Masquerade

Chapters

The Summoning
The Lost Six
Darkness Before the Dawn

The Summoning

Written by: Darth Cookie & Darthvalgaav

Andrew Loken had been sitting at the counter when he heard the door open. He looked up from his computer, ready to greet the customer. Instead he held back a groan. It was Mrs. Finkel. She was a woman in her early sixties with short bottle brown hair and cold blue eyes. She was wearing a yellow summer dress and in her hand was a baggie.

“Can I help you?” asked Andrew with all the pleasantness he could muster for this woman. At sixteen, Andrew was average in height with dark hair and green eyes. And while it was the middle of July he was wearing a short sleeve shirt, jeans, and steal toe boots.

“I found this in my daughter’s room last night,” she practically yelled as she lifted the baggie. Andrew looked at its contents for a moment and then back to Mrs. Finkel.

“Incense?”

“I found this…this filth in my house.” Mrs. Finkel was now yelling more loudly and out of the corner of his eye Andrew could see a crowd gathering outside the store, watching and listening to see what would happen.

She wasn’t always like this. Mrs. Finkel used to be one of those moms who used to organize school events and made sure kids had a good time. But then something changed. All of a sudden she became against things like parties that took place in school. Thanks to her Clare Elementary, Middle, and High Schools were unable to have their annual Halloween Party or its Winter Break Bash. Both parties were only an hour long, but that was too long for her taste. It wasn’t just parties but also violent video games, most of the shows on television, meat, and just about everything that was fun in life. Andrew had also heard that for the last couple of years she had been going to stores trying to force them not to sell holiday treats and candies. Word on the street was that she was aiming to stop kids from going Trick or Treating this year.

This ticked Andrew off big time. Halloween was his favorite holiday. He loved it more than Christmas! Ever since he was a young boy he had always made his own costumes instead of buying them from a store. He loved to decorate his home to make it look spooky and watch scary movies in the dark. He loved to roast marshmallows over an open fire while telling ghost stories. One time he turned the front and back yard of his parent’s house into a haunted maze for the trick or treater’s. This made him Mrs. Finkel’s mortal enemy.

Her daughter, Jenny, felt the bulk of resentment for her mother’s actions. Since the children couldn’t do anything to Mrs. Finkel, Jenny became their target. While Jenny was in High School with Andrew, many of the kids in town had younger brothers or sisters. Jenny found horrible notes stuffed in her locker, money stolen, or was simply tripped up. Andrew felt sorry for her, knowing it wasn’t fair for her to pay for her mother’s actions.

“Look,” said Andrew calmly. “If you have a problem with incense then you should take it up with your daughter. It’s not illegal.”

“It’s not just the incense,” yelled Mrs. Finkel as she tossed the baggie on the counter. “It’s this whole devil worshiping store!” Andrew rolled his eyes.

“Ma’am, this is an import store.” The store, Never Seen Before, was Clare’s one and only import store. On the wall hung Native American dream catchers, Japanese wall scrolls, African wood wooden masks and several other interesting items. On the shelves were statues made of wood and stone, books, incense with various types of burners, and other items from all over the world. Inside the bullet proof glass counter was where he kept the more dangerous stuff: swords and daggers. Off to the side of the room were two suits of silver looking armor that looked like they were guarding the stairway in between them. Mrs. Finkel shook her head and grabbed an African mask.

“You dare say that when you sell items like this!?” she hollered. At first glance the mask did look menacing. It had large, sharp fangs and six eye holes.

“I can understand why you might think that,” replied Andrew as he tried to calm her down. “But that mask is believed to scare away evil spirits. Well, if you believe in that sort of stuff.” Mrs. Finkel glared at him and looked like she was ready to throw the mask onto the ground. But she remembered the stores policy of if you break it you buy it. She set the mask back down before looking for something else that would help her argument. She then matched over to the book shelf, picked one up, and then held it in front of herself.

“You are selling books on witchcraft!”

“No, that’s a book on wiccans. If you actually read the book before you passed judgment you would see that all it does is talk about their culture and beliefs.”

“Devil worship and virgin sacrifices!”

“What’s going on in here?” came a voice as the door opened. Standing there was a man in a deputy’s uniform. He was about twenty seven years old with a buzz cut and blue eyes.

“Finally, the sheriff sent someone to take care of this place,” said Mrs. Finkel with a nasty grin.

“Not exactly,” said the deputy. “The sheriff sent me to find out what all the shouting was about. We could hear it all the way from Cops and Doughnuts.” Cops and Doughnuts was a doughnut shop that was owned by the sheriff and was very popular. “Look Mrs. Finkel, we have checked this place out three times at your request. Twice we had drug sniffing dogs check the place out. This isn’t a secret drug den or anything like that. It’s just a simple store that you just don’t like.”

Mrs. Finkel didn’t like that answer very much. She glared at the deputy and made a promise to herself to find a way to get him off the force. She then slammed the book she had been holding onto the ground.

“How dare you claim to be protecting the peace when you allow scum like him to do as he pleases?” she demanded as she pointed an accusing finger at Andrew. “He is corrupting the children of this town and undermining authority. If you and the sheriff won’t do something then perhaps I’ll lend my support to his opponent next election.” She then spun around and looked at the sixteen year old with all the hate she could muster. “And you! How your parents managed to put up with you is a mystery to me! You should have died in that car crash instead of them!” At that, Andrew tightened his fists.

“Mrs. Finkel!” shouted the deputy. “Get out. Now.” Mrs. Finkel looked at him for a moment before she stormed towards the door. Before she left, however, she gave Andrew one last glare that said this wasn’t over.

Deputy Rick let out a sigh as he watched her leave before turning his attention back towards Andrew. It had been a year since the car crash that had taken the boy’s parents away. He had been on the site and was also the one who had to deliver the news to Andrew and his two siblings. After that, Andrew was sent to live with his godmother in Detroit while his brother and sister stayed with their aunt and uncle who lived in town. But just three months later Andrew came back to town and had been emancipated. His godmother even helped him out with a start up loan to get this store!

While Andrew seemed to be doing alright after his parent’s death, the same could not be said about his brother and sister. Rick had heard that his younger sister, Lisa, had been suspected of tampering with bank records after large amount of money seemed to appear into her bank account from out of nowhere. Then his brother, Will, had been involved in a scandal with one of his teachers. Both were oddly covered up quickly and, according to the rumor mill, the two were then sent away to military school.

“She shouldn’t have said that,” said Rick after awhile.

“No,” replied Andrew flatly as he looked out the store window. The crowd had left when Mrs. Finkel had stormed out the door. “But she did.”

Rick let out another sigh, wishing he could help out more. It was just that no one wanted to really go against Mrs. Finkel. Everyone who had she just drove out of town. It was always her way or the highway. The least Rick could do was put away the book she had thrown on the ground. Yet as he put it back on the bookshelf another book caught his eye.

“Voodoo and You: A Complete Guide,” he read as he pick up the book. “Is this any good?”

“Depends on what you’re looking for,” said Andrew with a small smile. “It’s an excellent recourse guide if you don’t know anything about voodoo. It goes into great detail and is easy to read. But, if you were hoping to use what you read well then that’s a different story. Let’s just say that if it worked then I would have used it to take away Mrs. Finkel’s voice.” Rick laughed as he pulled out his wallet.

“Yeah,” he said as he paid for the book. “After all, there’s no such thing as magic.”

After Rick left, Andrew noticed that the deputy had miss-shelved the book. The teen then made a gesture with his hand and the book began to float in the air until it was back in its proper place.

-x-

At that same moment, Twilight Sparkle was just getting up. She had stayed up later than usual to study and had forgotten to set her alarm clock. Opening her eyes, she saw that it was another perfect day in Equestria. The sun was shining, the temperature was pleasant, and there was barely a cloud in the sky. Of course, Rainbow was taking care of that problem right now leaving behind a rainbow colored blur. As she rolled out of bed, Twilight made her way to her mirror, levitated the comb, and began to brush her mane. Once that was done, she made her way downstairs for a late breakfast.

As she walked down the stairs, a strange site greeted her. All over her library floor were large brown boxes. Each one was about three feet tall and looked very heavy. How they got here without waking her was a mystery.

“Morning sleepyhead,” said Spike as he poped his head out of the kitchen.

“Morning Spike,” said Twilight as she maneuvered her way across the library floor. When she got to the kitchen she saw that Spike had already left out a bowl of oats and a few apples for her. Said dragon was sitting at the table eating some gems. “What’s with all the boxes?”

“Oh those,” said Spike as he looked up. “They came this morning along with a letter from the princess.” He then pointed to a letter on the table before going back to his meal.

Twilight looked at the letter and then quickly used her magic to levitate it in front of her. As she sat down at the table she began to read the letter with great interest. ‘To my dearest Twilight Sparkle,’ it read. ‘I hope you are doing well. For some time now I have watched your studies from afar and feel that the time is right for you to begin the next level of your education. I am sure by now you have noticed the many boxes in the Ponyville Library. In them you will find books full of more advanced magic. Perhaps one of them will have information that might help out a certain friend. I know you will be diligent in your studies. Signed, Princess Celestia.’

Once Twilight finished reading the letter she jumped out of her seat and ran out of the kitchen. Once she was back in the library she began to magically open the boxes. Inside them were large, thick books that caused the unicorns heart to skip a beat. It was moments like this that Twilight lived for, learning new spells. Well that, her friends, and pleasing the princess. Oh and also organizing new books which were something else she could do now.

“I can tell that this day is going to be great!” exclaimed Twilight with a big smile.

-x-

“Sorry my mom ruined your day,” said Jenny. It was several hours later and Andrew was on his lunch break, a simple bowl of instant ramen noodles. Right now, the two of them were on the second level of Andrew’s store where he lived. It was like living in a small three room apartment. The main room was like a combination kitchen and living room. There were two doors in the entire place. One led to Andrew’s room while the other lead to a storage area. Truth be told Jenny had never been in the second room. She had never been in the second room and all she knew was that on both sides of the door were two suits of black armor holding swords that looked like they were guarding it. Near the table where they were sitting was a stairway down to the store.

“I wouldn’t say she ruined it,” said Andrew as he put his fork down. “It just got off to an unpleasant start.” Jenny let out a laugh and then looked around his place.

“I still can’t believe that this is all yours,” she said. “It must be like a dream.”

“It’s alright,” said Andrew modestly.

“So, how did you convince your godmother?”

“Well, let’s just say that city life didn’t agree with me. But it’s not like she has completely forgotten about me either. She comes by every now and then to check up on me and the store.” As he said this he checked the clock and frowned. “Speaking of which, I’d better be getting back to work.”

“Ok then, I’ll get out of your hair,” said Jenny as she got up and walked towards the stairs.

“Hey Jenny, can I ask you a quick question?” Jenny paused at the first step before she turned to face Andrew. “I’m sure you know how your mom feels about incense so I’m just a little curious about why you keep buying it from me.” Jenny gave him a small grin.

“Because it drives her up the wall,” she said in a matter of fact tone. “Also, when my boyfriend comes over he likes to smoke and the incense helps cover up the smell.”

Andrew shook his head as Jenny descended down the stairs. He got up, put his now empty bowl in the sink, and then walked over to the room guarded by the two suits of armor. He pulled out a key to unlock the door before entering the room which held things that would cause Mrs. Finkel to start up a witch hunt. Inside the room were a few book cases that held large tomes as well as what looked like a couple of spice racks that held jars of oddly colored liquids. In the middle of the room was a circular table that had runes engraved into it. In the middle of the table was a book that wasn’t there when he had last been in this room. The male teen picked it up and saw it was entitled The Art of Summoning.

Andrew suddenly heard a meow behind him. He turned around to find a white cat as well as an iguana standing just outside the doorway. Both of their gazes were focused upon him.

“Hey dummy,” said the cat in a female voice. “Stop being lazy and feed me, you stupid idiot!”

“And clean my cage while you’re at it,” said the iguana. Andrew could do nothing but sigh at his sibling’s demands.

-x-

Back in Equestria, Twilight was heading down to Sweat Apple Acres. Since she read the letter from Princess Celestia she had been very busy. The first thing she did was to read the title of each book and then glance over them briefly to see what they were about. Once that was done Twilight made a list of each book and placed them in the order she felt would be best to read them in. After that she shelved them into their proper spots within her library. However this took a lot of time so she decided to head out to Apple Jack’s farm to get a snack as well as spend some time with one of her friends.

As she walked there with Spike, who was sleeping on her back, her head was already in one of her new books. What made this one so special was that there was a pink bookmark in it that none of the others had. Something told her that this was that book that the princess had mentioned in her letter.

“Howdy Twi,” came the southern voice of her friend Apple Jack. Twilight looked up from her book to find the orange earth pony did not seem like her cheerful self. Twilight knew that things had gotten harder at the farm lately, but Apple Jack looked like she was about to cry.

“Apple Jack, is something wrong?” asked Twilight as she magically put her new book in her saddle bag.

“Well…I guess there’s no point in puttin it off any longer,” she said. “Actually, I was planning on seein ya soon to ask ya for a big favor.”

“Well I’ll see what I can do,” responded Twilight.

“Do ya think ya can talk to the princess for me?” she asked. “Ya see Twilight, Princess Celestia ordered a large amount of Sweet Apple Acres apples for some big shindig she’s havin. Paid a lot too upfront an everything.”

“Wow, that’s great news,” said Twilight.

“Yeah it was,” replied Apple Jack. “But the train broke down and it won’t be up an runnin for several days. Maybe even a couple of weeks! No way we’ll be able to move all them apples in time. They have to be there by then end of the week!”

“Gee, that is a problem,” said Twilight in understanding. “I guess you’ll have to return the money.” Apple Jack shook her head.

“No can do,” she said. “The money’s gone. Had to use some of it to fix the barn roof after it collapsed in the storm last week. And I’m sure you heard that Granny Smith and Apple Bloom are in the hospital. Had to use the rest of the bits for that.” She then looked off at the apple fields and sighed in despair. “It’ll be bad enough for business that we had to cancel such an important order, but if any pony finds out that we didn’t return the money it will ruin us.” She then turned to face her lavender friend. “That’s why we need to ask the princess if she wouldn’t mind waitin or bein paid in installments.”

Twilight felt bad for her friend and what this meant to her family. Nearly all their money went into the farm for one reason or another while the rest of it was saved up for the winter season. But because of this, they might lose their farm either way. But despite that Apple Jack was still going to try to do the right thing and repay the princess. Then Twilight had an idea. She quickly pulled out the book she was reading earlier and began to flip through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

“Aha!” she cried out once she had found what she was looking for. She then turned to look at Apple Jack who had a confused look on her face. “A.J., go get the other girls. I have a plan!”

It was an hour later when Apple Jack returned with Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Then they stood before Twilight, she had a look of pride in herself. On the ground next to her were several magical symbols that had been carved into the ground.

“Ok we’re here,” said Rainbow Dash who was hovering in the air. “Now what’s going on? I was working on a wicked cool trick to impress the Wonder Bolts.”

“I called you all here so we can help Apple Jack deliver the princess’s apple order to Canterlot,” replied Twilight. The others just looked at her in confusion.

“Ah Twilight, I reckon that to be impossible,” said Apple Jack. “It would take two trips to deliver all them apples and it’s at least a day’s journey to Canterlot by train. So how’d you figure we’d get them there?”

“I’m glad you asked,” said Twilight who could barely contain herself. “We’re going to use a portal spell!”

“You mean you can teleport all of those apples dear?” asked Rarity in amazement.

“No,” said Twilight as she shook her head. “Teleportation and portals are two different things. A teleportation spell is a simple, but draining spell that allows a pony to cross a certain amount of distance easily. However portal spells are more complicated to set up, but are far less draining. What they do is create a doorway between two set points that allow instant travel between them. It works by opening a whole into another dimension where time and space are twisted and then punching another hole at the spot you want to go to. Once that is done the two openings are then connected allowing for one or many ponies to use them. Once they are connected even a filly could open up a portal.” The girls looked at Twilight with blank expressions on their faces. Then they all looked at Spike, who had been standing nearby, hoping that he would be able to say it simpler.

“Sorry, but this is the second time I’ve heard her say it and I still don’t understand,” he said with a shrug. With a frustrated sigh, Twilight pulled out a piece of spare paper she had in her saddle bag.

“Are we going to do origami now?’ asked Pinkie Pie as she jumped up and down. “I love origami. I can make a duck, a squirrel, Fluttershy, and Rarity!” As the hyper pink pony pulled out paper from nowhere and began to show her friends her impressive paper folding skills, Twilight punched a hole into her sheet of paper at the bottom. Then she magically labeled one of it Ponyville and then wrote down Canterlot at the top of the page.

“Ok,” she said as she got every ponies attention. “I’ll simplify this as best I can. We go in through the Sweet Apple Acres hole.” Twilight then used her magic to fold the paper in half. As she did so she also punched a hole where she wrote Canterlot. Soon the two hole where perfectly aligned. “And then we come out at Canterlot.”

“Oooh,” said all the ponies as Twilight put away the paper.

“Ah, is it safe?” asked Fluttershy nervously.

“For the most part,” answered Twilight. “Once we’re in we’ll have only thirty eight minutes to leave this dimension and then place the runes at the exit point. If we don’t then we’ll be stuck there. But I’m not too worried about that because I already asked Spike to send a letter to Princess Celestia asking her to place a beacon spell in the palace garden. That way I’ll have a better idea on where to exit. Also we’ll be leaving Spike out here so if we’re not out in time he can contact the princess for help.”

“Why can’t she just place the runes herself?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I mean, wouldn’t that save a lot of time?”

“Magic has its own set of rules,” said Rarity. “Sometimes it can be so frustrating. Most likely the spell requires the same pony that set up the runes at one end to place the runes at the exit.”

“That’s exactly right Rarity,” said Twilight with a grin. “It’s meant to keep portal spell from merging with others and sending ponies to the wrong destination.”

“I guess that also means that there’s a reason why you need us to go with you,” said Rarity.

“Well, the spell strongly suggests that a large group goes through the first time,” replied Twilight. “Also I would feel a lot better if you all came with me.”

“No way am I sittin this one out while ya’ll rickin ya hooves to help me,” said Apple Jack.

“Miss a free trip to Canterlot?” stated Rarity. “Never!”

“Sounds like it might be cool,” said Rainbow. “I’m in.”

“It would be the perfect way to visit Doughnut Joes!” cheered Pinkie.

After that all eyes turned to look at Fluttershy. The yellow Pegasus gulped as she lowered her body closer to the ground. What she had just heard sounded dangerous. She was afraid. What if something went wrong? Who would take care of her animals? She was about to say no in a polite manner when she suddenly thought of something else. What if something happened to her friends and she wasn’t there? She would be all alone. What if they got hurt and she wasn’t there to help make them better? With a sigh, she knew what she had to say.

“I’ll go,” said Fluttershy meekly.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” said Twilight as she began to cast the spell. “With all of us together, what can go wrong?”

-x-

“Well this isn’t right,” said Andrew as he picked up the apple he had summoned. While he had managed to summon it from a different location…he had been trying to summon a pineapple.

After Jenny had left and he had gotten his new book, Andrew had spent the rest of his work day reading it instead of watching YouTube on his computer. He had taken the precaution of putting on a fake book cover on it to ensure that no one would know what he was reading. As far as anyone who noticed the book was concerned he was reading Wolfheart. One of the rules that people like him had to follow was to keep magic a secret at all costs. If anyone ever found out it would be Salem all over again. It was simply human nature to hunt down and persecute others for being different or being able to do something that others couldn’t understand.

The summoning spell had two parts making it sound simple; banishing and repositioning. First the caster had to select an item anywhere on the planet and then move it to a different dimension. Once there the caster of the spell could then return it to this dimension, but near the casters location.

Andrew was about to try again when he heard the TV turn on. When he turned around he saw his sister watching It Takes Two…again. He hated that annoying Olsen twins movie. Looking around he also noticed that his brother was at his personal computer.

“Hey stupid,” said the cat as she kept her eyes on the TV. “Bring me my dinner, now! And I want the canned food this time.”

“You know that saying please goes a long way,” said Andrew. The cat turned to look at him with an annoyed look.

“Please stop being a retard and get your stupid butt in gear,” she said with a slight growl.

Andrew sighed. Even after being turned into a cat by the Council of Seven, Lisa still remained the spoiled brat she had always been. Lisa and Will had always been the favorites in his family. Lisa was his parent’s only daughter and was treated like a princess since the day she was born. Will believed himself to be God’s gift to women and was a star athlete. He was good at football, soccer, hockey, and baseball. His parents were positive that one day he would end up in a hall of fame one day.

Sadly Andrew, the oldest, had always been seen as a letdown. He wasn’t good at sports, never been on a date, no super star looks, or anything else like that. All he had going for him was a little more skill with magic than the rest of his family and his creative talent with Halloween. He was also a straight A/B student, but his parents only comment was it wasn’t good enough and that he was being lazy. They treated him like he was worthless as did his siblings.

After the accident that took his parents lives, Andrew thought that the abuse was over. Sadly he was wrong. Both his brother and sister believed now they could do whatever they wanted with their magical powers thus breaking several rules within the magical community. Once they were found guilty they were sentenced to a year in animal form pending a review. And with his aunt and uncle being unable to have pets in their apartment Andrew was forced to take them in.

“Get me some food while you’re at it,” said Will who was still in front of the computer.

“One sec,” replied Andrew. “I’m going to give this spell one more try.” With that, Andrew closed his eyes and began to focus on a pineapple.

-x-

“Ouch,” cried Pinkie Pie as something fell on her head. The mares had already entered the portal entrance and were now looking for the exit point. They walked in a straight line in this dimension of swirling blue lights that seemed to go on forever. Twilight was in front, her horn glowing as she tried her best to focus on the princess’s beacon. Behind her was Pinkie Pie followed by Rarity and then Apple Jack. Fluttershy was in the way back keeping her eyes on Rainbow Dash’s hooves. To keep them all safe, Twilight had cast a magical linking spell that would keep them close by so no pony would get lost.

“Where did that come from?” asked Rarity who had seen it appear out of nowhere. Twilight turned her head and used her magic to bring the pineapple closer to her.

“Pinkie, did you bring this by any chance?” she asked the pink earth pony.

“No way would I just bring a plain old pineapple,” replied Pinkie. “I would have brought pineapple upside down cake, pineapple cupcakes, pineapple chip cookies, and…” The list seemed to go on forever.

-x-

Andrew was sure he had gotten the right target this time. He was about to summon the pineapple to him when he heard a moaning sound. His eyes flew open as he turned around to look at the computer. Sure enough, his brother was watching porn…again. Anger began to build inside Andrew but he did his best to keep it down.

“Turn that crap off,” said Andrew.

“But I already paid for the hour,” replied Will who kept his eyes on the screen. “It would be a waste of your money if I stopped now.”

“M-my what?” demanded Andrew.

“Yeah, your money,” replied the iguana as he now looked at his brother with a smug look. “Well, my money now. I transferred your money into one of my fake accounts. Oh, by the way, you’re in the red right now.” Will was about to turn his attention back to the screen, but he stopped when he saw sparks fly around Andrew. Anger and rage were now flowing through him with enough power to manifest them around his body. He had taken their crap for years, even more now since they became animals. That money wasn’t just his to live on, but for the store as well! How would he pay the rent or purchase new items to sell? And neither one of them seemed to care!

In his rage Andrew decided to finish the summoning spell so he would have something to bash both their heads in.

-x-

“What’s going on?” cried Twilight. The pineapple she had been holding up with her magic suddenly began to shoot out sparks of electricity. Scared of what was happening, and having no idea why, Twilight tried to release the pineapple but found herself unable to do so. She could only watch in horror as the sparks began to cover her body as well. It wasn’t painful, but she could feel a great anger within the sparks as well as a great sadness.

“Twilight,” called out the others. Twilight turned her head to look at them, but her vision was now blocked by the sparks that now consumed her entire body. She wanted to tell them to get out of here, but found herself unable to open her mouth. But if she could see it would have been the sight of her friends who were also being consumed by the sparks. The next thing she knew was the feeling of being pulled down and the linking spell snapping. And then everything went black.

-x-

Back at Andrew’s place, a pineapple appeared in his hands. He began to feel his anger slip seeing that he had finally gotten what he had wanted. He then looked at his siblings and took a deep breath. They weren’t worth it.

Then, without any warning at all, something else materialized in his living room. It just seemed to fall from his ceiling and landing on the ground with a thud. Andrew stared at it for a moment.

“Did I just summon a pony?”

The Lost Six

Her entire body stung, it wasn’t painful, more irritating than anything. But it was enough to bring her back to consciousness. Slowly, Twilight blinked opened her eyes. At first everything was blurry, but her vision quickly began to clear.

“Did I just summon a pony?” she heard somepony say. She turned her head towards the source of the voice, her eyes widened in shock as she beheld a creature she had never seen before. She jumped up, screaming for help. She called to her friends hoping they were near.

The creature seemed just as shocked as she was. He stood there with a look of awe on his face before he snapped out of his thoughts. He hurriedly brought a single finger to his lips and made a zipping motion, which sealed Twilights lips closed disabling her power to speak. She backed away in fear of what else this strange creature would do to her. Her heart started pounding as she felt her tail bump into a corner. She cringed as the creature stepped closer towards her with its strange two legs.

Twilight closed her eyes, preparing for the worst, but for several moments nothing happened. Then she felt something stroking her main in a soothing manner. She opened her eyes to find that it was the creature who was stroking her calmly with its odd five pronged limb. She looked in his eyes and saw concern not anger.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you,” it said, judging by the deep voice, Twilight assumed it was male. “But I can’t have you waking up the entire neighborhood. Now, if you promise not to scream I’ll cancel the spell alright?”

Twilight nodded which appeared to be enough for the creature for he brought the same finger back to his lips and made an unzipping motion.

“T…Th...thank… you,” Twilight tested her voice nervously.

“You’re welcome,” the creature replied giving her a small smile. “My name is Andrew Loken. Could you tell me yours?”

“Twilight,” she hesitantly responded. “Twilight Sparkle” She then gave him a funny look. “You’re taking this better than me. Does this happen often?”

“Naw, I’m just use to talking animals,” laughed Andrew as he pointed behind him. Twilight looked over his shoulder and saw a white cat along with an iguana. She raised an eyebrow inquisitively as the cat jumped off the couch and walked towards them.

“I want my food and I want it NOW!” yelled Lisa as she scratched Andrew with her very sharp claws. Twilight watched in horror as his shirt sleeve was slashed and a trickle of blood appeared. Andrew hissed as he held his wound tightly. Before Twilight could offer her help, Andrews hand began to glow a light blue. When he removed his hand she saw the wound was healed and his shirt repaired.

“What are they?” Twilight whispered as Andrew stood up.

“My siblings,” he replied bitterly. He gestured to a cabinet. The door opened revealing the cat and iguana food. They flouted out towards the two pet bowels, filling them. His siblings walked over to them without a word of thanks. Andrew moved to the couch and sat down. He motioned Twilight to sit with him. “Now then, where did you come from?”

XXX

“Wow, what a trippy trip of a trip,” said Pinky Pie as she woke up. She was out in a field somewhere. The others were nowhere to be seen, but this did not upset the party pony. There was not a doubt in her mind that her friends were safe. They’re just a little lost, she thought, and it’s up to me to find them. Unless I’m the one who is lost, then they have to find me, either way it’s all good.

Suddenly, a brightly colored light appeared at the other end of the field. She could also hear fun music and pony’s laughing and cheering. Pinkie took in a deep breath to find the air smelled like sweet treats.
If I were my friends, that’s where I would go, Pinkie smiled as she hopped over to the circus.

XXX

“This is THE…WORST…PLACE…EVER!” declared Rarity in her normal drama queen fashion, but she was probably right for she was in a dirty ally way. All around her she saw trash, grime, and a few rats here and there. It took all of her will power to stop herself from passing out.

Shivering in disgust, she headed towards the way out. Despite the darkness she moved fast to get out of her personal nightmare. When she escaped from the grim pit, she saw the biggest building she had ever seen in her life. This must be Manehatten, she concluded, although why they haven’t cleaned in years is anypony’s guess.

That thought was crushed, however, when a giant creature zoomed past her on a paved street, almost running her over. The creature was bigger than a bear, yet instead of legs it had wheels.

Terrified, and despite her disgust, Rarity ran back to the safety of the ally only to trip on something. She got up to glare at the offending object but found that it was a beautiful golden bracelet embedded with diamonds.

“Ohhh, how lovely” she cooed as sparkles filled her eyes.

“HEY, that’s mine!” a voice shouted from behind her.

XXX

“Now where the hey am I?” cried Apple Jack, from what she could tell she was on an apple orchard. But she knew it wasn’t hers. The ground looked unkempt as if nopony had tended it in a long time. Rotten apples littered the ground and gave off a fowl stench.

AJ shook her head as she walked. How could anypony treat an apple orchard with such carelessness, she thought. She called out to her friends, hoping that they were nearby. AJ eventually stumbled upon a two story farmhouse with a barn next to it just like Sweet Apple Acers. Just like the house, it needed serious repair. The house shutters were crocked, paint was peeling off, the barn door didn’t exist, and a host of other problems.

Apple Jack ran up to the house. If there’s somepony home they can tell me where I’m at, she decided. She was half way there when suddenly the door burst open revealing a creature Apple Jack had never seen before. AJ immediately found shelter in a nearby bush, gazing at the odd creature from her hiding spot, she saw that the creature was a two legged female. She wore an orange and red plaid shirt and blue jeans. Judging by her grey mane and sun spots, AJ assumed she was very old. She also wore dark sunglasses even though it was night. In her hand was a long stick that she waved in the air menacingly.

“Who’s there?” she called out, her voice sounding strong for her age. AJ didn’t respond though, she didn’t want to see what the old lady would do with that stick. “If that’s you Millzard or one of ya hooligans, I’m not leaving my home. You’ll have to drag my dead body out of here first before I give into you. Now get off my property before I call the cops!”

Apple Jack didn’t know who this Millzard person was or what a cop was, but by the lady’s tone a cop sounded like a guard. And if the guards hear were anything like this creature, she didn’t want to know what they would do to her. The farm pony gathered her courage and stepped out of the bush she was hiding in, hoping to reason with the creature.

“I’m sorry for bothering you,” her voice causing the elder woman’s head to snap in her direction, “but I’m lost and I can’t find my friends.”

The woman tilted her head in confusion. The voice sounded young, too young for one of Millzard’s cronies. She also sounded scared, yet sincere.

“Lost huh,” the woman replied smiling gently, “Well, can’t let you shiver out here all night come on in. We’ll figure out what to do in the morning.”

“Ya mean it?” asked a shocked Apple Jack, “You’re not bothered with the way I look?”

“Honey,” started the old woman sweetly, “I don’t give a darn how you look. I’m blind.”

XXX

Major Burns was closing in on the target in his F-16. He didn’t know what it was, but it was in U.S air space. For all he knew it could be a terrorist air craft, and if it was, he was going to take it down.

Soon the target came into view, which caused Burns to wonder if there was a leak in his oxygen tank. Flying in front of him was a pony, but it had wings. He was sure he had heard about them in stories and movies, but he didn’t pay much attention to the name. However he was sure that, whatever it was called, it shouldn’t be blue with a rainbow mane.

As Major Burns turned on his jet camera to record the pony, it turned its head around to look at him. Even in the dark, he could make out its expression of curiosity. Suddenly it turned around and flew right at him until it landed on the glass windshield of the F-16.

“Oh my gosh,” he could hear it say, “There’s something inside this thing. HEY ARE YOU ALRIGHT? DID THIS THING EAT YOU?” The pony then raised a hoof, preparing to smash the windshield to free him, but the Major began to shake his head ‘no’ and wave his hands in the air in protest. She paused for a moment then slowly lowered her hoof. Then, without warning she took off flying even faster than before. Once she was out of sight Burns grabbed his communication controls.

“Air command, this is Major Burns, come in,” he said breathlessly.

“This is Air command we read you loud and clear.”

“I spotted the target and, well, you won’t believe this but it looks like a flying pony.”

“…Are you drunk?”

XXX

Fluttershy was too scared to call out for help. She crouched down in the forest she had landed in, shacking like a leaf. In the distance she could hear dozens of angry voices. She couldn’t make out what they were saying but they didn’t sound friendly. There was another sound in the distance mixed in with the voices; it was a harsh grinding sound that scared her worse than the voices. She had never heard anything like it before, not even in the Everfree forest, she just hoped it wasn’t a vicious dragon.

Then, without warning, animals raced in her direction. Squirrels jumped from tree to tree, birds flew with all their might. Deer, raccoons, skunks, mice, bunnies, and many other land animals ran past her. Fluttershy wondered what terrifying thing could cause so much fear when it suddenly crashed through the forest. It was some kind of yellow creature; it couldn’t have been from Equestria for she had never seen a creature that had tracks for feet. It also had arms that were attached to each other to form a scoop. As it moved it tore down all the trees in its path.

Fluttershy was horrified by this thing; she quickly took to the sky, preparing to fly off, when she heard a soft chirp. Pausing in mid flight, she turned her head and saw a bird’s nest containing three baby birds. They were crying out for their mother to save them. The yellow creature was about to run down their tree.

Enraged by this horrible act of cruelty, Fluttershy flew towards the creature ready to give it a piece of her mind. However, as she approached, the noise that had been coming from the yellow beast stopped and an even stranger two legged creature emerge from it. Fluttershy then realized that the yellow beast had been a like a metal wagon and that this other creature had been controlling it.

“Hey you monster,” she yelled, giving this thing her best stair ever. “I don’t know what you are or why you’re destroying this beautiful forest, but you will never hurt these baby birds while I’m around, understand?” She was up in the creature’s face, which caused it to panic. Screaming he ran off leaving Fluttershy to wonder if she was really that scary. She shrugged and swooped down to the ground to dig up some worms for the babies she had rescued. “Here you go little ones,” she said sweetly as she fed them. “I’m sure your mother will be back to take care of you soon.”

Fluttershy landed back on earth, happy to have saved the innocent chicks. However, she realized too late that she had been surrounded by a large group of creatures who were similar to the one she scared off, except these had brighter clothing and were dirtier.

Before she could make her escape, they all fell to their knees and bowed to her.

XXX

“Wow, Equestria sounds like a wonderful place,” exclaimed Andrew. For the last couple of hours, Twilight had been telling him all about her home, and when she explains something she goes into great detail. “It must be wonderful to be able to use magic freely.”

“Can’t you?” asked Twilight, she assumed he could use magic after he zipped her mouth shut, but he shook his head.

“Once a long time ago we could,” he explained. “You see, not all humans can use magic. Back then the few that could use magic lived on an island called Avalon, while non magic humans were still hunting and gathering; we wizards and witches, or Casters as we like to call ourselves, were united as an advanced people under the great King Oberon. He was the very first third class spellcaster.”

“Third class?” interrupted Twilight.

“Yes, Casters are separated into three levels of skill. First class is the most basic of spells and requires the use of spoken words in order to use them. I am a second class user; all I need to cast magic is a simple gesture. But Oberon figured out how to cast magic without using either of these methods. With a single thought and focus he caused the earth to shake beneath his enemies, cause the seasons to change, or feed his entire country. In all of history, only one other Caster has been able to achieve third class and that was Merlin, but I plan on being the third to reach that level.

“Now, King Oberon created our laws, making three spell forbidden. The first is never to turn lead into gold.”

“But why not?” asked Twilight confused. “Wouldn’t using something like that help civilization?”

“No, it wouldn’t,” insisted Andrew, “Proof of this came several centuries ago with a good king who wanted to help his people. His advisors said there was nothing he could do unless he came across a gold mine. Then, one day a Caster came before the king, offering to create a magical spring that would turn lead into gold. The king agreed and over night the kingdom became the richest in the land. But soon the spring created even more problems. Once every one was rich, prices for goods and services sky rocketed. The nearby kingdoms wanted their riches for their own and soon a war was raged. Sadly, the Kings army’s weapons had been turned to gold and were useless in the war. You see, gold is very brittle yet very heavy. In the end the kingdom was destroyed and thousands of lives were lost.”

“Okay, so it didn’t work out the first time,” replied Twilight, “But that was because it was used carelessly and to the extreme.”

“Humans are naturally greedy,” Andrew explained. “Unlimited gold is far too tempting, not to mention that if there was an over abundance of gold, it would become as valuable as a box of common rocks. Lisa is guilty of using similar magic to make her credit card debits disappear. The problem was that the money came out of nowhere making it seem like counterfeit money. The magic council had to clean up her mess and as punishment they turned her into a cat.”

Said cat shot a glare at the two before pissing on the carpet.

“The second law passed was to never take away free will,” Andrew continued.

“I can understand that law,” Twilight interrupted, “You could force somepony to do your bidding and never have to take responsibility for your actions.”

“There’s a bit more to it than that, but basically yes,” replied Andrew. “Take my brother for example; he used love potions and spells on whoever he wanted. Until he used a love spell on his math teacher, slept with her, then blackmailed her into giving him a good grade. Now, the difference between a mind control spell and a love spell is that you can try to resist a mind control spell. On the other hand, a love spell creates a deep longing that can’t be ignored and must be fulfilled. Once the spell breaks the victim has no idea why they did what they wouldn’t normally do. In the end, the teacher was overcome with grief at the knowledge she had cheated on her fiancé and she took her life. And like my sister, my brother was punished for his cruelty.”

Twilight glared at the lizard, who was happily munching away at his food. It filled her with disgust that someone would manipulate another for their own twisted desires and not feel a shred of remorse. Just by looking at the offending creature, she could tell he didn’t care that he was responsible for ruining several people’s lives.

“Let me guess,” Twilight said, still glaring at the iguana, “The last law forbids anyone to kill.” But to her surprise, Andrew shook his head.

“There are times when we have to protect ourselves so we are not denied that right,” he said. “No, the last law is to never bring the dead back to life. It is the worst forbidden spell due to the horrifying price you must pay. In order to bring someone back to life, the Caster must sacrifice a relative of the deceased. Even if the caster is sick enough to do that and the spell manages to work, the dead will become a zombie like creature devoid of any emotion or thought, a shell of their former self. To make matters worse, neither the Caster nor the one brought back will be allowed to enter the afterlife. Instead, the two will be doomed to wander the earth until their driven mad until they finally fade into nothing. They simply cease to exist! There is no punishment for using this spell, you are damned the moment you cast it.”

A shiver crawled up Twilights spine, the thought of someone even considering casting such a spell made her sick to her stomach. “What happened to Oberon and Avalon?” she asked, trying to get the horrible images out of her head.

“He died at the age of thirty-two, an old age back then,” replied Andrew, glad of the change in topic. “After his passing, Avalon was destroyed in a civil war 300 years later. After words, the surviving Casters scattered throughout the world. Some went into hiding, but most got jobs as medicine men, shamen, wizards, and other such occupations that created the stories that were told to day. Some even became inventers like the famous painter Leonardo Da Vinci. Unfortunately, he had to be dealt with when he tried to turn lead into gold.

“Anyway, as time went on, more and more people began to hunt for us. They were jealous and scared of us because we were different from them. The Salem witch trials were the last straw, after so many innocents died; we went into hiding and vowed we would never reveal our secrets to the outside world again.” Andrew let out a sigh, weary from his long tale. “But enough about history, we have to figure out how you got here if we’re ever going to get you back home.”

“I wish I knew what went wrong,” said Twilight, “My friends and I were walking through the portal spell I created. When I was studying the spell it said nothing about getting pulled into another dimension.”

“My spell didn’t say anything about that either,” replied Andrew. “The summoning spell should have only pulled the intended target from subspace.”

Twilight cocked her head to the side. “You mean the area in between the worlds where space and time is distorted allowing faster than light travel to be possible, which is how teleporting, summoning, and portal spells work.”

Andrew was blown away by her vas knowledge of things he thought only his people knew, he almost didn’t hear her continue, almost.

“They use this subspace as a short cut to get to where they need to go. But then why doesn’t events like this happen more often,” She concluded.

Andrew mentally shook his head to regain focus, “According to the books, this shouldn’t have happened,” he replied. “When you enter subspace there is a force, similar to gravity that keeps us close to our own world. At the time I cast my spell it was enhanced by my anger, but the only thing it should have pulled to me was that stupid pineapple.” A theory suddenly struck Andrew. “Unless the pineapple was magically connected to something else.”

“My levitation spell!” exclaimed Twilight. “After the pineapple landed on Pinkie, I used my magic to pick it up. That would mean that this whole mess is my fault!”

She was near tears at just the thought of letting down her friends, especially the Princess. She thought I could use advanced magic, she scolded herself, she trusted me and now look where I am. All alone in a strange world, my friends probably rescued by Spike by now but how am I suppose to get home. She let her pent up fears spill out into streams of tears.

Andrew was taken aback by the tears, he hated to see women cry, even different species of women. He knelt down and stroked her mane. “Hey, it’s not your fault. Our spells reacted to each other, there was no way of knowing this would happen.” He said, his gentle voice calming her. She sniffed and let out a long sigh. “I wish I could send you back Twilight, but I’m not sure if I can. I don’t have the proper knowledge and I’m not sure if I can get you there safely,” Andrew didn’t bother to mention his fear of messing up. He didn’t want to hurt the lavender pony. But before she could start crying again he added, “But I know someone who can. My godmother and mentor is on the Council of Seven. If anyone on this earth can help you get back home it’s her.”

“Really?” asked Twilight as hope surged through her. Andrew nodded.

“Yeah,” he replied with a reassuring smile. He then looked over at the clock and saw how late it was. “I’ll send her a letter tonight before I go to bed. And speaking of bed, we’d better get some sleep. You can take my bed while I crash on the couch.”

“I-I can’t do that,” stammered Twilight. “It’s your bed.”

“It’s fine,” said Andrew as he waved her off. “Besides, what kind of a man would I be if I made a girl sleep on some old couch.” Twilight blushed a bit at that statement and was then shown to his room.

The room was a bit small and crowded. On one side there was a bed and a doorway that led to the bathroom. On the other was a large bookcase full of books and music sheets. On the ceiling were several posters that read ‘World of Warcraft’, ‘Red vs. Blue’, ‘Looking for Group’, ‘Ironman’, and ‘Starcraft II’. Twilight also noticed that next to the bed was a counter with a lamp, alarm clock, and a single book.

Twilight closed the door before she jumped onto the bed and tried her best to fall asleep. Sadly, no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t do it. There was simply too much going on and she was still worried about her friends. Outside, she could hear Andrew walking around and guessed he was getting ready to go to sleep as well. A moment later she heard Lisa screaming that he was on her couch and he had to get off.

With a sigh, Twilight turned on the desk lamp and used her magic to pick up the book. Maybe reading something will help me calm down, she thought. The book was entitled ‘War of the Ancients Archive’. The cover showed three human like creatures with purplish colored skin and long, pointy ears. Twilight shrugged, not knowing what to make of the book. She did, however, open it up and began to read.

XXX

Twilight opened her eyes as the light of the sun hit her face. She opened her eyes and began to panic that she wasn’t in her room. But when she looked down at the book in front of her she began to remember the events of yesterday and how she had come to stay with Andrew. She also remembered his promise of trying to find her a way home. Lastly, she remembered that she had fallen asleep on his bed while reading the book that was still in front of her.

The book was really three books in one. The first was called, ‘The Well of Eternity’. In it a human, dragon, and a creature called an Orc were brought to a different world. Well, actually they were sent back ten thousand years in time, but they might as well be in a different world. The characters were amazing and the plot was gripping. She could easily identify with Rhonin, a human mage who wanted to get back home to his family. Krasus seemed very wise and she was amazed by his shape changing abilities. Then there was Brox, the Orc warrior. Twilight felt sorry for the old warrior who, despite his appearance, was far more noble than any other character in the story and had such a sad past.

In a way, Andrew reminded her of one of the characters in the book: Malfurion. They were both so kind and patient. They also seemed to share the same desire to help others. Then there was the fact that they both had arrogant and selfish blood relatives.

Yawning, Twilight got off the bed and opened the bedroom door. Looking out she could see that Andrew was still sleeping on the couch. Around him was a bubble similar to the one she had once put up around her library to keep the Crusader’s away. Raising an eyebrow, she looked around to find the reason for this protection. It didn’t take long to see Lisa who looked like she was still trying to claw her way in.

“Get off my couch,” she hissed as she swiped at the force field. However, it was like trying to cut through a brick wall with her tiny claws.

Suddenly, Twilight had an idea. She owed Andrew a lot. Not only was he letting her stay here for free but was also going to help her get home. The least she could do was make him breakfast. Smiling, she walked into the kitchen area to look for something to make him. Perhaps I should make pancakes, she thought. She was able to find a pan as well as a mixing bowl, but she lacked the pancake mix. After looking for a while, she began to wonder if he even had any.

“Maybe its in there,” Twilight said to herself as she looked at the door that seemed to be guarded by the two suits of armor. As she walked towards the door she suddenly felt like she was being watched. However, when she turned around she saw that Andrew was still asleep, Lisa was still trying to attack him, and Will was eating something in his bowl with his back facing her. Shrugging, Twilight used her magic to turn the door knob. Then, without warning, she felt something hit her in the back of the head before everything went black.

Darkness Before the Dawn

Celestia let out a sigh as she began to raise the sun from her balcony. Normally she would do this with a smile on her face, knowing that her subjects would soon be out and about, enjoying the day. However, a dark cloud hung over her head as well as several others. They were filled with worry over the loss of Twilight and her friends.

After the thirty eight minute window had passed, Spike had sent a letter to Celestia who in turn did her best to try and find her student as well as the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Yet, she found no pony in that other dimension. Again and again she tried to find them, but the results were always the same. Finally, after several hours, she ordered a chariot to pick up Spike from Ponyville and have him brought back to the castle. Also, she summoned Shinning Armor as well as Princess Cadence. They would all need to hear this.

That night, no pony slept. They all stayed awake while Princess Luna went to search for the lost mares personally. While she was gone, Celestia did her best to comfort the group. They smiled at her kind words, but remained awake in case they would be needed or could help out in anyway. She wished she could tell them it would be alright, but she couldn’t say it because she knew it might not be.

As she looked out across the land, she saw a figure flying towards the castle. As it got closer Celestia allowed a small smile to appear on her face. It was Luna.

“Did you find anything?” asked Celestia as her younger sister landed.

“No, I found nothing,” said Luna as Spike, Cadence, and Shinning Armor approached the sisters. “I flew at top speeds for as far as I could within the other dimension; however there is not a trance of Twilight Sparkle or her friends.”

“W-What does that mean?” stammered Spike as he looked up at Celestia. His eyes were big and he looked like he was holding back tears.

“It means that they are somewhere else,” said Celestia while keeping her voice calm. “Luna would have found them if they were still in subspace. Most likely they exited it at the wrong spot and are somewhere beyond our borders. They could be in the middle of the zebra nation or the griffin empire. I will send out letters to all of our allies asking if they have seen them. If they are there then brining them home will be a simple matter.”

“But what if they’re not there?” asked Spike. The one to answer him wasn’t Celestia, but Shinning Armor who walked over to the baby dragon.

“It’s simple,” he said with a serious look on his face. “We keep looking.”

XXX

“Twilight, are you ok?” The purple mare only groaned in response, her eyes still shut. Her head hurt for some reason that she couldn’t remember. Hands were on her shoulders making her think for a moment that it was Spike. However, the voice was wrong. Slowly she opened her eyes and, for a split second, panicked before calming down. It was Andrew who was looking down at her with concern.

“Sorry about that,” she said as she felt her face turned a deeper shade of purple due to embarrassment. “Every time I wake up I keep expecting to find myself back home.” A small grin appeared on the human’s face.

“Can’t really blame you for that. But why were you trying to enter my personal library?”

“Well, you’ve been so nice to me since I came here I thought I’d make us some pan-” Twilight’s words were cut off as she noticed what was behind Andrew. It was the suits of armor! Both of them had their swords raised, ready to swing down upon the two. Twilight was about to use her magic, but her head hurt too much to concentrate.

Andrew raised an eyebrow in concern as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his new friend. She had been sort-of fine, but then cut herself off and started to stare at something behind… Andrew swore under his breath as he realized what was wrong. He turned to face the two suits of black armor before giving them both a salute. As soon as he did the two suit of armor lowered their weapons and moved back to their spots next to the door.

“Sorry about them,” said Andrew sheepishly as he turned to face Twilight again. The mares face was a mix of shock, amazement, and anger. “It’s been so long since anyone other than me tried to enter this room that I had forgotten about my security. Ah, my bad?”

“Why would you need them?” demanded Twilight. Her head still hurt, but it wasn’t anything compared to the rage she felt inside. “They could kill some pony!”

“Only if the intruder is a serous threat,” said Andrew. “We Casters have to safe guard our magical knowledge. My guards have been magically programmed to knock out the intruder first. If it was harmless curiosity then I just alter their memories a bit so that they think they just fell asleep or something like that.”

“And what if it isn’t harmless curiosity?” asked Twilight.

“…There’s a reason those two are holding swords.” Twilight allowed a shiver to race through her body as glance at the two large blades. “Now then,” said Andrew as he rubbed his hands together. “I believe you were about say pancakes so lets have some breakfast.” Twilight nodded.

Andrew grinned as he gestured over to his kitchen. All at once several items began to come out of their hiding places and float in mid air. Pancake mix, butter, maple syrup, water, plates, as well as forks and knives all began to move in a circle in the air. As the pancake mix and the water began to mix themselves, Andrew sneaked a peek at Twilight’s expression. The look on her face was a priceless expression of wonder. Some Caster’s, mostly the ones that had reached the second level, were proud of their hard earned skills and liked to show off sometimes when they were with other Caster’s.

Twilight watched in amazement as the pancake batter began to separate from itself and become several floating disks before they began to heat themselves up. She knew Andrew was good with magic, he had to be to use a summoning spell, but this was impressive. Right now he was levitating several items, moving them perfectly, and using a ‘heat’em up’ charm all at once. Twilight had a hard enough time using two spells at the same time. Soon, two plates stacked with pancakes were on the table with forks and knives next to them.

As the two of them walked over to the table, Twilight began to hear a strange musical sound coming from Andrew’s pocket. The human teen sighed as he pulled out a strange device and looked at it.

“Perfect timing,” he grumbled before looking at Twilight. “You can go ahead and start eating if you want. I’ll be back in a second.” Twilight nodded as she made her way to the table while Andrew went into his room. Once the door was close he opened up his phone. “Hey Aunt Kat.”

“Morning Andrew,” said Katherine Epona to her godchild. “How are Will and Lisa doing? Are they behaving?”

“I wish,” sighed Andrew.

“I thought that was the case,” replied Kat. “I know about what he did with your money. Will thinks we don’t know about his other accounts. Don’t worry, it is being sent back into your bank account as we speak. Sadly, this will hurt him at his hearing.”

Andrew fought hard not to groan. Caster hearings were usually quick, painless experiences. He would go before the council and inform them on his siblings’ behavior while under his care. After that the council would talk about anything that they had noticed before passing sentence. And the sentencing part was what Andrew was dreading. The council might order Andrew to take care of the two for a longer period of time, which would be a nightmare for Andrew.

“Did you get my message?” asked Andrew, desperate to change the subject.

“I did,” replied Kat. Andrew could detect a change in her voice. It was an odd mix of pride, amazement, as well as regret. “I was shocked to hear that you were able to summon beings from an alternate reality. It’s not something that just any Caster can do by themselves. Yet, there are a couple of problems.”

“Like what?” asked Andrew. He was becoming a bit nervous by the way she said that.

“Twilight wasn’t the only one that you summon,” said Kat. “A member from the Council found another pony and is currently watching her. Once the rest of us were informed I cast a spell that would locate rips in our reality. There were a total of six.”

Andrew slowly sat on the bed, his eyes wide in shock. Why hadn’t he realized that this would have happened? He knew Twilight had told him that her friends had gone with her into subspace and that she had attached them together by a magical link. If the magic he used to summon that damn pineapple had pulled her down then of course it would have pulled her friends down with her. Why hadn’t he realized it?

Slowly, another thought filled his head. What about Twilight? How was he going to tell her that her friends were brought here as well? And that they could be anywhere!

“You said there were ‘problems’,” said Andrew after a moment. A thought of dread filled his mind. “Can’t you send them back?”

“Maybe,” replied Kat. “We believe that it is possible, however there is one slight problem.” She paused for a moment. “Do you know about the multiverse theory?”

“Yeah, basically there are an infinite number of alternate worlds and each one is slightly different from ours. Each world represents a choice that could have been made and how it would have played out. Like a world where the South won the Civil War or if Survivor never existed.”

“Any choice,” said Kat. “What Earth would be like if saber tooth tigers were still alive. If dinosaurs never went extinct. If humans never evolved and in their place were ponies! There are an infinite number of worlds to search through and that will take time. Perhaps more than our lifetime.”

“Hopefully not,” said Andrew as he did his best to keep positive. “Remember they found the pineapple that I was trying to summon. That might mean that our worlds are somewhat close together.”

“True,” said Kat thoughtfully. “That’s one good thing at least. We’ll do our best to start looking for the other ponies and try to find their world. Once we do that we’ll send them home.”

“Wouldn’t concentrating on one task make things go much quicker?” asked Andrew. “I mean, focus on finding their world and then send them home as you find them.”

“That would be dangerous,” said Kat. “The barrier that separates the realities is a fragile one. Every time something passes from one reality to the next, the two worlds begin to draw closer. If we’re not careful then we might cause the two worlds to overlap resulting in the destruction of both. We believe that three trips between our worlds will be the max before the damage becomes permanent.”

“Ok then, how about you let me find them,” said Andrew. “That way you can focus on finding their home and things will get done quicker.”

Kat paused for a moment. It was a good idea in more ways than one. She was also going to mention that Andrew was going to be punished for accidentally bringing six talking ponies into the world. It wasn’t something that she believed was fair, but it was Caster law. It was the way they did things. However, she did know of a loophole. A hundred years ago a Caster had accidentally exposed magic to his home town. But by the time the Council of Seven had found out about it and sent several of its members to deal with it, the Caster had already ‘cleaned up his own mess’. He had not only fixed the damages that had been caused but also created a cover story so that the populace had believed that nothing really magical had happened. He had done such a good job, as well as showing how sorry he was for what he had accidentally done, that the Council had decided not to punish him. Perhaps the same could happen to Andrew.

“Are you sure?” asked Kat. “This could take you several weeks. Maybe more.”

“It’s fine,” said Andrew. “It’s summer and business is slow thanks to Mrs. Finkel.” Kat laughed.

“Alright,” she said. “I’ll let you handle things. Just keep me updated.”

“Will do,” said Andrew before he hung up. With a sigh he got up and prepared himself to tell Twilight the news.

XXX

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!” screamed Rainbow as she once again tried to buck the door down. Ever since she had been thrown out of Twilight’s freaky portal, Rainbow had found herself in one of the strangest places she had ever been. And she’s been to Los Pegasus! Wherever she was, the colors weren’t as bright as they were back home, she had a hard time standing on clouds for some reason, and the sky was full of strange metal creatures with different two legged creatures inside of them. These two legged creatures seemed to be all over the place, making them the most likely ones to capture her.

She still didn’t know how it happened. After flying around for awhile, Rainbow had found a roof where she could take a well deserved nap. At the time it had seemed safe enough and she was really tired. However, when she woke up she found herself in this strange white room with a single door. A door made of steel. The only thing other than herself was a small black device in the corner of the ceiling.

Suddenly the door swung open, surprising Rainbow for a moment. She then backed up as three figures entered the room. Two of them were wearing dark green outfits while carrying some kind of black, metal thing in their hands. It wasn’t sharp, like a sword, but they held these things like the Canterlot guards held their weapons. The third one to enter wore a more impressive blue suit with badges on his chest.

Rainbow backed away slowly as the two in green took position in front of the door. The one in blue, on the other hand, placed himself in front of Rainbow. The Pegasus faltered for a moment under the creature’s hardened gaze. She quickly shook her head to regain her composure before speaking.

“Alright, where am I and-” Her voice was silenced by the roar of the gun the blue one had pulled out. Slowly Rainbow turned her head to her left to see a hole in the floor inches away from where she sat. She then turned her head back towards her captor with fear in her eyes.

“I am Colonel Hughes,” he said in a loud commanding voice. “Let me make this clear: I ask the questions. And believe me, I have a lot. If I think for one moment that you are lying to me then I will have to resort to more…drastic measures. First question: where is your ship?”

“My-My what?” stammered Rainbow. She had no idea what he was talking about or why he was doing any of this.

“Wrong answer,” said Hughes as he aimed his weapon at one of Rainbow’s legs. But before he could pull the trigger the door opened again. In the doorway stood an older looking figure dressed similarly to Hughes except he had more metals.

“Colonel, there is someone who wants to talk to you,” said the man. Rainbow could see that Hughes clearly wanted to argue with the man. However the tone in the older man’s voice told them both that this wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order. Silently, Hughes put his weapon away and left the room. Once the door closed Rainbow fell to the ground before curling herself into a ball.

Outside, Colonel Hughes followed the other man down a corridor.

“Mind telling me what’s going on General,” asked Hughes as they turned a corner. The General said nothing and a few moments later the two of them entered a room full of monitors. Watching one of the screens was a plump, elderly African American man. His hair was starting to grey and from what Hughes could tell he was a General. Upon entering the room, the man turned to look at the two of them.

“General Cross,” said the man. “I take it this is Colonel Hughes, the man who was conducting that little interview.” Cross nodded.

“Colonel Hughes, this in General Thornridge. He just got in from D.C.”

“A pleasure sir,” said Hughes as he held out his hand. Thornridge just gave it a glance before turning his attention completely on the Colonel.

“Mind telling me what the hell you were thinking back there?!” demanded Thornridge.

“Sir?” asked a startled Hughes as he slowly retracted his hand. “I was interrogating a hostile alien. We need to find its craft so we can study it in order to better prepare ourselves for the coming invasion.” Thornridge shook his head in disgust.

“You’ve been watching too many science fiction movies,” he said. “Right now there is no proof of any alien invasion. Hell, I would hardly call our…visitor hostile.”

“I beg to differ,” said Cross. “She attacked one of our jets.”

“She didn’t even chip the paint,” said Thornridge. “The Pentagon is slit right now. One half believes that we should do as Colonel Hughes is doing right now. The other half believes that she might be here accidentally or that she comes in peace. And since there are no war ships parked in orbit right now, the President has decided that we should not take any action that might led to an interplanetary war.”

“Well then let me get the information out of her,” said Hughes. “For all we know, she’s an advanced scout or suicide boomer!”

“Or she could be some kind of alien diplomat,” said Thornridge. “Or her ship could have crash landed and she has no way of contacting her home.” For a moment there was a pause. “Lets say we continue to do this your way and your right. We might get some useful information that could save lives. But, what if you’re wrong? What if a ship appears above our planet looking for our visitor? How do you think they’ll react when we return her to them with bullet wounds and scars? I’m sure they’ll understand that we threatened and tortured an unarmed civilian.” The last part was practically dripping with sarcasm.

While Hughes seemed unconvinced, Cross nodded in understanding. Right now they weren’t under attack. There was no proof that an attack from aliens would be coming. At the same time, they had no idea who the alien really was. For all they knew she could be anything from a simple runaway to the daughter of the leader of her race!

“So what are your orders?” asked Cross.

“For now the alien will remain here,” said Thornridge as he walked out of the surveillance room. The other two followed behind him silently. “We can’t risk moving her to another location because if this leaks somehow it will be a political nightmare. The media will blow it out of proportion and other world leaders will be making their own demands on how we are to proceed. From this moment on I’ll be conducting the interrogations as I see fit.” They were now back in front of Rainbow’s cell. Thornridge placed a hand on the door handle and then paused for a moment before looking at Cross. “I hope that you will inform your men that no one is to speak of this.”

“I’ll have the whole base informed within the hour.”

Thornridge nodded as he entered the room. As he did he noticed that their captive looked up at them with fright in her eyes. He didn’t blame it after how it had been treated so far. To show that he meant no harm he removed his gun and handed it to one of the guards. Once that was taken care of he approached the Pegasus.

“On behalf of the United States of America,” Thornridge began, “I would like to apologize for your earlier treatment. The men are a little jumpy and scared right-”

“Scared!” shouted Rainbow as she jumped to her feet. “They’re scared? I have no idea where I am or what the hay you guys are. I wake up in here with no clue on how I got here and the last guy who came in here pulled a weapon on me. And you are the ones who are scared?”

Thornridge didn’t flinch in the slightest at her outburst. He understood what she was saying and couldn’t really blame her for being angry. Anyone would.

“Do you have a name?” he asked.

“Of course I have a name. A really awesome one too! It’s Rainbow Dash!”

“Alright Miss Dash, please try and see this from our point of view. My people have never seen anything like you before. Some believe that you’re a scout or a spy of an invading army.” Rainbow opened her mouth, but no words came out. She understood what he was saying. When Nightmare Moon had shown up in Ponyville she had accused Twilight of being a spy. If she were in their hooves (or feet) she might have done the same thing. “But there is the chance that you aren’t a threat. Until we can make an assessment of your intents you will have to stay here.” Rainbow paled.

“In here?” asked Rainbow as she looked around the room. “Look Mr.-”

“Thornridge. General Kenneth Thornridge of the U.S. Air Force.”

“Ok look, I’m a Pegasus! I can’t be locked in here. I’ll go crazy!”

“If we determine that you aren’t a threat we will allow you some extra room. But for the meantime I’ll try to make your stay here a bit more comfortable.” Rainbow let out a sigh. She could tell that she was going to be here for a while.

XXX

Jack Valdar sighed as he swept up the stables. He was a man in his mid-thirties with long, shaggy blond hair. Even though he had just gotten up his jeans as well as his red plaid shirt were already filthy.

As he worked he cursed his foolish decisions. Growing up, he had only ever wanted to be a magician. He had wanted to be one so badly that when he was fifteen he did the stupidest thing ever: he ran away from home and joined the circus. He had foolishly believed that they could help him fulfill his dream. And now, fifteen years later, he was still sweeping manure.

“Working hard Jack,” came a thundering voice behind him. Jack turned around to see Mr. Leo, the owner and ringmaster of the circus. As he walked into the stable, Jack noticed that he was in full business attire, a grey suit with a matching tie. In his right hand he held a cane.

“Something I can do for you sir,” said Jack. He had known Mr. Leo for years. Ten years ago he had promised Jack that one day he would get his chance to perform. That day had yet to come.

“I got us a new act,” said a smiling Mr. Leo. “I believe that she’ll really help us bring in the families. Plus, she’s willing to work for cotton candy!” Jack frowned when he heard this. It was only slightly out of jealousy. It was more due to the fact that Mr. Leo had once again coned another poor soul into working for almost nothing.

He was about to open his mouth to say something, but stopped when a bouncing pink pony entered the tent.

“Hi I’m Pinkie Pie,” it said in a sing song voice. “I’m going to be staying here for a while. Isn’t that great? Do you like parties? Who am I kidding, every pony loves parties. I know we should have a ‘Welcome to the Circus’ party!”

“Pinkie,” interrupted Mr. Leo. “This is Jack. He will be taking care of you while you’re here. Now I have to run and get ready for the show. You two should get to know each other better.” With that, Mr. Leo left the tent leaving behind a grinning Pinkie Pie and a frozen Jack who still had his mouth open.

XXX

Fluttershy was a pony of many fears. She was afraid of heights. She was afraid of sudden noises. She was afraid of…well almost everything. In fact it would have been fastest to name the few things that she wasn’t afraid of. But somewhere near the top of this very long list was the fear of being watched.

Currently she was in a room with over two hundred people, all watching her. The room looked rundown with several doors on both sides. There were no windows for her to try and escape and the only doors that led to the outside were at the other end of the room. Right now she was trapped. She could only imagine what these creatures would do to her.

“All hail Lady Fluttershy,” came a female voice. Suddenly all the people in the room began to bow on their hands and knees before looking up at her again. Fluttershy gulped, wondering what was going on.

“Lady Fluttershy, is everything to your liking?” asked the same woman who had spoken before but in a quieter voice. Fluttershy looked up at the woman who had the appearance of someone who had been in the forest for weeks without bathing. Her red hair was a mess and her clothing was filthy.

“Ah, everything is fine Amber,” squeaked Fluttershy. She then looked at all the people bowing before her. “But it’s just that all this seems a bit much just for me.”

“If anything this isn’t enough Lady Fluttershy,” replied Amber as she looked at the gathering. “As the herald of Gaia, you deserve so much more!”

“Excuse me but-.”

“The Children of Gaia have waited for a sign that our Goddess would bless our efforts. And now she has sent us you Lady Fluttershy. With you at our side we will double our efforts against those who treat this world with such disrespect!”

“About that. I’m-.”

“With you, we will stop the destruction of the forests! The pollution of the skies! The killing of poor, innocent animals!”

“If you would…wait a moment,” said a shocked Fluttershy. “Poor, sweet innocent animals are being killed? That’s awful!”

“It is,” said Amber somberly. “Some are raised and then killed for food while others are hunted in the wild only to be stuffed before being mounted on a wall. There are also animals that are used as test animals for various products and drugs.”

Fluttershy’s jaw dropped in horror before tears began to appear in her eyes. She knew that some animals killed in order to survive. But the thought of killing for sport or a trophy was a horrific thought for the yellow Pegasus. And using animals in any kind of experiment was just wrong.

“I-It’s just so wrong,” sniffed Fluttershy. “We have to stop them.”

“And we will,” assured Amber gently. In front of them, members of the Children of Gaia began to nod their heads in agreement. “We shall do everything in our power to stop them, no matter the cost. But may I be so bold as to suggest that you get some rest? We have a lovely garden full of animals set up for you.”

“That would be lovely,” said Fluttershy through a half smile. As Amber led Fluttershy away, the Children of Gaia began to move towards the doors at the sides of the room. Each one was opened to reveal a storehouse of rifles and explosives. Slowly, the Children of Gaia began to arm themselves.

XXX

Rarity’s head hurt as she opened her eyes. She found herself in a dirty room full of half made jewelry. Some hung on racks while others were littered on filthy tables. There was also trash all over the place. A food wrapper here and an empty gallon of milk over there. This place was an absolute nightmare!

Standing above her was her capture. He was an old man with a thin frame and, in her opinion, poor fashion sense. He was wearing a pink button up shirt, kaki’s, and red suspenders. Currently he was looking down at her with a look of superiority.

They had met last night after Rarity had found the man’s jewelry. Once she turned around they both jumped back in shock at the others appearance. Deciding to do the right thing and not anger the creature, Rarity handed the man his jewelry with a heartfelt apology. The man, still reeling at what he was seeing, accepted them and slowly gave his thanks.

That might have been the end of the encounter; however Rarity noticed that one of the pieces had fake gems. Raising an eyebrow the man asked if she was sure. To answer this the white unicorn’s magic flared up, lifting the jewelry closer to herself. She then proceed to not only show which ones were fake but also the quality of the real ones.

Once she was done the man thanked her and offered her a place to stay for the night. Not having many options Rarity accepted the offer. However, as soon as she walked through the front door she felt something strike the back of her head before everything went dark.

And now they were here.

“About time you got up,” said the old man. “Now you can get to work.”

“How dare you!” snapped Rarity as she got up. She tried to approach him but found she couldn’t. She was chained to the wall by an iron color around her neck. “Is this how you treat a lady?”

“No,” said the man as he moved over towards a work bench. “This is how I treat animals and monsters.” He then grabbed a bunch of jewelry, walked back over to Rarity, and dumped it in front of her. “I want to know which ones are real and which ones aren’t. And I want it done tonight!”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. Who did he think he was dealing with? He was just another greedy creature, looking to exploit her skills. Well he was in for a surprise. Compared to the Diamond Dogs, he was not the least bit intimidating.

“First of all that is not how you ask some pony for a favor,” began Rarity. “You should at least start by asking their name or introducing yourself. Saying please also helps greatly. Also, my dear, calling another an animal doesn’t help matters either. But I am willing to forget all that if you will be so kind as to provide me a cleaner work-.” Rarity got no further before she was struck so hard it knocked her to the ground. She brought a hoof to her mouth and realized she was bleeding.

“Animals that don’t do what their told don’t eat,” said the man coldly. He then pulled out a knife and pressed it against her throat. “And animals that don’t learn the rules quickly get put down. Understand?”

Rarity nodded.

XXX

“Mornin’ Mrs. Hutchess,” said Apple Jack as said woman entered the kitchen. “I made breakfast.”

“Apple Jack, you didn’t have to do that,” said the old blind woman. While she couldn’t see anything she could smell the sliced apples, pancakes, and eggs.

“Least I could do ma’am with you letting me stay here an all.” Mrs. Hutchess said nothing as she walked towards the table. Apple Jack moved to help her sit down but the old apple farmer was a step ahead of her. With little to no effort she found her seat and sat down. Then, using her hands, she began to feel for the fork and knife.

“Still think you should let me call the cops,” she said as she found the utensils. “Or we could call these friends of yours or your family. Must be worried about you right now.”

“They know I’ll be gone fer awhile,” said Apple Jack as she looked away. Mrs. Hutchess said nothing, she just stared in Apple Jack’s direction as she cut into her pancake and brought a piece to her mouth. In a way it unnerved the mare, as if she were looking right into her soul and knowing that she wasn’t being completely honest. “Just…just give my friends a little time to get here. Please?”

Mrs. Hutchess began to chew her food as she pondered what to do. She could tell from Apple Jack’s voice that she wasn’t telling her the whole story. In fact she sounded a little scared. Was she a runaway? Was she in trouble with the police? Whatever it was, she would give Apple Jack some time to come forward with the truth.

“Alright,” she said after swallowing. “I’ll give these ‘friends’ of yours some time. But until then I expect you to pull your weight around here. I don’t house lazy bones. Never have and never will.”

“Yes ma’am,” said a grinning earth pony. She was about to ask what she could do first when all of a sudden Mrs. Hutchess got up from the table. She then stormed her way to the front door in a fury. It was then that Apple Jack heard noises outside. Slowly and carefully she moved towards the window to peek out. Standing next to a strange wagon were two men. One looked like he was ready to start trouble while the other was in a suit and tie.

“Janet,” said the man in the suit in a false sweet voice. From what Apple Jack could see he looked a little on the heavy side with slicked back black hair. “How nice of you to come out to greet me. Can I assume that you are willing to be reasonable and sell this piece of dirt?”

“This ‘piece of dirt’ as you call it has been in my family for over a hundred years,” said Mrs. Hutchess. “There’s no way I’d sell it to the likes of you. Go build your mall somewhere else Millzard!”

“You know I’ll get this land sooner or later,” said Millzard with a grin. “Nearly all of the surround land belongs to me right now. The way I see it you can either sell it to me and live the rest of your days in a nice retirement community or I can buy it from auction when you finally kick the bucket. Personally, I’d like to get this done sooner than later.”

“Then I’ll make this simple,” said Hutchess. “Get off my property!”

Apple Jack watched closely to see what the two would do. She had expected Millzard to say something or order the other guy to do something. But all he did was whisper something into the other mans ear causing him to grin wickedly. The two then got into their wagon and drove away.

XXX

Breaking the news to Twilight hadn’t been easy. He had told her what Kat had shared with him and took it badly. She understood the significance of his words, that it could take years to find their home. Also here friends could be anywhere in this world and she had no idea where to find them! Naturally she blamed herself and asked for some time alone.

Andrew was now walking down the stairs to his store, wishing there was something he could have said to make her feel better. The truth, that it was an accident on both their parts, might have fallen on deaf ears or she would have shifted all the blame to him. He could have tried joking about it in order to make her laugh, but given the situation it might just make him seem heartless. In the end he believed that the best thing he could do right now was give her some time alone.

When he got to the ground floor Andrew couldn’t help but notice that the store window was covered in green flyers. Frowning, Andrew walked over to the door, unlocked it, opened it, and walked out. His eyes narrowed when he saw that each flyer read ‘Those that shop here support the Devil!’. Furiously Andrew began to take them down and brought them all to the front counter.

Once that was done, he dialed the sheriff’s office.

“Sheriff Brandon speaking. How can I help you today?”

“I’d like a restraining order place on Mrs. Finkel,” said Andrew. “Do you know what she put up on my store?”

“Let me guess,” said the sheriff with a sigh. “She put up some flyers without your consent. We’ve already gotten several similar complaints since I got in. The guys down at McDonalds got ‘Parents who eat here support obesity’.”

“So are you going to do anything about this?” demanded Andrew.

“I’ll have a talk with her and explain that she just can’t put up flyers without permission. But if you want a restraining order you’ll have to go down to the courthouse and fill out the paperwork.”

With a sigh, Andrew hung up the phone. It was so aggravating. How could one person that no one really liked get away with something like this? It made no sense!

Deciding to contact the court house later, Andrew began to throw away the paper. By the time he was halfway done the door opened. Looking up, Andrew was only lightly shocked to see who it was. It was Mr. Holt, the town mayor. The man had a long, white beard that looked a little like the one Santa would have. Sadly, that was the only hair he had. Today Andrew noticed that he was in a light blue business shirt and matching pants.

“Good morning Andrew,” he said in a somewhat cheerful tone. “I heard you had a little trouble with Mrs. Finkel.”

“From what I’ve heard I’m not the only one,” said Andrew with a sigh. “Anyways, it’s a good thing you’re here. I finished the plans the other night and was planning on brining them to your office as soon as I could. This just makes it easier.” Clare had two major fall events. The first was the annual Donut Festival and the second was the Halloween Parade. They had found out that this year Food Network was going to be doing a special for the Donut Festival. This was a big thing for the town and everyone was helping out in someway.

Andrew was given a job he excelled at, make a haunted maze! The idea was that once more people began to come to Clare, they could keep them coming back with their festivities. So, during the Donut Festival, they would be advertising the haunted maze and hoped people would show up for that as well. And no one got more into the spirit of Halloween like Andrew.

“About that,” said the mayor as his face fell. “I felt I should come and tell you in person. Halloween has been canceled.”

“W-What?” asked a shocked Andrew. “Why?”

“There was a town meeting last night,” said Holt. “Mrs. Finkel attended, like she always does, and went to work making a storm. You know how she is. Anytime anyone tried to stand up to her she just glared them down or reminded them of some past failure. She went on and on about how Halloween is evil because it promotes evil thoughts as well as obesity. Then she went onto the Donut Festival! By the end of the night there was a vote and…no one wanted to get one her bad side. Both events are canceled.”

“But how could you let that happen?!”

“You think I like this anymore than you do?” demanded Holt as he raised his voice a little too high. “There was a vote and we had to go with the majority. I have to honor it and enforce it.”

“So, no trick or treater’s?” asked Andrew who already felt he knew what the answer was.

“No,” said the mayor sadly as he shook his head. “There’ll be another vote in a couple of weeks, but it’ll most likely be the same.”

Andrew looked down at the ground. It just seemed so unfair. This year he had planned on making people costume made costumes to help promote the store. He was going to decorate the store with legendary creatures from all over the world. All his plans gone thanks to one hate filled woman.

He wanted to rebel, fight this somehow in some way. Then, an idea hit him. Maybe he could plan a secret Halloween party. He would have to find someplace secret, but he had time. And what was the worse that could happen? A fine? And maybe if the people of Clare saw how much the kids wanted to keep their Halloween then maybe they would fight for it too.

Suddenly there was a loud thump upstairs followed by a shout. Both men looked up at the stairs before they heard a large crash.

“I think someone’s upstairs,” said Holt as he moved towards the stairs. “We’d better find out just to make sure.”

Panic flowed through Andrew like a river. Once the mayor got upstairs he would see Twilight! He would ask questions! Questions that he could not answer. Not knowing what else to do, Andrew snapped his fingers before he went up the stairs after the mayor.

When the two reached the top they found a teenage girl laying in the middle of the floor. She had long black hair with a pink and purple streak. She was also wearing a purple shirt with a star on it and jeans. The girl looked at the two in confusion that mirrored the mayors.

“Andrew, do you know this girl?”

“Yes,” replied Andrew. “Her name is Twilight.”