for, and the method working effectively; and yet, more and more came. Applejack desperately fought off the fruitbats however she could, using the last bit of repellant she had her hooves on.

Discord was nowhere to be seen - but judging by the fact that one of the clouds of bats was turned into a formation of winged pigs, it was safe to assume that he was doing his job. Starlight Glimmer had also been somewhere in the fray - if the distant and powerful outbursts of magic were anything to go by - turquoise flashes similar to the colour of her magic blasting behind some of the hills, with the bats scattering as well - only to regroup into larger crowds.

Somewhere in the chaos, the human took a moment to step back and look. And that was the winning move.

The bats indeed appeared small - and it was no mistake. They were mostly baby bats, with adults scattered there and here...It was almost as if the entire population of vampire fruit bats had gathered to feed on the acres. So what was driving them? Why were they doing this? How did they all come to gather here?

Seeing as they were bats, they could have been going on purely by echolocation, and smell - if indeed they had such a thirst for apples. The repellant was a great idea - for each time it caused a group of bats to surrender, they never regrouped - compared to the bats chased away by the other ponies. So far, Fluttershy's stare, Discord's antics, and the repellant were the only sure ways to make sure the bats hadn't returned to the main group.

The human walked back to the box of repellant, noticing that it had a few more rolls. They had a plan - but they needed bait. Something to lure them. Something sweet smelling - and hopefully strong.

Without as much as looking aside, the human reached for their new satchel given by Rarity, and looked at the perfume bottle...The thumbed it thoughtfully, thinking carefully, and nodding to themselves. Wordlessly, they grabbed the crate of repellant rolls under their arm, and held the perfume in one hand as they ran off - Applejack noticing and exclaiming - "H-Hay! Where're you going!?"

The human had no time to respond. They ran for the most open are they could - and made sure to position themselves to that the arrow of the house's weathercock pointed straight at them. By the time they did, they had reached a rather open position, facing the massive cloud of fruit bats. With a deep sigh of anxiety and apprehension, they dropped the crate to their feet, and took the bottle's sprayer with their other hand.

With a rough pull, they had torn off the sprayer - now allowing the contents to pour freely. They tipped the bottle over their shoulders and chest - the fragrant liquid pouring generously over the new outfit provided by Rarity - the coat, turtleneck, pants - and whatever else the bottle was good for. When the bottle was emptied fully, they threw it aside - and knew that they had little time.

For as they stood facing the tip of the weathercock's arrow, the wind would carry an extremely condensed, disgustingly sweet and concentrated scent all the way into the cloud of bats.

It didn't take long for the bats to take notice - not any longer for the human to prepare phase two of their plan. Their very haphazard, possibly foolish - possibly dangerous plan.

They used the tinderbox in the crate to light the remaining rolls of repellant, and then shut the lid - allowing the smoke to build up inside of it. The held it in both hands, and braced for the worst - putting one leg forward and bracing for impact. They planned to slide the lid off just as the bats got close enough, so that the more kept coming, the more got a whiff of repellant to believe that their promised "sweet fruit" was nothing but rotten apples.

And yet, the human never had the chance to go along with this plan. The supposed "right moment" came earlier than expected. They were hit by a feeling akin to a train crashing into them - and suddenly freedom. Freedom from the weight of gravity. They saw a flurry of colors - and then saw the world descend - or rather, they had ascended.

The bats were so large in number that they basically started carrying them up into the air. It was hard to think at the moment - so much was happening, so little time could be spared to think. They felt a prickly sensation - mostly in the area where the perfume first fell. They saw that the bats were biting into their shoulders, back, chest and arms - but the coat provided by Rarity was so thick and strong, that it acted as armor for the teeth.

The human still had a plan - they could feel the box become hotter as it continued to smoke up, with a fire even starting within it. This was going to be a more concentrated and dense collection of smells than the perfume. As they were an unknown amount of meters up in the sky, they pulled off the lid.

The smoke hit them first - which was a good thing as the bats that tried to bite through their clothing were the first to screech and start flying away. Other bats attempted to replace them - their mistake learned as the smoking box held in the human's hands produced more and more of a disgusting smell that sent them retreating. Wave after wave - retreat after retreat.

Adult bats continued to do this mistake - and finally, they had enough. A collection of high-pitched shrieks and whistles had suddenly sent all bats to a different course. One away from the human. One away from the acres.

The hands of gravity were returning a hold onto the human - and as the last bats departed, the human was no longer suspended in the air. A green earth was returning, coming closer. The human faced death before, and facing it again felt...different in this context.

Was one day really all they were going to spend in Equestria? Meeting all the ponies - one of them not even with introductions - and leaving forever? Was Charon going to consider this a fulfilling existence?

The human closed their eyes and smiled - the sounds produced by the world a soft symphony - the incoming ground to be their cradle. Yeah. It wasn't great that they had such little time to spend with the characters that had made their previous life bearable.

But did they consider that, in a way, this new life was fulfilling - although it lasted but a day?

Yeah.

Yeah...It was.

***

There was a black abyss. Dark, and nothing surrounding them. There was no sound - no feeling. It was the same environment - the same void where they once saw Charon.

Although, Charon was nowhere to be seen. There was not a single glimmer or shimmer - nothing else but a total lack of anything. Were they going to be alone this time? Were they to experience the true "after life"? Was it indeed just nothing? Were they doomed to be alone with their consciousness?

Desperate - yet weak, the human attempted to reach out their hand and whispered.

"Charon?"

In response, they felt something touch their hand something fluffy - like a limb, but without fingers - and something furry. The appendage carefully helped set their hoof back down into their original position. Too confused and blurred to understand what was happening, they were suddenly met with light...

As the bandage on their eyes was taken off.

"H-Hey...!" Quietly exclaimed Twilight's familiar voice. The human blinked and blinked - and only after a dozen did they understand that they had been looking at a ceiling. And at the corners of their vision they saw different colours. Different silhouettes. Different beings. Different ponies.

With a gasp, the human totally discarded Twilight's attempts to help them settle down, as they sat up in panic and emergency. It was a regrettable decision, as they felt a crushing pain in their chest, thigh, arm, and head. However, two pairs of hooves had already gently helped brace the human, and set them back gently on the bed. With the pain giving them a sudden burst of energy however, they were able to understand their surroundings.

They were laying on a bed in a room similar to something that they'd find in the sweet Apple Acres - architecturally speaking. In the room stood all the ponies that were present - except for Rainbow Dash; who instead was laying on a bed a few steps next to the human's. The ponies stood around both beds - concerned about the wellbeing of both. However, judging by the fact Rainbow Dash was already sitting up with decent posture, it was clear that the human had taken a longer time to show signs of stability, hence everypony - including Rainbow Dash who stood up with a limp, approached the bed a little closer.

"Just relax, Sugarcube..." Applejack said with a tinge of regret and sadness in her tone. "You done got yourself hurt...Don't move too much, alright?"

"H-heh, I don't even think I want to..." Said the human, hissing past the pain of breathing. "W-What happened? Where am I...? T-The bats!" The human attempted to sit up, but stopped themselves, taking a deep breath. "W-What happened--"

"The bats flew away!" Twilight said, hoping that the information would calm them. "You made so many of the adults smell the repellant that they communicated to the rest that the apples have pretty much rotten...They're all gone now."

"Great...!" The human smiled. "I'm glad we're okay--"

"And just because we met only today doesn't mean I'm not going to scold you!" Huffed Twilight suddenly, her wings unfurling and accidentally bapping Starlight, who blinked in surprise. "What were you thinking!? Y-You could have gotten yourself seriously hurt--, I mean, you're already hurt badly - imagine if you got hurt even more! What you did was d-dangerous, irresponsible, and--"

"...G-Got the bats out of the acres?" Nervously smiled the human.

There was a brief moment when Twilight looked at the human once again in the eyes, and sighed deeply. "T-The bats weren't endangering anypony's lives - at-least...not in the short-term. You shouldn't endanger yours..."

"Short-term solutions for long-term benefits..." Smiled the human. "I-It was kinda fun...Floating up into the sky, getting those bats to run away..."

The human wasn't sure what allowed them to so suddenly loosen up. Either it was a near-death experience in a moment where they didn't wish for death; or somepony helped them to some medicine.

"..." Twilight blinked once more, and then...gave a final exhale. She re-assessed everything and allowed her head to hang in relief. "I'm glad you're okay, in the end. And, well...Thanks. I don't think we had the situation under control..."

"R-Right, Twi..." Applejack cleared her throat. "M-May I?"

The alicorn gave a smile and stepped aside - allowing the orange, blonde pony step closer to the human. "Howdy!" She said, her smile attempting to radiate positivity and eagerness against her desire to apologize. "My name's Applejack! Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! I, uh..."

She finally gave in - bowing her head as she took off her hat, and held it to hear own heart, closing her eyes. "Ah'm sorry 'fer all of this. We don't know what happened, why it happened...'Ah didn't wanna see you get hurt, and 'ah shouldn't have gotten you involved in all this...But...On behalf of the Apple Family - thank you kindly, stranger, for savin' mah' family and its future."

"Applejack..." Smiled the human. Finally - the final piece of the puzzle of names. Well, there were other names - but AJ's name had finally given a sense of completeness for their "first day". They finally mustered the strength to sit up - against Fluttershy's and Rarity's wishes, they were able to put them at ease as the human properly sat against the bed frame with little displays of pain. "It's nice to meet you...And, don't thank me. I was just helpin' a stranger out. And plus, my dumb choices are only mine to apologize for."

"Well...Still, sugarcube. It was mighty clever what you pulled off!" The earth pony said, putting her hat back on and giving a finally glad smile, relief coming from the human's words. "'Ah'd never think of lurin' them in, then again I ain't got anything as sweet as whatever you used...What was it anyway? It had the critters scatter for ya like you were the juiciest apple in Equestria!"

"Madame Scentia's Mango Essence." Smiled the human, and frowned awkwardly. "T-That was a gift from Rarity...S-So was the coat, turtle neck, pants--..."

Beside Fluttershy chuckled nervously the unicorn. "A-Ah yes, I had recovered your outfit darling! Well..." She levitated up the coat, and turtle neck, and pants; all shredded up, full of holes - and smelling of a sickeningly sweet mango. "What was left of it, rather...S-Still, it could be repurposed into a "punk" fashion, I suppose!"

"I'm...Really sorry about that Rarity." The human scratched their head. "I didn't mean for it to get so ruined - I-I just acted as quickly as I could, didn't even know what to do..."

"...Darling." Warmly smiled the white pony. "What you've done was a great act of generosity for Applejack and the farm. I'm sure a brand new outfit and a bottle of perfume was a noble sacrifice for the Acres...W-Well, that and, your health and wellbeing...R-Regardless! You've shown great generosity dear - and don't let your thoughts carry you anywhere else."

"Thank you..." Smiled the human. "Uh, speaking of which...W-What happened? After I, y'know..."

"Heh." Rainbow Dash limped over closer. "I happened, that's what! I've never seen a two-legged creature other than a dragon fly up - but you flew up high. Luckily for you, I saw that you were going down a bit too fast. I swooped in as fast as you could and carried you to safety!"

"Dang..." The human frowned. "And you got hurt too...?"

"Uh..." Rainbow Dash frowned as she looked at her bandaged front hoof, and shrugged. "It's nothin'! Ended up landing roughly after breaking your fall, but c'mon! I've got wings - you don't. I'm pretty sure we gotta be more worried about you than me here! I get around by flying anyway."

"So you've saved my life..." Whispered the human. "...Thank you, Rainbow Dash. A lot...I'm sorry you had to get hurt because of me."

The pegasus, now blushing, waved her hoof dismissively - forgetting it was hurt, and cringing in pain. "G-Gah! I-I mean...D-Don't sweat it! You don't gotta apologize for anything! It's just what I do, y'know? I save all sorts of ponies and creatures - breakfast, lunch, and dinner!"

"H-Huh?" Pinkie exclaimed. "T-That wasn't on the schedule though! Since when do you rescue ponies during breakfast, lunch, and dinner!? I-I'll have to totally re-observe you and re-structure the timetable!"

Everypony giggled - including Discord who, to conserve space, was enjoying the anti-gravitational presence at the ceiling. The next to speak was Fluttershy, bowing her head a little.

"Well, don't worry about your injuries! We've treated you as best as we could with magic..." Softly spoke the pegasus. "You'll be okay soon - and tomorrow you'll be able to walk without limping!"

"Unlessss..." Discord proposed, playing with his tail with his talon. "You'd like to replace those silly limbs with, I dunnoooo, tentacles? Maybe a snake lower body? We could also turn you into a centaur? At-least these are your...alternative solutions."

"Discord!" Murmured Twilight, earning a bashful smile from the draconequus, and a giggle from Fluttershy.

"Yeaaah I'm okay with walking rather than slithering." The human chuckled. "If you want to do something real chaotic you could uh...Make a milkshake appear." Challenged the human - and thanks to Fluttershy giving Discord a smile that basically said 'Wait a second, they'll figure it out', they had enough time to take back their words as their smug smile faded away. "Actually I think the milkshake is likely to taste like fish and start barking at me. So I'll pass."

"S-Speaking of which!" Starlight stepped up a little closer. "Around the same time Pinkie was giving you that tour, we let Mayor Mare know about you! We've officially registered you as a citizen of Ponyville! No paperwork needed! On the account that sooomepony here decided to use her "Princess power" to get it done easily and without hassle~." Starlight said as she nudged Twilight, who rolled her eyes and blushed.

"O-Once a year!" Twilight reminded.

"Thanks, I uh..." The human pointed at their arm, which they just noticed was bandaged up. "Don't think I have the "facilities" to even write my signature somewhere."

"Oh, if only it was just a checkmark and a cute little signature." Snorted Starlight.

"Sugarcube..." Applejack spoke up. "'Ah also wanna mention...For what you've done, 'yer a family friend. You're welcome to Sweet Apple Acres whenever. And while you're staying here, 'ah'd like to help in any way 'ah can. So whatever you need, just holler!"

"I will - but I really don't need anything right now. I..." The human realized the deeper truth of what they were about to say, and smiled wider. "I have everything I need right now."

"Well, the offer's still on the table, and it ain't gonna get cold come winter or Windigo!" Winked Applejack. Finally, Twilight cleared her throat.

"Okay girls." Said the unicorn, nodding. "Let's give them and Rainbow some time to recover. Mind if I come in the morning AJ?"

"You bet! Come early enough and you'll catch breakfast! Provided that pigs 'n' chickens don't act up like they did since morning. Then you'll have the opportunity to catch breakfast even later." Said the Earth Pony - and the others started to make their way to the door - but not before wishing the human and Rainbow a speedy recovery, a good-bye, and a good night. Pinkie Pie had promised the human that the tour would continue when they would recover - and before she could list all the places they'd go to, Starlight had to help her finally pass the threshold out of the room. The last to go was Twilight, who, after telling the human good-bye, squinted her eyes at Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, and Rainbow, make sure they can actually rest and get some sleep. Please?"

"Ppppft, of course! I won't forget!" She said - irony striking as she forgot that her hurt hoof was the one she had just dismissively waved, hissing and grunting in pain.

Giving Rainbow Dash a "I'm watching you" look, she finally left, leaving Rainbow Dash and the human in the room alone.

The pegasus turned to the human and grinned, out of nowhere - pulling out a familiar book. "So, ready to read the new Daring Do book!? Daring Do and the Sunken Legend of the Seaquestrian Idol!?"

"You know it!"

A Stranger's Devotion - Chapter Three

The coldest place on Earth is Antarctica - an obvious fact, and yet no less awestriking considering that the lowest temperatures have reached up to about a negative 90 degrees Celsius. It is a bowl of snow and ice, difficult to both survive and navigate without proper equipment. Furthermore, it takes about ten minutes at a temperature of a negative forty degrees to kill a person from exposure.

But this wasteland made Antarctica feel like chilly afternoon - the temperature almost twice as cold...optimistically speaking.

Dunes of snow covered acres of land, tall and ever-shifting - in the never ending onslaught of ice and sharp wind; able to cause frostbite within sheer minutes. Not even the most resilient of organisms could thrive here - not on any layer of land but perhaps so deep underground one could feel as if they were touching the ceiling of hell itself.

If you were lucky, every once and again - you could see the roofs and tops of buildings. Spirals and belltowers, sticking out through the snow mountains. If one was to somehow find a building that wasn't fully entombed in snow, they would see that even the windows were frosted to the point of being more fragile than thin ice - and even if one could see through it, they would find more snow.

More snow. More snow. And more snow...It wasn't ice age. It was extinction.

Yet, somehow, She stood. The cold had been painful and froze her to the bone - but she still stood to the best of her ability, stumbling and wading through the snow. She saw this dream before - many times. Yet each time it felt as crippling and terrifying as it did before. She didn't know it was a dream this time - much too paralyzed by the possibility of it being true.

Yet, in the icy sky above her, it weren't Windigos that she saw soaring. This time in her dreams, she hadn't seen them - as she did each time before. This time it was different. This time, through the thick blizzard and wind, she saw a different shape - standing on the horizon.

A human.

Twilight screamed - the sheer size of her castle and the amount of walls making the sound drown into obscurity...Helped by a spell she set up to cancel noise leaving her room - the first time she screamed and woke up Starlight and Spike in the middle of the night. Not something she wanted to repeat. She threw her blanket aside in anger, groaning in frustration that the dreams she had taken measures against were repeating - their haunting of the alicorn seemingly unending.

She felt blessed with the fact she no longer had to dream - for the sun was already shining through her windows, the sun's golden morning godrays filling the room, held back by the curtains that shielded Twilight's face. She sighed as she stared at the discarded blanket, and once she got up from bed, had it folded quickly with magic.

Twilight stood up to approach a cabinet - using magic to pull out incense; not a gift from Zecora as one could assume, but rather a gift from Princess Luna herself - who had scheduled the delivery in leu of Twilight's dreams. It was made enhanced by the magic of ponies who understood how dreams worked; and the incense should have had the effect of making her feel calm after the disturbing dream, letting the memory go into a haze. A magical spark lit it, and low, thin smoke began to ooze from it.

Twilight hated to admit the defeat as she set the incense on a desk, never appreciating having her own memory tampered with even for the sake of her own mental health, but she felt the urge, for it made being awake that much harder. She felt the need to pick up her daily list - but never unrolled it. Today her morning goal was apparent. To visit an old friend to make sure she was fine, and to visit a new one to ensure they were better.

Yet, Twilight hesitated to leave the room for an hour.

***

Luckily for her morning hunger, Applejack had been late for the same hour just as she supposed last night - finishing with a morning routine involving the pigs and chickens later than she anticipated. The animals were antsy, rowdy - and hard to get a grip on. Only then did Applejack finally gather up with the rest of the family to cook breakfast.

But the luckiest ones here were Rainbow Dash and the human - who not only got to sleep in after a tiring night of Daring Do reading, but also didn't miss out on breakfast either. The two heavy sleepers were awoken at a reasonable 7 AM. The two readers believed themselves to be "rebellious cool kids who don't need no sleep", but ironically, their "tiring reading all-nighter" lasted only 45 minutes, with the human falling asleep with their arm hanging off the side of the bedframe, and Rainbow Dash with the book sprawled over her face...All at an even more reasonable 11 PM.

Applejack took her sweet time giggling at the sight before hollering them to wake up, and any further attempts to hurry up the two were met by Rainbow Dash pelting her pillow at the door - which got rid of Applejack, but got rid of the soft thing that allowed her head to rest. Applejack in the end got the last laugh, Dash groaning in despair at having nothing soft to nest her head.

The human opted not to get up - so in a lazy act of bravery, they instead pulled the rest of their weight off of the bed and fell to the floor - the impact and coldness of the floor giving them a rude, but strong awakening.

The two hadn't needed to share words - too sleepy to speak. So when the sweet, enticing smell of baked goods and apples hit their nostrils, they gave each other a wide-eyed stare, and turned the slow awakening into an impromptu race downstairs.

"'Yer just in time." Said the orange pony with a smug smirk, not needing to even look to know what they were up to. "Y'all skipped out on supper yesterday so 'ah figured y'all racked up an appetite stronger than a hungry Manticore that's been put onna' diet. 'Fore you start though..." Applejack turned to face the human, who followed Rainbow Dash's cue to take a seat - but stopping when they were addressed. "'Ah'd like 'tah introduce you t'my family!"

The human hadn't needed the introductions - but they did want to greet them. Their appetite gave them such a tunnel vision even, that in the unfamiliar room, they haven't realized the three other members of the Apple Family were already there. Granny Smith dumbfounded at their appearance, Big Macintosh smiling calmly, and Apple Bloom gawking over the sight of an unfamiliar species.

"Hi guys!" Waved Rainbow Dash, and earning familiar waves from the Earth ponies. Meanwhile, Applejack positioned herself between the human and her family.

"Apples, meet the new resident! New resident, meet the other 3/4ths of the Apples livin' 'ere!" Grinned Applejack, and stepping aside knowingly as Granny Smith would be the first to lean in, the elderly mare looking over the human as if they were an anomaly, one eye closed as if it'd give the other more focus.

"Well, well...I ain't seen a two-armed hand-havin' bipedal resemblin' you in the longest time youngin'. Eh, matter of fact you remind me of a friend I've got livin' in these here acres - yer' just...a whole lotta less hairy. Smellin' way less of squash too." Said Granny Smith, a little quieter so that all the others heard was mumbling - before smiling and raising her voice to levels all could hear. "Well, that don't matter none! Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, youngin'! After what you did, 'yer welcome here anytime!"

"Yeah!" Suddenly chirped in Applebloom, jumping tall enough for a second to meet the human's eye-level. "Applejack told us about the thing you did with the perfume and the smokey-stuff Zecora gave us and the clothes Rarity made! Actually.." Applebloom scratched her chin with her hoof and grinned in realization. "'Ah don't need to remember what AJ told me! I saw the whole thing outside the window of mah room! You were like, goin' up in the air and stuff, and Rainbow Dash saved ya! That was so cool!"

AJ gave Apple Bloom a disapproving glare before coughing. "'Ah think what she meant to say was, it was "cool" how you saved the acres. 'Ah mean granted maybe we'd think of somethin', but you helped us with something pretty darn important, stranger - and 'ah can't give you enough thanks...Uh...Right Big Mac?" Nervously smiled AJ hoping to get at-least a word out of him.

And so he did, with a big, approving, and respecting smile from the stallion. "Eeeeyup."

"He ain't a talker." Chuckled Applejack. "Now that we've gotten familiar, time for some breakfast! I'm sure starvin' - you won't believe what 'ah had to go through this morn'." She said, helped by her brother as they approached the kitchen counter. They had set the food onto plates, while Applebloom ushered the human to sit down - Rainbow Dash already sitting with an eager lick of her lips.

Pancakes were pancakes - and the Apple Family was the Apple Family. Therefore, the pancakes set on the table were apple-and-cinnamon, hot and smelling wonderfully of both ingredients. There were about four enormous towers of them on their individual plates. One was enough for Applebloom and Granny Smith, and the other was enough between the human and Rainbow Dash. The other two would sate Applejack and Big Macintosh...individually.

There were however more pancakes on the counter - another tower. Applejack smiled for she remembered the upcoming guest, and the promise of breakfast. Twilight Sparkle was seen walking up to the farmhouse with Spike on top of her in tow. "Heh', there she is. Twilight's comin'!" She told the family - Applebloom smiling at the prospect of the princess coming to visit, frowning at the fact she's need to wait a little longer out of politeness.

Twilight entered through the door, looking disheveled and a little more unfit for the definition of an "early bird". Spike himself had been rather bubbly and excited, especially at the prospect of breakfasting over at the Acres. "Hi everyone!" He said, getting off of Twilight, while her greeting was a half-pronounced groan that vaguely fit the word "Morning". She shuffled over to the nearest seat, while Twilight was helped up with a small stack of cookbooks to let him sit a bit more chest-level with the table.

"Sweet Celestia, Twi..." Murmured Applejack, frowning at her friend's state. "You doin' alright, sugarcube? You look, uhm...What's a good word..." She asked herself as she put another tower of pancakes for the two. "...Not rested...?"

"Oh, right..." Yawned Twilight. "Sorry - I've been up reading up on what happened last night..." Said the Alicorn - her chewing mixing in with yawns as she struggled to keep her face away from splatting into the food. "I uh, figured out what's going on!"

"Oh!" Applejack sat down as everypony dug into the food by now. "Great! So what in Equestria got those bats so riled up?"

"Weeell..." Chuckled Twilight. "I was reading all night in relevant books - A Guide to Vampony Fruitbats, Animal Behaviors and Anomalies, How Bad Days and Calamities Happen; I was about to give up untiiil...Fluttershy came at night." She took a tired sip of milk to deal with the dryness after the pancakes, then continuing. "She told me that one of the baby bats got lost, and she managed to speak with it...Way for all that reading to be in-vain." Sighed the Princess. "Anyhow! According to Fluttershy- uh...The bat--...Flutter--...According to the bat as relayed by Fluttershy, the vampire bat ponies have felt some kind of disturbance...Something that made them scatter for food, and to store as much of it as they could..."

"...Wha?" Applejack rose a brow, tilting her head unsurely. "Yer' sayin' these critters just...up and decided to just go ham on the Acres just cause they felt somethin' was off?"

"...The way Fluttershy described it..." Recollected Twilight. "It was like an animal's reaction to barometric anomalies."

"...Baro-whatnow?" The orange pony tilted her head.

"You've seen how Winona acts before a storm, right?"

"Golly, 'ah sure do...Poor girl." Applejack frowned, looking at her dog sleeping soundly on the other side of the room, but every now and again, looking around anxiously, before looking at the family - realizing everything was alright - and happily returning to sleep. "She'd curl up and hide all day..."

"It's not exclusive to dogs." Explained Twilight. "Many other animals depend on their senses of the weather to act in ways to ensure their survival. It's how and why birds migrate, or why animals go into hibernation."

"Don't say the H-Word, Twilight!" Whined Rainbow Dash, frowning sincerely as she even hesitated to continued eating, before allowing the bad memories to leave her once the cinnamon-apple goodness calmed her. Twilight blinked and with her sleepy cloudiness remembered why it was a sensitive word.

"So..." The human decided to not be a wallflower and contribute to the conversation, not wanting to be a mere observer and accessory. "You're saying that the bat ponies felt something that threatened their survival? Something that kicked in the idea that they need to stuff themselves with as much food as possible, store it, and maybe even go hide out when it happens?"

"Yup." Twilight said, the food and drink giving her some strength and energy. "I don't understand what it is, but...I suppose considering what's been happening with the weather yesterday, it's got to be related! The only question is...How? What's happening, and why? We really need to sort this out sooner than later because we run the risk of another incident like this - like what happened last evening!"

"...Is Fluttershy in danger?" Asked the human suddenly.

Twilight's gaze perked up to look into their eyes. "Fluttershy? Well, why? On the account she lives with so many animals?"

"Yeah." Nodded the human. "I know she knows how to talk with them and the fact she can use the Stare on them, but is it enough to ensure she isn't endangered?"

"...Huh, Fluttershy mentioned she uses the Stare?" Twilight asked, finding something odd in the statement, and the human noticing this, attempted to be stealthily defensive.

"Uh, yeah...She told me how she sometimes needs to use it..." Said the human. Twilight's gaze looked unsurely at the pancakes, and ate one before continuing, eyes cast on the table - but words directed to the bipedal.

"Right...Yeah, she sometimes has to use it when animals get...uncontrollable. I think it's strong enough - and she can talk to the animals anyway, so they might be able to tell her what's wrong. But, if they get too afraid...Then...Well, Discord is with her, so I'm not worried." Sighed Twilight in relief as she secured confidence in her friend's safety. "But you bring a good idea! Maybe Fluttershy's animals can help us understand something we ponies can't observe. Maybe I can ask somepony in Cloudsdale for help to get some data, and I can maybe cross-reference it with what the animals are saying. Or I can--"

"Twilight." Dash smirked. "You've got this. We know that much."

Twilight smiled at the pegasus and nodded in thanks to these words. "Thanks Dash...And, thanks everypony." She said -addressing all others. "I really wouldn't have made it far as a Princess if it weren't for you, huh?"

"Wait, whuh!?" Sputtered Applebloom just before she took a bite. "Are you sayin' 'ah helped too!?"

"Of course, Applebloom!" Twilight smiled warmly, giggling as she spoke. "You and the Cutie Mark Crusaders have given me and my friends all kinds of friendship lessons as much as we've given them to you. It's important to know the value of what young ponies can still teach adults."

With breakfast almost finished, including with the human, Applejack's own smile went away as she looked outside. Clouds and cold - nothing that helped any crops, not on this farm or any nearby. She looked at the human and pursed her lips thoughtfully. Once she put the empty plate in the sink, she came closer to them. "Hey, Twi? Mind if 'ah borrow the new guest for a min'? Wanted to show 'em around the acres before they have'ta go back."

"Great idea AJ!" Twilight said, looking at the human who was surprised to be given such an offer. "Then whenever you wanna go back, follow the path straight to town. It's safe and easy to navigate. I'll wait for you back in the castle."

"R-Right." The human had also finished their food by then and stood up from the chair. Applejack picked up her hat on the way out, and the human put on the tattered mango-coat on their way out, not wanting to discard it just yet. They had stepped outside into the chill, hazy fog in the distance and a lack of colour falling upon the myriad of surrounding trees and hills. Not even birds sang. For such a welcoming place familiar to the human, it looked uncharacteristically gloomy.

"'Ere, let's have a walk around." Offered Applejack, nodding her head in a gesture for them to follow. The human followed after - the two travelled at a very slow walking pace.

"...I didn't do anything bad, did I?" The human reflexively asked, scratching the side of their head awkwardly.

"Whuh?" Applejack turned her head, confused as they walked along a dirt path from the house to the barn. "Why in tarnation would you assume that, sugarcube?"

"Just a premonition?" They nervously chuckled. "You wanting to show me around sounds more like you wanted to talk in private. Especially since it's too cold for a tour."

"'Yer an observant type, eh? Naw, pardner. I just wanted to talk, as you said, but it ain't 'cause I've got bad blood or a bone to pick. 'Ah mean, you helped us out big time. Biggest time in a long time. 'Ah just..." The pony sighed, walking behind the barn so that nopony who gazed out of the window could see them.

"...Yes, Applejack?"

"Twi' told me how you appeared here. How even if we could bring you back home, you'd rather not. You don't exactly...Have a good rapport with 'yer family, do ya?"

"What do you--..." The human figured the question 'What do you mean' was pointless - it was an obvious and direct question, as it was. "...No, not really. If they didn't care about me, they actively made living difficult for me. How'd you know, though?"

"'Ah couldn't imagine it, not in a million years." The pony rubbed her hoof with the other. "If we switched roles, I woulda done anythin' to come back to mah family, and mah friends - no matter what it'd cost. 'Ah figured that's why you don't wanna go back."

"Sorry, it's probably really jarring for you to imagine people like me exist..." The human awkwardly rubbed their head, gazing at the cold sky. Applejack, somewhat concerned by the words, took a step forward.

"Hay now...I ain't disturbed none by what you meant. 'Ah may not understand what it's like or why it's the way it is, but 'ah sure can do my darned best showin' support 'n help in any way 'ah can." The orange pony smiled up at them. "The reason I asked you out here is 'cause...'Ah worry about mah family and friends even when the smallest of things happen. This whole incident happenin' made me lose sleep like a filly on Nightmare Night. And 'ah wanted to ask if you could help us get to the bottom of all this. 'Ah know you risked your life - and 'ah don't want you riskin' it again. But we could use all the help we could get now, no matter how minor...'A-'Ah...Sorry...ah'm just afraid. I don't know why this is happenin' and--"

The human by now was already on one knee, and extended a hand to place itself on the joint between her torso and front hoof - where her shoulder would've been, between the bases of her neck and chest.

"Hey." The human said quietly. "You don't even need to ask me, Applejack. I'm happy helping you, your family, and your friends. What happened last night was something I just did because I wanted to. Not even on a moral or...ethical level. It was something that went beyond a "calling"." I guess all I'm saying is..."

The human hesitated for a moment, taking the time to think over their words. "You may not know me at all - but I am going to do my best for all of you - I have my reasons. You can count on me."

Applejack gazed into their eyes - a thankful sparkle appearing in them, along with a small smile. "Thanks, sugarcube...'Ah appreciate it - all of it..."

There was an awkward moment of silence - the two's thoughts full.

The human wondered - had they seen Applejack in a moment that wasn't..."on screen"? Had they seen one of their favorite characters in a state they couldn't witness otherwise? A moment like this seems out of place in the show - and seeing Applejack so vocal about friends and especially family was nothing new. But there was a hint of fear - desperation, and a dire need for assurance, stronger than what they otherwise observed.

Applejack wondered - why was this human so...assertive about "helping"? She had to deal with extreme devotion before - namely with Spike. But Spike knew her for years - so even though it was a gesture of gratitude to saving his life, it made sense. But with this human - one that hasn't even known her for a day, it was different. They seemed to have a reason to be so willing and determined - but they were a stranger. This was their first time meeting. Right? It puzzled her to no end.

***

The human walked their way back from the acres to the town; a rather shorter trek than expected, but they had a better idea of Ponyville's size considering how far away Fluttershy's cottage must have been in relation to the Acres, almost on the opposite end. As they walked in their ruffled up coat, they continued to earn amazed looks from the ponies. It's not that there was any reason for them to be considered as a monster or an evil being - after all, it came across to the human that weirder creatures exist in Equestria.

They had reached Sugarcube Corner, where sitting at the window was Lyra, grinning eagerly at the sight of the human from inside. Her girlfriend Bonbon disapproved - not because this was a matter of jealousy, but it was more-so annoyance that her partner could finally brag about the mythical "human" being real. Bonbon, and the delicious banana bread she was eating kept her anchored to her seat.

The human felt something was off however as they walked. The streets seemed a little empty in places, almost as if there was something ongoing. The cold shouldn't have been enough to dissuade the citizens of Ponyville, since as cold as it was, it wasn't anything a little extra clothes couldn't fix.

A very obvious answer came. In the form of a firework that shot up from the next street over. A firework that just, ever so coincidentally, happened to be in the shape of none other than Trixie "The Great and Powerful" Lulamoon.

A big grin involuntarily came upon their face.

On the other side of the street gathered a crowd. Bigger than what Trixie was used to - before she met Starlight Glimmer, her assistant. Oh, and friend - that was an important factor too.

"Trixie..." Starlight nervously swallowed. "I uh...Don't know if this is a good idea--"

"You say such nonsense every third performance!" Scoffed the blue unicorn, tinkering with a massive box, and a keypad that was a combination of 25 different little keys, each reinforcing and holding a massive enchanted chain. "And on that third performance, we usually wing and improvise it! Now, help me undo this lock. In the name of me, why did Cratus need to attach all this junk?"

"Cratus...?" Starlight rose a brow.

"Oh, y'know - Cratus from Cratus' Crazy Critters? The Ancient Beast Dealer? Shows up at the Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange pretty often. How else do you think I'd get my hands on half of the creatures we're dealing with? Including the manticore from when I met you?"

"Yeah..." The purple unicorn took a moment to smile in reminiscence, snapping back to reality as a concerning thump and groan came from the box. She gulped - the topic of purchasing dangerous creatures on her mind. "S-Speaking of which, you don't...keep these things, right? It seems kind of cruel to just keep 'em caged, and even more-so dangerous..."

"Uh, Starlight?" Answered the other unicorn with a disapproving shake of her head. "What do you take me for? A poacher? I let 'em go. After all, I can't afford the feeding costs. And what's the point of keeping them around if repeating the same act gets boring?"

"Well..." Chuckled her friend - humored and relieved. "I'm glad to see that you're at-least...a pragmatist?"

"Of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie may be aware that she's a genius and observant, but that doesn't mean she's going to be blind to common sense! Now come on, we need to get this Maulwurf out of the box!"

"Okay! I'll take off this chain so that--...WHAT!?"

Glimmer's mouth was unable to speak further on the account of being agape - but Trixie's next words promptly closed it up so that she could grit her teeth.

"What? Yes, I know, Cratus must be one tough stallion to capture a Maulwurf. The Great and Powerful Trixie didn't spend money, just so you know! I traded for him! I had no idea he was a fan of mine either! All I had to give him was an autographed poster of myself. Now there's a stallion who appreciates true talent--"

"TRIXIE!" Starlight exclaimed. "You...Brought...A MAULWURF!? TO PONYVILLE!?"

Trixie recoiled a little, backed up against the very box that contained the beast, her eyes wide and blinking at the other unicorn. "...Yes...?"

"Trixie..." Starlight gulped, looking at the box that was merely wooden and covered in mere iron chains. "This is a terrible idea. You saw what the Maulwurf is capable of when we visited Thorax to help Pharynx, right? We needed them both to help us take it down, and that was only because we could let it go ham on hurting itself. We're in Ponyville - there's a huge crowd outside. A manticore is fine since it's easy to chain - but...a MAULWURF!? What were you thinking, Trixie!?"

"...I, uh..." Trixie blushed a little, fluttering her eyes innocently at Glimmer. "...No magician has ever done an act with a Maulwurf before...? Heh..."

"I wonder why that is!" Groaned Starlight. "Listen, let's just put the chains back on, and send it back to--"

"No!" Exclaimed Trixie, defensively shielding the box with her body. "I'm not cancelling this act! Do you know how many have been hyped up for today's act!? I can't bring in disappointment!"

"What kind of act do you even plan to do with a Maulwurf!?" Yelled Starlight - but hushed enough not to offend or harm her. "Cannon yourself into its mouth, just as we've done with the Manticore!? Those mole teeth wouldn't let you get past the mouth!"

"Nonsense! Today's act revolves around...Uh..."

"...You wanted to cannon yourself into its mouth, didn't you?"

"..."

"...Didn't you say that a magician never does the same trick twice?" Starlight rose a bemused brow.

"I still stand by this statement - and it isn't the same trick. This time, I'm cannoning myself into a Maulwurf's mouth - not a Manticore's. It's technically a different trick - different set of teeth too. Ugh, besides, if you're so displeased, the Great and Powerful Trixie can't improvise new tricks on the fly y'know! Each is meticulously crafted, engineered to perfection, and--"

"Hi Starlight!" The human said, stepping behind the stage. She was surprised to see them emerge from behind Trixie, giving them a glad smile and a wave.

"Hello to you too." Trixie didn't allow her speech to be interrupted further - but she was quick to spin around with wide eyes and grit teeth. "W-What are you doing here!? Who let you backstage!? Security! Where is the security!?"

"Trixie...We don't have security. Not that we can afford any either." Starlight scoffed a little, humored to see the mare look so riled up over nothing.

"Then where is the security in your heart!?" Growled the blue unicorn, poking the human straight in the chest, with enough force to knock some wind out of their lungs as they bent a little with a soft "oomf!". "Haven't any ponies taught you decency of not going backstage to magic shows!? Are you trying to spy on us and steal our acts, huh? The Great and Powerful Trixie has zero tolerance towards plagiarists, and--"

"Trixie." Chuckled the other unicorn, setting her hoof on Trixie's back comfortingly. "This isn't an intruder. They're a new friend of mine. Remember? I told you how they saved Applejack's farm."

"...Now that I think about it, I don't remember any other scaleless non-fire-breathing wingless clothes-wearing dragons other than the one mentioned by you." Humphed the blue unicorn thoughtfully. "Oh well - if my bestie knows you, then this is enough for me to welcome you - to the Grrrrrrreat, and Powerful - BACKSTAGE!" Exclaimed Trixie, and threw her hooves up into the sky - but no more pizzazz came. "...I don't know what you were expecting, though."

"Thanks for the welcome!" Smiled the human. "I just wanted to pop in and say hi to Starlight!"

"...Oh! How'd you know I was gonna be here?"

"...I really gotta stop making these slip ups." The human sighed to themselves.

"What was that...?" Starlight tilted her head.

"I said I really gotta stop admiring these tea cups." They said, pointing at a pile of tea cups. They knew these were daily "Trixie practice results", and Trixie gave Starlight a smug smirk, loving that someone finally appreciated her "hard work".

"They're limited edition~!" Mentioned the blue unicorn - Starlight's eyes rolling in response.

"If only."

"As for how I figured you were here..." The human bought themselves the time to come up with a reason. "I heard your name go around in the crowd - guessed there weren't a whole other Starlights in Ponyville."

"Heh, I'm the one and only, I guess. Anyways, how're you feeling?"

"The magic seemed to have fully healed me." Said the human, looking at their arms - devoid of the bite marks. "It's crazy what you ponies are capable of. Where I'm from, bites like these would've landed me in the hospital for weeks..."

"Not that it's easy!" Awkwardly coughed Starlight. "Truth is, those injuries were minor. Our hospitals are decently staffed, and there's always work for doctors and nurses. On the account of farming incidents, pegasi flight incidents, spells gone wrong - things you'll need a bit more than a spell and hugs, especially when those hugs risk making the injury worse, heh."

"Say, is the healthcare here, uh..." The human gave the surrounding area an ansty look-around - Trixie stepping back with a look of weirded-out-ness. Starlight glared at Trixie, coughing - not to put a finer point that she was being rude. They looked back at the human, still struggling to spit it out, managing barely. "It's free. Right?"

"Free...?" Starlight tilted her head. "...What? You mean like, free of charge?"

"...Yeah?"

"...Uh...Yeah?" Blinked Starlight, almost tempted to check the human's temperature. "Of course it's free. I mean, what's money gotta do with your health, y'know? Imagine if I had to pay money for having a broken hoof treated or something."

"Really? That's..." The human rubbed their arm, failing to hide their astonishment and surprise. Starlight bit her lip, frowning deeply.

"Not the case where you're from?"

"Depends." The human said. "Some countries have--...had it free. But there's a waiting list - a condition might take months before it's treated. In other countries...it's paid for. In some places the price is so high you couldn't hope to pay it unless you pulled a miracle off. Even things that can save your life..."

"Oh...That's horrible..." Starlight took a step forward. "Well, here it's not something you'd need to pay for! Whenever you're hurt, everypony's going to be glad to see that you've recovered! Doctors and nurses don't just become doctors and nurses because they just want money, y'know!"

"You can say that again..." The human shook their head. "Back in my world, it was a massive motivator, money. Surgeons might wanna save lives, but they get hefty paychecks. I doubt most of them were in it for the "oath"."

"...If I may ask, you keep talking about it in...past tense...Why is that?"

"...That world is dead to me." Said the human...

In a moment, Starlight saw a sight that mildly disturbed her. To say that a world was dead - especially their homeworld, was a fairly disturbing comment of its own. But in the human's face she saw an unfitting expression - unfitting in the context of the spoken words.

A smile.

Perhaps it was merely a smile of relief that a weight was taken off of their shoulder. But something in the smile struck her as a different sort of gladness. A gladness that was all too happy to say the word "Dead" in the sentence.

And the splinters of the Maulwurf's box had rained down upon them - Starlight's adrenaline slowing the world down for her, teleporting the unicorn dear to her, and the human out of harm's way, as a massive claw had swiped their previously occupied position. Trixie yelped as she was teleported meters away to a safe distance, gasping in horror as she saw what had happened.

"W-What!? But the chains! How did it...What!?"

The Maulwurf appeared enraged as the box was no longer there - and its sheer size made its head visible from the backstage to the gathering crowd. The human, stumbling from the teleportation, heard the sound of a frightened crowd, all running and stampeding away from what they saw. The Maulwurf; a familiar beast that appeared like a giant mole. Nothing as grandiose or complex as a manticore or bugbear; but a powerhouse nonetheless. With one furious swipe, the massive beast tore apart the stage's top support, shredding the curtains all over the three still standing on the stage alongside the beast.

"T-Trixie! I told you this was a terrible idea!" She gulped, panicking. "Quick!" She looked at the human. "Get outta here, make sure everypony evacuates the street! Take Trixie with you, too!"

"What about you!?" Exclaimed the human, teleported away by Starlight once more as the Maulwurf jumped up and landed back into the fragile wooden stage, destroying it instantly. Now they were on a patch of grass surrounding the stage, in a relatively open area.

"I'll fight it back!" Shouted Starlight. A zap of her magic blasted the Maulwurf into the nose, the ugly mole being stumbling and screeching spitefully in pain. But once it regained focus, it found its target. It clawed at Starlight - and once the claws made contact with the dirt, all that was left was a big cleanly-torn crater of earth. Starlight knew she couldn't dodge forever, using spells and teleportation to chip at the beast as best she could.

"No way!" The blue unicorn stepped in-front of the human, her horn lighting up in a glow of light blue. "The Grrreat, and Powerful Trixie, isn't letting some ugly mole harm you - Starlight Glimmer!"

"Trixie, this isn't the time to mess around--" The conversation proved to distract Starlight to miss her cue, the claw picking her up in a sudden swoop. The grip was strong, strong enough to knock the wind out of Starlight, and make her unable to use spells, the pain making her unable to focus.

Trixie's magic may have been considerably weaker - but she was a cunning pony, which few could notice at first glance. The Maulwurf found a foreign object land on its nose - crossing its eyes to properly look at it to understand what it was. Only then did smoke emerge, stinging its eyes. It screamed once more, the smoke-bomb blowing a cloud thick enough for it to thrash in confusion. It subsequently let go of Starlight.

It came to the horror of the blue unicorn that her disoriented friend was on the way to hit the ground - and fast. Trixie screamed in desperation, reaching her hoof out, fearing for her friend's life.

Starlight landed; into something relatively soft, fleshy, and definitely not the harsh ground. Granted, it wasn't a smooth landing - for the thing that caught her also stumbled, and collapsed with her. The human tried their best to catch her with their arms, but never having estimated a pony's weight before, they only managed to break her fall, falling together with her and spinning around in the grass. Starlight got her composure back quickly, sitting up and looking at the human, wide-eyed.

"I told you to help the other ponies leave!"

"If we keep it busy here..." The human said, relieved to see the beast not having noticed them yet. "It'll buy the ponies time to run away and get help..." They explained as they swiftly stood back on their feet, giving Starlight a hand. She quickly took it to support herself - and teleported away to Trixie, who was currently hiding behind a piece of debris, gasping in surprise when she saw the two teleport over.

"It makes sense - but can the three of us really handle it...?" Starlight whispered - seeing the Maulwurf searching for them as it tore apart debris in its search.

"Starlight, what's the big deal?" Whispered Trixie. "You should know the magic needed to take care of this beast, shouldn't you?"

"No!" Starlight bit her lip. "The spells I have learned could work if we were somewhere more isolated - there's too much collateral damage to do this here!"

"As long as we keep it searching, we can maybe tire it out." The human said. "We just need to keep teleporting and confusing it!" They said. "And I have an idea...Trixie, got any more smoke bombs on you?"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is offended by such a question - of course she does!"

"Gimme one!"

"What!? Do you even know how to--"

The noise gave away their location - the deft claws of the beast slashing away at their position. Splinters shaved away to reveal the two ponies and the human gradually. Seeing a bit of Starlight's hair and her horn, the beast went for it, the claw intending to capture.

But as the claw made contact, a sudden gust of smoke replaced them, masking the fact that Starlight had teleported the three away. The beast, not seeing anything leave the gust of smoke, assumed that the target must have been somewhere within. It continued swiping, until its claw made contact with something. Something that tangled around its wrist at this point. It had hooked onto something, and this quite possibly was the tail of one of the ponies - so the beast thought. It pulled - only to feel itself be pulled with the same amount of force, falling onto its face with a shrill cry.

The smoke cleared to reveal that as it swiped its claw in the smoke, it had gotten its hand stuck in a lasso of magician's handkerchiefs, that seemed to enter one of Trixie's tophats...Looking back, the beast hadn't realized that Starlight attached more handkerchiefs to its back legs, which seemed to enter a different top hat, implying that, somehow, the handkerchiefs were one line, connected through the top hats that were dozens of meters apart. Whether this was an amazing act of illusion, or magic done by a talented unicorn such as Starlight; it was most likely both, with a bit of the human's help.

Starlight wiped the sweat off her brow as they stood behind it. Trixie could only proudly smile before a pair of mauve hooves wrapped themselves around the blue unicorn, the mare gasping in surprise. "H-Hey, Starlight!?"

"I was worried for you!" Starlight exclaimed, clenching her tight, happy to see that above all, Trixie was safe, leaning so deep into the hug that Trixie felt much of Starlight's weight pressing her down. "Please, d-don't do that again! Ever!"

"..." Trixie frowned at her friend's state, and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "...The Great and Powerful Trixie offers a Great and Powerful apology, Starlight Glimmer...I...I didn't know this would happen. I'm sorry."

Smiling at the interaction, the human took the time to approach the squirming Malwurf that was tiring itself out. They crouched near it, not too afraid of it knowing it was subdued. "Eeesh, bit of a freaky thing, isn't it...?" They asked themselves.

The Malwurf stopped its struggling as it heard the words, and looked at the human with its wide, alert eyes. And somehow, those wide eyes appeared even more alert - now terrified and frightened. The beast let out a shrill scream that sent the human recoiling back - and for good reason. The beast suddenly broke free of the handkerchiefs, using whatever strength it had left. The two mares, caught by surprise, were teleported away by Starlight's magic, expecting another fight.

Except, the beast no longer wished to attack neither the ponies, nor the human.

Instead, it began running. Towards the crowd of escaping ponies - much faster than them.

"H-Hey! What!? W-Wait, no...!" The human exclaimed, eyes widening in realization of the collision. "Why's it running away!? It's going to hurt the others!"

"Perhaps we've scared it off!?" Trixie proposed - and her assistant put the theory to the test quickly, teleporting just in-front of the beast. Were she not in possession of teleportation, Starlight could've been knocked aside as a bowling pin, for the beast continued. She tried again - and even as the beast saw her, it refused to stop.

Thoughtfully, remembering that she caught a glimpse of the beast looking at the human before this rampage, she tried something else - and the human, in an nauseating flash and re-balance of their position, found themselves on the collision course with the Malwurf. They winced, putting their arms in-front of their face...

Only to notice the beast running in the totally opposite direction now; towards Twilight's castle.

"It's running away from you!" Starlight exclaimed, teleporting next to the human in a flash of teal.

"We can try to herd it to the Everfree forest!?" The human proposed, unable to properly stand, still not used to teleportation.

"No way!" Starlight shook her head. "That cuts through most of the town! We can maybe make it run past the castle, have it run North-East!"

"Whatever we do let's act quick. Can you keep teleporting me so that it steers clear of everything else!?"

Starlight nodded, and got to work, using her teleportation spell. The human zipped and zapped around the town, nearly falling each time, but managing to scare the Malwurf into ever-so-slightly changing its course, herding it and making it run in a diagonal line that, in theory, should have gone left of the castle, and not hitting the School.

But an error occurred as the Malwurf became too overwhelmed. Feeling the human come from all directions, it felt as if there was no way out. It felt cornered. It felt that it had to fight its way out. And so, on what should have been the final teleportation needed to steer it out, the Malwurf suddenly rushed the human, with its claws prepared to slash them in half, which they easily could. Starlight had been unable to teleport them out, gasping - for she had used too much power for the rapid teleportations.

The human screamed as the beast rushed them, falling down onto the ground and wincing, hoping desperately not to be hit.

The hopes came true - a flash of purple came out of seemingly thin air, until the human identified the source by simply looking up into the sky.

The purple alicorn was not going to merely sit this out, and rushed to action the moment she saw something wasn't quite right. The Maulwurf was blasted with controlled magic - the kind that reduced the beast rapidly in size. It suddenly became a tiny mole, completely harmless unlike its previous form, already working on digging itself its own tiny little hole.

"W-Where'd you learn that!?" Starlight exclaimed, running up to Twilight.

The alicorn gave her a proud smile. "Learned it while me and the girls were stuck with Tirek in Tartarus. Don't worry - it'll return to normal once it's far enough from Ponyville."

"...Is that really a good thing?" Starlight cocked her head.

"..." Twilight gave her a small glare, but not taking it too close to heart. "Uh, last time I checked, it's not nice to transform creatures into a state they were never meant to be in."

"Your words are true!" Nervously chuckled Starlight. They both turned to the human, who nearly felt Applejack's wonderful breakfast build up at their throat, as the rapid teleportation had done a number on them. Trixie by now had ran up and caught up to the ponies. Together, the ponies helped the human up, as they struggled to even stand until they were helped stand straight.

"What happened?" Frowned Twilight. "Is anycreature hurt?"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie takes partial responsibility." She sighed. Twilight felt a small smirk creep upon her muzzle - but not a smug one. It was a proud smirk, for Trixie admitting the truth quickly; rather quickly for how she usually acted. She knew why - for she didn't want Starlight to get any of the blame, even if for an instance. "But! Partial! The box was sealed in enchanted chains that we hadn't taken off yet! I have no idea how it got out!"

"She isn't lying..." Frowned Starlight, brushing some dust off of the human. "I had a brief look at what the Maulwurf's container was closed with. I could feel strong magic - both on the box itself and on the chains. The sort of stuff you'd find holding the creatures in Tartarus itself, by all accounts...We barely undid any of the chains. It could've easily contained a Bugbear, maybe even Tirek himself."

"And it just popped out like a jack-in-a-box..." Said the human.

"And when it started running away from you..." Hummed Starlight curiously. "That was weird, wasn't it? I mean, it was a Maulwurf. I'm not one to be mean against creatures, but they're not really, uh..."bright". They don't exactly have a great sense of threat assessment..."

"All animals have a level of primal fear, though. And I just wonder what could've gotten it scared on such a level...Maybe it had been under such stress and anger that it found enough inner emergency strength to break out." Twilight said, looking at the human.

"...Well, it seems that I'm not getting along well with the fauna in this world, huh?" Giggled the human brightly.

"Oh." Trixie rolled her eyes. "You haven't gotten an angry Ursa Major on your tail yet."

"We are talking about an Ursa Major, right?" Twilight gave Trixie a cheeky, coy smirk. In response, Trixie brushed her hair - and humphed.

"It doesn't matter since I've gotten both the Major and Minor one upset - so this only proves that the Great and Powerful Trixie is more than acquainted with her fair share of angered fauna, magical or otherwise."

Twilight waved her hoof dismissively, helping the human to the castle as the ponies walked toward it. "In-between Malwurfs, Bug Bears, Parasprites, Ursas...Windigos, Cockatrices, Manitocres...Yeah - we all know what it's like to deal with dangerous critters. Wow, we ponies really do live in a hostile world, huh?"

"You could do worse where I'm from. Especially in one continent in particular we had." The human smiled wide, silly-walking indoors.

***

"Starlight..." Twilight whimpered at the sight of the human's continued disorientation, as they barely managed to aimed the tea given by Spike into their mouth, constantly blinking and readjusting to their surroundings. "You teleported them too much and too fast!"

"Sorry, Twilight! I've never seen this be a problem for anypony - or even anycreature else!"

"They haven't ever teleported before. Ever. I can't help but imagine how they must be feeling..."

"I do feel...stable." The human blurted out. "It's kinda like being spun around and being made to hit a baseball on a baseball stand. Just with a few less spins...Er, emphasis on "a few"..."

"I'm just glad you three are safe after what happened - and that nopony else got hurt. I still can't believe you brought a Maulwurf to Ponyville, Trixie..." Huffed Twilight angrily at the blue unicorn, who was kicking back on one of the chairs available in the castle's lounge.

"I followed every procedure in the book, I'll have you know." Proudly she huffed.

"...And what book would that be?"

"Whichever book lists out the required procedures for storing dangerous beasts."

"Again - not her fault." Sighed Starlight. "But the timing considered - what could've made it so...mad?"

"...Could it have something to do with me?" The human proposed, setting the tea down on the table and becoming lost in thought. "I mean, if what happened yesterday came out of nowhere, it really does coincide with me showing up..."

"..." Nopony said anything for a time - Trixie not having much to say, while neither of the "Lights" liked the implications in a potential truth to the words.

"Well there shouldn't be any immediate reason, right?" Said Starlight with a glimmer of hope. "It's hard to imagine just what the cause is - could all be just a coincidence?"

"I don't want to assume the worst, but..." Said Twilight without any sparkle to her downcast eyes. "While this entire case is an outlier, I have seen that travelling between dimensions can cause instability; but that was when..." She frowned in remembrance that Celestia asked the subject not to be spoken of. "Well, you would - theoretically - need to visit a dimension somewhat identical to yours a hundred times before the border begins to become unstable. "But that was when the dimensions were remotely similar! At-least with the same ponies and areas. Since your world is so different, well...I don't know..."

"Is there any way for us to know?" Asked the human, posture tense. "Or to fix it, if it's related to me?"

"...I did want to introduce you to the princesses." Sighed Twilight in defeat. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, but I felt it was necessary. Celestia knows a thing or thousand about...different dimensions and realities."

'That's right' - the human thought. The mirrors; as seen in Equestria Girls, and Reflections - in the comic. Celestia was no doubt somepony with a lot of input to the situation, but worse; the potential power to return the human "home".

And yet, there was no doubt that something wasn't right. The human wasn't blind to the environment, that it was getting too cold. In-between that and the beasts, what was going on?

"We need to go." The human nodded once. "I suppose if anything is wrong, and it is related to me being in this world, then she will be able to fix it."

"...I promise that no matter what, me and the girls will do everything we can to vouch and ensure for you staying here." Twilight attempted to reassuringly smile - a noble attempted noted by the human, and appreciated; but a worry-wart attempting to calm a worry-wart rarely had a chance of succeeding.

"Thanks Twi..."

"And hey..." Starlight chirped in. "There hasn't been an issue neither Twilight nor Princess Celestia couldn't resolve! Granted, one of those issues took about a thousand years, but - it worked out well in the end!"

Earning a brief glare from Twilight, Starlight could only nervously smile, but judging that the human had brightened up a tad, Twilight surrendered to the fact it worked.

"We'll go tomorrow morning. That should be good, right?" The alicorn asked. "We'll get the rest of the girls on-board too, I know they've been kind of itching to see Canterlot - we haven't been there for a bit."

"...Is there anything I should know when I meet the Princesses?" Asked the human - a precaution for things should the show have left something out.

"...Yeah! Just, be yourself!...And be ready for Celestia to mayybeeee horse around a little. She does that to ponies she likes."

***

The human laid on their bed, staring at the ceiling. The rest of the day hadn't been much too eventful - but it was a nice time to become acquainted with Ponyville just a little more - Pinkie finally finishing her promised tour, thankfully this time without the excess accessories and souvenirs.

Still, sleep became hard. It became hard as it was cold - despite the presence of a blanket and heating. The human wasn't able to handle it. They were a shy guest and wouldn't ever want to take something without permission - but Twilight stated at-least five times today - and Spike twice - that the human was free to feel at home. They supposed that perhaps getting a warm cup of hot chocolate, possibly with milk, could sedate them enough.

They put on their in-door clothing and navigated through the Castle, using a map personally provided by Twilight, with a magical tracker that pointed not only their location, but Spike's, Twilight's, and Starlight's as well - in-case they ever needed anything and couldn't find them.

The kitchen was almost humble - the human needed only half a minute to walk between the drawer containing the hot chocolate powder and the kettle, partially because they tried to walk as stealthily as they could manage, not wanting to awake anypony else. The cup was made with only a few extra minutes of searching and fumbling. The human decided to drink it on the spot, looking out of a window that gave them a view over the distant mountains - and then - Canterlot.

They gazed at the capital. Would this meeting jeopardize their hopes and dreams? Would Celestia deem it fit to have them returned, if she had that power? Why did they feel so scared? Why were they so apprehensive? They were excited to meet the Princesses - but the possible fear made them...more than anxious. They felt upset a chance even existed. They felt some sort of emotion that was hatred - not towards the princesses they haven't met yet, but towards the cards the human had been dealt. That of all worlds to yearn to be in, it was one where there was knowledge of how to move to different worlds.

As they were caught in the emotions, they took a sip of the hot chocolate.

And recoiled as they saw a layer of ice on the recently boiled liquid of the hot chocolate.

They gasped - feeling shock from the unexpected drop in the liquid's temperature, coupled with a sudden near frostbiting chill on the cup. They let go of it, and the ceramic object started to descend onto the floor. Thankfully, a turquoise glow enveloped it, and the cup began to levitate.

The human immediately recognized this and turned to the door, where a sleepy Starlight stood with a cute little smile, and nearly shut-eyes that winced to every source of light.

"Hey." Said the unicorn suppressing a yawn. "Sleepwalking? I get the impression that Trixie's also a sleepwalker - if there was any space for walking in her wagon, that is." She chuckled, setting the cup back on the kitchen counter. "That is to say, I've become used to waking up when some other pony is up. You doing alright though?"

"I..." The human struggled to answer in time, which immediately prompted Starlight's counselling self to approach at a better angle to see their face. However while she saw worry and concern, she knew of only one reason.

"Worried about meeting Celestia?" She proposed. "Twilight gave me some..."insider info" on what goes in the industry of dimensional-crossing over the last few years. That, and so did Sunset Shimmer - a friend I met under those kinds of circumstances." She said, leaning against the counter. "And after what I've seen and heard, you don't fit the criteria for Celestia to want you gone from this world." She assured them.

"...But why not? Especially if I'm a risk to this world..."

"Well..." Starlight huffed thoughtfully. "Like - think of it this way. Your world would've needed to be a mirror of our world for you to negatively affect it, having the consistency of the personalities, locations, and history in some shape or form. But seeing as how you're so distant from our world, there shouldn't be any disturbance in the balance between our worlds if it's so...asymmetrical already. That, and your world hasn't been affected by leaks of Equestrian Magic either; meaning your world doesn't experience the appearance of random magical artifacts that keep finding their way in the hand of some very scornful teenagers. At-least that's how Sunset put it..."

"There could be another factor..." The human looked at the cup.

"Maybe - maybe whatever's happening could be a new, totally unrelated factor. But that being said...Celestia, while taking the risks of dimensional travel very seriously, isn't a tyrant either. If there's any conceivable way for us to keep you here, we'll be sure to take it."

"Do you think she or any of the others might want me to leave though if we...figure out that something about my presence is making things wrong?"

"..." Starlight frowned at the words. She approached the human and reassuringly put a hoof on their hand that held the cup - too short to reach their shoulder. "Want? No, of course not. In the worst of the worst circumstances, we may need to take measures that may or may not have consequences. If I had to give a guess, I'd say this will all end up with the Princesses, myself, and Sunburst - maybe even Starswirl if it's bad enough - to design a spell that will fix whatever problem it is we're facing. But no matter what we try - no matter what your presence here does - we wouldn't want to just...remove you."

"But if it becomes necessary? What if--"

Starlight used her magic to make the human's mouth stop making noise. It disturbed them - but Starlight hadn't had much of a consideration for the affect of her spell on others; not a malicious trait, just a clumsy one. The human was aware of this, as Starlight was very generous in her application of magic upon other ponies even after her redemption - age reversal, brainwashing, all that.

"Ifs aren't important. It's normal for anypony and anycreature to be more pessimistic than need be. In the end of any problem is at-least a little bit of silver lining. If you consider how close Equestria was to being doomed when either Tirek or Discord had nearly taken it over, you might argue that Twilight pulled off a clutch at 1-to-10 odds against her. Don't get me started on the Cozy Glow incident either...Equestria has seen doom many times - but the resolve of its inhabitants is enough to let it last...If you'd even believe me, I myself have saved Equestria once - alongside Trixie, Discord, and Thorax; when everypony else was captured by Chrysalis herself. Talk about things working out against all odds, right?"

"I'm still in shock, I guess - and sometimes I feel that this reality is..."fragile"." Said the human, attempting to scan the kitchen for ways to reheat the cup; the recent thoughts distracting them from the strange phenomenon. Starlight noticed this and gladly helped; levitating the cup over to a microwave that was probably applying magic rather than actual EM-waves.

"Fragile? We're not made out of glue and ceramic, ya know." Snorted the unicorn.

"Have you ever had a good dream that lasted until morning - near the time you usually wake up?" Asked the human.

"Plenty of times, why?"

"You've had these moments I guess. A good dream - but since you're waking up soon, your body is becoming more self-aware. And with the additional light and the sounds, it becomes harder to stay asleep. And it feels like every action you take in your dream makes you wake up faster."

"Uh-uuuuh...?"

"My appearance in this world feels like a really good dream. I've always dreamed of..." The hesitated to form their words carefully. "I've always dreamed of appearing in a world like this. It's peaceful here. Safe, nice...And it's pretty fair and just as well. I have my own reasons as to why it's so special, but waking up in Equestria is a massive dream come-true. It's a fascinating world and it feels too good to be true...But...I'm so amazed I'm actually in a place like this - in such disbelief, that I'm scared that maybe this dream will stop. I'm afraid that if I speak too much or act too much, maybe this will all return to being a dream and I'll be back...wherever I was. And-- OUCH!"

Interrupted rudely - the human recoiled at the feeling of a sharp pinching sensation on their arm. They looked to see a smug Starlight, smirking softly. "Here ya go. This isn't just a dream at all. Convinced?"

"...Hah, you're...a pragmatist, aren't you?" Giggled the human, rubbing their arm not to nurse the pain, but to savor the pain that made it clear they weren't just sleeping.

"I like to be simple and efficient...Most of the time. Sometimes I go with my gut feeling and that sure can be anything but simple and efficient. The Princesses are both aware of how messy that gets."

"Yeah, I can imagine..."

Leaving the human with a once-again hot cup of hot chocolate, Starlight gave a final reassuring smile for tonight. "It may not go as smoothly as we want, but I have a feeling that it'll all work out - sooner or later. Things aren't doomed just because they seem so. Now get some sleep - we're waking up in like four hours!"

"R-Right! Good night!" The human fumbled in their words as they waved to Starlight. They swallowed and frowned when they remembered what happened to the cup earlier, but when they held the cup this time...they were content to see that it was still warm, and not a degree colder.

A Resolution - Chapter Four

As it is said; Hate is a strong word.
As it stands - is Hate stronger than Love?

Do the white fires of hatred burn hotter than the warm embers of love?
Or is instead hate not a white-hot flame, but the dreadful frostbite that deadens the limbs it touches?

The Ponyville Train Station was alight with activity and commotion; just as it was every day. Minus about several dozen ponies. In-fact, for what Twilight presumed was going to be a busy platform was diluted to merely her, her friends, and the waiting conductor. It wasn't really the "time" for Ponyville residents to go to Canterlot nor vice versa, but the recent rumors and concerns have made ponies a bit more worried about travelling by rail.

Still, Twilight wasn't discouraged none - neither were the seven others, and neither was the human; who hasn't spoke much since being woken up. Seeing them and her friends to the platform, Twilight bit her lip in worry and turned to her faithful assistant - one the human suspected Twilight viewed as her non-biological son, and perhaps wasn't far from the truth anyway. She leaned in a little closer to him to be both heard better and to relate to him in terms of height.

"Spike, are you sure you'll be alright?" She whispered. "I'm sorry I can't bring you along, but I really need somecreature to take care of the Castle and the School..."

"Trust me - Discord's good backup. And Big Mac too!" Smirked the dragon. "Besides, when we're done with our jobs, we'll just have the whole castle to ourselves when playing Ogres and Oubliettes. It's definitely a motivator for the other two alright!"

"Just make sure that the O'n'O session happens after you three take care of everything, okay Spike?"

"You bet!" The dragon saluted. Twilight pulled the dragon into a warm hug - one that she allowed to linger longer than normal, yet she wasn't sure why this time she felt apprehensive and even...scared.

The alicorn boarded the train - and Spike waved. She waved back - and so did the other girls as they pressed themselves to the window. The human had managed to give a few visible waves too - not wanting to hog too much space as they returned to the seat.

"You'll adore Canterlot, darling." Rarity said to the human as the train began moving, taking a seat at a parallel row of seats. "Ponyville certainly appeals to those who have a down-to-Earth approach, but the pizzazz and wonder of Canterlot will captivate anycreature!"

"If ya can put up with all the "high society" they preach about." Applejack rolled her eyes - but chuckling afterwards; the human noting her opinion wasn't one of spite. "But, still, Rare's gotta point. It sure's a wonderful place to go to, at-least 'ta visit! I certainly prefer it over Manehattan, that's for sure."

"The ponies in Canterlot are sure, uhm...nicer than those in Manehattan." Chimed in Fluttershy, and blushed at the intrusion of a thought. "T-That's not too mean to say, is it?"

"I get what you mean." Starlight smiled softly. "In Canterlot ponies aren't as rude as they're, well..."busy"? They definitely don't act as rude as they do in Manehattan..."

"Oooh!" Pinkie gave a big grin. "After this, we should totally show Seaquestria and Mount Ares! Oh! Maybe even Yakyakistan! They'd totally love it there! Imagine how much pent up anger and frustration they could release by just smashing something!"

"Oooor." Dash grinned. "We should hook 'em up with one of those cloud-walking spells and get them front row seats on a Wonderbolts show in Cloudsdale! Er, the one after the next one though, that one's gonna have me be in the lead of a cool new trick we've been training for."

The human would have said a lot right now, and how could anyone blame them for being in a state of (good) shock - appearing in Equestria and all? And yet, they couldn't mutter out much. They could only say...

"I believe you." Smiled the human - and hadn't said much else. Their gaze was distant, watching Ponyville become smaller and smaller.

Starlight frowned as she sat on the opposite of them. It occurred to her that something was wrong - and it was to her luck she had spoken about it with Twilight earlier. Starlight noticed the human's gaze at the distance, and passed on a concerned look to Twilight; who understood the relayed message. She frowned - looking at the human to confirm that there was something off about their gaze. There wasn't much she could do unfortunately; as a worry-wart seldom could calm a worry-wart.

However, it didn't stop Pinkie Pie - a maverick in the situation who hasn't even been aware of Star and Twi light's concerns, from leaning in with a big grin to the human.

"Sooooo, since we are gonna be in a train for a preeeeetttyyyy decent amount of timeeee..." The pink mare hummed musically. "How about we pass the time with a game~!?"

"O-Oh, I'm not good with games." The human nervously chuckled with their arms raised defensively.

"There's gotta be a game you're good at! We can even play pin the tail on the princess! It's a blast to play on a moving train! Totally unsafe, but fun! Oh, what about I spy!? I spy with my little eye on something--"

"Oooooh no!" Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I am not playing I Spy when the only thing outside of the window is just snow, mountain, and sky!"

"Oh! Twenty Questions!" The Pink Mare giggled. "Whatcha thinking of? A plant, vegetable, or mineral?"

"Ooh!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "I got this. Animal--"

"You, Rainbow!" Pinkie booped Dash on the snoot.

"W-Wait, what!? How'd you know!? I--"

The mare's grin went to the human next. "Your turn, uuuuh...Sam!...Max?...I thought your human names go something like that...Uh, Alex? Oh! I know--"

"I'm thinking of a part of an animal." The human smirked.

***

Upon exiting the train, Pinkie had clung to the human's foot - much to the horror and surprise of the guards and station workers; confused not only to see a human being, but even more-so to see Pinkie freaking out as much as she did.

"Pleaaaaaaaaaase! Just one more question!" She begged. "I don't understand! It's a part of an animal, pink, soft, endless inside, wild, curly, stretchy, becomes straight on a bad day, can't be changed in form or consistency otherwise, and may or may not taste like cotton candy!?"

"Pinkie, just give up." Sighed Rainbow Dash as she exited the train with a tired look. "You've already gone twenty questions by like, a hundred."

"Fine! Just please!" Pinkie begged. "Tell me! Tell me what you're thinking of!"

"Your mane, Pinkie." The human grinned. They initially supposed all those questions would've given away their surprising knowledge of them, but it made sense that with Pinkie's antics, you wouldn't need too long to figure out what that hair was capable of. Not even Twilight seemed concerned or suspicious. Not to mention, Pinkie's mane was already deflated as seen by the fact she spent the whole train ride struggling to find the answer. The moment the answer was heard, Pinkie quickly rose to her hooves, and her mane inflated once more - the puffy hair bapping Fluttershy in the face by accident.

"Oooooooh! So that's what it was!" Grinned the mare. "I had no idea! You're good!"

They stepped out of the station's perimeters - the street had already opened with an awe-inspiring view, even if from below. The human saw the towering top of the mountain, and the imposing towers of the Castle. The elevation of the city has filled the human with crisp, fresh mountain air - compared to Ponyville's more humid and foresty, warmer air.

However, exaggerations over the varying lifestyles weren't out of proportion. Canterlot was bustling, but compared to Ponyville, ponies were unlikely to as much as wish you a good morning or a good day. Ponies walked with a certain strut that made sure they'd show every angle of their high-end clothing.

The human hadn't had much time to dwell on it as Twilight turned her head to them to deliver a raised-cheek smile. "I can't wait for you to meet the Princesses."

"Me neither..." Softly sighed the human as they remembered their intrusive and negative thoughts. With that, the ponies walked through the streets to finally make their way to the castle.

***

"Remember." Twilight explained as they approached the gates to the throne room. "Celestia isn't going to send you to the dungeon for something like not bowing, she's not crazy. But try your best, please? It'll be a gesture of good will and--"

"You don't need to ask me twice." The human reassuringly smiled. "I won't embarrass you!...Uh, okay, maybe I might embarrass you out of accidental incompetence, but I wouldn't bring you shame. Uh, you get what I mean, right?"

"Uh, bringing shame or embarrassment? You wouldn't have to worry about something like that!" Awkwardly grinned the mare.

"W-Well, since you're the one introducing me to the Princesses, I really shouldn't mess it up, you know?" The human scratched their head as they stopped at the doors. "I think you know where I'm coming from."

"I do." Princess Twilight reassuringly placed a hoof on the human's arm. "But we're friends. Friendship is more than worrying about things like shame or embarrassment or whatnot."

"Twi's right." Applejack stepped forward. "Well, maybe at the start you might fuss over the lil' things. Since you don't know ponies all too well at the start, you might worry about every thing you do and if it upsets 'em..."

Dash grinned as she stepped forward right next to AJ, wrapping her blue wing around the hat-wearing gal. "But after some time, knowing how to act becomes second nature. You know how to work together and as a team without batting an eye and hesitating to figure out how!"

"And it's true, dear, that conflicts inevitably happen, no matter how careful you are or aren't." Coughed Rarity to get her attention. "The two mares behind this door know how often I've gravely disagreed with these two, and how much they have among themselves." She gestured to the usual suspects - the orange and blue pony. The former blushed and hid her face under her hat, and the latter chuckled with an embarrassed blush. "But one of Friendship's strength is compromise and resolution. The anger we might feel during a heated moment is nothing compared to how we feel towards our Friendship. There are no finer mares than these six - and I remember this each time something goes wrong between us." She said - Starlight blushing a little and smiling at the mentioned number.

The human had no words, smiling at the mares with admiration.

The silence - perhaps wholesome perhaps awkward, was broken by Dash who groaned. "...Oh come on, who decided this was gonna become an impromptu Friendship lecture?"

"You contributed to it!" Snorted Pinkie.

"That's 'cause I thought I'd get to say the last line!"

"Nonsense!" Rarity waved her hair. "I had to continue this tangent to bring much-needed clarity to our guest!"

"Did not!"

"Did too, Darling!"

"Did--"

The mares looked at each other - at which point most of them had full cheeks attempting to hold back laughter. And it erupted - giggling and hearty laughs coming from the mares. And while the human hadn't exactly felt a laugh coming on, they smiled in warm admiration. Sure - this was a corny moment on which episodes seemed to end from time to time...But it warmed them to no end.

And as the laughing quieted down...The human turned their head to the doors. Twilight noticed this and frowned. But it was time to get this show on the road. And so, Twilight took a deep breath. Her wings had pushed the doors open.

The first thing they saw was the long carpet. Then the stained glass. The golden and guilded decorations, the guards, the throne room...A blue alicorn, and a white alicorn.

The human was still in awe since their awakening in the lake - so they needed time for the reality to kick in. But they were still anxious. Still - they were face-to-face with the Princesses. Two towering goddesses that, by all means, were taller than the human.

The human bowed immediately - but too early, as Rainbow Dash cringed in second hand embarrassment, making Applejack scrunch her mouth disapprovingly, elbowing RD a little to get her to wipe the look. Twilight had a brief look of panic - using her magic to lift the human up a little to indicate them to keep walking. The human, with a red-hot blush, squeaked and nearly jog-walked forward - anxiously looking at Twilight to understand *when* the right time to bow was, their neck angled awkwardly to be able to look at the throne and at Twilight at the same time.

Celestia had gone through great effort to hide her humored grin under her wing, and Luna had managed to limit herself to a smirk that could be disguised as a patient smile. Watching ponies - and creatures - fumble over their presentation "never gets old". It wasn't a malicious sense of humor. It was just cute to them, especially since they had nothing to be so nervous about. At-least in Celestia's eyes.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight happily passed the human, removing their "marker" as to when to bow. Still, the human had done it at a moment they deemed appropriate, bowing on one knee. Seeing as how Rainbow didn't cringe and the other six ponies joined them, it was apparent this was okay.

"Twilight!" The Princess of the Sun smiled. "I'm so happy to see you. I've been so nervous about your safety on the road to Canterlot..."

Twilight shook her head, and Celestia smiled wider. "We ran into no problems, Princess." She said. "The weather hasn't gotten that intense. Cloudsdale has really been trying to do everything they can to stabilize the weather."

"Indeed." Sighed Princess Luna. "I was looking forward to the Wonderbolt's Ball and the show that was planned for it...But it appears that the elements are not fond of air shows."

"Is that a joke, sister?" Warmly smiled the white princess - mostly in an attempt to brighten the mood.

"I learn from the best, sister. Even if some of your jests elude me."

Celestia blushed a little with her small smile - and turned to Twilight. "Well Twilight, I believe you have somecreature to introduce us to."

"Y-Yes! Uhm..." Twilight turned around and whispered. "Y-You can get up now!"

The human hadn't realize they were the only ones bowing. They looked to see expectant faces - Princess Celestia with a patient smile, and Princess Luna with a curious and brooding gaze. They stood up quickly enough to cause dizziness upon themselves, but having no time to stumble as much as it nauseated them. They had to stand at attention and properly.

"U-Uhm, hello...Princesses..." The human said with their voice wavering. How was this supposed to be done anyway? How were they to present themselves to a goddess and plus? "I-I'm...Uh..."

"...Nervous, aren't you?" Princess Celestia started standing from her throne, a soft "eep!" escaping the human's kips.

"N-No! I mean, I, uh...--"

"Hm..." The Princess frowned a little. Something was off - but she wasn't going to let this get in her way. "I implore you not to be afraid, little human. I am Princess Celestia. I raise the sun, and I watch over Equestria."

"Oh...You know what I am, ma'am? E-Er, I mean, your majesty--h-highness?"

"Call me Celestia, please. Or Princess. Both, if you would like." She spoke. Something about her voice was more comforting to hear in "real life" than headphones. Something about her voice must've been actually magical, or maybe her voice had impacted the area around them in such a way.

Celestia continued. "And yes - after all, I've been living a long life. I've seen stranger than a human, even if you look much different from the "humans" I'm used to." She explained. It must've been the mirror she was talking about. Celestia loved travelling dimension-to-dimension. There was no way she could've left out the CHS portal.

"Ah..." The human wasn't sure what to say. Princess Luna then stood up, and fear overtook them in that it was a result of their lack of confidence that perhaps upset her. Yet, she looked calm.

"And I am Princess Luna - Princess of the Night and Dreams. I am not sure as to where you came from, but we can promise you that a friend of the Elements of Harmony is a friend of ours. Welcome to Equestria."

"Th-thank you, Princess!"

"Please, call me by your highness."

Celestia gasped. "Luna!"

"A jest, sister!" Nervously let out the moon princess. "Just as we discussed, the joke merely eluded you!"

"I suppose you're still learning." Celestia softly smiled with an exhale from her nostrils. "Twilight - I wish to make a request."

"Y-Yes Princess! Anything!"

"Would you allow Luna and I to talk to our guest in private for the time being?"

"O-Oh..." The smaller alicorn's heart sank. This wasn't what she hoped for by any means. Not at all. Her wish was that she'd be able to at the very least be present by the human's side to help them however they needed. Certainly, Luna and Celestia weren't troublesome company...But how easy would this be on the human?

The human stepped forward before Twilight was even able to get a word in. She gasped - but the human's words had stopped her from intruding.

"I'm sorry for answering a question you've given to Twilight, however...Seeing as it regards me, I wish to express that I will be comfortable speaking to you personally."

Twilight couldn't help but smile softly. So did the Princesses. Sure - this wasn't exactly how royal interactions worked, but the ponies in this room were friends. And nothing less.

***

The room they found themselves in was something of a private study; rocking chairs next to a fireplace, bookshelves surrounding them, and desks located next to the walls. Celestia had prepared some tea, while Luna took out some treats for the tea time.

The human was staring into the fire and was a little startled when Celestia set the tray for the three on a table, before taking a seat with her sister. Her smile was warm and accepting - but the human had no idea why they were afraid.

"I think you'll like it." Smiled the Sun Princess. "It comes from the land of the Kirin. Not many ponies have been there - except for Applejack and Fluttershy recently."

"Thank you, Princess..." The human took a sip - the vigor in their face a sign enough for the Princess.

Celestia sighed softly. It was time to talk. "I can sense that...you are worried, my little human..."

"..."

Sighed the human softly as they set the cup back down, fearing for the shaking in their hands. "Y-yes. I am..."

"Twilight has told me that you wish to stay here - even if given the choice to go home...Is this because...?"

"Yes, Princess...It is." They sighed, remembering their conversation with Applejack. "My world is...Not a good place. And I haven't felt such happiness before I appeared in your land..."

She smiled, standing up slowly, towering above the human, who could only look up at her as a child watching watching up at the Undertaker in amazement. Except this wasn't a massive scary dude - this was merely Princess Celestia...Who was friendly and caring - right?

"The truth is, I do fear that your appearance in Equestria may have caused certain instabilities. We have already faced a lot of difficulty with this. Not just our world, but even the "other" human world which is overseen by one of my faithful students, Sunset Shimmer - as Equestrian magic leaks into their world. Magic and other related elements are unstable and are prone to violent and unpredictable anomalies and incidents."

The human fell silent, looking down at the ground upon which Celestia stood. But a hoof suddenly found it on their hair and ruffled it, before the same hoof lifted the human's gaze up by the chin. The human saw a warm, motherly smile.

"But if you believe that Equestria is your home, then you are one of my cherished subjects. And for you - Luna and I will do everything for your sake. No - I do not intend to banish you. I do not intend to return you to a world you deem hostile and unfit to live in either. I will, together with my sister, the Elements of Harmony, and anypony who can help - make sure that you can stay here, together with us."

"Princess, you..."

Tears appeared in their eyes.

"Princess, you...mean it?"

"It is my oath, my subject. I promise this to you and will swear all I can for your sake. You do not need to fear me - because even if I have the ability to return you home, I shall never - EVER use it. We will instead work together to find the best solution to this problem. We will bring stability back to our land - without sacrificing your wellbeing."

"...I...Gosh...Princess, I..." The human looked to the side and...sniffled. The Princess could only smile as she pulled them into a soft embrace.

"...Thank you."

***

Twilight found relief when the human and the Princesses remerged. It wasn't hard to see that the human had been crying if at-least a little, but the warm smile on their face indicated that these tears had been of happiness. Now with the verdict of the Princesses, it was time for the Elements to sort out just what had to be done...

They were in a room designed for planning - a map rather similar to Twilight's had stood in the center of the room, and the ponies and the human had encircled it.

Celestia had received a letter from Cloudsdale and read it. The only reaction was a sigh through her nostrils. "The information is...concerning, but it has made the situation clear. Equestria is undergoing a weather anomaly...Dangerously similar to the Windigos."

"Oh no..." Twilight frowned. "Y-You can't be saying they're returning, right Princess...?"

"Do not fear, Twilight Sparkle." Interfered Luna in the talk. "The ponies have been united more than ever thanks to you and your friends, and all efforts to unite the creatures around us. In no way could the Windigos return."

"You may be right Luna - but this also means that our problem has an unknown source." Sighed Celestia - finally surrendering in trying to hide worry. "The Cloudsdale Weather Center has given us information on the patterns regarding this anomaly. The temperature is lowering at a concerning rate. At the moment it is limited to what the report describes as "late autumn". But...The report indicated that temperatures might become negative starting next week..."

"Is there anything at all that can be done, your Highness...?" Rarity said with her fluttering, worried, and certainly gussied-up eyes.

"Perhaps to delay these temperature drops until the source of the problem is dealt with, yes Rarity." Nodded the Sun Princess. "I shall make it known that the Sun will remain raised longer each day to allow for additional warmth."

"It is a good plan, Sister." Luna smiled. "Then as for me, I will intensify my duties. Ponies do not need incessant fear and panic plaguing what little rest they have. I will prevent nightmares and give as many ponies a peace of mind as I can while they sleep."

"Thank you, Luna." Smiled the other sister.

In the meantime, the human decided to once again stop being a wallflower. "Then the rest of us will need to hunt down the root of this problem, right?"

"Indeed." Nodded Celestia, frowning. "I had hoped you wouldn't need to be involved, but the Elements could certainly use your help."

But to these words, the human shook their head. "No, Princess. I want to help - and nothing will talk me out; nor will anything make me want to help stronger than I do now."

Celestia regained a big, big smile. But the human hadn't allowed their thoughts to derail.

"If we need to hunt for it, what can give us leads? How will we know where to look, where to go...?"

"In all honesty, I am not sure. But...I believe I know some ponies who may help us."

"W-Who might those be?" Asked the human.

To that, Celestia turned to Twilight with a smile. "Twilight - send a message to Sunset Shimmer through the diary. Find Tempest Shadow. And send Sunburst a letter. "

"Sunburst!?" Starlight tried to hide her excitement and instead showed surprise. Twilight in the meantime gasped out mentions of Sunset and Tempest .

"Wait, Sunset and Tempest, Princess?"

"I think these three unicorns will be of much help, Twilight. Sunset Shimmer was always studious, and since her last visit to combat the Memory Stone, I've noticed she hasn't dropped her studies whatsoever. Tempest Shadow is familiar with the mechanisms of the Staff of Sacanas used by the Storm King, and I have no doubt her knowledge could help us here greatly. Not to mention, she herself is a very talented unicorn."

She smiled at Starlight then. "And Sunburst - you have worked together to prevent the Crystal Empire from falling to frost. I think you two are familiar with how these situations work."

"Yes Princess!" Nervously chirped Starlight. She totally wasn't ready to see him - but she was even more excited with the prospect she'd work once again with him to save the world.

"Wait, what about the Pillars of Equestria?" Cut in Rainbow Dash.

"Don't worry, Rainbow." Smiled Celestia. "I've asked for their help immediately. Starswirl is actually here. Well...Not that I think you'll have a chance to see him."

"Huh? Why's that?" Asked Twilight.

"He's deep in his personal library. Iiiiiiiiii...know him long enough to know that means he won't want to go outside for a loooong while."

A plan was made. With three unicorns joining them, progress could be made. Research could be done. Twilight had quickly written into the diary, and used a powerful spell to find Tempest and request her arrival. Sunburst was even closer, and would arrive almost in time with the other three.

Twilight sat with the human by the mirror. The rest of the girls were enjoying their time in the castle - except for Starlight who was terrified out of her mane that she was winning a game of chess against Princess Luna - this time thankfully using board pieces and not real ponies. Pinkie made an impromptu banquet - which was really just a classic Pinkie-styled party with classier snacks. AJ and RD went exploring the castle, and Rarity had an exciting opportunity to discuss a personal dress design with Celestia.

The only pony hard at work was Fluttershy, who was frantically building bird houses for the birds of the castle's garden.

"I...Really hope she'll come." Sighed Twilight.

"...Why are you unsure, Twilght?" Asked the human with a frown. Nothing bad had happened between the off-screen...right?

"When we message each other, the timing sometimes gets...ugh, horrible." Sighed the unicorn. "When I was trying to stop Starlight from causing a time loop that nearly destroyed Equestria, Sunset Shimmer was calling for help against dealing with my human counterpart who was corrupted by Magic and nearly tore the barrier between this world and theirs."

"...Yeaaaah, I know. Not an easy situation."

"..."

"Wait..." Twilight blinked. "You understood...all of that?"

The human indeed would've missed everything she said if they didn't love the Friendship Games and its epilogue. "You're just a very good speaker, Twilight." They grinned at her.

With a flash, the mirror had suddenly shimmered. Shimmered, and through came Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer.

And Shimmer was incoming, prompting both Twilight and the human to dodge as a fiery-coloured unicorn stumbled on her hind-legs and into a pile of books.

"U-Uhhhhh..." Groaned the mare underneath a copy of "Warm and Peace" by Leo Coltstoy.

"Still can't get used to it, huh?" Giggled Twilight.

"That was the first time I ran through portal. Never again..." Groaned Sunset as she removed the famed and overly complex novel off of her face...Only to see Twilight, and...a human.

"D-Did I end up on both halves of the portal?"

"Nope! I'll tell you later."

"Pleased to meet you!" Smiled the human.

"Uh...Yeah! Nice to meet you too. Sunset Shimmer." She shook their hand, instinctively nearly grasping it like another hand.

***

They walked through the hallways - the human was grinning but trying to hide it - after all they adored Sunset and her character.

Sunset thoughtfully asked questions in the meantime. "So wait, you came from a different human world? No Canterlot High? No Equestrian magic? No constant shenanigans caused by said magic falling into the wrong hands?"

"Nope. It's...a pretty boring and mundane world - compared to that." Chuckled the human. "I just woke up in the lake, and the rest is history."

"...Huh. Now I'm starting to wonder just how mundane that world is. Are you sure it isn't affected by Equestrian magic...?"

"I'm sure." Affirmed the human.

"...Right...So, how're you finding Equestria?" She awkwardly smiled.

"It's great!" Was all that they could say.

"Glad you think so! You know, since you're already a human, and since you didn't come from, well, Equestria, you could totally come to CHS sometime! Y'know, without the whole "running into your alternate universe hijinks" that Twilight went through. I probably have my own doppleganger too...Somewhere!"

"Heh, I don't think I could stand another copy of myself."

"Don't be so self-depricative!" Frowned Twilight.

"Sorry!"

"Yeah. I think I'll take finding a copy of myself over being evil. Especially being evil once and remembering about those times. Eugh." She shivered. The human suppressed a chuckle of fond memories.

"Uh, that being said..." Sunset coughed. "I wouldn't recommend visiting my world at the moment. Nooot just yet anyway."

"Wait, why's that?" Twilight interrupted with a frozen look of concern.

"Oh, we've just had a really cold couple of days. No idea what's up with it - apparently it's the coldest spring on record. Weird, right?"

"W-Wait, you mean...You're having the same problem too!?" Twilight stopped walking and faced Sunset fully.

Sunset froze as she looked at Twilight. "...What do you mean "too"...?"

The human however felt even worse. Their heart sank. No way. No way was their presence so bad that it was also affecting the CHS world. But...How? Could it be caused by the rift of Equestrian Magic connecting this world and Sunset's?

Twilight explained the situation - but left out one important detail. The human felt responsible to tell Sunset.

"It's...My fault." They said. "It coincides with my arrival - there's no way it doesn't." Frowned the human, knees shaking and almost buckling. "I...I'm so sorry. I had no idea it affected your world too, Sunset."

"..." Sunset was quiet. Not from anger or anything of the like - but the gaze she gave the human was worry. Concern. No wonder - Sunset knew what it felt like to feel guilty. She remembers the looks she got shortly after her "nasty debut" as a she-demon. But she knew that this was worse. Guilt from actions you're responsible for at-least served as a lesson. But to be guilty of something that was out of your hands - the defenselessness must've hurt.

"Hey." Sunset took a step forward. "I...Don't know how good I am at reassurance, but I can tell you this much. In-between me as a demon trying to raise an army, a trio of mind-controlling sirens, a magic-mad version of Twilight, a nature-manipulating camp counsellor, a Memory Stone-wielder, a magic-mirror wielding giantess, a girl with a magic phone capable of manipulating space, remnants of some "Storm King's" evil magic, and a duo of musicians able to cause timeloops like something straight outta that movie "Woodchuck Day"..."

Sunset wound up all those words to drive her point, and reassuringly nudge the human. "I think in-between all of that, you're the least destructive thing that might be happening to my world. It's nothing a warm coat and a heater can't solve."

The human wasn't convinced they were the 'least dangerous' threat, but they smiled. That was enough.

Telepathically through unicorn magic, Twilight asked... "You're actually just as concerned as I am, right?"

And Telepathically, Sunset responded. "Yeah, I do...But I hope I can calm them down."

"That's why you're the Element of Empathy back home, right?"

"Heh, at-least that's what it says."

"Princess Twilight!" A guard had run up to the three - looking mildly alarmed.

"H-Huh? What is it?" Twilight asked, taken back by the state of emergency.

"W-We have an intruder! S-She claims she's here to see you!"

***

As the three ran, they could hear the sounds of commotion. Though granted, one of the parties involved sounded extremely calm.

"Explain how you got into the castle!" Exclaimed a male voice.

"...I'd feel more inclined to answer without a spear pointed at my face." Coldly spoke a female voice. Twilight ran faster having identified it, and the other two followed suit.

"You were the Lieutenant of the Storm King during his invasion!" Exclaimed a commander. "I remember your face! Do you think you could return to Canterlot and not face justice!?"

"I see that not everypony has gotten the memo..." Sighed Tempest. "I guess it serves me right for doing my good deeds away from most ponies. By the way - your spear is dull. Work on your technique."

"Your taunting will not work on me, fiend! Besides, what "memo" do you speak of!? You claim you've "appeared" here, but you have most likely snuck in! You do not have an invitation, nor have you been allowed inside by the other guards!"

"...I'm serious about the spear thing. Being the commander is no excuse to be lazy, you know. You need to oil the blade and keep it some place dry. Where'd you even learn to take care of your weapon?"

"T-That's it! Haul her off to the dun--!"

"Tempest!" Twilight exclaimed, running up to her and parting the guards. "E-Everypony, it's okay! She's a friend!" Twilight said, getting between her and the guards.

"W-What!? But she just snuck into the castle through the pantry! And I remember her, she led the assault on Canterlot, Princess! She petrified the other Princesses! She's up to no good, she must be--"

"Like I said. You missed the memo." Shrugged Tempest, much to the scowling of the commander.

"Sir, she's actually the one that helped us stop the Storm King. S-She's been travelling and repairing the damages caused by his reign..."

The commander looked at Twilight, and then at the taller unicorn. He sighed and gave Twilight a bow, before calling the guards away, leaving the three and plus one in the privacy of the chamber they were in.

Twilight turned to the taller unicorn with a relieved smile. "Tempest! I-I'm so glad to see you, but did you really have to cause a scene?"

"Mm. Sorry about that, Twilight." She apologetically bowed her head. "You've told me how urgent things were - I had to use a Relocator Orb and I could only faintly sort Canterlot's coordinates. I appeared in the pantry. On that note - tell somepony it has a rat problem before somepony gets fired."

"That's alright...Tempst, I'd like for you too meet somepony. Uh, somepony and someone." She said, stepping aside, and allowing her to see Sunset and the human.

Tempest took a step forward - Sunset was smaller and required her to look down, but the human had nearly matched her height. She gave a quick, firm nod. "Nice to meet you. Sunset, right?"

"U-Uh, yeah...!" Sunset said, surprised a little at how imposing the unicorn with the broken horn looked. "I've heard about you...I-I mean, in a good way!"

"I'm certain. Twilight has told me about you too. Glad to see I'm not the only mare here who has had an..."oopsie" in the past." She softly smiled - but returned to neutrality as she turned to the human.

"But you..." Tempest continued. "I've never heard of you."

"I'm...new here." Gulped the human slightly. "I'm a human, actually..."

"I see. Guess I am pleased to meet you - since you're a friend of Twilight's. I am Tempest Shado--"

"Ehem." Came from Twilight.

Tempest blinked at Twilight - and assertively kept speaking, much to a grumpy frown from Twilight. "Tempest Shadow." She continued. "You may have heard stories about me. They're true. But they're also in the past - so don't be scared of me. Unless you got a reason."

The human grinned. "No reasons at all!"

"...Good, then. So, Twilight. I think I know why you've called for me." Tempest turned back to the unicorn.

Twilight gulped. "O-Oh no...Considering how far away you travel..."

"Exactly. This problem has spread quickly assuming that maybe Ponyville or Canterlot were ground zero. I was all the way in the North when it all happened. At first I thought that maybe the Crystal Heart had failed or something. Again - if what I've heard is true. Guess this means nobody knows what the problem is."

"It's even affecting worlds in other universes..." Sunset sighed. "You're just as surprised as I am, Tempest."

"Don't worry, Sunset Shimmer." The darker-purple unicorn turned her head to her. "The Storm King and his powers - and the Staff of Sacanas - I've had a front row seat. I can at-least help you all figure out what it isn't."

"You know, we've actually had a bit of a run-in with that Storm King you mentioned." Sunset added. "Er, not him. Rather, his magic, and on the other side of a portal mirror."

"I'd be interested to hear more, Sunset Shimmer." Grinned Tempest. "Mainly 'cause I wanna hear about the Storm King getting his flank kicked a second time."

"You've got it!" Grinned the fiery unicorn.

"And you..." She turned to the human. "Tell me about your world. Maybe about its military and the competency of the leaders. I wonder how much time it would need to be taken over by Equestria."

"T-Tempest!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Never hurts to think about the hypothetical, Twilight."

***

The room where the unicorns would plan their next move was a massive study. It put Twilight's own library to shame, with a plethora of magical aperture that would allow the unicorns to maximize their potential in the search.

The last to join was another trio - Starlight, Sunburst, and Trixie - who have had a moment to reminisce and happily reunite on their way into the study.

Sunburst was in the middle of telling Starlight and Trixie about a new discovery. Starlight was genuinely curious - Trixie listened for support. "So there has been no magical method of repelling Parapsrites other than music - although magic may cause audio frequencies with the potential of reducing their appetite, and thus lowering their population increase in a given area!"

"At that point I don't see why not bring out an instrument set..." Starlight chuckled.

"It may be of use to settlements where the instrument industry and import is lacking! Furthermore, I--"

He had no idea he had walked into something soft and fleshy - something that walked on two feet. The human hadn't realized that Sunburst was heading their way, stumbling as the stallion bumped into them.

"O-Oh goodness, I'm so sorry about that, my fellow--..." Sunburst's vision readjusted as they saw the bipedal. He needed a moment - unsure what word to use.

"Human." Starlight advised, nudging him softly.

"R-Right! Sorry! I've been horribly distracted!" He chuckled. "I-I am Sunburst! M-Maybe you've heard of me? I'm sure you've perhaps seen my name mentioned in several dissertations and studies!"

The human chuckled - Sunburst's adorable and at times nervous disposition warmed them. "I'veee only been here for about a few days. I don't think I could really start reading and finish any dissertations and studies by now."

"O-oh! That explains much! I...Had no idea! Welcome to Equestria!"

"Sunburst, haven't I told you about them?" Starlight quizically raised a brow.

"Sorry! You have, you have!" Sunburst blushed. "I just got overwhelmed talking about my latest findings! You know..."

As Trixie made herself present, Twilight softly sighed. "...Trixie."

"Sparkle." Grinned the magician.

"Trixie, I uh..." Twilight struggled to be polite about this. "I'm not sure we...H-How do I put this..."

Trixie let out a laugh that almost seemed like something out of her villainous-phase. "Fear not, Twilight Sparkle. The humble, and understanding Trixie knows that she is no expert in the pursuit of mysterious forces - as great and powerful she actually is. But my presence shall inspire you all to work harder, and better!"

Twilight could only groan - but she was right. It would ease the burden on Starlight and Sunburst - they'd have another friend by their side. In the meantime, Glimmer had approached Sunset.

"Sunset!" Grinned Starlight.

"Glimmy!" Beamed Starlight, the two mares coming in close to hug each other...And they froze when they noticed a suspicious gaze from Twilight. They reverted from the hug and had looked to the sides.

"I-I mean..." Starlight coughed. "Sunset! I-It's been so long that I've seen you when you came through the mirror! I-I really missed you even though we've seen each other ONLY for two minutes and twenty nice seconds, and I totally didn't follow you back through the mirror!"

"O-Oh, uhm..." Sunset hummed. "Uh, y-yeah! I am so glad to see you! Y-You seemed really nice when the only thing you did was give me another diary, and totally didn't do anything else like saving the day!"

"Yeaaah, totally, haha...!"

Twilight was unable to investigate more as she was approached by Tempest. "I assume this little rendesvouz means we're ready to begin." She spoke. "Give me the Staff of Sacanas. I'll reverse engineer it and additionally see if it can reverse the effects of the anomaly. Without harvesting Alicorn power, of course."

"W-Wait, did you say the staff of Sacanas!?" Beamed Sunburst. "Y-You mean the staff that was used by the Storm King to control the sun and moon, as well as cause terrible storms!?"

"...Uh..." Tempest looked at Twilight for help. "...Yeah. That one."

Sunburst beamed with joy. "O-Oh goodness! No way! Y-You've got to let me take a look! Please? Please please please please!"

"...Sorry to burst your bubble - but whether or not I've become..."good" by most ponies' conventions, that doesn't mean I don't work alone--"

"Tempest!" Frowned Twilight before Sunburst could possibly cry. "Don't disregard how much knowledge Sunburst has! He really knows a lot! He figured out how to restore the Crystal Heart when it shattered, and he helped release the Pillars of Equestria. Trust me - he knows the ins and outs of magical artifacts and spells! I think he might even find a way to power up the staff if needed!"

Tempest looked down on the orange stallion, who sat there with big, teary puppy eyes staring right up at her. Her cold gaze was warmed as indicated by a mere exhale from her nostrils.

"...Fine. He can help."

"Huraaaaaaaaaaaaay!" The stallion jumped with a big smile. Twilight proudly looked at Tempest and smiled, teleporting the staff from her castle and hoofing it over to the tall unicorn.

"Uuuuh, I don't reckon you could teleport another thing here, could you?" Asked Sunset as she approached Twilight.

"Whatever you need." Smiled Twilight.

"The mirror portal." Insisted Starlight. "I know it's a difficult thing to teleport all the way here, Twilight - but maybe we can study the portal to catch the anomaly as it goes from here and into Sunset's world?"

"That's a great idea, girls!" Said Twilight. She concentrated - a rather difficult spell as it was, but much to the surprise of Spike who was dusting up the room in preparation for Ogres and Oubliettes, the mirror portal had disappeared in a flash of purple. At-least he knew this was Twilight's doing, so with a shrug he continued sweeping.

"Great!" Sunset stepped closer to it. "I think I got an idea of how it works - we'll just need to tune it without breaking the connection. I still gotta get back home, you know."

"And I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will go get us snacks!" Giggled the magician, running off. Like that, all unicorns save for one had a task to perform.

The human felt a bit left out, rubbing their neck as they looked down on Twilight. "Is there...Anything I can do, maybe? I really hate feeling left out..."

"...Hrm, maybe one thing." Said Twilight. "There's definitely a link between you and the anomaly. N-No offense. I could study any magic coming off of you, but I can't guarantee it will be conclusive."

"Alternatively." Chimed in Tempest as she overheard them. "If Sunburst and I can figure out how to power the staff, we could see what happens were we to drain any magic coming from our bipedal friend, capture it, and analyze it."

"Do you really think that would be safe...?" Frowned the alicorn.

"As long as they don't depend on magic to live, then no."

"Our world is devoid of magic." The human said. "I'm ready for that."

"Well you still need to wait. Sunburst, what do you think?"

"Using the staff to consume magic won't take anything, but we should fine tune it to their anatomy!"

"Agreed. Come here for a second, please." Beckoned Tempest. The human did as told, and was surprised to see her maw open. For a moment the human feared they had done something to offend her and were going to have their face bitten off, but instead, with a "yeowch" from the human, a mere strand of hair was removed with her teeth. "We'll magically analyze this to understand what you're made of."

"O-Oh. My...D.N.A.?" Asked the human.

Puzzled, Tempest could only shrug.

Twilight put a hoof on the human's back, pensive and full of thought. The human turned around to hear her out.

"I'm sorry, but the only thing you can do now is wait...M-Maybe spend time with the girls? I'm sure Pinkie would love to see you at the uh...party they're having..."

"Are you sure there isn't anything I could do, Twilight...?" Frowned the human.

"I'm sorry. At the moment, all you can do is wait. We need time to reach conclusive information that will help us..."

With a sigh, the human surrendered and prepared to leave the room. "Just...Call me when I'm needed."

"H-Hey..." Twilight stepped forward before they could leave. "...Please, take care of yourself, okay?"

"I promise, Twilight." Smiled the human - giving her a warm nod, before leaving the room.