Chronicles of an Unknown World - The Awakening

by Blue Blaze {COMET}

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Adventure, Tragedy, Human, Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Main 6
Length: 84311

Twilight and Applejack find a strange meteor that crash lands into Sweet Apple Acres. Soon after, Ponyville suffers from a great thunderstorm. Against all odds, Twilight must survive the end of the world and save Equestria... with a human.

While walking through Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight and Applejack come across a crash landed meteor. Soon after, all hell breaks loose in Ponyville while Twilight's trying to put the puzzle pieces together. It doesn't help the Element of Magic when she has to deal with an alien species dropping off in the middle of nowhere and becoming her responsibility.

Meanwhile, meet Griffin Pearsons, an intelligent, foul-mouthed teenager. To his surprise, he wakes up in a bed that's not his own, in a room that's not his own and with members of an alien species that are not of his own. He soon finds himself in a slew of events that leads to the end of Equestria itself, with him stuck in the dead center of it.

Why did the meteor crash into Equestria? Where did the storm come from, and why does it seem like its getting worse? Why aren't the Pegasus ponies controlling the weather? And what are the Royal Sisters' opinions about all this?

But the one question Griffin is asking himself is,

Will he ever be able to get back home?

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A HiE (Human in Equestria) story.

Rated Teen for lots of swearing that occurs starting chapter 1, imagery and light violence.

Heads up, the human character will NOT become a pony in this story.

Chapters "Prologue" through "Journey" in progress to be re-written!

Published 2012-01-10 07:52:40 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-25 23:16:58 UTC

Chapter 1: First Encounters, Part 2

Note: thoughts are in italics and parenthesis.

{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}

“Twilight! Wha… What did you just do???”

Fluttershy was appalled as she just witnessed Twilight step forward and cast a spell towards the awakened alien. A few moments ago, he was screaming out in terror, and Fluttershy figured it was due to post-injury trauma of some sort. (But then again, it could of also been because it’s never seen a pony before, and it was just scared for its life) Fluttershy rationalized.

During the middle of its little freak-out, Twilight immediately drew her magic powers towards herself and cast a powerful paralysation spell. Unfortunately, the spell hit the alien so hard that his neck snapped back from the blow with a sickening crack. Both ponies knew that Twilight may have just killed the first alien to step into Equestria, but that didn’t really concern Twilight. All she knew was that the creature subdued, therefore it no longer posed a threat to her and her friend’s safety, or in fact Ponyville’s safety, and that was good enough for her.

“Twilight Sparkle, you WILL tell me what you just did to the poor, defenseless alien, right now!” Fluttershy quietly demanded, delicately stomping her hoof on the floor.

Twilight did a double take. “Poor? Defenseless??? Fluttershy, for all you could know, that ‘thing’ could have eaten us! Obviously, it was about to attack, so before it could harm any of us, I cast paralyze spell. We can’t take any chances with an alien, especially since it potentially threatens the peace of Ponyville!”

Fluttershy made a face of disbelieve. “But Twilight, it was just probably scared or exerting some post-traumatic emotions… or…something...”

Twilight eyed Fluttershy with a doubtful look. Fluttershy returned the gesture by presenting herself more bashful than usual.

“Well, you know what I mean! That spell was unnecessary, and I expect you to reverse it as soon as possible!... please?”

Twilight sighed. “Fine, but I’ll only heal it ONCE I’ve figure out if it has any booby-traps on its body or not.”

“Oh, I’m sure that he’s fine. Here, I’ll show you!” Fluttershy began to walk towards the creature slumped on the floor…

“Fluttershy, wait!-“

Twilight reached out in a feeble attempt to stop Fluttershy from approaching the body of the alien and lightly poking it with her front right hoof. The purple mare backed up and prepared to cast a shield spell along the room just in case anything on the creature’s body blew up or not. Fluttershy didn’t even blink twice when she felt the tip of her hoof squish against the skin of the organisms left arm. Both ponies waited patiently for a few seconds, expecting SOMETHING to happen. But, nothing in the current setting changed, so Twilight let go of the breath that she didn’t even realize she was holding. Then, she began to speculate that the alien might have triggered some kind of illusion when Fluttershy touched it so that they wouldn’t notice any difference in scenery at all when in reality she and Fluttershy were being choked to death by the alien’s killer robotic octopus arms.

Her thoughts got interrupted her thoughts when the yellow Pegasus spoke:

“See? There’s nothing to be afraid of. He’s just a little lost alien that had a little freak out scene when he saw other beings that he couldn’t recognize! He wouldn’t harm a fly! All you need to do Twilight is have a little faith that not everything from outer space is evil!”

Twilight took another second to think for herself. She looked up to see Fluttershy sitting beside the alien making the widest smile she could muster. The shy Pegasus’s argument made sense. If she was suddenly in another world with no explanation, she would have probably spazzed out like the organism did too. In addition, Fluttershy had already come into contact with the space being, and so far, had gained no visible damage to herself, somewhat proving that the alien was most likely, safe.

Furthermore, what would it cost her to have a small bit of faith in the alien?

(Actually, it might cost a lot, but still, I have to keep Fluttershy’s opinion with an open mind!) Twilight determined.

“Ok Fluttershy, you’ve slightly convinced me that he holds no harm to Ponyville, but that still doesn’t mean that I’m not going to scan him with a few spells!”

“Oh dear…” Fluttershy faintly whispered as she shuffled herself to the side when Twilight grabbed a hold of the alien with her telekinetic grip. “Please, be careful with him…”

(We don’t even know if it’s a ‘him’ or not…) pondered Twilight.

The purple unicorn guided the alien’s limp body back to a resting position on the bed once again. After, she brought all her focus to the physical scanning spell she was about to cast. Her horn shined throughout the room, creation a purple light show across the mahogany walls. Fluttershy watched Twilight’s magic from behind the purple mare, silently praying to Celestia that nothing would go wrong in the scanning process. Once she was ready, Twilight released her magical energy and spread it over the organism’s body, allowing her to examine every physical shape, curve and crevice that the alien had to offer.

As she observed the creature’s legs and arms with her mind’s eye, she noticed that compared to an ape’s (which she was basing her assumptions on), this creature’s muscles were abnormally developed. Also, its feet were definitely were unlike an ape’s, and its brain was substantially larger than the average anthropoid. When she checked the contents of its jaw, she frowned to identify a pair of healthy looking teeth that were clearly made to grind meat, but also consume vegetables.

Twilight opened her eyes, coming to the conclusion that there was nothing harmful on the organism’s body, except for a few muscles that could pack a powerful buck if they wanted to. She glanced one last time at the visual aspect of the alien’s body. It seemed so calm, so peaceful, as if it was having a pleasant dream.

(Well, we’ll soon find out if peace is in it’s true nature, won’t we?) Twilight rhetorically asked herself.

Twilight turned to face Fluttershy. “Ok, I’m done physically scanning over his body, and… I found no traps or threats.”

“Yay!” Fluttershy squealed in delight as she fluttered her wings and daintily clapped her hooves together.

“BUT, I still have one more test to go over…”

“Aww…” Fluttershy immediately wilted on spot.

“…And that’s the magical energy scan…”

Twilight turned to face the organism once again. As she started to gather and store up the magical energy around her, she felt her chest tighten. She was absolutely terrified about how this next test would go. Although it would give her a great idea of what exactly it was capable of in terms of magic, there was a certain level of danger that came along with progressing with the test. If the creature had too much magic for her to handle all at once, or if it had some kind of immensely potent defense-reaction spell locked up in its mind, then there was no telling what could happen to her after she cast her spell. Twilight was about to pull out and find a different method to find its arcane abilities when…

"Have a little faith."

Fluttershy's words rang out in Twilight's head, filling the hesitant pony with courage and resolve. She scrunched up her face as she released the magic from her horn.

Her body relaxed as half of her consciousness was brought into her brain to inspect the magical aura before her. It seemed that the spell went without a hitch, giving Twilight much needed relief. But, it also seemed she counted her chickens before they hatched, as she found a sudden weakness in her knees. Next thing she knew, she was collapsing with the world spinning around her. The walls and ceiling of her own tree house were bleeding together in a greyish-brown blur. She heard a worried “Twilight!” somewhere in the distance, and then proceeded to fall over on her side while spotting a yellow blob in the corner of her eye right before she blacked out.

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Chapter 1: First Encounters, Part 3

{*Omniscient point of view, who knows where*}

Nothingness. That was all she could see.

Twilight was floating in a white limbo that was her mind. Since she had just collapsed unconscious, her mind was a blank, waiting for some kind of command to happen.

“Where… am I?” her voice echoed. “What… What is this place? I can’t… think straight… Am I home?”

An image of the Ponyville library flashed right in front of her. She winced, as the memory then became the dorms for Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns. That picture was quickly replaced by one that she held dear to herself: her birth home. She could see her mom and dad, waving, waiting for her to come and have a snack. Twilight couldn’t even begin to walk towards her parents until the scene around her changed again. This time, she was standing in the outskirts of Ponyville.

The confused unicorn’s eyes was continuously filled with various nostalgic images, each one she called her ‘home’ at some point in time. Next thing she knew, one thought quickly led to another. She looked back at her teacher, Princess Celestia and then unwillingly browsed through the quickly-changing memories of the princess and herself. Her thoughts of the princess led her to analyze her battle with her sister, Princess Luna, who at one point in her life was Nightmare Moon. Another bust of light led the purple pony to her photographic memory of her friends. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity were all flung into her consciousness at the same time. The number of picture that was related to her past started to grow. She started to witness ten recollections all at once!

“Stop it… Nggh, stop it…”

Twilight clutched her head in agony, twisting her body every time another piece of her history flew by her. There was just too much information and data for the poor unicorn to handle! Her head pounded and ached, feeling like it was threatening to explode from massive overexposure to information. The pressure against her temples was slowly edging its way to unbearable levels.

“No… Stop it… Stop, that’s too much… No… It hurts, that’s hurting me!... No, stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!”

Magical energy blasted from Twilight’s horn, dismissing the scenery around her back to its original white plain of oblivion. When her eyes opened, she sighed a breath of relief. Then, she continued to survey the area, trying her best not to think about anything at all just in case the previous event would repeat again For a reason that she was unaware of, Twilight had a deep hatred for the white dimension that she currently existed in.

Suddenly, a strange blue light caught the corner of her eye. The investigative pony turned her neck to find a small glowing ball of indigo light, slightly bobbing up and down a few feet away from her. Sparks of navy blue light was falling from the luminescent wonder. She stared at it, curiosity filling the corners of her brain. It started to glide towards her, as if attracted to Twilight’s thoughts about it. She continued to stare at its progression towards herself until it lightly touched the tip of her muzzle. She flung her head back, letting a little “Oh!” escape her lips while back flipping. Her nose felt strangely warm from coming into contact with the unidentified floating object. Her interest getting the better of her, she willed herself upright again and reached out with her right foreleg to touch it. As soon as it graced the aura of the light-emitting ball, it flung her backwards, filling her with thoughts of happiness, peace,  tranquility and several other positive emotions. She giggled, and then willed herself to move towards the blue orb. It seemed to acknowledge her thoughts, as it too began to move towards the smiling unicorn.

Next, both the pony and the ball of glowing energy began to play a game of tag. It was just a simple, fun game of tag. Nothing more, nothing less. There were no complicated rules, guidelines or strategies to follow. All Twilight had to do was pursue the orb until she touched it, which then she would fly away from it, trying to keep a good distance between it and herself until the aura came into contact with her. During this exciting event, Twilight was reminded of the more straightforward times of her past, when she didn’t have to fret about paying taxes or up keeping the library or even sending in a friendship report once in a while. No, all she had to do was play tag and enjoy it.

And enjoy it she did. Emotions of joy, carelessness and bliss ran through her mind while she flew around at the speed of light. The purple pony bore a smile that she has never truly re-experienced since she was a young filly. Giggling and laughing, there was nothing in the entire universe that could bring her feelings down. She felt like she stood tall at the top of the world! And she was proud of it.

Then, the blue circular object stopped moving.

“Huh?” Twilight said aloud as her momentum grinded to a halt. She stared at it once more, asking herself why the ball suddenly stopped like this. Then, all of a sudden, it started pulsing, glowing more harshly than before and emitted a strange bell like sound. It started growing in size, as well as its colour turning more towards a white than an indigo. The floating unicorn squinted her eyes, trying to keep contact with the energy that was morphing before her. Just as she was lifting her forelegs up to protect her vision, the now giant ball of energy exploded, filling Twilight with magical and physical energy she had never felt before. As her sub-conscious started awakening, she heard one single sentence shout out, one which had the voice of a teenaged colt.

“Take care now, ya hear?”

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{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}

Meanwhile, in real time Equestria, Fluttershy was having a panic attack. Seeing one of her best friends suddenly collapse and fall unconscious onto the floor was definitely not one of the most calming things in the world. She tried to shake her violet friend awake while shouting meekly, but to no avail.

“Twilight, oh Twilight! Please wake up! Please! Wake up!”

After a few seconds, Fluttershy understood that she would have to take a different approach to resurrect her purple friend. She put her ear next to Twi’s face, listening carefully. She had a sudden gasp of fright, realizing that there were no sounds of breathing. She frantically placed her hoof on Twilight’s neck, feeling for a pulse. She waited for a few seconds. There was none.

“Oh no, Twilight, no… Are you… Are you?”

The shy Pegasus started to sob quietly. Her eyes started to leak even more as realization hit her.

“No, please, don’t be… Please don’t be… Twilight…”

She took one more look at Twilight’s sleeping face.

“NO! PLEASE! PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD TWILIGHT!”

“*GASP*”

Fluttershy broke out into a crying fit. She collapsed onto Twilight’s body, bawling onto her friend’s fine purple coat. She was murmuring unintelligible nonsense, except for “No”, “Please” and “Don’t be”. While all this was happening, Twilight opened her eyes and inhaled a large amount of moist library air. Her eyes focused and identified what was her library’s ceiling.  Revitalized, she looked down towards her stomach, feeling a heavy pressure on it lower abdomen. Shocked, she watched her yellow Pegasus friend cry all over her.

“Umm… Fluttershy? Are you alright?”

Fluttershy thought she was hearing her deceased friend’s voice, but when she sat up and saw Twilight awake and alive, a humongous grin broke onto her face.

“OH! TWI-TWILIGHT!” she said, wrapping the unicorn’s head into a death hug. “I’M S-S-SO HAPPY THA-THAT YO-YOU-UR ALIVE! THANK CEL-CELES-ESTIA!”

Twilight yelled a muffled voice while trying to push Fluttershy off of her suffocating muzzle. “Well, I will be dead, if you keep this up!” she thought to herself.

“Oh! I’m s-sorry!” Fluttershy quickly backed away. “I-I-I just thou-ght that-that you w-w-were dead, because you-ou were-weren’t breath-ing and you-you had no pul-lse…”

“I had no pulse?” Twilight asked.

“Yes! And-and I had no id-idea what to do-o, because I-I-I don’t have medi-medi-cal training with pon-ies, and I cou-couldn’t lea-leave you lying here be-cause I didn’t kn-ow what wou-ould hap-p-pen if I left to-to get help, an-and it was-s-s still rainin-ing outside, an-and…”

“Shh… It’s alright… I’m ok now…”

Fluttershy felt herself being hugged by a very caring Twilight Sparkle. The emotionally disturbed Pegasus allowed herself to cry into her friend’s shoulder for a few seconds before trying to get ahold of herself again. When she was ready, she backed away a few steps again and pitched her question at the librarian before her.

“So… You’re fine?”

“Yeah, I’m fine! In fact, now that I think about it, I’ve never felt better! I feel amazing!” Twilight did a small lap around the room, jumping over the bed to show her enthusiasm and good health. “It kinda makes me doubt that I WAS un-conscious and not breathing! Because wow! I just feel so… Energetic!”

Twilight practically bounced on spot when she said “Energetic”.

“This is what Pinkie Pie must feel every second of her life! Cuz’ I just feel great! Woo hoo!”

Fluttershy looked at Twilight strangely. Even though her unicorn friend WAS alive and NOT dead, it kind of made her wonder if anything happened to her while she was un-conscious.

“Umm… Are you sure that that alien did nothing to you after you preformed that test-spell thingy?”

Twilight frowned. (She’s right, I’ve never felt this high-spirited and enthusiastic before! Did something really happen to me while I blacked out? Maybe it had to do something about that dream I had with the blue ball…)

She looked towards the still un-conscious alien, slumped against the wall. Its expressing was nothing out of the ordinary, and it didn’t exactly pass the magical energy test, so what was Twilight’s next step in her plan? Then, for some strange reason, her vision blanked out for a second. This time, she could see the alien, except this time it was awake, standing up, smiling, and had the blue ball of energy floating inside of its body. When she came to, she smiled and turned around to Fluttershy to give her answer.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that the alien did nothing harmful to me. I’m…” Twi took a deep breath. “…I’m alright. Now, I’m going back downstairs to continue my research on this creature. Can you tuck it back into the bed?”

Fluttershy saw the old Twilight that she knew and loved back where it belonged.

“Ok.” She responded.

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Chapter 1: First Encounters, Part 4

{*First-Person, Main Character*}

Sleepy.

That’s what I was feeling at this moment. And not the kind of “not-enough-sleep” sleepy, but the “It’s-way-too-early-for-this-B.S.” sleepy. At the same time, I didn’t feel like I was awakening from a normal slumber. No, this time, I felt a bit… different. A bit, oh, I dunno, out of place? I had no idea why I was thinking that, but it was my gut feeling talking, not my-

Wait just a second here! Haven’t I already done this before? I mean, this entire thought process of thinking that everything around me’s out of whack… I’ve done this before, right? I have an absurd feeling of déjà vu right now…

Ok, time to check a few things. Waking up from some kind of slumber? Check. Still too early to wake up and smell the roses? Check. Head pounding and some kind of hard, painful pressure on my temples? Check and check. Wait. That last check doesn’t sound right. What’s going on here? Not only do I have a terrible feeling that this has all happened before, but my head a hurtin’ real bad right now!

Technically, my mind is still waking up from whatever happened to me before I was awake. My eyes were heavy, my limbs were uncooperative and memory somewhat groggy. I wasn’t ready to face what kind of day I would have ahead of me. But yet, I forced my sub-conscious to hurry up and finish the start-up process already. Why? Because I had an ominous feeling sitting in my stomach.

The feeling in my arms and legs rushed up to me all at once. The sounds of the environment around me caught up to my ears like there were racing cars passing me by. The distinct odor of pine and wood filled my nose and my lungs. That’s when I suddenly recalled that I was (maybe) being held captive (I’m not exactly sure) in some kind of building. I quickly opened my eyes, panicking and turning on fight or flight mode.

I tried my best to examine what was right in front of me, but was somewhat difficult to do so, seeing as there were no light sources anywhere in the room. Anyways, the ceiling above me was a light brown, smooth and had rings looping all over the surface. Without moving my head, I looked to my right. From the corner of my sight, I could barely make out a row of books that was sitting in a bookshelf high up on the wall. There was a brown wooden door in the far right corner from where I was lying. To the right of me was a plain old wooden wall with a window that currently had curtains covering it.

At that point in time, my past was truly starting to reveal itself to me. I sat up a bit, grasping the bed’s sheets beneath me. It felt the same as before. When I looked down, my legs were still painfully dangling down from the edge of the bed frame, just like before. The blankets were the same dark red colour, JUST LIKE THEY WERE BEFORE. I guess I haven’t changed location since the last time I saw those colourful donkey-like things that COULD TALK AND HAD HUGE ASS EYES! DANG! NOW I REMEMBER! NOW I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!

Well, almost everything. I still can’t remember what happened to me before I ended up here, BUT THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT! I remember that I was steadily waking up from a peaceful rest, sensing that something was wrong. Then, I heard voices. When I opened my eyes, I found out that the voices CAME FROM FREAKIN’ QUAD-PEDAL OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT ALIENS! One was a vibrant yellow, while the other was a pleasant purple, which ARE TWO COLOUR THAT A LIVING BEING SHOULD NOT BE COLOURED IN! I remember freaking out, and then they were trying to calm me down. I snapped.

Presently, I smirked, seeing as how before I passed out I had a moment of insanity. Well, that’s just great! (being sarcastic here). I’ve completely blown my chances at making any good impressions towards these new alien creatures that probably found me and took me in to care for me! That’s just dandy! Freaking out like a COMPLETE LUNATIC was DEFINITELY one of my finer moments!

Speaking of taking me in for care, they didn’t do anything freaky to me while I was asleep, did they? The looked like the kind of aliens that would prod other beings with tubes or something. Or maybe, they took out my organs, re-arranged them and put them back into my body to see if I would still live! Or, maybe, instead… Oh, man! They might have conducted a radioactive experiment! I might be some kind of sick, twisted mutant now

I threw of the blankets that were on top of me, check to see if my body has changed since the last time I checked it.  Then, I sighed a breath of relief. Whew! Thank goodness! My clothes are still intact! I’m hoping that they just didn’t bother with the full body examination and left my apparel on, but then again, they may have just took them off, examined me like a creeper and then put my clothes back on. I checked the back of my hands to see if they were ok. They were. I followed up by wiggled my toes and examining the visual response through my white socks. Next, I looked down my shirt. There were no visible operation scars, stitches or burns that I could identify. Finally, I quickly took a look down my pants. Nothing new there, so then I deemed it that at least for the most part they left me alone, not re-arranging my body parts or anything like that.

Well, if they did do some kind of strange experiment on me, I’ll sure find out soon…

I proceeded to swing my legs off the end of the bed frame, wincing as I was doing so. My bad knees were acting up again, so I took a second to massage my kneecaps, trying to get the pain and swelling out of the area. Taking a long yawn and stretch, I really started to pay attention to the scene and atmosphere around me.

This strange, abnormally colourful and cartoonish world I was in definitely had some interesting aspects to it. All the sounds of this world stayed constant to Earth; the bed creaked when I shifted my weight on it, the sheets made shuffling noises when I moved and there were the sound of raindrops angrily smacking into the window on the wall behind me. Otherwise, the colour saturation and exposure to light was all wrong.

Suddenly aware of the ambiance around me, I quickly recognized the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting something. I turned my head to inspect the wall behind me, which adorned a single window, which was currently covered up by a pair of curtains. Just by the light coming in from the window I could tell that there were some dark clouds outside, and the rain would probably last quite a while, if not get worse.

I stood up. Legs straight, I did another little stretch, just to check that all my body parts were working properly. Then, I took my first step towards the bookshelf that was on the wall to the right of the bed.

I started to read the titles that were on the spines of the books in the bookshelf, when I realized that I couldn’t. All these books were in a different language! What’s worse was that they were using characters that I’ve never seen before! What the heck is going on here! There were curves and line and symbols that looked like nonsense! Well, the characters are somewhat formed in some kind of organized fashion, meaning that it is certainly a language, but certainly not a language from earth! This definitely proves that I’ve arrived/have been captured and placed on to an alien planet! Or… something…

One eyebrow raised, I approached a crimson book with gobbledygook all over its spine. I pressed my index finger (which I noticed that I STILL could not see my knuckles folds on my skin!) on top of the pages, slowly sliding it back and getting a strange sensation from the tip of my finger. When I lifted it up, there was dust on the tip of my finger, meaning that these books have been sitting here undisturbed for a while. Also, this somewhat proves that there is a small level of detail in this planet, even though my surrounding are like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

I carefully took the book out from the bookcase and started shuffling through its contents. Of course, I didn’t understand anything that was in the book, but I figured that checking out the book’s contents wouldn’t hurt, especially if literature in this world has the same basic rules that Earth has: a book always contains valuable knowledge in some way, shape or form. Anyways, from what I could gather from the book’s pages, it was some kind of novel. There were no pictures inside the pages, there was a subtitle that was centered at the top of each page and the title graphic of the book was similarly fashioned to a novel back at home.

I put the book back onto the bookshelf delicately and with care. I then turned to my attention to the rest of the room. From there I considered my options of advancement. There was still the door in the corner of the room, which would likely lead me to a room where one of those donkey things are waiting/guarding me. I wasn’t willing to take a peek out of my room yet, so I looked at the curtain covered window.

Slowly approaching the blue fabric, I saw a flash of light come out from the window. It wasn’t like a car or a street light where it just lingers in place the longer you stand in one spot, oh no. It was a flash of lightning, one type of light that you will miss if you just blink at the wrong time. I knew that it was raining pretty hard outside because of the way the raindrops were pounding on the window pane, but I didn’t know it was a thunderstorm out there! Maybe it was just a light shower that had transformed into a storm. But that wouldn’t make any sense! Light showers don’t just suddenly change into water bombings! When it rains, it’s either a light or heavy rain. The thunder and lightning must mean that this storm is evolving into something fierce.

Once I reached the edge of the window, I heard the booming echo of the thunder trying to catch up to the lightning. I lightly pushed away the curtain to observe the world outside.

It was unbelievable. I appeared to be in a small village that was under attack by the forces of Mother Nature! There were small two-story buildings that adorned the sides of the streets. Each structure was either a different colour, a difference overall shape or a different architectural design when compared to its neighbor. If there’s one thing for sure, it the fact that the cartoonish look of everything around me applied to the streets and houses that I was gazing upon.

Remember when I said it was raining? Well, that was an understatement. Saying that it was POURING would be more appropriate terms to use. Everything in sight seemed to be soaked and currently drowning in the cloudburst that was still occurring. The road was covered in at least a centimeter of water altogether. There were no puddles to be found. Instead, I think that this entire town is just one humongous water pit! It also didn’t help that there was thunder and lightning coming from the sky every seven seconds or so. I can’t believe that I haven’t noticed this before! Was I really that caught up in examining a simple book?

I closed the curtains, and then turned to face away from the waterlogged streets. From here, I figured that I have two routes to take. I could either open up the window and escape, then run out of town, find a place to hide until I could find a way off this planet all while surviving the elements this world has to offer, or, I could open the door in the corner of the room and see what’s in store for me.

I decided to choose the latter option. I hastily but quietly shuffled to the wooden mahogany door, putting my head on the surface and listening for any activity on the other side. I squinted my eyes, barely making out the voices of two people talking. Dang, I am being guarded! What should I do now? My eyes gazed over the doorknob.

“Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.” I whispered to myself, grasping the door handle.

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Thank you for reading this part of chapter 1!

Chapter 2: Chasing Answers, Part 1

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 1

{*First-Person, Main Character*}

I slowly turned the door handle, making sure that if it was old then it wouldn’t squeak while turning, giving out my presents in the process. Strange enough, little to no sound was made during the action. I looked down at the knob, realizing that it was made of wood, just like the rest of my surroundings.

“Now how exactly does that work?” I asked myself silently. I try to push the door before realizing that I had to pull it instead. Carefully backing up, I bring the door towards myself with the utmost caution. Then, I take peek my head around the corner just enough to see what’s outside the room. I swiftly grasp the front tuff of my hair, paranoid that the poofy curls would stick out too much. My left eyebrow instinctively rises up, displaying my current curiosity to the scene that I’ve somehow gotten into.

My first thought was taking note of just how many books in this place. I mean, holy moly! There were just tons and tons of different kinds of literature scattered all throughout the place! Not only were there books on the bookshelves, but also on tables, windowsills, display mantels and the floor! It was kinda messy and looked to be dis-organised, but it was still an interesting sight to see. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many books in one place before! This has to be a library of some kind.

The sudden lighting that reflected off the room almost made me yelp, but for sure made me jump. I heard a squeal of fright coming somewhere below my location. I edge a bit more from the side of the door to see what exactly made that noise. I heard another small scream when the thunder came rolling around. I then spotted that stupid yellow donkey-alien thing from before when I woke up in the bed. It was trying hopelessly to hide from the storm’s noises by cringing behind a large, dark green reclining chair directly one floor below me. My eyes trailed to the other purple alien, who was currently looking through books that were abnormally floating in front of her face. In fact there were multiple books that it was looking through simultaneously. One book would fly towards its eyes and then would leave as another book would take its place. Another stranger fact was that all the books that were gliding around her were covered in some kind of purple aura, which was the same colour of aura that was coming off that strange horn on that head of its. I figured that there had to be some kind of connection between the two.

I appeared to be at the top of a long wooden staircase that extended to the main floor. At this point in time I officially declared that everything in this building was made out of wood. The floor, the ceiling, the walls, the doors; every single surface in this room was made of oak or some other wood of some kind. Heck, maybe it was some kind of otherworldly wood that I’ve never heard of! But anyways, I could see a door at one side of the room, a doorframe at the other, and in-between an array of books, scrolls, lamps, tables, chairs, sofa and aliens. The yellow alien was sitting in a plethora of furniture that consisted of a blue and dark violet sofa, a bright red beanbag, and a coffee table in the center of the U-shaped arrangement. Imbued in the wall in front of all said furniture was an actively burning fireplace, which made no sense because THE FIREPLACE WAS MADE OF WOOD. HOW DOES THAT WORK??? Everything in this place is made of wood, heck, more than half of the room is filled with books, so why isn’t this library a smoldering mess? I guess that’s one more thing to put in my list of ‘things that don’t make sense’.

My attention turned when I saw the yellow donkey-thing slowly get out of its hiding spot and daintily sit down on the recliner.

“This thunderstorm is getting pretty scary…”

“Mmm hmm.” The purple donkey agreed (at least I think it’s the purple one responding). It was still rapidly looking through different kinds of information sources.

“I mean, it’s getting really, REALLY scary…”

“Yeah, that’s nice.” Apparently, the purple alien wasn’t paying any attention what so ever to what its fellow alien had to say. What was she looking for that was important enough to ignore others?

“I’m kind of getting worried about Rainbow Dash. I know that she has a duty to lead the weather team up there, but I’ve never seen a rainstorm get so bad in my life, and I think it might be dangerous at this point…

“Ok…” was the only response the yellow thing got.

“Twilight, I’m serious! I’m really worried about Rainbow Dash! She could get hurt out there!”

“Well, with all due respect, I believe that there are far bigger matters to deal with right now. Besides, Rainbow’s a perfectly capable mare that can take care of herself.”

The yellow one looked both flustered and shocked. Whoa, that must’ve been some pretty big words to get a reaction like that. I wonder who this ‘Rainbow Dash’ is. Also, what the heck kind of name is ‘Rainbow Dash’???

I saw the purple alien (presumably Twilight) look up from its reading for a moment. It then kinda had a look when it was realizing something important, like ‘I forgot to buy milk’ or ‘I may have left the stove running’. From all I could tell, it was doing a LOT of thinking.

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{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}

Twilight ran her previous statement through her head. She then realized the weight of her words. How could she dismiss a matter like that so easily? Rainbow was one of her best friends! She SHOULD care about Rainbow’s health and current state of danger!

But, on the other hoof, there was really nothing she could do about it. There was no way she could contact Rainbow. She didn’t know any spells that could get Rainbow’s attention, she didn’t know where Rainbow was so she couldn’t use telepathy, and no mailmare would want to go out and fly in this weather! And besides, she wouldn’t want to bother her during her job, especially if Rainbow was successfully extinguishing the storm! Twilight didn’t want to be responsible if she accidently messed up some kind of weather team operation.

The unicorn went back to looking for any sign of what that bipedal alien could be.

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{*First-Person, Main Character*}

“Look, I understand your concern for Rainbow Dash, and trust me, I’m worried about her too. But really, there’s nothing I could do to change this situation. Well, at least change it for the better. All I can really do is do research and hope that Rainbow will come out of the storm ok.”

The purple alien (forget it, from now on I’ll be calling it ‘Twilight’ since that’s what the yellow alien called it) went right back to reading books, relaying its response to its comrade. She looked less appalled, and went right back to sulking in her chair. She looked pretty defeated. Was the thunderstorm outside THAT bad? Could they really do nothing to contact this ‘friend’ of theirs? Another thunderclap boomed outside, once again making the yellow thing and I jump from out spots. This time, I did yelp, quickly drawing the attention of the two aliens below me.

“Why, hello there!-“

I shrieked as I felt myself become weightless. I then flew out of my current hiding spot, flung into a wall that was not covered in books and held IN MID AIR. I tried to move my limbs freely, which I couldn’t, except for the slightest movements and my head. I twisted my neck, examining the rest of my body. They was glowing the same purple the books were! What the heck? I saw the yellow thing still sitting its spot wide-eyed while the purple alien hastily approach me.

“Look towards me!” the purple one ordered. I felt my neck get yanked to face my captor.

“Before you even do ANYTHING, I want to know that you’ve got my full co-operation, and that you won’t make any sudden movements to defend, attack or escape! Is that clear?”

“Ye-yes!” I answered. She looked surprised that I did. I guess that she didn’t expect me to speak her language. Wait, if she didn’t expect me to answer or even understand her demand, then why did she ask in the first place? Furthermore, how in earth (how ironic, I’m not sure if I’m on earth anymore) does this donkey-thing know how to speak English???

“So, do you swear to behave properly? And if you don’t, then I will be forced to take necessary DISARMING measures!”

“Yes, yes I swear!” What else could I do? I was pinned down by an unknown force inside an alien hideout! Even though I didn’t trust these creatures one bit, I had to play along, seeing as I had no power in this situation.

I felt myself drop to the ground. I wasn’t prepared for gravity to suddenly turn on, so I squealed and fell flat on my stomach. Not too soon after, I felt my wrists twist forcefully behind my back. Even though I was now free from that floating-aura that held me in place previously, my arms were now incapable of doing anything useful.

“Twilight, I thought you said that you trust it completely and it was harmless!” I heard the yellow one complain.

“Well, it will never hurt to take pre-cautions. And besides, I’ve slightly changed my mind. I don’t trust this organism exactly one-hundred percent.”

I looked up from the floor. I noticed that she only said “slightly” and “exactly” in its last sentence. That must mean that she has some kind of level of trust that I won’t hurt it in itself! Well, at least I hope it does, because I really do not have any intention of harming these donkey-things. Although they may have captured me and brought me here from Earth, they don’t seem to harmful, seeing as they didn’t defend my cell at all and they don’t have any kinds of weapons in their possession besides that strange flotation ability of theirs.

“Now, take a seat and get comfortable. I have a few questions to ask you.”

Thank you for reading this part of chapter one! Don't forget to leave some feedback, as it helps me improve as a writer.

Also. be sure to check out my blog on my user page for author's notes and updates!

Chapter 2: Chasing Answers, Part 2

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 2

Small Note: Words/Characters that are in parentheses and italics are thoughts.

{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}

The human looked up from his helpless pose from the library floor. He struggled to get to his feet because his arms were magically tied behind his back, preventing him from balancing himself out properly. The thunderstorm continued to dominate Ponyville, the echoes of its thunder strikes ringing throughout the local area. Wild lightning bolts struck a few houses just for the rainwater to douse the flames a few seconds later. Fluttershy once again flew behind a green chair, cowering at the might of nature’s wrath.

The human was slightly disturbed by the un-natural weather, but rain was the least of his problems. His mind rushed to calculate the best possible action he had at hand.

(Grr, these stupid aliens got me tied up somehow! I can’t really do a thing until I find a way to get my hands free! How the heck did they manage to bind my wrists in the first place? I didn’t even see them get three feet near me, let alone get close enough to do anything to my arms! Furthermore, how did they do that floating bullshit a few seconds ago? I couldn’t move a muscle! Is it some kind of technology? I don’t see any machines nearby, and besides, they don’t even have hands to operate any kinds of machinery! Is it sorcery? I have no idea. All I can do now is play along with whatever they want to do with me, providing that they don’t want to do anything SICK with me, and hope for the best.)

Twilight watched the human with a steady eye as he hobbled to a couch in the ring of furniture she set up. He plopped himself down and lied down on his side, then quickly switching to sitting because he was uncomfortable lying down on his own arms. Fluttershy peeked out from her hiding spot. Twilight trotted over to a brown recliner and sat down while levitating a bunch of items needed for her next step: interrogation.

The human watched in shock as Twilight’s horn glowed a brilliant purple when a stack of papers, a quill and a pot of ink floated over to the coffee table in the centre of the furniture. She was straightening out the papers when she noticed the human’s expression displaying surprise.

(What? How? It’s that same thing that happened with the candle in the guest room I was in before! That alien’s horn glowed and the candle glowed and then it flew back to its original position! Now that I think about it, that thing’s horn glowed when I was floating too! I’m positive that all the floating and flying has to do something with that horn! Wait, it’s looking directly at me. I better reset my expression…)

The human turned away and cleared his throat, trying to look like he wasn’t looking in the purple unicorn’s direction at all. Twilight raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly he was gawking at. Was it her magic? Didn’t it have magic in its world? All the questions she was asking herself, she would get to answer soon. In the corner of her eye, she saw Fluttershy meekly tip-hoof from behind the chair and sit back down on it. She kept her eyes hidden behind her long pink mane.

“First question.” Twilight announced, levitating a quill and dipping it into the ink pot. “What is the name of your species?”

In the back of Twilight’s mind, she knew that she could get all the answers she needed to know with a mind-probe, however, last time she did that she apparently died and went off to a strange white nothingness. Communicating with the creature was the only way to get some answers without trouble, assuming that the organism was co-operative with her questions.

Meanwhile, the human was also considering his answer carefully.

(Dang! Do I really have to answer questions? ‘Cause on one hand, if I answer the question honestly then it might use the knowledge against me later!... somehow. On the other hand, if I lie then I will have to remember that lie for the rest of the questions, and if I keep lying for the rest of the questions then I will have to remember multiple fake facts which I may or may not get mixed up later, thus blowing my cover and any remaining trust towards me! Or, I could go for the snappy comeback. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’ma go for the snappy comeback.)

“What is this, twenty questions or something?” The human retaliated, making the best Scout impersonation he could manage.

“Answer the question!” Twilight snapped.

“Ok, ok! Jeez…” (Dang, that didn’t work out well at all. Guess I’m going to have to go with plan B!) “I’m a human, or more specifically, a Homo Sapiens.”

Twilight quickly wrote down the human’s answer.

“Question two. What is your given birth name, assuming that you ‘humans’ get one?”

The human gave a look of disgust on his face.

(What does it take me for? A non-sentient species? No! I’ve already proved that I can speak its language… somehow, but this is still a useless question! Well, actually, the alien probably knows nothing about humans, that’s why it’s asking me these questions. It probably doesn’t know what humans eat, what humans drink and what humans wear. Heck, it probably can’t tell if I’m male or female! I gotta give these questions a chance, and answer as truthfully as possible, so I have no regrets or lies later.)

“My name is Griffin Pearson.”

Twilight raised her eyebrow at the human’s words. She highly doubted that his name consisted of a species of her planet, especially since Griffins most likely don’t exist on the human’s home planet. Or do they? Twilight had no clue, so all she could do was shrug and add the information to her notes.

“Mmm, interesting. Question three. Are you male, or female, assuming your species has genders.”

(Yep, that confirms my theory.) “I am male” Griffin answered. He watched Twilight scribble down more notes. The only sounds in the room were the crackling of the fireplace, the scratching of Twilight’s quill and the rain hitting the windowpanes. Griffin Turned to look at Fluttershy. She was still hiding underneath her mane, but jumped and squealed when she saw Griffin’s eyes met hers. She shuffled in place to face the other direction.

(What’s up with it? Does it have some kind of problem with me?)

Griffin returned his gaze at Twilight. She was still writing down notes. He nervously fidgeted, then realized exactly how uncomfortable he was with his hands tied behind his back.

“Um, excuse me uh, miss. Could you please remove the bindings from my wrists? It’s starting to make my hands sore.”

Twilight looked up to address Griffin’s request. Would it be a good idea to release his arms? Who know what kind of chaos and destruction he could cause once he gets his hands free! He might just have some kind of devious trick up his sleeve! But then again, he seemed harmless so far and co-operated with her requests, so it’s not like he was going to attack her library or anything…

Twilight cast an un-binding spell, releasing a purple light from her horn that was directed at Griffin. He gasped then flinched, having no idea what the purple sorceress was doing. When he opened his eyes, he could feel the ties on his wrists.

“What the heck was that?” he inquired.

“What was what?”

“That thing you did that caused a bunch of light and then broke my hands free.”

“Oh, you mean my un-binding spell?”

“You’re WHAT???”

“My un-binding spell. It removed the binding spell that I had on your hands.”

Griffin looked dumbfounded. He could not even begin to believe that the alien in from of him was capable of ‘magic’ and used it on him more than once. He thought that magic doesn’t even exist. He thought that magic wasn’t support to exist. Not only did the unicorn’s ‘magic’ break several laws of physics, but made absolutely made no sense at all to the poor confused human.

“Why? *gasp* Does magic not exist in your world?” Twilight asked excitedly.

Before Griffin could conjure an answer, there was a loud slamming noise him, followed by a crackling thunderclap and a storm of squabbling voices.

“-Ah just can’ BELIEVE that ya’ll wouldn’ take two darn seconds out of yer life to NOT fret about that fru fru mane of e'urs!”

“*gasp* Applejack! There is no such thing as not fretting over a healthy, perfectly kept mane! Why, my mane is one of the main staples of my business! As a business mare, I have to keep my image in tip top shape! Out of all the ponies in Ponyville, I would thing that YOU would be the most understanding!”

The two ponies and the human sitting around the fire turned their heads to the source of the fighting.

“Oh dear…” Fluttershy peeped.

Thank you for reading this part of chapter one! Don't forget to leave some feedback, as it helps me improve as a writer.

Also. be sure to check out my blog on my user page for author's notes and updates!

Chapter 2: Chasing Answers, Part 4

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 4

{*First Person, Main Character*}

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“I said, what kind of mind do you have, invading our peaceful planet? What have we done to your people to deserve an alien invasion?” Twilight responded.

What. The fuck.

“Um, Twilight?” I heard the meek Pegasus whisper in the background.

“Hah, are you kidding me? I’m not invading anyone’s planet! All I did was wake up in some stranger’s bed surrounded by a bunch of fre-donkeys!”

Phew! I almost called them freaks! Speak your mind, not your thoughts, Griffin. “I’ve done nothing wrong!”

“First of all, we’re not donkeys, we’re ponies! Second, are you saying that you went to our planet by accident?”

Wait… They’re fucking… PONIES??? WHAT THE FUCK???

I can’t believe what she just said. Seriously, Fucking ponies? Out of all the un-godly, in-humane creatures that I could have ended up encountering on this god forsaken alien world, it’s colourful talking ponies? What the fuck is this shit? WHAT AM I WATCHING? There’s no way, no fucking way that this is real. It must be some kind of cracked-up dream or something. Yeah. That’s sounds right. There is no way in hell that I would wake up in a cartoonish library with a bunch of talking miniature horses that can subdue me with MAGIC and have a FUCKING LIT FIREPLACE in a COMPLETELY WOODEN ROOM.

Once again… what the fuck.

“Twilight…” The same quiet voice tried to grab the stupid purple horse’s attention.

“No! That is not what I’m saying at all! Well, I mean, yes! Kind of! Gah, you see, I have NO IDEA how the hell I got here, in fact, I’m pretty sure that I didn’t want to end up in a completely different planet in the first place, so you can just stop pointing fingers and lay off!” I forcefully yelled.

“Then how the hay did you get here in the first place?”

“I just said, I don’t know!”

“Twilight?”

“Care to explain further?” that fucking annoying unicorn asked me.

“What else is there to explain? I was doing… something some time ago before I got here. Next thing I know, I wake up in a bed that’s too small with a bunch of ‘pretty ponies’ surrounding me! Like I’ve said, I have no idea how I got here, nor do I have any idea of why I was sent here in the first place, got me?”

“I don’t believe you! You haven’t told us what you did before you arrived in Equestria! Why won’t you tell us? Is it because you’re hiding something? Is it because you want to keep secrets that are harmful to this planet? Answer me!”

“TWILIGHT!”

We all stopped and looked at the pink-haired Pegasus’s sudden outburst. She was taking deep breaths and tried to look as intimidating as possible, which isn’t saying much since she’s a freaking light yellow Pegasus with cute (gag) pink hair. She took a moment to realize that everyone was staring at her. She looked like she was going to faint when she suddenly rushed up to Twilight and intensely glared at her.

“Twilight Sparkle, you are assuming way too much of Griffin! Thinking that he is an alien from the movies with his plan to invade Equiss, you should be ashamed of yourself! Look at him! He is telling the truth! He has no idea how he got here or why he is here! All he knows is that he’s here in some strange unknown world and it scare’s him! You need to calm yourself or leave him alone!”

Wow. Talk about some touching words. Twilight was about to repent when another voice answered in my defence.

“She’s right, Twi. He’s not lyin’ one bit, and ah think that ah can see ah liar if there is one.” Applejack pointed out (I’m assuming that her name’s Applejack because the pony *shudders* who was addressed as Rarity called her Applejack).

“But-I-you see-I can explain-“

“You need to apologize right now!” Fluttershy ordered.

Twilight looked at Rarity and silently pleaded that she would back her up in the situation. How did I know this? I could see it in her eyes.

“Twilight dear, you’re being irrational right now. Try and think about the situation from his point of view. I would think that if you were scared and lost on some unknown planet you would be scared too!”

“Ok, just stop!” Twilight yelled out.

Once again, everybody in the room paused, including me. It looked like she was right on the edge. Ya know, the edge of the cliff between insanity and a calm, sane mind? It was kinda disturbing. I saw her eye twitch a few times before she gave me eye contact.

“Ahahah, yes, would you mind just sitting there for a second while I go and have a little talk with my friends?” Twilight inquired. When she said ‘friends’, I swear that those words could have cut someone in half they were so venomous. She looked towards the other three ponies (*shudders* gah, I cannot and will never get used to saying that word. It’s so… girly) who looked back at her nervously.

“Umm… Not at all.” I responded.

“Girls, if you would kindly follow me to the kitchen…” Twilight headed off to an open doorway which I presume is the entrance to the kitchen. Wait who the heck would put a kitchen in a library? But then again, who would put a guest room in a library? This is obviously not an ordinary building of books. Although, considering I’m on a completely different planet with different physics, visuals and MAGIC, I should expect the unexpected.

But I digress. The three remaining girls hesitated before carefully following suit.

Ok, now that they’re gone, I have a moment of silence (except for the FUCKING STORM OUTSIDE, Jesus, the sound of rain’s getting on my nerves) to think what exactly has happened in the last hour of my life. So far, I’ve traveled through universes (and probably dimensions too, why not) to end up on a planet called Equiss with a bunch of fluorescent miniature talking horses who have taken me hostage and have deemed me ‘hostile’ until further questioning by that crazed purple unicorn that can perform magic and goes by the name of ‘Twilight’.

Yep.

What the fuck have I gotten myself into.

Thank you for reading this part of chapter one! Don't forget to leave some feedback, as it helps me improve as a writer.

Also. be sure to check out my blog on my user page for author's notes and updates!

Chapter 3: Melancholy of the Sol Goddess, Part 1

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 5

{*Omniscient Point of View, Ponyville Library: Kitchen*}

Twilight lets the two mares into her kitchen. She magically lit the candles all around the room, filling the darkness with its opposing element. Cleanly polished tables and shiny wooden cupboards reflected the orange light, giving the scene a somewhat eerie theme to it. There were several metal spoons, wooden forks and other stirring devices adorning the sides of the room, peacefully hanging on the hooks on the wall.

The tap in the sink dripped with a steady beat into an overfilled cup of dirty water. Most of the dishes were clean and drying on a rack nearby the sink, but there were a few plates and bowls sitting at the bottom of the sink that have yet to be washed. The storm was pounding on the nearby windows to the point of making them rattle slightly. Twilight walked over to a green table in the center of the room. The three ponies gathered around in a tight circle around the eating surface.

“Ok girls, look. I know that I may seem kinda irrational right now, but that doesn’t mean that I’m acting aggressive for no reason! I’m trying to get as much information out of Griffin as possible because we have no way of knowing what his true intentions are!” Twilight quietly but forcefully whispered to her companions.

“Yeah, we get it Twi, but that doesn’ mean that y’all can go off an’ shout words willy-nilly! Cause’ that’s just plain wrong!” Applejack pointed out.

“And furthermore, I am very, very disappointed in you, Twilight! I trusted you to not harm or harass Griffin in any way, and you went ahead and did it anyways! What do you have to say for yourself?” Fluttershy scolded, glaring at the purple offender.

Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry Fluttershy, but I am not going to take any chances or risks with an extra-terrestrial sitting in my library study room with the potential to bring the end of Equestria!”

“Twilight, honey, even I realize that that being sitting on your sofa is harmless and is not planning any kind of hostile takeover what so ever! Besides, he is in no position to make any sudden moves, seeing as we have the strongest unicorn in all of Equestria right in front of us, ready to protect at a moment’s notice!” Rarity winked at Twilight, trying to lighten up the mood as much as possible.

Twilight smiled at the compliment. Maybe her friends were right. Maybe she was being a bit senseless and a bit over-analytical. Maybe she just had to have more trust. And not just more trust in the alien, but more trust in her friends as well.

…But still, there was something just not right about the situation at hoof. She felt uneasy when she was talking to him, and her gut feeling to her that Griffin seemed rotten one way or another. There was just too much coincidence between the human crashing into Sweet Apple Acres and the storms suddenly tearing up half of the country! Besides, she had one more trick op her sleeve…

“But how do we know he’s telling the truth? How do we know that his actual name is Griffin Pegasus, two names that belong to two species of this planet? How do we know that he is a guy, when he maybe doesn’t have gender at all? How do we know that he has no idea what is going on and he doesn’t know how he got here? How?”

“Ah can see it in his eyes.”

Everypony turned towards the apple farmer. Her serious tone and her drop-dead look surprised everyone. She had a cold but understanding stare that pointed towards Twilight. There was no emotion on her face except traces of exhaustion.

“And he’s not just telling the truth, he’s telling the truth with all his heart and soul. Deep inside, he is hoping that he can gain our trust the right way, by telling the truth and not looking back.” Applejack glanced at Rarity and Fluttershy. “Ah can see it. Ah can feel it. Heck, ah can practically smell it! There is no way in Celestia’s haven that this human is lyin’.”

There was a pause in the conversation. The pitter-patter of rain echoed off the smoother surfaces of the kitchen. Lightning shot off in the distance, followed by a ground-shaking thunderclap. The group of mares stood and analyzed Applejack’s statement. They looked towards each other for a second while Applejack looked off into space, seemingly looking for an answer. After a few thoughtful seconds, Twilight was the first to open her mouth.

“Applejack, I… You’re right. In fact, all of you; are totally right. I… I have acted foolishly this evening. I’m sorry. I hope you can all forgive me.” Twilight shamefully tilted her head downwards.

The other three ponies smiled. Now that their friend understood, everything would be much simpler, and hopefully, less dramatic.

“That ok, Twilight. Remember, we’re all here for you, as a-“

Rarity was about to gather the group in a hug when she was interrupted by a loud, disruptive *pomph* sound, followed by the distinct rattle of the windows barely resisting whatever pressure it was holding against. There was a terrible high-pitched squeaking sound that soon followed after. Fluttershy squealed, hastily remembering nature’s wrath outside. She flung herself underneath the table and started to shiver.

“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack asked to no pony particular.

The three young mares ran out of the room as quickly as possible, leaving poor Fluttershy cowering underneath the kitchen furniture.

“Wha-Wait for me!” Fluttershy did a double-take before zooming off to catch up with her friends.

Thank you for reading this part of chapter one! Don't forget to leave some feedback, as it helps me improve as a writer.

Also. be sure to check out my blog on my user page for author's notes and updates!

Chapter 3: Melancholy of the Sol Goddess, Part 2

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 6

A little reminder that sentences in italics and parentheses are thoughts.

In addition, I'm kinda on a writing spree, now that I have so much time on my hands. Expect more parts to be posted more often!

{*Omniscient Point of View, Main Character *}

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy all dash out of the Library’s kitchen to investigate the strange sound that rang out mere seconds ago. The raging storm continued to display its destructive power all across Equestria, showing no signs of slowing down. Applejack was the first to take any action. Spotting Griffin sitting on the sofa, she called him out.

“What in tarnation’s happin’ here?” she asked forcefully.

“I-I dunno! I was just sitting here, when suddenly, there’s this huge blue-thing that slams into the window!” Griffin pointed towards what he was talking about.

The four mares look up at Griffin’s gesture and went wide-eyed. They barely could believe what they were seeing! It surprised them beyond any doubt. Plastered across Twilight’s window was a soaked, unmoving…

…Rainbow Dash, who tried to enter the library through her way: by not going through the front door. Her stomach was pressed against the glass like a suction cup, while her limbs looked like they’ve been splattered all over the window.  She stuck out her bright cherry-red tongue very comedically. Seeing this, Applejack started to snicker. The other girls quickly followed. Next thing anyone knew, the colourful quadruple were cracking up at Rainbow Dash’s expense. Poor Griffin was befuddled as to why there were four talking female ponies sprawled across the floor laughing as if someone had just released laughing gas in the room.

“Uh-um-what’s so funny?”

The young mares ignored Griffin’s inquiry and continued to guffaw, unable to get a hold of themselves. Tears of joy ran from their eyes while hooves were smacking the floor in uncontrollable thrill. It took them a few moments before they could calm down. Just as Twilight was about to explain to Griffin what was going on however, she heard an ear-piercing squeaking sound. Everyone in the room turned their heads to see that Rainbow was slowly but surely sliding off the window! She soon fell, landing somewhere below the Library’s window with a loud crash. The sound of trash cans colliding and connecting to the ground could be heard surprisingly over the loud thunderclaps.

The girls began their laughing fit all over again.

Griffin sat annoyed, trying to keep his patience as the ponies got themselves off of the floor and wiped their tears off.

“Now will you please tell me what’s so darn funny?”

“Ha, it’s nothing.” Twilight began while trying to contain her giggles. “That’s just our friend Rainbow Dash trying to enter the Library from the air. She’s a Pegasus, so sometimes she doesn’t want to take the door to enter buildings.”

“Too bad she can’t tell the difference between a closed window and an open one…” Applejack remarked.

For about the third time, the four young mares started to snicker again. Griffin rolled his eyes, barely grasping the situation.

“Ok, Applejack, I’ll need your help getting Rainbow out of the rain. Rarity and Fluttershy, just hang tight while we get her.” Twilight ordered.

All the other ponies acknowledged her instructions. While Twilight and Applejack headed off into the kitchen once again, Fluttershy and Rarity were taking their seats, trying to find a comfy spot to sit.

Griffin leaned forward and put his face into his palm. (I can’t believe what’s going on here.) he silently thought to himself. (That blue-thing was their friend? What was her name? Rainbow Dash? Well, that explains the florescent tail. Also, wasn't that the name of the the Friend that Fluttershy was talking about earlier? Well, whatever. And moreover, what kind of a name is Rainbow Dash? I mean, come on! That's just stupid.)

“Are you alright dear?” Rarity asked, concern showing in her tone. Griffin immediately shot up, placing his hands on his lap.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. This is just a lot of information to take in, that’s all.”

Both mares in the room looked sympathetic. They looked at each other, trying to find a way to ease the situation.

“So, uh, may I ask, what kind of species are you?” Rarity spoke out.

“I’ma human.” Griffin answered swiftly. “You know, Twilight did invite you to look over her notes…”

“Oh! Yes! Of course! I had forgotten all about that! Now, where did she put that piece of paper?” Rarity looked around until she spotted the parchment lying on the coffee table, right next to Twilight’s quill and ink. She telekinetically picked it up and started to skim its contents.

No one spoke in the room for a few moments. The fire in the fireplace cracked strongly, fueled by the fire spell that Twilight placed on it previously. The rain continued to pelt the windows. Griffin looked back from Rarity to Fluttershy. Fluttershy’s eyes seemed distant, but when she realized that the human was staring at her, she squealed and sank back behind her chair. The boy looked away, understanding her need for respect and personal space, but still shook his head at just how timid Fluttershy was.

Not soon after, a drenched trio of mares walked out of the kitchen. Twilight walked behind Applejack who was carrying an unconscious Rainbow Dash on her back. Now that he got to see her form clearly, Griffin raised his eyebrow to the unique colour configuration that Rainbow seemed to display. Her psychedelic mane was just another thing to add to his list of strange occurrences. With a grunt, Applejack slowly dumped Rainbow off of her back and onto the floor a few feet away from the fireplace.

“Oh my! How did she end up like that?” Rarity queried.

“Ah guess that’s what happens when y’all ram into glass at full flyin’ speed.” Said Applejack, smirking.

“But wouldn’t normal glass shatter with such force?”

“Not if it’s re-enforced with a strength enchantment!” Twilight answered. “You see, I’ve learned from the past few times that Rainbow has ‘entered’ my library, so I decided to enchant my windows with a strength spell so she would stop breaking them and I would stop having to pay for new ones!”

“Good thinking!” Fluttershy whispered.

(I don’t think that any normal human would have survived a  window to the face.) Griffin observed, making a strange face towards the unconscious Pegasus. “Um, are you really just gonna leave her lying there? I mean, shouldn’t you put her in some kind of bed?”

“Nah, she’ll be ok. Ah’ve seen Rainbow take much bigger hits than this one. Besides, she’ll dry faster this way since she’s close to the fireplace.” Applejack proudly responded while sitting down once again on a sofa.

(But doesn’t that make her a fire hazard?) Griffin furrowed his brow.

“So now, where were we?...” Twilight began to trot to her seat. Telekinetically grabbing her writing supplies, she looked down her list of questions. “Aha! Here it is. The next question.”

(Wait. There’s MORE? Gah, I’m starting to get REALLY tired of all these questions!)

“Question seven.” Twilight read aloud. “What is your occupation?”

“Occupation?” Griffin made a confused look. He was not expecting that question to be asked. “I’m still a student in school.”

“Really? What grade? Assuming that your educational system has yearly progression, of course.”

“Grade 8.”

Twilight commenced to scribble down Griffin’s words. In the back of his mind, Griffin was pondering all the similarities between his world and the pony world. The rest of the mares were watching the Q&A session with intrigue.

“Question Eight. Who or what runs the country or place you live in?” Twilight looked up from her paper.

“Hmm. That would be Prime Minister Stephen Harper.”

“Wait. So does that mean that your country’s not run by a monarchy?”

“Yes. Well, no. Technically not. Technically, we’re a constitutional monarchy, but that’s if you go deep into the system. Where I come from, we vote for our leaders.”

“So your home world is a democracy?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, interesting!” Twilight wrote more notes down. Rarity also found the conversation so, but Applejack and Fluttershy had a bit of trouble following along.

“Question nine. Actually, this is the final question!”

Griffin sighed with relief. (Finally! I’m at the end! Hopefully, I can get some freakin’ answers after this!)

“Can you-“

“Hiya, Twilight!”

So the main character's not American. So sue me.

Chapter 3: Melancholy of the Sol Goddess, Part 3

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 7

{*First Person View, Main Character *}

Wow. I think my life has officially become FUBAR.

First, I somehow end up on some foreign planet. Then, I meet its denizens who which consist of talking colourful ponies who are not only intelligent but can also perform MAGIC. Next, I find myself being accused of invading their ‘little’ homeworld…

And now, I am looking at the back of a pink pony hanging upside down from the ceiling.

At first, I jumped up in shock to see a figure come out of nowhere and appear right in my face, but seeing as how stranger things have happened in the past hour or so, I didn’t freak out that badly. I managed to keep silent while the rose coloured intruder addressed my interrogation officer. I put my arms back down slowly from my facing to my side seeing as flinching wasn’t necessary anymore.

“Pinkie! Wha-but how-“ I couldn’t see Twilight’s face due to the fact that a blob of pink was obstructing my vision, but I could obviously hear the confusion and somewhat panic in her voice. “How the hay did you get in here?”

“Hmm, that’s a great question! I really have no idea! I was sitting in my bedroom 'cause it was raining outside pretty hard any I would have gotten soaked to my underwear if I went outside and the Sugarcube Corner was closed due to the storm, so I started to worry about you and Rainbow Dash and Applejack and Rarity and all my other friends, so I closed my eyes, thought about you and next thing I knew I was talking to you about the last five hours of my day!”

Jesus! She said all of that so fast! And I thought I talked pretty fast! Thankfully, I was able to catch her life story fairly well, and I have to say that THAT MAKES NO SENSE WHAT SO EVER. But seriously, what in this universe does? I feel like my brain has literally been mindfucked.

“But I-I-I-what-since when-how-?” I heard Twilight stammer.

“Twilight, I think that it’s best not to think about it too much.” Rarity recommended from my right side. I facepalmed, sending an echo of a slapping sound across the room. Even the weird-os of THIS universe think that this is abnormal! Why? Why is this happening right now?

“Ooh! Now who’s this sitting behind me?” That annoyingly cheerful voice spoke in front of me. I dragged my hand down my face to see what was going on. That pink intruder was now looking directly at me, face to face. She had a very poufy dark-pink mane, which matched the rest of her look pretty well. Her eyes were a very light sky blue with a profound muzzle and a matching pair of nostrils, just like the other ponies. Her mouth was twisted into a wide upside-down smile and her eyes were widening to the point that they could be compared to truck tires.

“Hiya!” the pink menace suddenly zoomed up a half-inch away from the tip of my nose. I could smell her breath from this distance. It smelt like cake batter. “I’m Pinkie Pie!” She let out a huge gasp. “Are you new around here? You must be! Because I know everypony in Ponyville, and I’ve never seen YOU around here before! What are you, anyways? Are you a gorilla? 'Cause you sure look like one! Well, not exactly like a gorilla, but almost somewhat exactly like one!”

Before she could get anything else out of her chatty-Cathy mouth of hers, I gently pushed away her head from mine, giving me much needed breathing room.

“Hey, have ya ever heard of ‘personal space’ before?” I snidely remarked.

She completely ignored me. As soon as I took my fingers off of her disgustingly pink face, she rushed right back up and continued her rant of unnecessary sentences.

“*Gasp* Are you an ALIEN? Cause you sure look like one! I’ve never seen an animal look like you before, so you must be some kind of alien! What kind of alien are you! What planet do you come from? What universe? Did you come here on a giant spaceship? Are you here to enslave the entire pony race?”

“That’s enough, sugar cube. Give the poor colt some space.” Applejack grabbed Pinkie Pie by the neck and dragged her several feet away from myself. Wait. Did she just call me a colt? Never mind, it doesn’t really matter that much.

“Thanks. I needed that.” I expressed my gratitude towards the orange mare.

“No problem. Pinkie, Twi’ here’s gotta bunch a notes for y’all to read. Ah think that would work better than askin’ him a bunch of questions all at once.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!”

Pinkie grabbed whatever notes that Twilight was not using in her hooves and plumped down onto a bright red bean bag. She began reading.

“Great. Now that that’s over with-“Twilight started to say.

“Gaaaaaaaaahhh!!!” another voice shouted out, causing my ears to slightly ring in dislike.

I saw Rainbow Dash (what a name, really) launch off from her resting spot and into the air, flailing about in the process. She then quickly flew in circles around the room causing miscellaneous papers and scrolls to take flight with her. My hair blew backwards from the sheer force of her wing beats. She must be packing a lot of wing power!

“Hot hot hot hot hot hot hot!!!” she cried, clutching her tail which was slightly burning. She rapidly blew air into the charred hair, causing the fire to smolder out. There was still a trail of smoke where the flames used to be.

“Rainbow Dash, stop being silly and get down here this instant!” Rarity demanded, throwing her right foreleg downward for extra added dramatic effect.

“Silly, are you kidding me? I was on fire for Pete’s sake!” the cyan Pegasus complained, flapping her wings in mid-air.

“Couldn’t have been that bad.” Applejack soundly responded.

“Yes, it was that bad, as a matter of fact! Whose big fat idea was it to put me beside a fireplace, anyways?”

“Rainbow, we were just trying to dry you off! After flying in the rain, I’d thought that you would be thankful.” Twilight defended Applejack and herself.

“My tail was almost burned off! Is that what you would call helping? And besides, I wouldn’t have gotten soaked if that stupid window of yours would have opened instead of staying closed when I flew into it!”

“You very know well that that window would have broken AGAIN if it was normal! I placed a enforce spell on the glass because every time you enter my library you end up breaking one of my windows and I have to keep replacing them!”

“But who pays the bits to replace them? I do! It’s not like I take DON’T take responsibility when one of YOUR flimsy windows breaks from one of my light wind gusts!”

“Hah, wind gusts? You RAM into my windows, Rainbow Dash, and you know it!”

“Well, if you kept your windows open all the time then-“

She suddenly stopped her squabbling. When there was no noise for a split second, I knew something was wrong. I kinda zoned out during the bickering, because I didn’t need to have another verbal fight stress me out even more than I am right now. Well now, I zoned back in, just for my eyes to meet Rainbow’s. She immediately put on an expression of hatred and focus.

“Uh oh.” I muttered to myself.

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Thanks for reading this part of chapter 1!

Be sure to leave a comment about how my skills as a writer are! Don't be shy! I appreciate the feedback!

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 1

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 8

{*First Person View, Main Character *}

I felt my world flip upside-down as the technicolor Pegasus body slammed into my chest. She hit me so hard that I actually flipped off the back of the sofa and slid over the wooden surface of the room. The pain that occurred wasn’t too bad ‘cause I half expected it, but it still hurt. Quite a bit. I felt the pressure of two hooves against the upper portion of my body with a fierce looking pony creating the pressure above me. She was using her wings to keep herself right on top of me.

“What are you and what are you doing in my friend’s library?” she harshly questioned. I grabbed her two forelegs and prepared to perform some self-defence when she surprisingly got off of me. When I sat up I could see that she was being pulled away by the scorched tail by Applejack’s mouth (god, that must taste awful!).

“What are you doing? There’s a freakish-creature-thing invading this library! You have to run! I’ll hold him off, but you have to let go of me first!” Rainbow explained to her blonde friend. She struggled against Applejack’s jaw, trying to get loose from the mare’s grasp.

“Y’all need to calm down and stop attacking!” Applejack managed to say over her clenched teeth.

“Are you kidding? That THING’S going to attack everypony if I don’t do something about it!”

I’ve almost had enough with this bitch’s bitching. It’s one thing to attack me, but it completely different when you start calling me condescending names! She thinks that I’m un-intelligent and I can’t understand the English language! She thinks that she can say anything about me and get away with it because I won’t comprehend her words! She thinks that she can rule the world with an iron fist and get away with it! She is not only cocky and brash, but also selfish, loud, obnoxious and disruptive!

What an asshole!

“Can’t y’all see that if he WERE to attack we would have dealt with the problem already?” Applejack reasoned.

“But-I-but it’s unnatural for it to be here!” Rainbow retorted.

“Rainbow Dash, that is enough!” Fluttershy shouted to her fellow Pegasus. Wow, I almost forgot about her. She didn’t even say anything this entire time! She flew up to Rainbow’s face, leaning her forehead against the blue mare’s.

“You will not speak to Griffin in such a condescending way and you will not insult him! Do I make myself clear?”

“Fluttershy? Since when were you at the Ponyville library?” Rainbow Dash questioned, befuddled to suddenly see her meek friend up close and personal.

“Since everypony else was here, several minutes before you were.” Rarity chipped in. Were you so caught up in your personal antics that you did not notice your friends sitting right beside you?”

Rainbow Dash took a second to absorb those words. I saw her look around the room, at Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and finally behind her, Applejack. She looked back at her speaker at a loss of words herself. I saw deep mental confliction in those eyes, but she had it coming to her! Acting like an ass like that, right in front of her friends! She needs some anger therapy!

“Well, it’s not like you had to deal with anything important in here. While I was out in the sky, dealing with the storm with my weather team, you guys got to hand out peacefully in a warm, heated room! It’s not my fault that I didn’t notice you! I had a lot of things on my mind!”

That no-good two-timing Pegasus! Out of all the responses she could have said, she chose the most insulting, negative option! Not only was it unnecessary, but it was also, low-classed, rude, and just plain stupid! She’s being a douche and trying to pin the blame for her behaviour on us instead of taking the responsibility herself and apologizing!

“Hang on there, sugar cube. Are you sayin’ that we’ve been down here just twiddlin’ are hooves, achievin’ nothin’ all day?” Applejack growled, looking quite ticked off. “While y’all were up there doin’ Celestia-knows-what, we’ve been down here tryin’ to hold the fort down! We’ve had to make several repairs on weak houses that weren’t made for this kind a weather, we’ve had to dig a floodway in a matter of minutes, which, by the way STILL didn’t stop the water from YOUR clouds floodin’ the streets, and we had to make sure that everyone was inside and not in YOUR gosh darn storm!”

“Really? Do you really think that this storm is OUR fault! Well, it’s not! We’ve no idea where these clouds came from or who made them! According to cloud factory records, there has been no cloud production in the past few days, meaning that these are not our clouds! And we were trying our best to clear them out, especially since they shouldn’t have been our responsibility in the first place!”

“As a member of the Cloudsdale Weather Team, ah would expect that it IS y’all responsibility to clear out ANY and ALL weather over Ponyville!”

“We have been! Well, at least, we’ve been trying! This weather’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before! It was difficult enough to clear out all the rain clouds, but there’s lightning bolts literally jumping around from cloud to cloud, shocking us in the process! We’ve already had to send seven of our members to the medical ward! We’re busting our butts out there, and all you can say is that we’re not doing our job?”

“YEAH, ‘CAUSE Y’ALL ACCUSE US OF BEIN’ NO-GOOD LAZY PONIES THAT DON’ DO NOTHIN’ DURIN’ AH TIME OF NEED!”

“WELL EXCCCCUUUSE ME FOR EXPLAINING HOW US PEGASI HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE DEADLY WEATHER ABOVE!”

“NO, AH WILL NOT EXCUSE YOU, ‘CAUSE Y’ALL FORGET WHAT’S MORE IMPORTANT! THE SKY, OR Y’ALL FRIENDS!”

“WHAT DO YOU THINK I WANT TO CHOSE, HUH? IT’S MY DUTY AS WEATHER CAPTAIN TO STICK TO MY TEAM AND HELP OUT AS MUCH AS I CAN! DO YOU THINK THAT I DON’T WANT TO GO DOWN TO PONYVILLE AND HANG OUT WITH MY FRIENDS? DO YOU THINK THAT I DON’T WANT TO GO HELP MY FRIENDS? DO YOU THINK I HAVE A CHOICE IN THE MATTER? DO YOU-“

“WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP?!”

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Oh man, looks like things are gonna get real hot, real fast!

Thank you for reading this part of chapter one! Please make sure to leave a comment based on my writing skill! I would really appreciate it if you do!

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 2

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 9

{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}

All the ponies in the room went silent. No pony spoke a word, mutter a sound, or even breathed. It seemed like time stood still after Griffin’s sudden outburst. Rainbow Dash stopped flying and fell to her hooves. Fluttershy somehow found the courage to stand her ground and watch the following events unravel. Everyone was wide-eyed, except for the human of course, instead which made a glare that could slice through steel.

“JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE!” Griffin continued to scream. He stood up and checked his audience, making sure he was the center of attention.

“I don’t care what the fuck is going on, but you two DOUCHEBAGS need to stop it right now! Stop fighting and bickering over events that we can’t control! We all obviously see the huge storm outside tearing up the streets of your little town, and yelling at each other’s faces won’t fix anything! It’s out of our control! We can’t stop the rainfall, and we can’t stop lightning from setting the houses on fire and we can’t stop trees from falling down from the wind! We can’t do anything, and we just have to deal with it!”

Griffin let out a huge groan of frustration. The squabbling ponies around him brought him over his limits. He could no longer hold in his patience and wait out the over-dramatic scenes of friends ‘bonding’. He was like a bottle of pop, shaken to the point of exploding. Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, he scowled at each and every individual before sitting back down on the sofa.

“I can’t believe what has happened to my life.” Griffin muttered, putting his face into his palm. “First I get whisked off to another planet without my consent, then I get mentally disturbed by some abnormally colourful ponies, then I get questioned like a criminal,” Twilight winced at his words. “and have to witness a bunch of verbal brawling in the middle of a library!”

“But I thought you arrived here on a-“ Rainbow Dash cut into Griffin’s flow of thoughts.

“No, I did NOT arrive here on some stupid, fucking spaceship! As far as I can tell, I just appeared here all of the sudden. Poof! Gone from one planet just to arrive on another! I don’t even remember what I did to get here, IF I did anything! And I don’t think I deserve this! Now I’m lost, gone from my home. What will my parents think? They’ll probably panic that their son’s gone from the face of the Earth! How ironic that my species was looking for intergalactic forms of life, and I just happen to find some without my free will. Fuck!”

The six young mares glanced at each other with worry and concern. What was their next step? Who was going to say the next word? Seconds ticked down like hours as the raindrops continued to pummel the library’s windows.

“Well…. I’m sorry Griffin that we did not think of your opinion sooner.” Twilight spoke, her face showing remorse.

“Yeah, whatever! I’m pretty sure that you didn’t think of what I felt, either! Or what I was thinking while I was being interrogated forcefully by beings that could control magic! Or even if I wanted to be here or not! And even if I had a choice arriving on such a planet such as yours!”

Griffin paused to take a breath.

“No, you PONIES didn’t think about anything of the little human being that sat in the big red comfy sofa, answering question like a little good alien! No one thought that their accusations could bring pain to such a creature, or that their words could create low self-esteem, or if that their fighting could cause more stress to the alien then needed!”

Griffin stood back up again.

“And do you know what else I have to say to all of you?”

Everypony in the room looked anxious and nervous beyond belief. Applejack backed up a bit away from Griffin, biting her lip. Rainbow Dash shrank herself down, covering her head with her hooves. Rarity, looked like she was going to faint. Pinkie Pie’s mane was flatter than a ruined soufflé and her overall colour looked darker. Fluttershy had tears already flowing down her face. And Twilight was asking herself if her decision to bring in the human to Ponyville was a bad decision or not. Whether or not if she just doomed all of Equestria by bringing the wrath of a true extra-terrestrial to her planet of Equiss.

Griffin first pointed a finger towards Rainbow Dash.

“Fuck you!”

He moved his arm to face Applejack.

“Fuck you!”

He continued towards Rarity.

“Fuck you!”

And Pinkie Pie.

“Fuck you!”

Griffin thought about pointing at Fluttershy, but decided to skip because she seemed like the only nice pony in the room. She actually defended his rights! That’s more than any human would have done back on Earth. Instead, he turned to face his last target.

“And most importantly, Fuck you, Twilight Sparkle!”

You could cut the tension in the air with a butter knife. Everypony was shocked, appalled, frightened, distressed, and a bunch of other negative emotions. No pony had the will or the rightful mind to challenge Griffin’s position of power right now. Thoughts were going off in everyone’s heads. The adrenaline was running if Griffin decided to attack one of them. Griffin let go of his face full of scorn and allowed gravity to take a hold of him. He flopped onto the sofa behind himself like a rag doll.

“No one even bothered to tell me where I am.”

That sentence seemed to snap everypony out of their stupor. Fluttershy was the first one to act by gliding up softly to Griffin and give him a great big Fluttershy hug. The others smiled softly and approached Griffin to do the same, but stopped when he embraced the yellow pegasus and turned away when one of the other mares tried to approach him. He sniffled, clenched his eyes together and remembered how to breath properly. His vision blurred as he felt his cheek become wet with tears.

(Why am I crying?) Griffin asked himself. (It’s not like anything major has just happened. So why am I crying? Stop Crying, Griffin! Stop crying! You’re making a fool out of yourself, sobbing like this! You’re not even at home! Stop crying you big baby!)

Griffin softly cried to himself while the 6 mares around him witness the human get a hold of himself. After a minute or two, Griffin let go of Fluttershy, allowing her to back up and give him some space. This is when he noticed that Fluttershy was crying too. Twilight took this moment to approach Griffin again (with caution) and try to fix her mistakes.

“You’re right. You’re completely right, and I should have thought more about what you thought or felt, not what question I should ask next. And I think that everypony in this room, except for Fluttershy, should have done the same.” She looked towards her friends, all of them understanding. “I’m sorry, Griffin, for ignoring your needs.”

“Me too” Added Rarity.

“And me” Rainbow continued.

“Y’all can include me” Applejack joined in.

“And me!” Pinkie Pie chirped.

“And I think we all owe you some answers.” Twilight stated. “Especially me. I need you balance out the answers you’ve been giving me so that we’re even. I will tell you everything, but right now, I just need you do one more thing for me. Is that ok?”

Griffin looked up towards Twilight. “What is it?”

“Can you answer my final question?”

Griffin inhaled, trying to keep the mucus in his nose. “Sure.”

Twilight didn’t even have to bring up her paper or quill to write the results of the next question.

“Can you preform magic?”

Magic. *Snort *Snort*!

Anyways, I'm trying something a bit different with the plot. I'm not sure how it's gonna end up, but we'll see. Be sure to leave a comment on how my writing skill are! Are they good? Are they bad? Let me know!

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 3

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 10

{*First Person View, Ponyville Library*}

“I beg your pardon?”

“I said, can you preform magic?”

I sat in the cherry red sofa, wiping my salty tears off of my face. It was difficult to keep breathing through my nose as mucus filled it to the brim. I dunno how that exactly works, but it’s as annoying as heck! Anyways, I looked forwards toward the purple unicorn conversing with me. It was kind of a sudden question, but I had already agreed to participate in the final inquiry. I just had to ask her what she said to make sure that I wasn’t hearing things. She asked me if I could perform magic, right?

What a strange question.

“Look, I…” I sighed, tilting my head downwards. This was a silly question. I thought by now she would have realized that I could not cast any spells of any sorts! But now that I think about it, I never actually told her that magic doesn’t exist on Earth and no human has been able to use it before (except for self-proclaimed magicians, but I have no idea if that’s legit or not). She was going out on a limb that humans had enough similarities to unicorn ponies that they could use magic! I guess could answer the question…

“Please, can you answer the question? For me?” pleaded Fluttershy, giving me the most adorable (ugh) puppy eyes I have ever seen. Patience, Fluttershy, I was getting to that!

I returned my gaze back to Twilight. “No, I cannot perform magic.” I gave a little pause to observe their reactions. Twilight and Rarity looked somewhat surprised, but the rest of the mares didn’t exactly show bewilderment at my answer. There were a lot of mixed results. Fluttershy just smiled at me contently. I guess it didn’t matter what I said, she would be as supportive as possible. Rainbow Dash looked a tiny bit bored. I could see why. She seemed to be a bit hyperactive. Applejack had a neutral expression. She was probably just listening to the discussion and not thinking about it too much. And Pinkie Pie was swatting at… something in the air. I couldn’t see it, but obviously it was bothering her if she was focusing on it instead of the main task at hand. Or she could just have a very low attention span. Either or.

“You can’t?” Twilight questioned, her voice cracking a little.

“No I cannot. In fact, no human can perform any kind of magic whatsoever! Magic is a myth where I come from, and is only spoken in stories and old legends. Almost everyone I know believes that magic is a form of fiction, and I did too! Well, until about twenty minutes ago when you slammed me into the wall with such arcane energies.” I expressed my annoyance.

“Sorry about that. Umm…”

Twilight seemed at a loss for words. How can no magic be a foreign concept to her? I mean, I know she can use it and everything, but shouldn’t she expect that there would be some possibility that I could not use magic?

“Could you please, maybe give us a second?” Twilight inquired again.

“Huh?” I said, raising my right eyebrow.

Twilight backed up a bit from the circle of ponies that I somehow was the center of. “Girls, I need to discuss about some things with you. Could we all just gather round me and form a brainstorming circle?”

I heard Rainbow Dash groan slightly, but otherwise, the ponies followed Twilight’s orders like they were her crew on a ship!... Or… Something… That’s a bad analogy, but the point it that I could easily tell that Twilight was considered the leader in this group of friends. While they whispered in their little ‘brainstorming circle’, I twiddled my thumbs in patience, waiting once again.

Of course, they left the alien out of their thoughts.

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{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}

The purple unicorn called all of her friends into a miniature meeting a few feet away from Griffin. It pained Twilight to leave Griffin out of the conversation, but she didn’t know what to think in the current situation. Once all six were in a small circle, Twilight leaned her head towards the center and began to speak her mind.

“I’m really confused right now girls. Really confused.”

“About what?” Rainbow Dash spoke.

“About how Griffin has no idea how to use magic! I mean, he has so much magical energy radiating out of him that it’s… it’s… it’s unbelievable! I can’t even describe it! It makes no sense that he doesn’t know about magic and yet he holds so much of it!”

“Really? I couldn’t tell.” Pinkie Pie squeaked.

“That’s because non-unicorn ponies cannot detect magical energies, dear.” Rarity added in.

“Exactly. That’s also because Earth ponies and Pegasus ponies cannot control nor withhold the standard magical energies! Since they can’t use it, it would made sense that they can’t sense or see any of it. But Griffin could use it! Griffin could use magic! He just doesn’t know how! He doesn’t even know that he can!”

“Now ah’m seeing what y’all gettin’ at. Griff arrived inside that blue-glowy-shield-thing, right? That was magic, wasn’t it?” Twilight nodded her head to Applejack’s inquiry. “So if he didn’t do that, then who did?”

“Hang on. What sort of shield? Were you two there when he arrived on Equiss?” Rainbow once again directed her question to Applejack and Twilight.

“Oh yeah, we kinda forgot to tell all of you about that, didn’t we?” Twilight bashfully smiled, blushing slightly in embarrassment. All the other ponies except the orange farmer nodded their heads in agreement, still looking at their speaker.

“Well, long story’s short, me and Applejack saw Griffin crash land into Sweet Apple Acres like a meteor, except he was protected by an extremely powerful magic-based shield.

“Ohhh…” three of the mares confirmed, catching the main idea.

“I still don’t get it.” Rainbow Dash stated.

“Basically, Griffin got here by magic that wasn’t done by himself.” Fluttershy explained.

“Oh, ok then, now I got it.”

“Right. So, that means that some unknown force has not only thrown another creature across universes to our planet using very very very powerful magic, but also, I think that whatever sent Griffin here also created the huge storm that’s destroying half of Ponyville!” Thunder rippled in the distance at Twilight’s words.

“Now what would make y’all say that?” Applejack pondered.

“It would make sense that the act of sending one living being billions of billions magic-years* away to a different location would cause major magical consequences. Such consequences could very well include messing up the laws of nature and the course of harmony!”

All the mares murmured in astonishment and intrigue. It all made sense to them now. Send human to ponies, create disharmony!

“But what kind of villain would do such a thing?” Rarity asked the question everypony was thinking.

“I have no idea Rarity. It couldn’t be Discord; we locked him up for good. And besides, not even he could conger up strong enough magic to travel complete solar systems! Heck, I don’t think that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s combined power could accomplish such a feat! Whatever we are dealing with here, we have never faced before.”

Twilight’s words hit everypony like a ton of bricks. They had no idea who or what was pulling the strings. Sure, they figured out his or her or its master plan, but they had no idea what kind of power it would take to bring him or her or it down! They didn’t even know what he or she looked like! Heck, they didn’t even know if the Elements of Harmony had enough magical strength to take him or it or her down! Everypony looked slightly nervous. Seeing this, Twilight decided to move on to the next part of her agenda.

“Now, there’s just one more problem I have to address.”

Twilight managed to grab everypony’s attention.

“What are we gonna do about Griffin?” Twilight turned her head to see Griffin staring off into the distance. It looked like he was doing some deep thinking too.

“Whata’ya mean, what are we going to do about Griffin?” Rainbow Dash queried.

“Well, I still kinda feel guilty about completely ignoring his feelings and opinions when I was asking him questions.”

The other five mares drooped their heads and stared at the floor, sharing Twilight’s feelings. No pony deserved to be ignored like that. No alien did either.

“So, I’ve decided to do something to gain his trust and forgiveness, but I’m kinda nervous about the sheer idea of it.”

“What idea do you have, Twilight?” Rarity chipped in.

“I… I want to teach Griffin magic.”

The other ponies hoed and hummed about the idea. Twilight watched as her friends looked in several different directions, creating brainstorms of their own. She witnessed Rainbow Dash scratch the back of her neck nervously. Pinkie Pie was swatting at something in the air for some reason. But when she looked at Applejack, she was being looked back at. The apple farmer had a clear look of determination on her face, obviously ready to state her opinion.

“Ah see no problem with that.”

At the other ponies look at her, as if wanting to hear more of what she had to say.

“Ah mean, it’s not like it’s gonna hurt anypony, is it? And besides, teaching others is always a great gift to give, and a great gift to receive. Ah don’ think Griff would mind one bit if y’all taught him a bit of magic.”

“You really mean it?” Twilight asked, making sure she had her friend’s support.

“I definitely, without a doubt, mean it, Twilight.”

“Wait. What if he can’t control his magic?” Rainbow chirped suddenly, flaring her wings up in panic.

“Don’t worry. I’ll start with the basics. That way he won’t do anything too drastic. And besides, Rarity and I will be there to absorb any excess energy just in case he uses too much.”

“Yeah.” Rarity agreed.

Almost satisfied with her friends, she popped the question “So, otherwise that, do I have all of your support?”

“I’ve got your back!” Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.

“Y’all can count on me” Applejack stated proudly.

“I’m here just in case anything happens.” Fluttershy whispered meekly.

“I’ll be your wings, darling” Rarity reassured.

“I’m here to help too!” Pinkie Pie announced.

“Fantastic.”

Twilight looked around to all five of her friends. (With friends like these, nothing could go wrong.) She thought to herself.

*Magic-years is the pony equivalent of light years. Although in my mind, the 'speed of magic' sort of speak is five times faster than that the speed of light. I know that's impossible, but hey, it's pony logic. Nothing really makes sense.

I have been working very hard to deliver to you guys, so I hope you enjoyed this installment of Chronicles of an Unknown World!

EDIT: Deleted this chapter by accident, this is not the original I posted a year and a half ago.

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 4

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 11

{*First Person View, Ponyville Library*}

I needed a moment to calm down, and Twilight’s little huddle call with the rest of her friends gave me time to reflect. I realize that I may have blown up a bit a few seconds back, but that was for good reason!... I think. I also realize that yelling is never the answer, but I needed to get one thing across to these ponies… They can’t mess with me.

Oh sure, I’m not trying to be the tough guy around here, but when a rainbow-mane pony floors you, then that’s just crossing the line. I think my angry look did its job when I saw the fright in their faces. The only thing I regret is making Fluttershy cry. I really didn’t mean to do that, it just happened. But I have to move past that, and besides, I think that she’s forgiven me by now, don’t you?

Now, there’s one thing that I said in my rant that’s actually bothering me right now, and that’s my comment about my home. My home… I never really thought about it until now, but I must be trillions of trillions of light years away from Earth. How the heck am I ever gonna cross that distance? I don’t even know how long a light year is! Heck, I bet these ponies don’t know either? So that brings up another question. How long did it take to get here? If the fastest speed you could travel is the speed of light and I’m at a completely different planet with actual intelligent life form on it, then just how long? Furthermore, how did I even get here? I thought these colourful miniature horses brought me here, but apparently not. Did another alien species pick me up and dropped me off? Or was it a scientific experiment that I participated it (if I did participate in one, I can’t remember) that went horribly wrong? Or maybe-

“BREAK!”

Huh? Well, that snapped me out of my thinking trance. I sometimes zone out to have an inner talking session, like you just witnessed a few seconds ago. But anyways, I heard the girls use a very familiar shout to conclude their meeting of theirs. Football? Since when was football an inter-planetary sport? If it is, then sign me up!

The six ponies giggled as they broke away, disintegrating any traces of manliness in their conversation.

“Griffin, I… I want to apologize once again for my actions.” Twilight stated, seeming a bit hesitant in her words.

I frowned. I wasn’t ready to forgive them yet. You can’t make up mistakes that easily. They’re gonna have to work hard to earn my trust!

“So, to make it up to you, I want to teach you how to use and cast magic.”

“WHAT?” I accidentally bellowed. And accidentally saying that that word came out a bit louder than expected.

“Didn’t you hear her? She wants to teach you magic.” Rainbow Dash snapped. Wow, I wasn’t talking to you, you annoying ignoramus!

“Yeah, I heard that. Just making sure. But me, use magic? No offense Twilight, I know that ponies can cast and perform magic and everything, but I’ve already said that humans can’t use magic. We’ve never even heard the aspect of it before! So what makes you think that I can?”

“I can sense it, Griffin. I can sense it all around you. The magic, flowing in and out of you, filling you with energy and life. The thing is, you’ve just never noticed it, but you’ve always had the ability to use it, otherwise your aura wouldn’t be as powerful as I can sense it.” Twilight positively responded.

“Really? Is it that obvious that I can use magic?”

“Well, ah can’ tell, an’ neither can Pinkie or Rainbow or Fluttershy. However, Twi an’ Rarity can, and ah always trust Twilight’s word, especially when it comes to magic.” Applejack stepped in. All the others nodded in agreement with her.

“Well, I dunno… Where do I even start? I have no idea what magic is supposed to look like, and I can’t even sense it!”

“Let me be your guide. Trust me, and I will teach you how to use your power.” Twilight affirmed, approaching my sitting point.

“…Ok.”

I stood up, gathering will and courage. Could I really perform magic? Or were they just throwing me for a loop? I know magic’s impossible, but I’ve seen it with my very two eyes! And it’s not like I’m unwelcoming to the idea, it’s just…

I wonder if I can trust Twilight.

“Great! Ok everypony, spread out to the sides of the room. We can’t risk hurting anypony just in case something bad happens.” Twilight used some kind of spell to move the furniture away to the edges of the room, while her friends quickly shuffled out of the way. Her horn glowed again and a huge pinkish-purplish bubble surrounded the room. Twilight and I were standing inside the bubble with just an object-less floor for company.

“Umm… What danger?” I asked, slight concern filling my body.

“Oh, just ignore that last part, nothing to be worried about.” Twilight poorly reassured me, adding an awkward laugh to the end of her sentence.

Now I’m really not sure if I should trust Twilight.

With a great flash of light, a single potted plant appeared in the middle of the floor. It was a simple daisy, blossoming in the light of the fireplace.

“Woo! Go Griffin!” I could hear Fluttershy cheer from behind the bubble. Her voice seemed like it was being buffered by the magic, making her reassurance sound muffled.

“We’re cheerin’ you on from this side!” Applejack swiftly added.

Oh great, more confidence.

“Ok, I want you to close your eyes for a second.” Twilight instructed.

I did what she said. Letting my eyelids rest, I slowed down my breathing speed and let go of my muscled. I’ve done this procedure so many times before it’s like instinct. Even though I’ve never accomplished, much less try to complete a spell before, I knew that Twilight was trying to relax me. I was as if I was already using magic, reading her mind like this. I cleared my mind of any thought as much to my ability and waited for orders.

“Great, now, relax, take deep breaths and clear your mind of any thoughts or feelings.” Twilight continued.

“Mm hmm.” I hummed. See? I told you she wanted me to relax. Oops, that was an emotion. Let me reset myself…

“Now, picture magic in it essential form. It doesn’t matter what you imagine, just have picture of pure magic inside your mind.

I had no idea what ‘magic and nothing else’ looked like in this world, so I just used my own representation. Inside my mind, there was a glowing blue form of aura floating in a massive black expanse. It twinkled and shined with glory, creating an attracting appeal to it. The very center of the magic was a profound light blue, growing darker as it reached the edges of its power. It waved and morphed in the nothingness.

“Now, if you have your image, picture it floating all around you. Feel it with your body, as it surrounds that too. Feel it in every limb. Feel it in your legs, hands, fingers and head.”

I imagined. Suddenly, there was some sort of floating energy that I could feel caressing my non-existent arm hairs. Next think I know there some kind of static something that enveloped my entire body. It felt… blue. I mean, the colour blue. For somewhat reason, I could feel the colour of it. I guess it’s just that magical.

“Now, once you feel the magic, use it. Will yourself to power up your spirit. For now, just absorb a little bit, then focus it onto one part of your body. Don’t try too hard, and release the energy if you feel that it’s power it too much for you.”

Will myself to use it? How?... Ok, I think I’ve got it.

I took a deep breath in. Releasing, I felt my inner strength to build, creating a magnet for all the magic around me. Soon enough I felt the energy enter my system, filling me with some sort of power. It felt incredible! It was if I was being electrocuted! No, wait, that’s a bad analogy, because I’ve never been executed before. I dunno… It’s hard to explain. It was just pure, un-tainted energy flowing through my veins. It felt very blue. The colour, not the emotion.

There was just so much magic to go around! I couldn’t stop consuming it! After a few seconds, the magic was starting to buzz in my head. There was a ringing in my ears. I frowned, realizing something was wrong. When I tried to stop the absorbing process, I couldn’t! My will wasn’t listening to me and I just kept on gaining magical force! Aw crap! I frowned, desperately trying to find a way to stop myself. I heard voices off in the distance, but the ringing in my ears blocked out the sound. My body just kept taking in all the magic! There was a harsh pressure digging into my skin that was not beginning to hurt.

Seconds went by, but it felt more like minutes. I didn’t know how long I would last, but I couldn’t take any chances. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any, seeing as I couldn’t think of any ways to escape from my magical grasp. At this point, everything on my body hurt. A lot. I mean, A LOT. It felt like tiny needles were not only prodding, but jabbing into every individual nerve in my being. My head felt like it was going to explode! Before I died from a terrible magic accident, my brain had one last thought.

What did Twilight last say? Focus the energy onto a single part of my body? Ok.

In one fast instant, the ringing and pressure went away, leaving a refreshing sensation. All the magical vigor converted to my right hand, filling it with great amounts of energy. I heard the sound of a fire lighting itself. When I opened my eyes, I could see that the floor was scorched, the pot was in pieces, there was dirt scattered all over the floor and my hand was on fire.

Wait, what? My hand was on fire?

Yes, yes it was! My hand was somehow curled up into a fist with bright blue flames licking off the top of it. Not only was the entire being of my hand freaking on fire, but also a little bit of space around it that was a darker shade of blue. What’s even stranger was that it didn’t hurt. Nope, didn’t hurt one bit. I could still feel the intense heat both on the skin of my arm and the rest of my body, but it didn’t hurt. It didn’t appear to be burning my flesh either. All I could do to contain myself was to just stand and stare in awe at the feat I had achieved.

“Twilight, are you seeing this?” I eagerly questioned. After no response, I tried again. “Twilight?”

I turned around. That’s when she responded.

“*cough* yeah, *cough* I definitely saw that.

What I saw with my own two eyes shocked me. Not only was Twilight sprawled across the floor, but her mane was a mess and her tail was partially burnt off! What’s more is that she looked tired than before. Much more tired than before. Her own horn sparked with purple energy as if it too completed a spell.

“What… What happened?”

“Griffin… I…” Rarity began to explain, but stopped short.

I looked towards the rest of the crew. The magic bubble was no longer there. All of the ponies wore looks of shock, awe and fear. Each and every one of them was wide-eyed with nothing to say. Well, except for Rainbow Dash.

“You happened!” she suddenly burst out.

“Yeah! You were all glowy like and blue! And you were on fire! On fire! That was an amazing light show you put for us, Griffy-Griff!” Pinkie chimed in.

I was about to retort with something along the lines of ‘Don’t call me Griffy-Griff’, but I realized the meaning of her words. Apparently, my arm wasn’t the only thing on fire. Was I on fire? I couldn’t tell because the magic filled up my senses and I had my eyes closed at the time. If I did set ablaze, then I wouldn’t have known.

“Well ah’ll be…” I heard Applejack mutter. Fluttershy just whimpered behind one of the sofas. I looked around one more at all of them.

“Was it really that bad?”

“No, in fact, that was amazing!” Twilight got herself off the ground. She seemed shaky on her hooves (never thought I would be saying THAT sentence in my lifetime), so I helped her up. “That was the largest concentration of magic I have ever seen! Well, besides the princesses and that one time in magic kindergarten, but that’s not the point! The point is that I knew it! I knew you could do it and I knew you had immense magical power!” She had a wild grin on her face.

“Did… Did I do that to you?”

“Yes, yes you did! I’m safe, thanks to my own shielding spell, but by Celestia! You just took all the magic residue in the room and used it to set yourself on fire! Incredible!”

Twilight looked a little dazed after that. I wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but it couldn’t have been good if Twilight ended up like this. I turned my head to Applejack.

“Applejack, what really happened in this room?”

“Well…” she returned my eye contact and began to explain. “At first, it seemed like y’all were followin’ Twi’s advice as smooth as a polished apple, but things started to get sour when Twilight told you to take in and focus the magic onto your body. Then, y’all started floatin’ an’ quickly became alight with a blue fire! Just like yer hand there.”

She pointed to my hand. I looked back at its burning state for a split second before she continued.

“Th’ flames comin’ off o’ you were huge! They almost filled the entire room! Thankfully, Twilight’s bubble shield protected us from the heat. After, Twilight tried to yell some instructions at you, but for somewhat reason y’all didn’t respond. Next thing ah knew, she threw up a shield for herself and there was this bright light. Then she ended up on th’ floor, the magical bubble was gone and you were back on yer feet, and with only yer arm alight!”

My jaw dropped. I was floating? No, wait, I was COMPLETELY ON FIRE!? What is this madness I don’t even! How did that even happen! I know I somehow got carried away, but I didn’t expect that I almost blew up Twilight’s home! This is terrible! I once again looked at my torch-like right hand. The blue flames rose up in the air peacefully, a complete opposite as to how they were reacting a few moments ago.

“Yep, that’s what happened alright.” Twilight mentioned. I twisted my head towards her. She followed on to heave a great big sigh.

“I originally wanted you to learn how to control your magical power then levitate that plant over there, but you obliterated it in the process of your learning!”

“Umm… Oops?” was all I had to say.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. At least we have a grasp of what kind of power you hold, Griffin.”

“Yeah, I guess so-“

I suddenly collapsed to my knees. “Griffin!” several of the mares rang out. With moment’s notice, I was out of breath and had no strength left in my legs. In fact, it felt as if I had no strength left at all! The blue fire on my arm had extinguished as my limbs flopped to my sides. My mind was moving as slow as a snail, just like the rest of my surroundings. Well, at least it felt like it. Everything around me was moving in slow motion, just like in a movie, except this time, it wasn’t a movie. It was real. Just like the exhaustion I was feeling right now.

I barely had the mind to put my arms up to stop my decent. I scrapped my palms as the hit the smooth wooden floor. All of the girls rushed up to me, but I actually felt myself rise to the upright position. When I looked, there was a purple energy surrounding me.

“Holy cow, you must have used up a lot of your energy, haven’t you? We need to get you to a bed. I’m impressed that you created such magic, but even the best unicorns get tired after great efforts such as yours.” Twilight lifted me up with her magic. My eyes felt glazed over, threatening to close any second now.

“Yeah, rest sounds good…” I muttered.

Twilight began to trot up the stairs to the guest room that I was sleeping in earlier. I floated steadily right beside her. Behind me I could hear the rest of the gang following her up the brown, wooden steps. It was really, really difficult to keep my eyes open, just to pay attention. I had no idea that magic could be this taxing! Unless, I did something wrong, which I probably did.

“Guuuhhh…” I moaned. My brain was half dead. I could barely think, feel or sense anything. I bet I wouldn’t be able to find my way out of a box in this state, so I just hovered in mid-air limply, allowing Twilight’s magic to guide me.

“Hang on a few more seconds, Griff, we’re almost there.” Fluttershy persuaded.

The door to the guest room opened. One by one we all entered the small space. I felt myself getting laid onto the bed. There was a sudden warmth all over my body. My eyelids were barely a squint before I saw all of their faces one last time. Each of them a different colour, the six ponies smiled honestly at my efforts to learn.

“Sleep well, Griffin Pegasus…” Twilight whispered.

My six newfound friends…

{END OF CHAPTER}

Thanks for reading chapter 1! If you haven't done so already, please leave a comment regarding my writing skills!

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 5

Chapter 3: Melancholy of the Sol Goddess, Part 1

-CHAPTER 3: MELANCHOLY OF THE SOL GODDESS-

{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}

“Daw… Now ain’ dat th’ cutest dang thing y’all have ever seen?”

The mane six were gathered around a bright red bed in the guest room of the Ponyville library. Said bed contained the first known alien to every step foot into the peaceful planet of Equiss, home of many creatures including ponies, Griffins, Dragons and much, much more. The mares watched in adoration as the human snoozed with a tranquil snore. Even though his hair was all over the place, it kept from covering his face, allowing the ponies to get a good look at Griffin’s profile.

“He’s such an absolute angel when he’s asleep!” Rarity cooed.

“Yeah! I can’t believe that he almost burnt down the entire tree just a minute ago!” Pinkie Pie mentioned. The smiles on all the others turned into frowns and grimaces. That was a very terrifying moment for all of them: the knowledge that they might have died from the alien’s power if not with the help of Twilight’s sturdy shield.

“Gee, thanks Pinkie…” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“You got it!” she replied, bounding right beside the cyan Pegasus.

“Well, ah hate to leave, but ah fear that somethin’ might have gone wrong while ah wasn’t at mah farm. Ah better take mah leave.” Applejack stated, turning towards the door.

“Applejack’s got a point there. I better get back to the Carousel Boutique before Sweetie Bell make a mess out of my workspace. If, that is, that little rascal hasn’t already…” Rarity seconded the apple farmer’s idea.

“And now that I know that all you girls are safe, I have nothing to worry about! I’ll be heading off back to the Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie Pie third that motion.

“Oh dear, I’ve completely forgotten about the animals near my cottage! They must be frightened by now! I’ve got to head back as fast as I can!” Fluttershy quietly mentioned.

“Ok, I understand.” Twilight opened the guest room door for the others. Each and every single one of them exited in a single file line so that they wouldn’t get stuck in the doorway with everyone leaving at the same time. As they moved back into the living room of the library, Twilight’s ears flinched when an enormous crackle of thunder shot out across the sky. It just reminded her once again the state of the outside world, filling her with fear for Ponyville’s future. She was thankful that she not only had a strong living tree to protect her from the elements, but a magically enhanced tree, with spells and enchantments both from Princess Celestia and herself. Virtually nothing could get past this tree’s defenses.

Unfortunately, Twilight could not say the same for the Ponyville houses.

Even though houses are built with top-notch, high-quality materials, this storm was in an entire league of its own. She hasn’t looked outside since she was outside, but Twilight had guessed and imagined the roofs of houses flying off from the almighty whirlwinds moving about outside with the house’s foundations collapsing to boot. She thought about going out and helping anypony who needed it, but was stopped due to the fact that she had a sleeping extra-terrestrial in her library, along with her number one assistant. If Griffin were to wake up in her absence and discover Spike, who knows what kind of chaos would brew from that catastrophe! Spike would probably be scared for life seeing an alien up close and personal! There was no way she was leaving her library anytime soon.

Applejack got to the front door of the book occupied room. She opened it, suddenly feeling the rain being sucked into the dry oak tree. Closing it quickly, she gave a sly smile towards Twilight, hoping that the purple unicorn wouldn’t notice her floor being a little wetter than usual. Rarity was gathering her clothes from the coat hanger and the umbrella rack, Fluttershy was trying to gather her remaining courage and resolve to trek through the terrible storm to get to her animal friends, Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen and Rainbow Dash was following behind Twilight with a scowl on her face.

“Well, it’s been fun seeing y’all but ah have to get back. Hope y’all have a good one, with all th’ rain an’ all!” Applejack announced, making her withdrawal. Everypony responded with several goodbyes before letting the orange mare off to do her own thing.

“Looks like I’ve got everything. Hope I have not forgotten something. Well, if I have, then be a darling Twilight and drop it off later, please?” Twilight nodded her head. “Thank you. Au revoir, everypony!” Rarity left the library with a wave and a step. The door firmly slammed shut in order to make sure that no extra rainwater accidentally got in.

“Um, yes, I also best be off now… Thank you for having me Twilight.” said Fluttershy, showing her appreciation with a smile.

“No problem Fluttershy. Come on by anytime! Now have a safe journey back home.” Twilight answered back.

“Thank you. Bye!” Fluttershy waved as she softly closed the door behind her. Now there were two, silent in the room.

“Shouldn’t you be going off somewhere too?” Twilight inquired.

“Not really. There’s nothing I have to do that can’t be held off until later.” Rainbow leaned back in midair and relaxed.

“But don’t you have to go back to your weather team so you can guide them?”

“No, since Princess Celestia dismissed us from clearing the storm.”

“Really? That’s strange.”

“Well, it kinda is, but it was cool.”

Twilight waited for Rainbow to explain herself.

“…Go on…” Twilight encouraged.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked.

“Why do you think that the Princess dismissing you was 'cool'?”

“Well…” Rainbow began, glancing from side to side anxiously. "I-It's nothing actually, I ju-just feel like it's alright, alright?"

The purple mare raised her eyebrow in suspicion. "And I thought Applejack was a bad liar..."

"I-I'm not lying!"

"Really, Rainbow? Trust me, I can tell that you're straight up lying. But you can also trust me that there's nothing to be afraid of! I'm not gonna make fun of whatever you're nervous about, I'm your friend! Please, Rainbow Dash?" Twi asked, giving a very convincing puppy pout.

The speedy pegasus groaned, turning her head away to avoid the cute gaze that was Twilight's eyes. "Alright, fine..."

“The weather outside... It's unnatural. I mean, we're talking about Everfree Forest unnatural. First of all, we didn't have any showers scheduled for the next week or so, much less a thunderstorm! Meaning that this doozy of a storm came up out of nowhere! I was relaxing, taking my coffee break when the scout of my team reported that a storm was already taking place above Ponyville! It completely took me off guard! Second, the storm clouds were humongous, like castle-size humongous! Third, the wind was really giving me and my team a battering out there-not like it slowed me down, but still, combine fast winds and jumping lighting and you've got one scary situation on your hooves. Except it didn't scare me! No sir-y bob! Nope! Didn't frighten me one bit!"

Twilight felt the pain of her friend in her chest. The pegasus was obviously scarred a bit from fighting the nightmare above, but was it really that bad? It didn't look so from the inside, so Twilight could only being to imagine how terrible it really was in reality.

Rainbow looked towards the rain-filled sky through a nearby window, a certain sadness in her eyes. “We fought off the storm. Believe me, we did. But no matter how many clouds we bucked, no matter how much electricity we discharged and no matter what we did, the storm just wasn't slowing down. In fact, it seemed to be picking up! Me and my team were already half an hour into the battle and we were losing. Half of us were exhausted, the other half injured from stray lightning strikes and there were no signs of the storm giving up! But that didn't mean I was giving up anytime soon! I was still rarin' to go! I could have gone for another five hours if it was necessary! But..."

She looked back towards her listener. "My boss came out from our weathering center and gave me a letter saying to back out of the operation and return to our homes, and ground level if possible. I didn't believe it at first, but when I saw the royal stamp of approval and the princess's signature, I had no choice."

Twilight saw Rainbow grit her teeth in frustration and rage. The unicorn was understanding enough to see that her friend was not only beating herself up, but she was also having inner conflict with herself. Twilight knew that Rainbow was competitive in nature, and since she ran away she might have considered that as a ‘loss’. Rainbow’s pride couldn’t let her lose to a rainstorm, not when she was the best flier in all of Equestria!

"Twilight, I..." The blue flyer began. "I could have stopped the storm. I really could have. But the princess didn't give me enough time! Even if I had ten more minutes to spare, I could have at lease put a dent into that stupid storm! The storm that not only wrecked my team, but also wrecked up Ponyville and messed up Cloudsdale!"

The librarian gasped, hearing the news. "What... What happened to Cloudsdale?"

Rainbow flattened her ears and turned away from the other pony, trying to hide a tear. "You know Twi, there's a reason that pegasi control and schedule weather to come and go. There's a reason. It's because since our houses are made of clouds, stormclouds not only tamper with the infrastructure, but they also cause over-precipitation, turning all the houses into rainclouds themselves!"

Twilight was completely speechless while her friend's voice cracked over the sorrow in memory of the sky city. " We couldn't control the weather Twi, we just couldn't. The storm reached Cloudsdale and turned it into the swirling mess you see up there. There's nothing left of it, just water and dust. I managed to get some of the citizens into my mansion, but... That was all I could do."

Rainbow whipped around, staring at the unicorn with a teary gaze. "That was all I could do! All I could do was just sit back and watch my city get torn apart just because I didn't try hard enough! Just because I let the princess tell me what to do and I followed her like some young FOAL! It was because of my stupid decisions that made the thunderstorm what it is now! Do you understand? Do you understand what I've done? BECAUSE I DON'T THINK YOU DO!"

Twilight flinched at the streak of colours that was screaming at her. She gave a sympathetic look and approached Rainbow to wrap her up in a hug, but failed to do so when she backed away from the welcoming, accepting  gesture.

“I’m sorry Twilight, but... but I just need some time to myself, I think.”

Rainbow leaped off the ground and took off towards one of Twilight’s windows. Her nose met the glass again, the resulting noise making a *smack* sound. Twilight only stared at the pegasus's displeasure. Rainbow blushed, scowled, opened the window and zoomed off into the distance. Twilight used her magic to close it back again.

Before she could do anything else, the door to her room opened behind her.

“Twilight, you got a letter from the princess!”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Make sure you comment, track and rate before you leave this page!

Also, be sure to check out my blog for updates, author's notes and much, much more!

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 1

Chapter 3: Melancholy of the Sol Goddess, Part 2

IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE READ FIRST!

This chapter WILL be confusing if you have not read my blog post about my interpretation of magic! Click here to read if if you have not done so already:

http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/45980/my-interpretation-of-magic-in-the-world-of-equestria

Also, I am taking a HUGE gamble with this chapter. If there's something that you don't like about it, please, PLEASE tell me in a comment!

{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}

Spike stood it he doorway of Twilight’s bedroom, holding a rolled up scroll in his claws. He had a wide-eyed look to him, yet still contained traces of sleep. Twilight guess that the sudden arrival of Princess Celestia’s letter probably woke up the napping young dragon. Both pony and dragon approached each other hastily from two opposite ends of the room. Spike’s stumpy legs leaped from one stair to the other while it only took a few Twilight a few hoofsteps to reach the bottom of the staircase.

“What does it say?” Twilight asked, interest reflecting from the look in her eyes.

“I don’t know, I haven’t opened it up yet. It’s a letter to you, not me.” Spike reasoned.

“Good point.” Twilight was glad that Spike respected things that were not his, or in this case, were not meant to be his. She telekinetically grabbed the letter from his hand and floated it towards herself. Once it was closer, she could clearly see the royal seal on the ribbon that kept the message shut. Carefully unraveling the ribbon, she flattened out the mail and began to read its contents.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Dear Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student:

I request to see you immediately. There is some important information that I need to address to you in person. Unfortunately, I am busy handling the storm and the catastrophes that occur from it, so I cannot teleport to the Ponyville library myself. Also, I cannot send you a carriage due to the bad weather you most likely have noticed by now.

Instead, you must use your own skills to get to Canterlot Castle. I believe you have read about the long distance teleportation spell in one of your textbooks, if I am correct. If not, then please review pages 156 to 160 in the book ‘Advanced Arcane Studies, Volume IX’. Once done, you can use rune formations Alpha-099-Orange and Pi-365-Blue to help increase your magical volume. Furthermore, I’ve binded my magical scent to this letter. Use it to lock on to my lodestone easier.

I know that this is a spell you have not tried out yet and may be a bit daunting to attempt. But I believe that you have the strength and knowledge to succeed without my help. In fact, I know, Twilight Sparkle that you have learned and have gained enough magical experience to cast this spell without any trouble. You can do it.

I’ll be waiting for you at the other side.

With love and care,

Princess Celestia

P.S.

Spike, if you read this letter and Twilight is not at home, you must find her as quickly as possible. Getting this letter

to her is of the utmost importance.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Twilight almost immediately recognized her teacher’s hoofwriting. She could also faintly smell a strange odor coming off of the paper. Realizing that that must have been her majesty’s magical scent, she began to think about what the princess had said in her message.

“So, what does it say?” Spike nosily inquired while trying to lean over Twilight’s back for a better look.

“It says that the princess needs to see me in person ASAP, meaning that I have to get everything prepared! Spike, could you go get me my rune sand, chalk and candles?”

“Sure.” Spike waddled off into a nearby closet, quickly coming out with a stack of brick-a-brack on his arms. “What are you preparing for anyways?”

“I need to cast an incredibly powerful teleportation spell to get to her since she has to deal with the chaos from the storm and since we can’t fly a carriage in this weather. I know what the spell she’s talking about, but I need to strengthen the altitude of it’s frequency in order for it to cast correctly.” Twilight explained while magically grabbing her supplies from Spike.

“Um… In Equish, please?”

“Gah, I have to make the spell stronger so it will work!” Twilight snapped back.

“Ok, ok! I was just asking a question. Do you know why she needs to talk to you all of the sudden?”

“I dunno, but it must be important seeing as she gave you a small note at the end of this letter saying to get her mail to me as fast as possible.” Twilight took several white chalks in her telekinetic grasp and started to draw circles, triangles, stars and other shape onto her library floor. After a few seconds of focus, she backed up to observe her handiwork. Satisfied, she put away the chalk and grabbed four tiny purple bags of pink sand.

“She did?” Spike inquired.

“Yes, she did.” Twilight opened one bag a smidge and began to lightly pour its contents all over the library floor. She did the same with three other bags. Once they were empty, Twilight examined the various pattern and markings she had drew with pink sand onto the wooden surface. Acknowledging her accomplishments, she floated three different coloured candles towards the patterns. She set them down onto three specific positions, creating a parallel perfect distance between them.

Even though the sets of magical runes were complete, she still double and triple checked to make sure nothing was wrong. She actually wanted to do a quadruple check, but thought that she wasted enough time already getting the spell prepared. The purple unicorn cautiously stepped over the chalk marks and sand to the center of the runes.

“I guess that means that I can’t come with you…” Spike hung his head down.

“No Spike. I’m sorry you can’t go with me, but I can create enough magical energy to teleport one life form, which will be me. Tell you what, next chance I get, we’ll go to Canterlot for a little vacation for a day or two. How does that sound?”

“Ok! Great!” The baby dragon perked up immediately.

“Great. So I’ll see you in a little bit.”

“Yeah. See yeah, Twilight.”

“Bye.”

Twilight sat down on her haunches, closed her eyes and started to focus her magic to herself. Even though performing magic was second nature to her, this spell was barely almost out of her league. It would take all her physical and mental focus to channel enough magic into the spell to make it work. She felt the magic in the air flow around her. Willing herself to gather it up, she began weaving it in a certain way that made the magic into a teleportation spell. She re-hashed the process of the spell one more time in her head while continuing to suck in more magic. The candles on the runes lit themselves from the sheer pressure of magic that Twilight had gathered around herself.

Her last step was to find the princess’s lodestone signature. Using the scent from the letter, Twilight cast half of her consciousness to the eternal abyss that were the plains of magic. Billions upon billions of magical streams could be seen with her mind’s eye floating around portals that could go to anywhere on the face of the planet. However, with the help of Celestia’s letter, it didn’t take long for Twilight to pinpoint the goddess's lodestone. When it was located, Twilight released the magic and hoped that it worked.

A gigantic sucking sound filled Twilight’s ears. There was a massive pressure all around her body before she felt back to normal. She opened her eyes to find herself in the sleeping quarters of the princess. There, sitting on the balcony of the room was the princess herself.

“Princess Celestia!”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Once again, if you have not done so already, please read my blog post about my interpretation of magic, as I will be using these ideas in the future and I don't want the readers to get more confused than necessary.

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 2

Chapter 3: Melancholy of the Sol Goddess, Part 3

As usual, thoughts are in italics and parenthesis

{*Omniscient point of view, Canterlot Castle: Princess Celestia’s Bed Quarters*}

In the city standing side a mountain, Canterlot, the princess of the land thought profusely on the recent events over her land. Not many ponies knew it, but the storm that seemed to wreck and destroy everything it its path was not just in Canterlot and Ponyville. In fact, the downpour reached from Manehattan to Fillydalphia and everything in between! Celestia’s scouts promptly reported that the rain and thunder fiesta could possibly reach past Equestria’s borders and wrap around the entirety of the planet! It was a very troublesome situation, even for the leader who had thousands of hundreds of years of experience.

Princess Celestia stood proudly over her crumbling kingdom wearing a somewhat exhausted and sorrowful expression. Although her eyes threatened to give in to her body’s demands of rest, years and years of practice over ignoring her need for sleep has toughened her up for moments like these. Dark circle ran over her eyelids as she gazed wearily over the chaos that was the countryside of Equestria.

The rain poured down upon thousands of Kilometers in every direction, creating flash floods in areas that were not prepared or protected. Lightning projected itself from the sky, setting ablaze any building or life that was in its way. Wind washed through the landscape, dragging down those not strong enough to withstand its pressure. In the cooler parts of the kingdom, water turned to hail and quickly broke down any and all structures that were unfortunate enough to be underneath its wrath. Thunder echoed against every single surface, making the scene more terrifying than usual.

The old sun goddess witnessed her ruled lands and wondered if this was truly the last days of equine reign. If that the devastating fury of the storm would bring the country to its knees. She would have adored to fly out and take care of the storm herself instead of her loyal Pegasus subjects, but Canterlot and moreover Equestria needed her at her castle as a symbol of hope and leadership. Everypony looks up to her, so she couldn’t imagine all the panic and terror that would occur if she decided to help take out the storm, not to mention all the guards trying to stop her in the process. For a moment she considered that Luna could take her position as ruler for a few hours or so. However, she swiftly recalled that not everypony was at even terms with the moon princess. Furthermore, Luna said herself that she felt like she still wasn’t ready to take full responsibility yet. She couldn’t sneak out of the castle, considering that some kind of messenger or guard needs her assistance every ten minutes or so, she would be missed immediately after she tried anything dodgy.

And then there was the magic to deal with. Somewhere, in the dead center of all the hullabaloo was an enormous concentration of magic. The storm was a great cover-up for the magic to hide in, because she couldn't see it visibly. All she could do is sense it, which was easy enough for the almighty sun goddess. However, it was a troublesome thing indeed, because from what she could tell, it was the most magic Celestia has ever sensed that was all in one place. She could tell that all the magic in the air was swirling and churning into one point above the clouds where no pony could touch. The arcane mass was creating so much magical pressure that it was messing up the amount of magic in the air. Celestia found it a tad bit more difficult to cast any kind of spell.

Knowing this, all she could do was hope that her apprentice had no trouble casting the spell.

Suddenly, she heard a strong whooshing sound, followed by a flash of light behind her. She smirked, knowing that that was the signs of her lodestone activating. After everything calmed down, she waited and listened, like every old patient caretaker would.

“Princess Celestia!”

She immediately turned around to meet Twilight Sparkle’s hooves wrap around her torso. Embracing the hug, she gave a warm smile over her student.

“It is good to see you Twilight. How are you this evening?”

Twilight gave good consideration over her answer. “I’m ok. It’s been peaceful around the library except for the storm creating disruptive sounds from my reading and studying.” She purposely made her answer general, hoping to avoid some extra-terrestrial subjects.

“I hope that you have been taking breaks from studying from time to time.” The princess mentioned.

“Oh yeah, I have! In fact, I haven’t studied anything in the past two hours!” Twilight beamed.

“Well, that’s certainly a break alright. And I trust that you have been treating Spike and your friends well?”

“Yep! There haven’t been too many problems with my friends, but here and there we get a squabble or two. It’s nothing though, as I’ve learned that sometimes disagreements are unavoidable in friendships, and that once and a while somepony might not agree with somepony else, and that’s ok. No pony’s gonna always have the same idea’s as somepony else. I find a little conflict between friends is a natural occurrence.”

“Well done my faithful student. You have grown much since you left here for Ponyville.”

“Thanks Princess. I guess I have, haven’t I?”

Celestia took a moment to recollect on past memories between Twilight and herself. It only seemed like yesterday that Twilight was showing her what she learned about the basics of telekinesis, one of the simplest spells a unicorn can perfect. The young filly quickly showed her mastery of the skill, and continued to display her magic prowess to Celestia in a display of different spells, conjurations, illusions and jinxes.  The white Alicorn knew from the very beginning that Twilight was a very special pony, and she was only beginning to show her affinity for magic, she just needed somepony to point her in the right direction. The princess decided to not only take the purple unicorn under her wing, but to also treat her with care, kindness and respect like any other guardian would.

(She’s just so grown up now…)

“So, Princess, what did you want to talk to me about?” Twilight asked, looking up into her teacher’s amethyst eyes.

“Oh, yes, actually, there is something I need to show you…” The princess began, backing up out of Twilight’s embrace. Not taking her eyes off her underling, she turned her body towards the balcony. “Would you care to take a look outside please?”

Twilight looked curiously at her mentor. Peeking around her pearl white body, she approached the dark ocean blue platform that was the balcony. She could feel Celestia’s wing drape over her back, bring her warmth and comfort.

She would need all the comfort she could get. The element of magic dropped her jaw at the scenery before her. Across the hills of Equestria were faint remains of lush, full farms that used to be prosperous. Now, they were either on fire or missing altogether. Twilight was experiencing all the horrors that the Princess was having just a minute ago. She saw the floods, the lightning, the rain, the ruined houses and building, and the overall devastation that was the country of Equestria.

“Princess, I… What is happening out there?” Twilight questioned, fear in her voice.

“These are the full effect of the storm as you see them. The storm lit the fires burning in the trees, washed away the countryside and tore down the homes of many. All this destruction was caused by this single, brutal rainstorm.” the Princess duly answered.

“But why? How? I thought that this was just a usual, run of the mill storm? I thought that the bad weather would pass in an hour or so, yet it hasn’t? Why not?”

“As you might have guessed by now, this isn’t a normal storm. In fact, this storm was created by abnormal powers and forces. For what purpose, I don’t know. However, what I do know is that the storm involves omnipotent magic, some on par to Luna and I’s abilities.”

“Who could have done this? And why? What kind of a monster would want to see out peaceful little Equestria in ruin?” Twilight began to shed tears.

“Who? Maybe the correct question to ask is not ‘who’, but what? Maybe it was an accident. Maybe it came from a force that is not of this world.” Twilight slightly choked at Celestia’s words. “Maybe this is the actions of a spirit that I have long forgotten. I don’t know.”

The now sobbing unicorn glanced up towards her idol. She abruptly noticed that even the sun goddess had a single tear running across her face. That just made Twilight even more terrified. It seemed that for the first time in her life, Princess Celestia had no clue on what to do next. Her mentor, her teacher, her ruler just couldn’t wrap her head around the situation.

(How is that possible? How is it that she doesn’t know what to do? She always knows what to do! Always!) Twilight panicked in her mind. She looked back at the landscape. (What’s happening to Equestria? What’s happening to my home?)

Celestia gripped Twilight by her wing. She backed up, Twilight forced to follow. Once inside, away from the chilling winds, the regal ruler closed the glass balcony doors with her will and proceeded to kneel down to Twilight’s level.

“Twilight Sparkle, you must be strong. You must be brave. You must be there for your friends when they need you, and they will be there when you need them.” Twilight gave eye contact to her teacher. Celestia wiped Twi’s tears away with the edge of her wings. “And now, most importantly, you must listen to me for what I have to say.”

Twilight nodded her head in attention before Celestia continued. “You must return to Ponyville with this.” Celestia levitated a jewel-studded box from seemingly nowhere. She opened the contents, revealing five stunning necklaces and a beautiful purple tiara.

“The elements!” Twilight cried out.

“Yes. You must take the elements of harmony with you back to the Ponyville library. Then, you have to gather up your friends as quickly as possible and leave Ponyville. Travel down the roads south-east. They will bring you into a kingdom called Ferrasent. You must take refuge until I send you a letter confirming the safe condition of Equestria.”

“What?” Twilight whimpered. “Why do we have to leave? What’s wrong with staying?”

“Equestria is turning into a dangerous place, and I don’t want the elements to disappear when we need them most. If you hide out in a safer place, then I can call you when the time is right.”

“But why can’t we just use the elements to take down the storm?” Twilight pondered, still crying.

“Abnormal or not, this storm is comprised of natural resources, and the magic of the elements of harmony does not affect anything natural because nature itself is harmonic. However, it will be effective as a great source of power. Once I figure out a way to take care of the storm, I will send a letter to you so you can teleport back to my lodestone and power up a spell that my best magicians are working on as we speak.”

Twilight could not believe this. How could the Princess ask her to leave the entire country? Was she joking like she sometimes does? Did she do something wrong to deserve this? Both answers were no, and Twilight realized this. Furthermore, why was Celestia asking only her and her friends to leave and not just evacuate the country altogether? There was something very wrong about the situation and how the Princess was trying to deal with the chaos outside. It just wasn’t how the princess normally reacted. It just wasn’t normal.

But what could she do?  It was her word against an almighty goddess. She had no chance, nor was it her place to question the princess of the land. However, it was her gut feeling talking again,

And her gut is almost never wrong.

“Princess, I…I…” Twilight rushed up and bawled into Celestia’s chest. The mentor caressed Twilight comfortingly with nothing else to say. “I…I don’t want to leave!”

“I know. I’m sorry. I am truly sorry.”

{END OF CHAPTER}-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And thus concludes this chapter! I know, short chapter compared to the previous two, right? Well, that's just how it's gonna go for this chapter AND the next one. This chapter and the next one are kinda just interval chapter that move the plot forward. I promise you readers that as soon as we get past chapter 4, chapters are gonna be past the 10 000 word mark again. Whether that's a good thing or not, I dunno. We'll just have to see.

By the way, even this is a short chapter, that does not mean that it is subject to change. I might add a description here or here if I feel it necessary, but it would really help me make a decision if I get some feedback. Do I need more description or a longer chapter? Let me know in the comments below!

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 3

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 1

-CHAPTER 4: JOURNEY-{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

Have you ever wished for adventure?

What a stupid question to ask, of course you have! I would be very surprised if you haven’t before. I know that I wish for adventure. In fact, I dream of it! If I could just get one glimpse of a radiant overgrown jungle, parachuting my way down into the thick foliage, then I think that my life would be complete. Heck, the adventure I want doesn’t even have to take place in the jungle, it could take place anywhere! The frozen tundra, the depths of the ocean, the intense heat of a volcano; it doesn’t matter. What does matter is whether or not I will actually get my wish granted.

Aw, who am I kidding? Reality does not allow dreams to come true that easily!

It’s not every day that one gets to ride a horse through the Wild West, or take a submarine down to the crevices of the Earth! No, in fact, it never happens unless you’re either crazy or you specialize in some kind of field that give you permission to do that kind of stuff! So if you don’t have that kind of privileges or if you’re not even OLD enough to partake in any adventures, then you’re just plain out of luck, just like I am!

I sit here on an early Monday morning, waiting for the school bell to ring so I can begin my miserably normal day! I’ve been repeating the same process over and over for the past 8 years: wake up, go to school, study, get praised unnecessarily for my work, go home, do homework, go to bed and wake up the next morning just to do it all over again! It’s blasphemy I tell you, BLASPHEMY! Why can’t they just let us teens go and do our own thing? We don’t need to know how to calculate the side lengths of a triangle to survive in the outside world! No! We need to learn how to get jobs and follow our dreams! But will school let us do that? No! Will I ever get to follow MY dreams anytime soon? NO! For the next five years of my life I’m going to have to repeat the same process almost every day, except each additional year getting harder and harder! It’s just so unfair!

I sighed out loud, slamming my forehead into my desk. For the past month or so I have been doing this and my teacher and my fellow classmates have stopped fretting about the well being of my skull. I groaned inside my head, knowing that making notices that everyone can hear will not help my predicament. I grasp my blue Five-Star binder and drag it towards my head. At this point I’m just waiting for my day to start. There’s nothing interesting for me to do in the meantime. All my friends are in other classes, I’m done all my homework so I can’t work on it while I’m waiting and they don’t allow IPods in class! What a load of bull.

Raising my head just enough to take a look around, I observe what has been my homeroom for the past eight months: white walls with a white floor with brown desks and a shiny backboard so the teacher’s annoying squeaking marker can scribble her chicken scratch for all to see. Nothing in this room is worth mentioning except for the fake motivational posters that are plaster against one side of the wall, adorning messages such as ‘learning builds character’ and ‘class is in session, turn your brain on’. After reading them for the um-teenth time, their value of creating some variety in the class wears off.

At this point in time almost everyone has arrived and taken their seats except for those few that either skip homeroom or skip school all together. My peers are either chatting, reading, stressfully doing some last minute homework or are creating some kind of trouble. Since I sit at the back of my class, I more or less get a clear view of everyone else. I can see the four girls in the right front of the class chatting away at some thing or another. At the other corner I could see a group of boys that were mischievously switching spots without the teacher noticing so they could talk to each other in class. Everyone else was doing something in between the lines of acting foolishly and acting responsibly.

I sighed again. I see no point in going to school at all. Well, maybe I’m stretching my feelings for education a little bit, but still! I learn more by watching TV and hanging around the internet that by sitting in a desk all day while listening to some grumpy scrawny adult at the front of the class mentor to everyone how to make a good poem (and I hate poems!) or how to add two and two together or how the reproductive system works (thanks science class! Now I know more about penises than I have ever wanted!). Of course, I could just not go, but my parents are expecting me to cope with the crap and just do it like they had to when they were teenagers. Also graduating high school will look good on my resume, but that’s a totally different perspective.

A loud obnoxious beeping sound rings over the PA system. Finally, the day has begun! Now I can stop waiting for something to actually happen!

“Good morning River Bell High School!” the office secretary chirped over the poor microphone quality of the PA system. “Today is Wednesday, June first, s day two. Please rise for your national anthem.”

There were disruptive screeching sounds all over the room, signaling that people had scrapped their chairs across the floor to stand up. Some people I noted were late to stand up. Whatever, it’s not like it matters that much.

“Um… Griff? Aren’t you going to stand?” one of my peers to the left of me poked me in the shoulder. I think his name was Jake. I think. But anyways, I thought I have already stood up! I guess not, seeing as my line of sight just connected to a bunch of butts. Normally I subconsciously stand up, but this time I guess not. Well, maybe this time I actually have to make a conscious effort on something. I willed myself to get up. I told my legs, “Get going and stand up!” I asked my back to straighten and I tried to open my eyes more to look less sleepy.

It didn’t happen.

Wait, what? Let me try again… Legs stand up, back don’t slouch, eyes awaken and get the frick up… Nope, nothing. My point of view hadn’t changed from my desktop.

Why? Why couldn’t I stand up? Now that I thought about it, my limbs adorned a numb sensation to them. I really couldn’t feel the surface of the desk with my hands, nor could I move my hands anyways. My arms wouldn’t respond, my neck wouldn’t respond, nothing on my body worked when I told it to! It was like my muscles had just gone up and dies all of the sudden! I couldn’t even move my eyes! What the heck was going on here? I just lost all feeling and control of everything in my body? What the heck? WHAT THE HECK?

Ok, hit the panic button brain, ‘cause shit just hit the fan! Can I talk? Can I communicate still so I can get assistance? Nope, my mouth wouldn’t move! My shoulder was suddenly moving a bit. I could hear Jake say something, but apparently my ears were failing as well. It was like he was talking from underwater or something!... Or maybe it was just my brain shutting down all capabilities, including speech recognition. I completely lost any sense of balance and couldn’t figure out where gravity was pulling me. Of course I knew that it was pulling me downwards, but without any feeling from my nerves it was difficult to tell exactly which direction it was pulling me. I felt as if my mind had completely disconnected from the rest of my body!

My vision was suddenly changing. It was slowing moving downwards at an angle. Oh no. Oh no no no no! Was I sliding off my seat? My vision continued down. Yes, I am sliding off my seat! Holy Jesus, I still can’t move my limbs! Someone, anyone, help me! I heard voices off in the distance, but like I said, it was difficult hearing anything. I could see a few heads turning around to see what was going on behind them. Finally, my point of view dropped rapidly as my body collapsed off of the seat of my desk.

Crack. I heard a crack, then bounced a small amount before settling on the ground. Oh my god. What that my skull? Did my skull just crack? Did it break? Oh god, I hope not. What the heck is going on here? WHAT’S HAPPENING??? The edges of my sight were slowly turning dark. Oh great, now I’m blacking out. I could see kids jumping out of their standing spots to rush over to my location. I could also just barely make out the face of Jack trying to say something to me. Key word being ‘I think’, because his blurry lips were moving but no sound was coming out. There was definitely a sense of urgency in the classroom.

Now, I could barely make out the outlines of other teens running and causing a commotion over my sudden fainting. Although maybe I wasn’t fainting. I wouldn’t know, seeing as I have never fainted once before in my life. Maybe I was dying. Was I dying? Is this what dying feels like? Slowly losing smell, hearing and feeling while you black out? Speaking of blacking out, there was only a sliver of clear vision left in my, well, vision. Everything else was covered with a black, murky area. Oh crap crap crap crap! Stop blacking out, Griffin, stop blacking out! You need to get out of this stupor and back into action! No no no no, go back! Go back so that you can fix this and get back to normal! Why is this happening? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING???

Darkness overtook me.

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 4

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 2

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

“GAH!!!”

I yelled in the dark confinements of Twilight’s guest room. Well, at least that’s where I think I am. Let me double-check… Yep, I’m still on a different planet. I looked towards the window to the right of me. From what I could tell, the shadows of the storm sere still looming over my situation. Was that what woke me up? Was it the lightning and thunder? No, from what I could tell, I was sweating and my heart was pounding. I felt like I just woke up from a nightmare, and yet… I couldn’t remember what kind of nightmare. Don't you hate that? When you have a dream but you can’t remember a single inch of it? Yeah. I do.

I held my hand up, wiping the perspiration from my forehead. I took a moment to take a breather and get a hold of myself. Whatever that nightmare was, it sure was a scary one! My blood pressure was so high from the experience I could feel my temples pound! What the heck did I dream about to get this worked up?

…Well, It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s all in the past, and I just have to move on. But I’m still curious, what that important? Was my sub-conscious trying to tell me something I needed to know? It certainly felt like it. I can’t really describe the feeling, but my instinct that I was missing something very crucial to the situation. I shook my head and let out a large breath. My legs suddenly cramped up in pain. Since I was cooped up in the library’s extra bed that was fitted for small vibrant mammals, no wonder my knees were aching! I winced in agony as I tried to stretch my lower appendages a little.

Wait, stop. Think. Where was everybody? It came back to me, little by little. I was meeting all the inhabitants of this new world before I feel asleep-no, before I fainted from exhaustion! I met six ‘ponies’ as they were called altogether. I think once was called Twilight, then there was Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie (uuugh god, I actually kinda wanna forget her) and Rainbow Dash (What a BITCH!). Twilight was interrogating and harassing me at the same time while I got comfortable with everyone! She was accusing me of invading their planet as an extra-terrestrial! What an asshole! Sure, the part being an alien might have been true, but that still ticks me off! No, wait, I already got my revenge by swearing at them a million times. Hee hee, that felt really, REALLY good when I did that. A wide smile grew on my face remembering that memory. And then, Twilight wanted to teach me how to do magic, and I…

Oh my god. I almost smoked the entire library! Literally! According to the ponies, I became a big blue ball of fire! As far as I could tell, I was just losing control of the magic! Back when it actually happened, it felt kinda like a dream. Like it wasn’t really happening and I wasn’t really there. But looking back, there was no doubt about it that I performed magic and almost obliterated my lodgings in the process. Did I really do that? Did I really use magic and did I really set my arm of fire? It was just so unreal. It made no sense, like the rest of this world.

Like the rest of this unknown world…

…..

.....

…Hmm.

All of the sudden, there was a loud clatter of noises that seemed to come from out of the room. What was all the commotion about? Was everyone downstairs doing something? Maybe I was missing out on some kind of discussion.  I heard more crashes coming from the door to the living room. Looking cautiously, I realized that normal conversations don’t involve creating a hullabaloo I don’t think. Well, then again, these ponies aren’t exactly a normal bunch, but you know what I mean! There was more than meets the eye. No, that’s a Transformers quote, think of something else. There was more to this situation then it seemed.

I swung my legs from beneath the blankets carefully and planted them firmly on the cold, hard surface wooden floor. My skin crawled at the sudden icy sensation around my heels and toes. Springing out of the bed, I started to creep my way towards the door. I cautiously lowered my ear to the door side and laid my head against the brown entrance. I abruptly heard more crashing and banging. My eyes widened. It sounded like glass was hitting the floor! Something was happening out there, something with trouble!

I backed my head up, stood up straight, firmly grasped the door handle and swung it open unnecessarily dramatic like. Thankfully I remembered to keep holding the door so it wouldn’t slam against the wall disruptively. The living room was substantially dark and there were no signs of light anywhere. The fireplace had been put out and it looked like all the others left quite a while ago. I could barely see the clutter in the limelight that reflected off the surfaces on the floor, yet I could still make out the rain pelting the windows all around the room. Shockingly, I saw a mysterious and suspicious four-legged figure crawling about on the main floor. It looked like the body of a pony’s. It was currently trying to clean up the mess it created on the floor. I couldn’t see exactly what was on the ground, but it looked really cluttered and disorganized. Anyways, it was taking things from the ground and putting it in some sort of pack it had on the side of its body.

What it stealing? It certainly looked like it. I think it is! It’s stealing from the library! Who would want to steal from a library? What would you gain? Paper? Books? Knowledge? Well, actually that’s a pretty legit reason to steal from a library, but no matter! No one’s pulling any fast ones on my watch!

“Hey you!” I announced, jumping onto the railing of the stairs and smoothly sliding down them. “Stop right there!”

That definitely got the pony’s attention. I heard a feminine gasp as I saw the outline of her head turn around. There was a flash of lightning that lit up the scene around me for a split second. Fortunately, a second was all I needed. Standing before me in a mess of books, broken glass, scattered scrolls and broken plant pots was…

“Twilight?”

“Um… Hey there Griffin…” She sheepishly squeaked. “What-what are you doing up so early in the morning?”

Whelp, that confirms my theory of it being an unusual time to get up. “I should ask you the same thing. I heard a bunch of COMMOTION down here and thought that with all the stuff on the floor getting TAKEN by a MYSTERIOUS FIGURE, someone was STEALING from the library!” I replied, pushing my point forward.

“Well, I uh, as you can see here, It’s just little ol’ me, organizing the shelves a little bit.” Twilight suggested.

“No I cannot see a thing at all, unless you can shed some light onto our situation?” I asked politely.

A sudden burst of light came from her direction. I had to squint my eyes due to the sudden change of brightness. Twilight’s horn was lit up with a strange white glowing ball. Probably another spell or something. Whatever, at least I could see her face now.

And boy, was she nervous.

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 5

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 3

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

“Now why the heck would someone want to re-organize entire shelves in the middle of the night?”

With this statement, I was blatantly assuming it was nighttime. I really believe it is, but if I was the only one asleep, then I am so screwed delivering my point.

“Some-one? What do you mean, some-one? Oh, do you mean somepony? Is that your linguist equivalent of somepony? Fascinating! I need to write this down!”

I facepalmed, hard. Seriously, I know there may have been some kind of language gap seeing as we’re two different species, but COME ON! REALLY? SOMEPONY INSTEAD OF SOMEONE??? Now that’s just all kinds of messed up! Really? Gah, I just can’t believe it!

“Look, you’re getting off topic here.” I grabbed her by the tail before she could get away from me. Yanking her towards my spot, she gave me a cutting glare for a second, probably because I pulled her like a cat. But her glare was soon met and melted by a chilling look of my own. She froze in place, too afraid to move. Ah hah, I love it when I do that!

You see, I have this thing that I can do if someone’s really annoying me or ticking me off and I want to teach them a lesson. I kind of make a look that really slices through their eyes and soul. It’s when I give a blank look towards the infuriating jackass, and yet I still have a disturbing seer through my own eyes. I kinda look angry at the person, but it’s so subtle that they can only notice my matching my own gaze. But by the time they do that, it’s too late and I’ve already taken away any hope and excitement they have left in their pathetic body. They freeze up like a chilling wind had gone and taken their spirits away. Next thing they know, they can’t move from their spot.

I call it: the stare. I know, amazing ability, right?

So anyways, I gave Twilight the stare, guaranteeing that she wouldn’t escape my OWN interrogation anytime soon. She looked absolutely horrified, and I loved every moment of it.

Does that mean I’m evil?

“You haven’t answered my question yet. What were you doing down here late at night?” I demanded.

“Like I said, I was re-organizing the shelves.” Twilight gulped. I could see her anxiety clear as day.

“Nu-uh. That ain’t gonna fly, super pony. What kind of a person-in this case, a pony-would get up in the middle of the night randomly to organize a bunch of bookshelves?” I reasoned, stroking my invisible goatee.

“I-I-I would! I’m the librarian of this library, so it is my responsibility to keep this building in tip-top shape!” she answered a bit too eagerly.

“Hmm, even so, why would you, of all people-ponies, create such destruction in your OWN library?” I reasoned, pointing out the disarray of brick-a-brack on the floor.

“Well-well-well-I-I” Twilight apprehensively stuttered.

“Hmm? Come on, Twilight, out with it!” I pushed forward.

“Well-you see-I-I-I mean-I was-“

“We haven’t got all day Twilight, speak your mind already!”

“I-I-I-I-“

“Just say it already!”

“GRRRRAAHHH!!!” Twilight growled, grinding her teeth in frustration. “Fine, I’ll confess. I’ll tell you what I’m doing down here.

“Great.” I backed up a flopped myself down on a sofa. Twilight stayed in her spot, probably because of the after effects of my stare. “Go on.”

CROSS-EXAMINATION BEGIN.

“You see, after you passed out from overuse of magic, I got a letter from Princess Celestia. She requested my presence at her castle as soon as I could.” she said, avoiding eye contact with me.

“Ok, two questions, one: you’re ruled by a monarchy? And two: who’s Princess Celestia?” I asked, folding my legs over each other.

“WHAT? YOU don’t know who Princess Celest- I didn’t tell you about our Princess, did I?”

I shook my head in confirmation.

“Well, Princess Celestia is the ruler of this land. She manages everything in our kingdom of Equestria. She has a sister named Princess Luna, but she’s been recovering from a series of unfortunate events, and is in no condition to rule beside Princess Celestia.”

She paused graciously, allowing me to soak in the information. “Ok. So who’s the queen and king?”

“…We don’t have one.”

“Pardon me?”

“I said, we don’t have one.”

I frowned, looking at Twilight’s mug for any traces of lying. Is she joking? Ponies are ruled by a princess, but no queen or king? That really doesn’t make too much sense.

“So what, did the parents of the princesses’ die or something?” I inquired, raising a single eyebrow for added effect.

“Oh, no, nothing like that.” Twilight waved her right hoof in a dismissive fashion.  “There just was never a king or queen in the first place.”

“What?” I replied, receiving more questions than answers. “But how is that possible? The two princesses MUST have had a mother or father at some point in time!”

“Well, maybe, but the princess has said she’s never known her parents, so she can’t speak for herself. And there is no documented proof of the princesses having any parents, so we really can’t say that she does have any parents.

I was speechless for a few moments. No parents, and yet still princesses? What is this I don’t even?

“So how do you know she’s THE princess of Equestria if she’s had no known family history? How do you know she isn’t a phony?”

“What? Princess Celestia isn’t a phony! She’s been ruling this kingdom since it was created! How could you say such a thing?”

I knew Twilight seemed like a smart pony, but she was really taking my comment offensively. Can’t she realize that I’m just trying to get some answers around here?

“And how long exactly has she been ruling?”

“Approximately four thousand, six hundred and twenty years.”

“WHAT???” I bellowed, standing straight up. “HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? You must be joking! No one can live for that long!”

“Well, she can. She’s immortal, seeing as she’s the sun goddess and all.”

“WHAT???” I hollered again. “OK, FIRST SHE’S THE RULER OF EQUESTRIA WITHOUT ANY QUEEN OR KING AND NOW YOU’RE TELLING ME SHE’S A FREAKING GODDESS??? WHAT???”

Twilight cringed at my extreme yelling. “Yes, she is all those things. She has ruled Equestria for over four thousand years without any signs of aging, had kept this place in control and has defended our kingdom from several abnormalities including Dragons, Manticores, Cockatrices, Griffins and other evil gods.” She smirked, very proud at what her majesty had achieved over the MILLENNIUMS.

“WHA…” I grasped my head in distraught. God, this is yet another what the fuck moment for me. So not only are there GODDESSES in this universe, but also AN INSANE NUMBER OF MONSTERS AND EVIL GODS TO BOOT? WHAT THE FAAAAA…

“Umm, Griffin, are you ok?” I heard the purple unicorn asked, care shining through in her tone.

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I just need a moment to gather all of this in.”

I sat back down, grabbing yet another breather. Wiping off the sweat from my face with my arm, I checked back towards Twilight. From what I could tell, she looked very weary.

“Ok, I think I’ve got it. Two immortal goddess princesses have been looking and protecting Equestria for an immensely long time. Is that correct?”

“Yes.” Twilight spoke while nodding.

“Ok.” I let out another heavy sigh. “So continue with your story on what you’re doing down here.”

Twilight groaned before starting off where she was before. I guess she really didn’t want to be here right now. Well bad luck for her, because she’s not going anywhere on my watch!

“So anyways, I got a letter from Princess Celestia telling me to teleport to her as soon as possible. After reading the message, I quickly got some supplies, drew a magical rune to help me with the spell and teleported to her room in her castle.”

“I’m guessing that teleporting is a spell?”

“Yes, teleporting is a magic spell that is used to travel long distances without walking or flying.”

I know that already. I’m not a dimwit, Twilight. “So why did she want you to see her all of the sudden?”

“Well…”

At this point she started to look a little bit uneasy. She bit her lip, once again not looking at me but instead at the interesting patterns on her library floor.

“In her letter, she made the situation sound very urgent, so I got ready to teleport right as I finished the last sentence. When I got there, I greeted her, traded some words with her and then she asked me to step out onto her balcony and tell her what I was seeing.” she mumbled, bashfully wiping the polished surface with her hoof.

“Really. And what did you see.”

“I saw…”

She looked up.

“Destruction."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself but have that song playing in my head while this scene was playing out XD

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 7

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 5

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

“Well, I guess I just have to go with my original plan.”

Twilight returned her gaze towards me, fire lit in her eyes. Even with all her crying and emotions, she still managed to make a decision out of everything. I was actually surprised that she didn’t lose hope or motivation after these recent events. Her words spoke more about her character that she would have even known. This side of Twilight Sparkle I have never seen before. Goal driven. Courageous. Aware. Well, ok I’ve seen her aware before, but not to the extent of what she was about to do!

Whatever that was going to be.

“And what, pray tell is your original plan?” I buzzed,  crossing my arms in earnest.

“I’m going to do what Princess Celestia told me to do and find my friends, gather my belongings and leave, Equestria.” She seemed to slow down at her last words, her stance drooping substantially.

At this point, I only had the simple question to ask, “Why?”

“Because she told me to. And as the leader of Equestria and the goddess of the sun, she is our hope, and I trust her decisions with my life, whether I like it or not.”

Wow, Twilight really idolizes the Princess! She doesn’t seem that great to me. Sure, be a sun goddess, but when you’re telling your subjects to leave the very land you are responsible to defending and taking care of, then there’s something very wrong with that picture. It still doesn’t make sense! Why only send Twilight and the other out of the country and not the entire population? Why not evacuate yourself and live to see another day if the situation is so serious? I’m missing something here, but I’ve asked enough questions for now. Instead, I’ll just listen to what Twilight has to say.

“Does her word have that high prestige?”

“Absolutely! The Princess is the undoubted ruled of Equestria, therefore all her orders overrule any kind of personal goals you have. And it’s not just about her being the princess, it’s also about my trust in her. She has been teaching me magic and friendship for the past twelve years of my life and has never let me down! There is no way in Tartarus that the Princess would be wrong!” Twilight spoke in stride.

Hmm, very interesting. She shows uncertainty even though she claims to have un-feigning trust in royalty. I never said anything about the princess being wrong, and yet she just had to mention it somewhere in her rant. Either I’m analyzing her dialogue too keenly, or she does not have one hundred percent trust in her leader’s actions! I posted my palm on my chin, nodding with a goofy cat face on my expression.

Wait. Back up. The princess has been teaching Twilight magic for TWELVE YEARS???  Since when? Gee Twilight, I guess you can leave important details to the last minute, can’t you? Son of a nutcracker, my question count went up by eighty percent! Gah, I’ll have to find some time later to get that stupid purple unicorn to answer more of my god damn questions…

“So you’re leaving just like that? No goodbye? No farewell? Were you going to pick me and Spike up later, or now after you’ve cleaned up this mess?”

“Well, I originally planned to sneak out without making any noise, but I couldn’t see anything down here, and before I could conger up a light spell, I accidentally tripped on a few scrolls I left lying around last night. Heh, I guess with Spike asleep I tend to forget to actually clean up my own stuff…”

Twilight smirked at her own antics. I gave her a moment before shooting a threatening glare for her to continue before she got off topic again. She caught my look and hastily returned to describing her thinking.

“Anyways, so I tripped on some scrolls and rolled into the wall. When I got up to try and put them back, I accidentally bumped into another wall, causing more book to fall down, but this time on top of me! I was kinda in a daze after, so I stood up and stumbled into yet another wall, except this time with a few jars and glass containers that held previously used experiment materials. Next thing I knew, I was neck high in a bunch of stuff with you yelling at me down the stairs.”

I placed my hand onto my face, groaning at her clumsiness. Geez Twilight, if you’re going to do something, do it right! Sure, it may not be my place to judge her about something so insignificant, but really? Making the same mistake three times in a row and in a matter of seconds? What a screw-up!

“You really haven’t answered my original question. Are you just going to leave? Just like that?” I inquired, shaking my head while shrugging.

“Yes. I have to. The Princess told me to and I have to carry out her order. Oh, and if you have any notion of stopping me, it isn’t going to happen.” She replied, furrowing her brows. I was guessing that her answer was so long and drawn out because she still wasn’t completely one hundred percent positive in her decision.

“I never said anything about stopping you.” I said, holding up my hands in surrender. “However, that doesn’t mean that I’m letting you go alone.”

“What do you mean?” She challenged.

“I’m not letting a sweet, magic-using unicorn go all alone out there in the blustery weather. I’m coming with you.” I crossed my arms, mustering up the most badass smirk I could make.

“No, you can’t! My orders have nothing to do with you! This is my job and my job alone! You are not going to interrupt my goals, especially since they’re so important!” Twilight snapped back, slamming her hoof down.

“Come on now, think about it. Is trucking through a flooded street through rain, fire and flames a good idea to do ALONE?”

“There aren’t any fires on the streets of Ponyville!”

“Well didn’t you say that you saw some houses catch on fire because of lightning strikes?”

Twilight grumbled. I leaned my head forward in success. I had her cornered; she had nothing to drive her argument! Now it’s my turn to deliver the final blow!

“Even I have to admit, I’ve seen pretty bad weather in my time, but THIS,” I gestured towards the window. “is a freaking nightmare! There is NO WAY in HELL that I’m letting you go through with this without a partner. Sure, leave Spike here or whatever, but just take me with you, please?” I admittedly got to my knees and pleaded for Twilight’s approval.

She sighed. “Fine, seeing as you’ll probably go with me anyways if I do say no, why not.” Twilight spoke, levitating some items off the floor for cleanup.

“Sweet.” I simply replied, a fanfare of victory music playing in my head. Finally, I was getting somewhere! I wouldn’t have to sit around for the next five hours waiting for this storm to pass! I actually get to do something! And besides, it IS safer if Twilight has some back-up with her in the rainstorm, and I know that she knows it. What if Twilight got struck down by lightning or something random like that? There would be no one to help her! Of course, if I somehow got injured in the process as well, then we’d be both screwed, but our survival is not one-hundred percent guaranteed anyways.

Twilight was understandingly grumpy as she tidied up the library floor. Man, unicorn magic makes EVERYTHING easier to do!... Did I just say unicorn magic? Damn, that be screwed up man. So anyways, she was cleaning up and putting everything back to its rightful place, and all I could do was stare and watch! I didn’t even have to lift a finger before she was done!

“Great, now that that’s done…” Twilight turned towards me while saying those words. “Grab any necessary belongings you have quickly and let’s go!”

I frowned. “Umm, Twilight, I dunno if you’ve realized this by now, but all I’ve got’s the clothes off my back.”

Actually, I don’t remember if Twilight had found anything that belonged to me, but I highly doubt it. It’s not like my ENTIRE ROOM came along with me for the ride between planets or anything like that. Nope. No way. Out of the question.

“Oh.” She simply stated. “Well then, let’s get a move on, shall we?”

Twilight slid on some kind of horse backpack onto her sides then began to trot towards the door. I followed her closely, gathering up strength for the journey ahead of me. Once the entrance was opened, I got a face full of rainwater followed by a chilling south wind.

Great. Not even two steps outside the library and I’m already soaking and cold.

{END OF CHAPTER}

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 8

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 1

-CHAPTER 5: DONATIONS DUE-

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

Hot damn. This storm.

I mean, I know that you might be sick and tired of hearing me bitch about it, but seriously! I can’t believe how brutal and relentless the rain is! While me and Twilight trek outside with the wind pushing us about, I get to enjoy the views and features of the streets of Ponyville: all five feet of it. Visibility was so abysmal that I was very surprised that Twilight had even a lick of sense as where to go! Oh sure, at least I could see my hand in front of my face, but anything beyond that was a blurry mess of muddled blues, greys and blacks.

I was literally soaked to the skin in rainwater. Imagine the largest monsoon that could even possible exist. Now multiply that my one thousand. Now you have an accurate representation of how much rain was slamming into my face. Thankfully my long hair kind of made a drape for my eyes so that I can actually open them, but it also meant that strands of hair kept poking my pupils out.  My clothes absorbed water for the first five seconds of the walk, but after it just seemed too full to contain any more liquid. Naturally because of this, I managed to put on five extra pounds from the sheer mass of H2O I had on my body.

Twilight’s glowing horn was the only source of light for miles around. Sure, there would be the occasional thunder flash here and there, but it didn’t mean much underneath the black blanket that were the rainclouds. Both of us continued our path, silent and grumpy. Well, I knew I was grumpy, but I wasn’t so sure about Twilight. However, I don’t exactly think she’s in a peachy mood after having me tag along with her.

I started to wonder to myself why I actually bothered to follow the unicorn on her quest. I swiftly recalled my plan making sense when I first thought of it. By following Twilight, I could get a move on instead of getting stuck in one location. Also, I could also learn more about Twilight as a person- I mean, pony. Besides, this also allowed me to assess the situation much, much better, seeing as I would have had a better grip on the outside world.

Man, was I starting to regret my decision.

I folded my arms, attempting to contain what little heat I had left inside me. I was already shivering, and yet it hadn’t even been ten minutes yet! Well, it felt like ten minutes anyways. Maybe it was more, maybe it was less. I have no idea. But anyways, I keep mentally telling myself that I’ve been through worse weather, which is true because living in Canuckle land isn’t really the warmest place on Earth. However, in the past I’ve had layer upon layers of coats, sweaters, long sleeve shirts and t-shirts while here, I might as well be wearing nothing at all! My drenched shirt was nothing more than a white rag wrapped around my shoulders.

I can’t believe that Twilight actually didn’t prepare this much! At the beginning of our journey, she brought out a umbrella from her bags that she has on her sides. Well, before you could say “a blustery day”, the umbrella bent backwards from the forces of the wind, broke and flew away, even with twilight’s magical strength trying to contain it! I guess magic isn’t fail-safe after all. I’m guessing that she doesn’t actually own a rain coat of her own, seeing as she didn’t bring one with her, but I dunno. It would seem stupid to go out in the rain and not bring your own jacket.

Since I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE WE WERE GOING, I had to make little effort on deciding which directing to head towards. Apparently, staring at the back of Twilight’s neck was good enough. She knew the way, therefore, she took point.  I felt as if the scenery around me was a bit awkward and a lot gloomy, but once again, I had absolutely no idea how to handle it. I could try talking to Twilight, but she seems focused enough on her job, which was getting us the heck out of here. Besides, what would I say to her? “How’s the weather?” No freaking way.

So based off of Twilight’s planned route that she quickly filled me in on just after we left the library, we were to head towards Rarity’s, pick her up, go to Pinkie Pie’s place (I’m certainly looking forward to that. Not.), pick her up, go to Fluttershy’s, get her, go to Applejack’s get her, and the rest I can’t remember. What? So what if I don’t have perfect memory! It’s good enough. Besides, Twilight’ the one who’s doing all the planning, not me.

I’m gonna have to admit it. I’m in a completely rotten mood. Absolutely dreadful. But who could blame me? This entire situation stinks like a pile of doggie dung mixed with sewage water and morning breath. It’s just a bad combination of elements creating the perfect storm. Funny how that’s a fairly accurate representation of the rainstorm I’m currently in and yet it’s supposed to be a FIGURE OF SPEECH.

“Here we are!” I barely heard Twilight shout out through the roaring blasts of air and water. I immediately straightened my back and looked up, hopeful that she was right.

And she was! Or, at least, I think she was. Both of us stood in front of a large circular white building. It was difficult to make out the details of the structure through the falling drizzle, but to me it looked like the house itself was wearing a gigantic dress on it. Is it even a house? It looks totally different compared the rest of the Ponyville houses I’ve seen!

“The Carousel Boutique.” Twilight randomly commented. She must have been referring to Rarity’s home. So why does her house have a title to it?

The two of us approached the front door. She knocked on it a few times with her hoof. As to be expected, the entrance did not open to her beckon call. We waited patiently, counting the seconds and comparing it the sound of raindrops falling. It seemed like there was a certain pattern to how the water dropped. There was a certain beat. Drop, drop, drop drop, over and over again. It was a little bit annoying, but just a little bit.

This is terrible! Every millisecond standing out here feels like a millennium! What is taking Rarity so long? Did she even hear Twilight’s knock? Frick, I just wanted to go inside already! Away from the wet, cold rain and the painful, agonizing wind! Is that so hard to ask? Huh? Is it? If this ‘Princess Celestia’ Twilight talked about is the sun goddess, why couldn’t she just bring the power of the sun and end this horror? What’s so bad about the storm that a freakin’ GODDESS cannot solve? Is she really even a goddess? I highly doubt it. It’s hard to believe anything anymore.

This is terrible.

I heard Twilight knock again, but this time with more urgency. We waited some more. And then some more. Finally, after what seemed to be an eon or so, the door opened.

“I’m sorry, but we are closed due to bad-Twilight, Griffin! What are you two doing in here?”

I turned around to see a slightly worn out Rarity standing in the doorway, completely aghast. Before Twilight could even begin to speak her answer, Rarity took her turn first.

“You two must be freezing out there! Come on inside, quickly! Before you catch a cold!”

I gladly obliged.

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 9

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 2

Please be weary that my writing might be a bit sketchy from here on out because I'm trying new techniques and I'm still recovering from writer's block, ergo, I really have no idea which direction to take until I hit point B.

{*Omniscient point of view, Carousel Boutique*}

The door to the Carousel Boutique closed with a sound slam. The bells connected to the entrance sang with a high-pitched, ring-a-ling sound. Twilight and Griffin were both soaked to the brim with rainwater, shivering from the deadly combination of liquid and brisk wind. The two were starting to leave a trail of puddles as Rarity led them away from the front door.

“Please, make sure you wipe your hooves, and uh…”

Rarity began to instruct before she caught a slight snag in her sentence. She stared at the bipedal’s feet, her hoof tapping her jaw in raw thought and processing. Griffin growled, knowing that Rarity had no idea what to substitute ‘hooves’ for.

“They’re called feet.” he grumbled, hunching his shoulders with arms straight.

“Oh, yes! Right! Feet! Please wipe ‘feet’.” Rarity finished.

The two visitors did as they were told. Griffin took off his drenched foot apparel and cotton socks and placed them on the boot rack right next to the boots that Rarity was wearing previously. Meanwhile, Rarity was patiently waiting at a doorway across the room for her newfound guests.

“Now follow me, if you would please.”

Twilight and Griffin were lead into the next room. The disgruntled human was finally shaking out of his frustration stupor enough to get accustomed to his new setting. The floor was clean and clear, giving off reflections of the various lights around the room. The wall paint followed various shades of amethyst, with curtains surrounding windows and mirrors alike having a rose-like colour. There were pony-mannequins scattered all around one side of the room, some with interesting outfits and other completely naked. Tables of cloth, threads and other sewing equipment were common objects of somewhat interest sticking to the sides of walls. In one secluded corner sat a sewing machine with some kind of material still stuck in the production process. Griffin spotted a staircase leading up to another floor in another corner.

The boy could take a hint. The cogs of brainpower turned profusely in his skull, deducing that Rarity either lived in some kind of clothing shop for ponies, or she had an unhealthy attraction to stitching stuff.

The fashionista didn’t stop here. Instead, she trotted along to the next room, which was substantially smaller. The space was shaped like a piece of cheese that was at a 45 degree angle. Its outside rim had an unlit fireplace between two windows. In front of said fireplace was a short, glass coffee table with a purple covering and three dark violet couches facing the fireplace.  Once everyone was in the room, Rarity turned to address her guests.

“Please, make yourselves at home.” She gestured towards the couches.

“Umm, no offence, but we’re kinda still wet from all the rain, so I wouldn’t want to ruin your furniture…” Griffin pointed out. He glanced awkwardly at the trail of puddles he and Twilight left while traveling through the rooms.

“No problem!” Twilight exclaimed. She closed her eyes, made a concentration face and activated her magic. Both Griffin and Twilight were surrounded with a shining orange light, filling up the room with its comforting radiance. Griffin squirmed uneasily, not knowing what Twilight was attempting. He felt his skin instantaneously heat up and glow. Smelling pineapples, he observed as his clothes went from damp to dry in a matter of moments. Twilight looked smug as she ended the spell.

“There. One quick-dry spell, hot and ready.” she announced.

“Well, that was quite convenient. Is there anything magic can’t do?” Griffin pondered.

“Well, yeah, lots of things. For example, you can’t turn wood into liquid with magic-“

“Ahem!” Rarity cleared her throat expressively. She successfully got the attention of the alien and the other unicorn.

“Now I don’t mind talking about interesting subjects from time to time, but I do believe that this, isn’t, the time. Would you two please take a seat?”

Griffin and Twilight’s eyes met. They both shrugged, and trotted over to a couch. While Twilight mannerly sat down like a proper mare, the big lug completely flopped himself onto the comfy surface, bouncing in the process. He then continued to lie on his side, absolutely covering the entire area of the couch. Rarity sat in the last remaining furniture.

“Now, would anypony like some tea?” The seamstress offered. Griffin fought the urge to facepalm.

(Why would you end our conversation just to offer tea?) he protested.

“No thanks.” Twilight replied simply.

“Do humans even know what tea is?” Rarity asked aloud, directing her attention to the lounging otherworld creature.

“Yes, we do. And no thank you.” Griffin answered begrudgingly. He was having an inner conflict to calm his profound rage.

(I’m ok, Griffin. I’m ok. There’s nothing to be mad about, absolutely nothing. She was just asking an innocent question, not trying to insult you. You’re out of the rain now. You’re dry. Just calm. The fuck. Down.) he concluded.

“Very well then. First off, what kind of errand have you two been running in order to go out and get soaked like that?” the pearl white unicorn addressed.

“It was a very important order from Princess Celestia. She told me…”

Twilight hesitated. While Rarity looked slightly concerned, Griffin just looked plain understanding.

“…She told me to gather up all of my friends and leave Equestria.”

“WHAT?” Rarity exclaimed.

(Exactly what I thought.) Griffin made a mental note.

“She gave me the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight stated, pulling out the jewel crested purple box from her saddlebags, “told me that it was too dangerous to stay in Equestria and said to gather you, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack to leave.”

Rarity was completely bewildered by the sight of the Elements in Twilight’s possession.

(Hmm, now this is something that Twilight hasn’t told me yet. What are these “Elements of Harmony”? And could someone pick such a CHEESY name? But most of all, why does Rarity look so surprised?) Griffin regarded, subtly raising his right eyebrow.

“But, but that’s just absurd! Surely the Princess couldn’t have been serious! And what kind of danger? Does she mean the thunderstorm outside? But that’s just a thunderstorm! We have many thunderstorms regularly, so what it the Princess worried about?” Rarity looked nervously both at Twilight and Griffin. While Twilight looked somewhat sad, Griffin gave his best poker face and allowed no room for Rarity to analyze his emotions.

“When the princess told me this, she asked me to teleport straight to her room. I did, and she showed me what she could see from her own balcony. And Rarity, oh, what I saw… What I saw…”

Twilight gave up a tear and let it fall to the fabric of the couch. Rarity sat up, looking sympathetic for her friend’s sorrow.

A cupcake to anyone who can guess the hidden fanfic reference in this chapter.

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 10

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 3

{*Omniscient point of view, Carousel Boutique*}

“I saw the end of Equestria itself.”

Twilight was just beginning the second retelling of her experiences with the princess as of late. Even though she had Rarity’s undivided attention, Griffin purposely looked away and started to tune her voice out in order to avoid a repeat of the mournful unicorn’s grief. He looked out the window, just to remind himself that he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. All he could hope was that the storm was coming to a climax, and would hopefully end soon.

“Canterlot was in total disarray, Pale Mountain were frozen over by blizzards, Whitetail Wood was on FIRE and the Everfree Forest had more lightning strikes that I have ever seen before.” Twilight said, forcing herself to look at her friend to interrupt her flashbacks as much as possible. “It seemed that Ponyville was getting the better end of it. At lease we only have rain here, while in other locations the elements have gone absolutely wild! I think I saw a tornado somewhere in the mix! A tornado! In Equestria! I have to say, Rarity, it was absolute chaos.”

The young student gave Rarity a moment of reprieve. The white stylist let go of her jaw and just stared at the dull stone floor. She finally looked back at Twilight to receive a glance of sorrow and empathy.

“It’s what I saw Rarity. And it was also what the Princess saw. Over her past thoughts, she deemed that the best course of action to make would be…”

Twilight gave a pregnant pause. She glimpsed at her hooves, reconsidering if this was all a dream or not. Whether it to be true. Whether if the honest situation that was happening outside was the absolute reality of it. When ready, she carried on and looked right back at her listener.

“…to send the Elements away until the time is right.”

Rarity gave up all signs of life in her eyes. Any amount of hope, joy and bliss were drained away by her friend’s horrible report. Her deep ocean gaze quickly lost its glitter and shine. Her happiness-depraved mind showed no aspects of any positive output.

“Wha-what about the Elements? You have the elements, so can’t we use them again and cure Equestria from this ma-madness?”

“I guess we could, but one, we need everypony gathered in order for them to work, and two, that’s not what the princess ordered us to do. She… She firmly stated to retreat until she sorts out the situation.”

For the first time in her life, Rarity had doubts on the Princess. What was she doing? Why wasn’t using the elements her first option? It didn’t make sense to her. Instead, it just made her more disarrayed and distressed.

“I…I…I…I’m speechless! What am I going to do now, Twilight? This is so sudden! What about my career? Will I just have to leave my precious shop behind and hope for the best?”

Twilight opened her mouth to provide an answer, but was not swift enough.

“And I haven’t had any time to pack! Much less any time to think about what I need to pack! And-and what about Sweetie Belle? What am I supposed to tell her? I,I,I… What am I supposed to do?”

Rarity stared at Twilight in desperation. All the poor, purple pony could do was think and return the look with understanding and thoughtfulness. She glanced took a hasty glance to her left, hoping that the lounging human would have any rebuttal. Her eyes went straight back to Rarity as soon as she realized that Griffin had a sudden interest in the fuzzy surface of the couch, him poking at the material. Observing Rarity’s emotions, she considered her options.

(I can’t smile, that would not be appropriate for the situation. Obviously I have to try and comfort her, but how? What approach should I take? Look directly into her eyes, Twilight. I need to keep eye contact! Gah, I have no idea what to do! I didn’t plan this far in my original schedule!)

Twilight blinked slowly, then affirmed her course of action.

“I’m sorry Rarity. I truly am. The princess said that it wasn’t a permanent fix, so we will probably head back to Ponyville as soon as the problem is fixed. That way, you can resume your shop as soon as possible.” Twilight stated hopefully. “As for what we need to do, I can give you some time to pack and get things ready, but the Princess wanted us to be out of Equestria as fast as possible, so I’m giving you until tomorrow morning before we have to be on the road again and get Pinkie Pie next.”

The curly-tailed unicorn started sobbing on the spot. Twilight silently cursed herself for not successfully calming down her friend. She got off the couch to where Rarity was at and wrapped her up in a pony hug. Rarity immediately took up the offer and wrapped her forehooves around Twilight’s shoulder. The purple pony felt the tears travel down her back and let Rarity’s make-up run onto her fur. Grasping one of her best pals tightly, she knew that Rarity needed this as much as she did when Griffin hugged her.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. But it’ll be ok. It’ll be just fine. Just you wait and see. With all six of us, there’s nothing that will bring us down. And soon, we’ll be back in Ponyville in no time flat, just you wait and see.”

Griffin in truth was listening to the whole conversation the entire time, trying his best to look conspicuous. When he heard the talking grind to a halt, he turned his head just enough to spot the two out of the corner of his eye. Just focusing on his peripheral vision, he gazed at the emotional train wreck that was Rarity. He even spotted Twilight shedding yet another tear or to. All he could do was return his survey of the conditions outside and shake his head.

Scowling, he thought to himself, (Women. They cry way too much…)

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 11

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 4

{*Omniscient point of view, Carousel Boutique*}

Rarity and Twilight sat in the dim candlelight of the Carousel Boutique’s living room. While Rarity cried her eyes out, Twilight kneeled right beside Rarity’s couch and held her in a hug of care and affection. Both were experiencing deep, tear-jerking events that ripped their souls inside out. Griffin laid down on a nearby couch, trying to give them as much privacy as possible. He found himself waiting for the sob-storm from the girls to pass for a minute. Then two minutes. Then five. Soon, fifteen minutes went by without word or acknowledgement between the unusual group of beings. Getting an idea, Griffin decided to break the partial silence.

“Hey, is there a washroom in this place around here?” Griffin suddenly asked aloud. Twilight shot him a dirty look, saying “This is not the right time for a question like that!” with her facial expression. Rarity looked up from her vision of purple fur and saw the tall human stand up, six feet and all. Abruptly reminded of his height, Rarity took a breath of fright before finally answering the inquiry.

“O-Of course! Um, excuse me, Twilight…” Rarity gently shoved Twilight backwards, letting go of the embrace. Sniffing, she promptly wiped her tears and makeup and daintily got off the couch.

“No need to get up Rarity, you can just tell me where it is and I’ll find it myself.” Griffin approached the distressed mare and attempted to settle her back onto her resting spot, but she back up from his reach.

“It would be rude of me to not personally show you where it is. So please, let me.” she simply stated, avoiding Griffin’s chestnut eyes.

“Rarity. Please.”

She looked up to meet her calling. Griffin had a determined, upright stare to his face. Rarity knew that his request had deeper meaning than she previously pondered.

“Help me, help you. Just tell me where the bathroom is and I can find it by myself.” Griffin affirmed, lifting his right palm in front of him and closing it in a tight grip.

Rarity had no idea what the gesture meant, but she guessed it was of somewhat importance. Defeated, she leaned backwards into the soft, plush pillows of her couch and gave a great, tiresome sigh. Taking another breath, her eyes met Griffin’s once more.

“Fine, if that is what you wish, then so be it.” Her right forehoof limply rose up, pointing to a nearby corridor leading to somewhere else in her boutique.

“Go down the hallway, then take a left at the end. Go down that route until you reach the second door. That will be the bathroom.” She let her foreleg rest back on her side. Griffin nodded his head in affirmation.

“Thank you, Rarity.”

Without another word, he left the room, leaving the two unicorns all by themselves. Rarity broke out another woeful sigh and leaned back onto a pillow. Twilight once again approached her seamstress, not sure what to think of that little interaction between the otherworldly human and one of her best friends. However, one think she knew was that Griffin’s behavior was mildly confusing.

(One moment he was grumpy to his soaked physical state, then was completely silent when she described her sights at Canterlot, and now he needed to go to the bathroom this very instant? What the heck is with this guy? And just there, he somehow convinced Rarity to let go of her polite hostess ways and let him do his thing even though Rarity doesn’t even know him! I don’t get it. I just can’t wrap my head around the reasons of his actions! Is it because he is a different species? It must be! Note to self, once I acquire my scientific field study notebook, observe human speech and body patterns.) Twilight reasoned. She stared at her fellow unicorn, planning out her next move.

(Now, to deal with matters that matter most…)

Before she could actually do anything, Rarity beat her to the punch.

“Twilight? Why did you bring Griffin along with you and not Spike?”

The purple pony stumbled both over her hooves and her words. She was not ready for Rarity to ask a question such like that. It just popped out of nowhere, catching her completely off guard. Of course, that didn’t mean that she had an answer prepared beforehoof.

“I-I-I-Well, you see…”

Twilight paused mid-sentence to take notice that Rarity was eyeing her with nothing but sorrow and emptiness. It was as if a major part of Rarity’s being was ripped right out of her existence. The Element of Magic wondered that if she didn’t listen to Princess Celestia at all and had not come to the Carousel Boutique, Rarity might have not been in this kind of state. It scared her, seeing her generous friend be so void of energy and hope.

“I actually didn’t plan for him to come along. My original plan was to go and gather you and all the others along in one single night. As I have explained before, I would get you, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack, return to the library to pick up Spike, Owlowiscious, Pee Wee and Griffin, and finally leave the next morning.”

Twilight turned towards the window. She scanned the outside, as if looking for something before continuing.

“That was the plan. I tried to sneak away while they were sleeping, but I accidentally knocked some things over while trying to gather supplies for the trip. Fortunately, I had my room underneath a sound-barrier spell, so Spike didn’t hear anything. Unfortunately, Griffin did. He found me trying to clean up the entire mess and confronted me on what I was doing in the middle of the night. I had to explain everything to him because he wanted answers. And to tell you the truth, I feel better now that I gave those answers to him. Not only did he deserve them, but I also needed to tell somepony about what I saw with Princess Celestia. I was holding all the emotion in, hoping that I could hold them off and lock them away forever."

She swung her head to face Rarity. With a slight smirk and a hint of happiness, she resumed her tale.

“But then he just appeared and I could let it all out. He was there when I needed somepony. Or, in his case, ‘someone’. He just sat and let me explain myself without having to counteract my thinking or my memories. I could rant all I wanted about my pain and he just sat there, thinking about it"

There was a certain spark in Twilight’s eyes.

“He was a true friend.”

Rarity had a second to conceive Twilight’s thoughts. The purple student wasn’t full of negative emotions after all. Instead, she was a tiny bit happy and joyful, and had room to spare. Rarity saw Twilight like her usual, cheerful self, not her stressed out, busy self that she had been acting as of late.

(At lease somepony in the room isn’t a crying, soppy mess…) she mused.

“So anyway, after I cried my heart out, I told him that I would be leaving. He stood up and said that he wouldn’t let me leave alone. He didn’t want me to be by myself in the cold storm, so he volunteered to be my travel buddy. I didn’t want him to go, but he wouldn’t let me say no, so I just left through the front door and he followed. We trekked through the rain, got here, and you know the rest.”

Twilight appeared to be very distant at this point. She was staring straight into the wall, thinking about something or other. Rarity couldn’t hold back her smile. It was such a nice change of pace to have a peaceful moment in the night. Then, a though occurred to her.

“But what about Spike? Did you leave him at the back at the library?”

Twilight snapped out of her brainstorm to address the question.

“Yeah. Since he didn’t wake up after the racket I caused, there was no need to bring him along. Don’t worry, I left a note saying that I went out to buy some bread and that I wouldn’t be too long, just in case that he would wake up. Since I planned to not take more than an evening, I didn’t worry about any long-term reassurances. But, now that I gave you a night to pack and stuff, I dunno anymore…”

Twilight’s smile faded off of her muzzle. Seeing this, it was Rarity’s time to shine.

“I promise Twilight that we’ll be on the road by tomorrow early morning in the least. And once we are, you can go back to visit Spike while I go gather the others. Then, if I wasn’t done yet and you wished it, you could go and help me get the rest of the gang.”

Twilight looked expectantly at Rarity. “Are you serious? I mean, you wouldn’t have to. I could just do it all myself.”

“Of course I am serious darling! It would be my pleasure to help as much as I can on this little journey of ours.”

Both mares began to smile. Rushing forward, Twilight yet again dropped into a hug, grasping Rarity in a friendship hold. Grinning widely, her newfound joy knew no bounds.

“Oh, thank you Rarity, thank you! This means so much to me! Thank you!”

“Nothing to worry about, darling.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please note that there will be NO SHIPPING in this fan fiction. If you have gotten any notion from this chapter part that there would be some pony x human shipping, then you are WRONG! There is no shipping period! If there was shipping, then there would be a shipping tag. No, I am not going to be a jerk and flip the table on this story by adding shipping. This is a no shipping zone.

...I really hope that I didn't portray that kind of idea.

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 1

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 5

NOTE:

I added a extra blurb of information that I accidentally forgot to add back when I was writing chapter three. So, for all those who are actively following my story please re-read part three of chapter three. It contains a little bit of foreshadowing to what will happen next, but I mean, it's not anything story breaking.

Still you should really go back and re-read it if you haven't done so yet.

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

I casually walk down the hall of Rarity’s home. My head was barely scraping of the top of the corridor, seeing as these walls were made to house miniature technicolor horses, not six feet tall bipedal aliens that creates an air of awkwardness every time he or she passes by. The walls were painted with the same theme as the rest of the home: a very light purple. In fact, it was so light, one could not tell that it was actually a shade of purple without looking at it very closely.

…

…So what if I took a minute or two to stare straight at a wall? You’ve probably done stranger things before! And I don’t even wanna know, so keep your dirty little secrets to yourself, ok?

…

Ok, I’m sorry that I seem a bit hostile right now, but my last plan didn’t turn out a smoothly as I hoped and things are tense in this situation I find myself in overall. Previously, I asked Rarity where the washroom was to have an excuse to get away so that the two ponies (I will never get used to saying that…) could have some kind of alone time. Obviously me being in that room was causing some kind of communication interference between the two, so I thought that if I were to remove myself from the scene, the problem would be solved. Unfortunately, I did not foresee the factor that Rarity was a complete BITCH- I mean, overly polite person and wanted to show me the bathroom herself. I really didn’t want Rarity to get up just for me, seeing as she had enough on her hands. Or hooves. Or- you get what I mean!

So I would say that plan was a bit of a failure because even though I got out of the room, not only did Twilight shoot me a dirty look for asking such a question because she didn’t understand the nature of my request (seriously? I thought she was smarter than that!), but I also managed to get Rarity to hold back her emotions by getting her to get up, accidentally I might add. Yes, I saw it in her expression and sudden change of demeanor. When she physically sat up and got off of her couch, she took any sadness she was displaying and sucked it all the way back into the depths of her heart, which, I predict will eventually break out at the worst possible moment.

Gah, I screwed up that one.

Following Rarity’s instruction, I turned myself left and the end of the passage and continued until I found the second door, which was to my right. I immediately opened the door and attempted to enter, but ended up banging my head on the doorframe. Using some choice curses, I briskly strode in. The bathroom wasn’t anything special. It was a simple white tiled, run of the mill washroom with the standard sink, toilet and shower. The only things notable were the pink shower mat in front of the shower, the miscellaneous beauty items on a counter all around the sink and the fact that everything was at waist level. It wasn’t anything interesting, but I don’t know what I was expecting from a freaking bathroom.

I leaned against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief. I actually didn’t need to go to the bathroom in the first place, I just wanted to get out of the living room as fast as humanly possible. Ironic, isn’t it? Anyways, at least now I had some time to ponder what life had handed me next. So far, Rarity is a hopeless mess of negative feelings, Equestria is in shambles, the oh-so-powerful goddess of a Princess is not doing her duty and Twilight… I don’t know about Twilight.

I mean, obviously she’s still dealing with the fact that she has to leave, but she is definitely far better off than before. The thing is, I could not only see the physical impact of the whole weight of it all in her eyes, but I could also sense it. I dunno how to explain it, but every time I look at her, she just seems… Sad. And not a normal, saddy sad, but the kind of sad that comes with depression and that creeps along like a hidden shadow, growing every second until it envelopes the entirety of your mind, body and soul! Of course, Rarity was say, but that was a different sad from Twilight’s.

Sometimes, I worry about that girl.

And Rarity. Based on what I’ve seen from her, she has a certain regal air to herself. She’s polite, has a certain speech pattern with “darling” and “dear” thrown around and wears way too much make up. I can’t believe that a pony is wearing make up in the first place! Why? Why make up? I just don’t get it. But enough about trying to wrap my head around impossible things, she was definitely shaken up by the news. I can understand, seeing that if I was asked to leave my country on such short notice I would break down one way or another. I just hope that she has a quick recovery, because I’m not really interested in sticking around.

And last but not least, Ponyville. First of all, who the mother truck makes up these names? Twilight? Rarity? Rainbow Dash? The flying frick? I know my name’s kinda goofy, but this is just pushing it! And now PONYVILLE of all names? Why would someone want to name a town PONYVILLE??? Because it’s full of ponies? Sure, but can’t you at least come up with something, oh I dunno, more creative? I mean, for crying out loud, I want some names that make some freaking sense!

…

…Sorry, I had to get that out of my system. But what Twilight said about Ponyville (uggghhh…) earlier really hit home. If Ponyville was really the lower end of the chaos, then does this mean that this is just the calm before the storm? Aw crap. Please, ignore that pun. Anyways, it sounds like the worst is yet to come, and I’m afraid to find out what’s gonna happen next. What WILL happen next? I really have no way to tell. I don’t think that the storm can possible can get any worse.

And what are these "Elements of Harmony" Twilight was talking about?

*knock knock*

“Griffin, are you almost done in there?” I heard Twilight’s voice call out.

“Oh, yeah, just a second!” I called back. Thinking quickly, I flushed the toiled just for good measure and opened the door. The purple unicorn was standing the hall, waiting patiently for her turn. Without a moment of hesitation, we swapped spots in the hall. Once she shut the door, I was once again all alone, except for the growing annoyance of the rainwater rapping against the windows and my own mind.

“Dang it, what was I thinking about again?”

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 2

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 6

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

Once again, I found myself slacking off on Rarity’s couch back in the living room. I sprawled out across the bouncy surface, arms laid about and my back bending slightly backwards. The white unicorn was kind enough to light the fireplace, filling the room with orange rays and comfortable warmth. I was dopey to no extent, feeling brain dead from the lack of sleep and general lack of mental rest. The bothersome rainwater carried on to knock upon the window pane, creating some white noise, yet not soothing enough for me to fall asleep to.

Running though the most recent events over in my head one more time, boredom had finally claimed me its victim. I tried to find activities to do, but my hostess demanded that I not touch anything in her “workshop”. Not like there would be anything interesting to examine, but it ticked me off a bit that she was so forward about it. Still, I guess I would be forward too if I cared enough for it. I was also just glad that her mood was doing a bit better. She seemed to be more cheerful and outgoing than before.

Anyways, I found that I had plenty of time on my hands after Twilight kicked me out of the bathroom, so I’d thought to familiarize myself with the outlook of the building. The entrance Twilight and I had walked through led to Rarity’s workplace, which led to the living room and kitchen. In between the kitchen and living room were two hallways, each with doors to various other rooms such as closets, bedrooms and the bathroom. I spotted a staircase while exploring, but chose not to advance further until necessary. The entire tour only took a mere five minutes, especially since Rarity was so picky on which areas I could go in and which areas were off limits.

Soon after, I realized that while I was puttering about, the two girls were making supper! I quickly found out that in reality it was only six o’clock in the evening, not night time like I had guessed. I didn’t want to be useless and a freeloader, so I asked if there was anything I could do. Rarity told me to do some simple tasks: put out the plates, place down the cutlery, fill up the cups with water, that sort of thing. Once I had hastily finished the task, there was really nothing left for me to do, seeing as I couldn’t cook. I also had enough faith that Rarity and Twilight combined couldn’t possible make a terrible meal. After observing their work ethic carefully, it appeared that they knew what they were doing.

And now we return to modern time, where there is absolutely nothing else for me to do besides wait and count the drops of water on the glass of the window. Even though there was still so much to think about, I’ve had enough brainstorming for one day. And besides, a headache was starting to form in my skull, and using my brain just made it worse. I figured that I was just best off to sit and veg for a while until dinner was served. Just when I thought that I had finally found peace, my loafing around was interrupted by the shrill call of a certain glamorous pony…

“SWEETIE BELLE! DINNER’S READY!”

I lazily creaked my head around my left, trying to find what all the hullabaloo was all about. I saw the rear end of Rarity’s body and tail from the doorway. From what I could tell, she was yelling up the stairs to someone. Now, I’ve heard Rarity say that name before, but I hadn’t really thought about it until now. My right eyebrow rose slightly, sensing suspicious activity. Who was this Sweetie Belle she was talking about?

“Coming!” screeched a very high-pitched voice. I sat up, curious as to what could make such a voice like that. It sounded like it came from a very young girl, complete with a voice crack and everything! No, it can’t possibly be…

Instantaneously I shot out of the couch and made my way to the doorway to Rarity’s work quarters. Cautiously taking cover behind the wall, I lightly peeked around the corner to view any events that might be taking place in the next room. Just mere seconds later, I heard footsteps- no, HOOFsteps coming from the set of stairs with rapid frequency. Then, I noticed a tiny shadow reflect off the wall of the staircase, one with a barely noticeable horn attached to its head.

Then, she came around the corner. Suddenly racing down the steps was not only the smallest pony that I have ever seen, but also the CUTEST LIVING THING THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! I’m assuming that she’s a she, but then again, I may be just being an ass. Anywho, WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS THIS THING SO GOSH DARN CUTE??? IT’S ADORABLE!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE SOMETHING SO CUTE COULD EVER POSSIBLY EXIST IN ONE PLACE!!! UNBELIEVEABLE-

Aw crap, am I finally going all mushy and crap after talking to ponies for the past few hours? Shit, I really need to get a hold of myself. I mean, sure it’s cute and stuff, but I can’t let my overreaction be seen by Twilight or Rarity! So looking at the petite pony before me, she was completely white with purple and pink locks of hair on both her head and tail. Her gigantic, grass green eyes complemented her tiny muzzle and awe-inspiring hooves. She hastily raced into the kitchen to grab some grub.

I retracted myself from the doorway, heart racing and head pounding. What the fuck was that? She was just so gosh darn cute, but I mean what? Where did she come from? Was she upstairs the whole time? Is she a young pony, or just really small? And most importantly-

“By the way, Griffin, if you didn’t hear me previously, dinner is ready. It’s in the kitchen, so please make your way there if you don’t mind.” Rarity addressed directly in front of me, catching me by surprise. Dang, I was so focused on the newcomer that I hadn’t even realized that Rarity was watching me stare! Well that’s kinda embarrassing. She turned to leave, but I didn’t want to let her. I had way too many questions and I think that she can shine some light on the situation.

“Wait Rarity!” I exclaimed, tugging on the exiting mare’s tail. She looked back at me, not pleased at all that I tugged at her curled purple backside. I motioned for her to come a bit closer, forgetting that she might not know what I meant at all with my hand motions. Apparently she did and got close enough so I could whisper.

“Who was that?” I simply asked, pointing towards the kitchen that the tiny pony had just entered.

“Oh, that was Sweetie Belle. You two haven’t met, have you? Well, she’s going to be quite excited to meet a being from another planet! But then again, that may cause us some trouble…”

Rarity took a moment to ponder her situation. She didn’t answer as many questions as I had expected, so I pressed farther into the topic.

“So… Is she your daughter or something?”

“Oh, heavens no! She is my younger sister, staying at my place until my parents come back from their prolonged vacation.” Rarity clarified, looking a tad bit flustered.

“Oh, ok then. So how is she going to react to me?"

“Well, she might react with a lot of jumping and hype and ask you question like where do you come from and how did you get here, but otherwise it shouldn’t be too bad.” She concluded. I gave her a face saying that I did not like this idea of introducing me so suddenly.

“Don’t worry, as long as she and you get off on the right hoof, you’ll be just fine.” Rarity started walking away.

“I sure hope so…” I muttered, quickly following suit.

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 3

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 7

{*Omniscient point of view, Carousel Boutique*}

Both human and unicorn headed towards the Carousel Boutique’s kitchen. While Griffin’s mind was filled with fret, Rarity confidently strode on through her abode. The pair was just about to enter the kitchen when the pearl white pony stopped in her tracks, accidentally causing a collision between the two. Griffin raised his eyebrow at the sudden halt until Rarity turned around and motioned him to the side. Kneeling down, the boy leaned in to listen what she had to say.

“Before we enter the kitchen, let me go first so I can calm down Sweetie Belle. I can talk some sense into her before she overreacts. Don’t say a thing until I give you the signal, got it?” Rarity instructed. The human gave a thumbs up in understanding.

Noticing Rarity’s look of confusion, he answered her silent question. “Oh, when I do this,” Griffin pointed towards his thumb, “It means a-ok.” Standing up again, they continued on to meet up with Twilight in the next room.

Griffin took cover beside the doorway, letting Rarity pass by. There was a table at the center of the kitchen which Sweetie and Twi were sitting at, who were both waiting patiently for the others to arrive. The fashionista flashed a sincere smile towards her little sister before approaching the two.

“What are we having tonight?” Sweetie Belle inquired, eyes shining brightly.

“You’ll see soon enough.” her older sister responded. “But before we eat, there is something I want to tell you. We have a guest that will be staying here tonight besides Twilight. Now, he may look a little… different to you, but trust me he is a very kind and trustworthy being. Please keep your manners while he’s around, won’t you?”

The young filly hesitantly nodded her head, not knowing what to expect.

“You can come in now!” Rarity called around the corner. Griffin sheepishly shuffled into the kitchen, almost tripping on his heels while avoiding the top of the doorframe. Recovering from his sudden stumble, he immediately straightened himself out and set his mind to ‘aware’, just in case he needed to pay attention to something important. He could only smile back to the shocked expression of Sweetie Belle after properly examining her. Before he could even greet her, the eager pony zoomed out of her seat and launched right next to Griffin’s legs faster than you could say ‘pony picked a pumpernickel’.

“Hi! I’m Sweetie Belle! Who are you? Where did you come from? Are you some kind of giant bald gorilla?” the filly squeaked, her immature voice cracking at least once. Rarity magically tugged at her sister’s tail, dragging her backwards and giving Griffin some much needed personal space.

“Sweetie, what did I just say about manners?” Rarity scolded.

“I know, but he’s so interesting! I’ve never seen anything so tall before!” She gawked up at Griffin’s face, eyeing her height difference.

“To answer your questions, my name is Griffin, I came from a different planet and I am not a giant bald gorilla. Well, technically speaking, I’m not.” he said, trying his best to be clear and concise.

“Wow! He can talk!” Sweetie chirped. When Griffin scowled in insult, Rarity could only provide sympathy from her facial expression.

“Yeah, well I can do many things, talking is just one of them.” the towering bipedal answered politely, ignoring the child’s innocent comment.

“Like what?” Sweetie inquired, craning her neck eagerly.

“Well, I would rather not display my skills in fear of messing up your sister’s household.” said Griffin, adorning a slight British accent. He smirked, having a little fun with the situation.

“So if you’re not from this planet does that mean that you’re an alien?”

“Now that’s quite enough Sweetie. Griffin’s been answering questions all day and needs a break, would you say Griffin?” Rarity telekinetically lifted her little sister back into her seat.

“Yes, a break from questions does sound absolutely exceptional right now. In fact, I feel somewhat peckish, so let’s start eating, shall we?” he suggested while heading towards the dining table.

“Yes, we shall.” Rarity replied, taking her own seat beside Sweetie Belle.

Just before Griffin pulled out his chair and sat down, a thought occurred to him.

“Umm, I would rather not crush your dining furniture, Rarity.”

“What makes you say that?” she questioned. Griffin appropriately made a ‘are you kidding me?’ expression and gestured towards his seat. Both Twilight and Sweetie had to chuckle at the fact that the chair was not only looked too small, but also could not possible support his weight.

“Oh dear! I did not foresee that problem!” Rarity exclaimed. “Uh, I think I have some extra cushions you could sit on. Hang on…” The white stylist got out of her seat and walked towards the hall.

“No need to get up Rarity, I can just eat on my knees. You don’t have to get anything for me.” Griffin assured.

“Nonsense, I will not have my guests dine without a proper seating device!” she demanded somewhere in the hall. The teenager just shrugged his shoulders and moved the pint-sized wooden chair to the side of the room. Rarity quickly came back with dark purple pillows floating beside her. She stacked the objects on top of each other, creating a makeshift chair. She quickly returned to her spot soon after. Griffin sat down on his newly conceived sitting place, trying to balance himself on the pile of poof-y material while stretching out his legs.

“Now that that’s settled, please, dig in!”

A large steaming pot was sitting in the center of the table the entire time. Griffin duly noted that he didn’t notice it because he was too occupied on making Sweetie Belle’s first encounter with him a successful one. Now that the ruckus was over, he properly got accommodated with the room.

Rarity’s kitchen was a standard one. Its cupboards were a mixture of maroon and Cornell red. There were several pans, metal spoons and other stirring devices hanging against the wall. The dull gold sink had an empty pot in it, but was otherwise void of plates or utensils.  There were a few heart designs cut into the wood and some handles were put together to make them look like hearts. The table Griffin sat at had an ocean blue tablecloth draped over it, covering the brown wooden interior. The top had several sets of spoons, forks and knives, each laid out in their respective spaces. The direct center of the tabletop was the pot of food, along with what seemed to be a bowl of tomato sauce.

The glamorous hostess lifted up the pot’s top telekinetically, releasing steam into the room. Griffin could feel the heat of the freshly cooked food from his seat. A black plastic spoon was grabbed from the wall and put into the pot. Retrieving its contents, Rarity poured an amount onto Sweetie Belle’s plate. Griffin almost instantly recognized the cookery.

(Rotini!) he eagerly thought.

I apologize for the lack of interesting events in these past few parts, but I assure you, they're only building up to something big.

Something VERY. BIG.

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 4

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 8

Small note: added a little blurb to part 7, chapter 5 about what exactly was on the table. You might want to review that.

{*Omniscient point of view, Carousel Boutique*}

“Wait!” Twilight cried out in the middle of the adequately peaceful evening. Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Twilight and Griffin were all prepared to chow down on some well-deserved supper before the purple pony cried out in panic. They all stared at her, puzzled to her strange outburst. Rarity stopped serving mid-scoop to see what her friend had to say.

“Can you even eat this?” asked the high-prestige student while pointing at the open pot.

“Uh, what, rotini? Yeah, sure I can.” he claimed simplistically, folding his arms and nodding his head. “No, wait, that’s a good question…”

“So you can’t eat rotini?” Rarity was the next one to inquire.

“Well, no, yet yes. I have eaten rotini before, it’s just I haven’t eaten Equestrian rotini before. I dunno if you’ve added any ingredients that I couldn’t digest.” he replied, scratching the back of his head.

“Well what can’t you eat?” Twilight asked next.

“I have no idea. All I can say is that if there’s some foreign plant that you added to the pot or the tomato sauce,” he pointed out the bowl of sauce beside the pot, “then I might get a bit sick later.”

“Oh dear, well we wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we?” Rarity generally stated.

Griffin pondered for a moment before continuing. “Well DID you add anything in particular to your cuisine?”

“Not really, just the standard tomato, mushrooms and onions. In my opinion it’s nothing special.”

“Then theoretically speaking, I should be a-ok…” Griffin analyzed, massaging his chin. Twilight’s facial expression was tense, not wanting to cause any harm accidentally to Griffin’s wellbeing. He noticed the hesitation in everyone’s ability to make a final decision. Sensing Twilight’s stress, the tall sturdy human wisely chose an option before the amethyst equine could make a choice for him.

“Well you know what they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained…” He swiftly grabbed the ladle, slopped on some rotini onto his plate, grabbed his fork and dug right in before any of the ponies could protest. They all gazed at the teen, searching for some kind of response.

“Hmm, not bad!” he munched, taking in the flavor of pasta and butter. All the mares sighed with ease, relieved of their paranoia. The famished ape took his spoon and poured some tomato sauce onto his plate. Rarity taking the hint resumed serving her guest and herself food. They all smirked and grinned, content that there was finally a moment of peace for all of them.

From that second onward, dinner was officially served.

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

I have to say that supper couldn’t have gone better.

Finally after delay and delay we managed to get something done today, that that was dinner. The food was pretty dang good for a first experience of intergalactic rations. The rotini didn’t taste too far off from home. If anything, it tasted a little bit better. How? I dunno, maybe it was something they put in the butter. The ponies definitely enjoyed the meal as well, but I guess that is to be expected. Granted, it’s rotini, it’s nothing amazing, but at least it’s dang familiar in this god-forsaken hellhole.

Ok, so maybe I’m just layering the cake a bit too thick, but sympathize for me, will ya? I would give anything, ANYTHING to be back on Earth. It doesn’t even matter if I end up in Africa or Brazil or something like that, I just want to be back on some familiar ground with my surrounding looking back like the way they’re supposed to.

But I’m getting off topic here. The food was great, the tomato sauce was fantastic (not too thick, just enough vegetables.), and overall the atmosphere was appropriate. Sweetie Belle talked almost the entire time about cutie marks or something? I didn’t even wanna know, so I didn’t ask. Cutie marks… God, I know I’ve said it a millions times by now but I’ll just say it a million times more: the names in this universe SUCK. BAD. So anyways, Sweetie Belle talking about cutie mark-things and her friends and what they had planned to do in the future. Surprisingly, she wasn’t annoying. In fact, she was quite bearable despite her high-pitched immature voice and constant voice cracks. I got to know a lot more about the pony behind the… mare. Yeah, that didn’t come out like I thought it would.

Rarity and Twilight were attentive listeners all the way. I mean, I guess they couldn’t do much else (what are they going to do, IGNORE her? I don’t think so!), but that just shows the extent of their patience. As for Sweetie Belle, she wasn’t exactly a chip off her old sister, but I could somewhat see some family traits in the two. For example, both of them have picked up unnecessary speech habits such as saying ‘quite’ and ‘absolutely’. Also, they were both white. Actually, that may have nothing to do about them being sisters, but the fact just made it more believable. So Sweetie was just like any normal human child: hyperactive, loud and excited for anything that happens in her life. I had to keep reminding myself that I was dining with a bunch of ponies, not actual human beings. It was very strange to say the least.

Seemingly in no time flat our meal was done. I almost single-handily emptied out the pot myself, but I also made sure that everyone else had their fill before I ate the rest. Rarity expressed her concern for not cooking enough, but I had to assure her that I was full. Of course, I was lying. That meal could have been a lot, lot bigger, but I played the politeness card and said otherwise. If I could I would definitely go for a round 4. Yes, that’s how much I ate. And yet I still have room.

At the end of our supper, I leaned back, took in a huge breath and let it back out in the form of a loud intrusive belch. I think that Rarity and Twilight were gawking at me while Sweetie Belle had a giggle, but I didn’t really care.

Because for the first time in this god-damn inter-dimensional trip, something had gone my way.

I once again apologize for the short chapter part, but I am beginning to get at wit's end with my writing ability and author creativity. Don't be surprised if I slow down in updates a bit. I'll make sure to post something on my blog if I am certain of something. Stay tuned!

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 5

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 9

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

This evening has gotten better and better by the minute.

Sure, there have been some things that could have been improved on, but I’m not one to dwindle on the small stuff. The point is everyone is in a chirpier mood, my stomach is full of pasta and I think that the storm has even slowed down a bit, but don’t quote me on that. I guess that the positive mood has made everything in general move at a more leisurely pace. I find it quite enjoyable just being able to smile and say “Yeah. I had a good dinner.”

What’s even better was that I was actually some use to the two mares! Without hesitation, I gladly accepted the task to wash the dishes after everyone was finished. I found myself scrubbing in circles plate after plate with a comedically squeaky yellow sponge, polishing off utensils, scooping out cups and rinsing out a big ol’ metal pot. I felt satisfied to help out in some way this time. Placing various clean items on the drying rack, my progress was swift and without incident. Even with my prune-y hands stinging from the way-too-powerful dish soap, there was virtually nothing that could bring my mood down.

The room was relatively quiet except for the clanging of tableware here and there. Rarity was washing up the table and other surfaces while Twilight went off somewhere to set up her room. I’m guessing that I’ll be sleeping here for the night, but I just don’t know where yet. I’m pretty certain that Rarity has a guest room SOMEWHERE in this huge building, but the question is does she have two? If me and Twilight end up having the same room, I’m perfectly content sleeping on the floor, preferably AWAY from the furry creature. Oh, and Sweetie Belle went upstairs after her older sister reminded her to go finish her homework, which reminded me of MY homework that I still had to finish, which reminded me once again of my current situation.

If it isn’t obvious already, being, no, EXISTING on a completely different planet is just… mind-blowing. Just the sheer fact that I am not only living, but also living perfectly well on an unknown planet to my own is unbelievably astounding. Still, it constantly reminds me of my main task to find a way back home, but that’s kind of running in the background. I try to stop thinking about Earth and my family but it still somewhat looms over in the distance, not leaving me alone. I can try to talk to Twilight or maybe that magical immortal princess she talks to highly of, but right now I have to deal with the issue at hand, and that’s getting all of Twilight’s friends together.

I reached for another dish to surprisingly find that there were no more. Double checking for anything that I missed, I begin to drain out the sink and stop the tap. I wipe my hands with the nearby towel and turn to try and find my white hostess. She was finishing up cleaning the table, perfectly in focus at her job.

“Uh, Rarity, I’m finished cleaning the dishes.” I announced.

“Oh, marvelous. Thank you so much for helping out.” she acknowledged. Her attention turned towards my direction, affirming that my chore was actually done. A slight smile could be seen on her face before she went back to wiping off the dinner surface.

“No problem. Is there anything else you need help with?” I offered, throwing the towel to the drying rack.

“No there is not, thank you. But instead, how about you get familiar with the room I have set up for you? It’s upstairs to the right of Twilight’s room. I do try my best to offer the best sleeping setting I can offer, but I bet that you know what you need to get a better sleep, right? So if there’s anything in your room you want to move or change, feel free to do so.”

“Gee, thanks Rarity.” I said genuinely. Spotting a staircase, I began to casually walk towards it.

“Oh and one more thing…” Rarity’s voice stopped me short from the stairway. “Please take the stairs in my creation quarters, not the one here. The other one leads to the other rooms, while this one leads to my own room.”

“Oh, right…” I murmured, remembering the other set of stairs that I’ve seen previously. Taking my leave, I headed out the kitchen, went to the room full of sewing stuff (which I was guessing was her ‘creation quarters’) and took the stairs there. Step by step, I ascended through the purple stairs to arrive at the second floor. What I found at the top was a long curving hall that reached a few meters, give or take. I’d quickly forgotten exactly how large Rarity’s house was when we were eating! There were three doors on each side with a fabric closet at the end of the corridor. I actually had no idea where Twilight was sleeping, but I had a hunch to progress to the end and hope for the best.

Starting with the right side, I started creaking the doors open a smidge and taking a peek inside. The first door was a closet full of brick-a-brack, so I skipped it to the next. Second on the right was an empty bedroom, possibly mine, but I didn’t want to take a room not designated for me, so I quietly closed the door. As I silently moved to the last door, my attention caught the door behind me. I heard a voice cry out in frustration. No doubt it was Sweetie Belle, but I was curious as to what would make her say:

“Dumb Fractions!”

I cautiously turn around, gazing at the door to the opposite side of the hall. It was a tad bit ajar, allowing some noise to escape the edges of the doorframe. I steadily crept up to her suggested bedroom and took a look inside. At the corner of the room sat cute petite Sweetie Belle, her face attached to the desk. I could see a pencil to her left and a blue folder on the floor. I smiled warmheartedly, remembering the times where I had to sit at a desk at home and do simple homework like this. Of course I still do, except it more involves computers and typing rather than paper, pencil and simple elementary questions. She was definitely still in elementary school, right? She sounded way too young to be in junior high. I still couldn’t make any assumptions about the pony race, but my gut couldn’t lie to me that badly.

She groaned in disgruntlement, banging her hooves on the wooden desk pitifully. I couldn’t just stand back and spectate, so I decided to try and resolve the situation.

“What’s wrong?” I simply inquired, opening the door and stepping in.

“Oh, it’s you.” Sweetie answered, sitting up probably expecting her sister to come in.  “It’s nothing, really.”

This moment I started to regret my choice. Her problem was definitely something that her older sister could handle better, not a teenaged alien from another, unfamiliar planet. I could hear the doubt and shyness from her voice, suggesting that she didn’t really want me to be there. I really should have thought about it more, but I guess her adorableness drew me in. Still, once I’m in deep water, there’s no turning back. The best I could do was wear my game face and hope for the best.

“Well it doesn’t sound like nothing.” I pointed out while approaching the young pony. “It sounds like you could use some help.”

She frowned, her gesture actively communicating to me her thought process of uncertainty. Her facial feature let up a bit after a few moments.

“It’s my stupid homework!” the tiny horse exclaimed, pointing to the loose-leaf in front of her. “It doesn’t make any sense!”

“Well let’s just take a look here, shall we?” I offered. Reading the writing on her paper, I kneeled to her level and put my hand on her shoulder reassuringly. It appeared to have standard fraction equations on it, nothing I couldn’t handle, but certainly out of a certain filly’s league. Shocking enough, I could actually read the numbers on the assignment! It was all in standard English writing, so at least I could identify the problems. There were five questions, yet she hadn’t completed even one yet. Was she troubled this entire time? It had to be at least twenty minutes since she was sent upstairs! Poor thing…

“Ok, these are fractions, right?” I said, pointing to one of the equations. “This is simple enough. Were you learning this in school?”

“Yeah, but it just doesn’t make any sense! Why do they have to be in fractions? Why can’t they just be in whole numbers? It’s easier for numbers to be whole, not in parts, so why did they even make fractions in the first place?”

I chuckled lightly at her plight. It was somewhat humorous to find the child worrying about the fractions themselves, not the actual questions! I guess that’s one step to becoming a philosopher.

“You know, some things in math just don’t make sense. In fact, a lot of things in math don’t make sense, just like a lot of things in life. You’re gonna have to learn to accept it, or else it’ll drive you completely bonkers!” I mused while pointing at the side of my head and twirl my wrist around to try and get my point across. “But enough about the fractions, what about the questions? What did they teach you about fractions in class?”

“They taught us how to add them together, like this…”

She took the pencil in her mouth (…ok then…) and started to draw numbers on the other side of the equals sign. Her answer appeared to be just the numerator and denominator of both fractions added together. I heavily breathed through my nose, trying to hide a frown. Was this what she learned in school? She couldn’t have been paying attention to the lesson to get this result!

“Ok, you got the right idea. This is an addition question, so you do need to add the two fractions together, but just not in this fashion.” I directed, pointing at her answer. She pouted at hearing my disapproval. Holding out my hand in front of her, I asked “May I please have the pencil?” She dropped the pencil onto my palm. Strange yet surprising, the small wooden writing device was not covered in pony saliva. I gripped the writing device, leaned over the working space and drew one of the equations in a separate space.

“Ok, first, you have to make both denominators either a multiple of each or the same…”

So why haven't I updated for a month?

Life. That's all. And if you were paying attention to my blog then you would know that I have been swamped with different kinds of events pertained from life. Now, this update doesn't mean that I will be updating more often, however, I really pushed to get this out, so I hope you enjoy this one!

In other news, I did something different than originally planned and I'm hoping that it won't bite me in the butt later.

That is all!

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 6

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 10

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

Sensation.

The feeling we all experience, the touch, the odor, the soul, the emotion; they’re all a part of sensation. My thoughts turn towards sensation as I wake up, holding the blankets tighter while I pull my pillow over my head. I could smell the distinct scent of wood and paint along my scanning realization. My mind widens the scope to address the intense feeling of déjà vu: Something was not right. Memories flood back to me and I clench my body into a ball, groaning as I began to recall the past 24 hours of my life.

I woke up in a new, unfamiliar world. A world unlike my own, one filled with different colours, patterns, feelings, emotions and beings. I met Twilight Sparkle, a ‘pony’, as she called herself, as well as her five friends. Together, they pushed, harassed and helped my way through this experience in this place called Equestria. Last night, I went out on a task to help the purple unicorn gathered her friends. We found Rarity first, had supper at her place, and I got to help her cute little sister with her homework.

That’s right. Sweetie Belle.

She was having trouble with fractions, a concept completely unknown to her, yet familiar to me. I guided her and filled her road with hope and resolve. I taught her the basic elements of fractions and then some. I can remember the bright smile on her joyous face when she finally understood the process of making such a calculation. She was giggling, not being able to believe that she didn’t get it in the first place. I can recall her words so clearly.

“Ahhh! Now I get it, I get it! Wow, thank you so much Griffin! I-I finally understand! Thank you very very much! I don’t know what I would have done without your help! Thank you!”

I grumbled in bed, turning to lie on my back and smell the morning roses. Taking hold of the pillow across my face, I fling it to the side, kicking the blankets off me in the process. I found myself staring at the ceiling of the spare guest room Rarity kindly offered to us. Us being Twilight and I. Hearing disturbing familiar pattering, I look to my left at the side window. It. Was. Still. Raining.  Just dandy. And here I honestly thought when I went to bed that the rain would have stopped by tomorrow, which of course is today. I frown, looking back at the top of the room.

I had no idea what time it was, but I was in no mood to sleep in. Twilight was planning to leave as soon as possible, so I knew that I had to get up before she got ticked off at my tardiness. Sitting up, I swung my legs off the end of the bed, wiped the remaining sleep out of my eyes and got up steadily. The sudden raise of elevation made me lose my sense of balance and refreshed my vision in a peculiar display of colours. I found my pants hanging on the nearby chair, put them on and found my shoes. Before leaving the room, I turned around and considered making the bed. After recalling that Rarity wouldn’t be back for a very, very long time, I didn’t have to lift a finger. I made sure that I hadn’t left anything behind (nothing to really keep track of, considering I only have one pair of clothes) and shut the door.

Walking down the hall, the echoes of my inner thoughts seemed to bounce down the hall. The sole question I had to ask myself was,

“What have I gotten myself into?”

{*Omniscient point of view, Carousel Boutique*}

“Rarity! You almost done yet?”

Twilight called down the hall to her white unicorn friend. Currently, the disciple of the princess was checking morning duties of her own, then double checking and double checking the double check of her first check. She shifted her haunches, making sure her saddlebags were secured with the elements tucked inside. A quill and parchment floated a foot away from her face, allowing space for her to look down the corridor for the lingering seamstress.

“I’m coming!” Rarity called back, rushing out of the hallway door. She hastily trotted over to Twi’s location with a plethora of bags, suitcases and other storage devices in magical tow. The dress designer never looked better for the weather, donning her matching set of a white rain hat, a white raincoat and sparkling polished rain boots. Eyelashes preened and eyeliner properly applied, she overdramatically entered the kitchen, a certain sway in her advance to portray her beauty a bit better.

“Rarity, I think that’s a bit too much stuff for this journey.” Twilight plainly stated, pointing at the dozen or so briefcases behind the fashionista.

“Nonsense! There is no such thing as too much when it comes to clothes! I need every type of dress, gown, skirt and shoe for every occasion! What if there was a flash dance on the road? Then I will be glad that I had brought my dance clothes for such a very occasion!” She flicked her hair, emphasizing her need for excess formal wear.

“I’m sorry Rarity, but I’m not carrying all that baggage, Sweetie’s not gonna carry all that baggage and I highly doubt that Griffin will even consider it. Besides, It’ll only slow us down if you have to keep lugging all that stuff and keep track of it at the same time! Unless you have some kind of carriage, you’re gonna have to leave it behind.”

“Come on Twilight, be reasonable! I have enough in here for all of us! So if you ever want a simple dress to go out in or if Pinkie wants some more pink to wear I’ve got it all here! Can’t I just keep a bag or two?”

“Once again, I’m sorry, but no means no. We can only take the bear essentials with us, and that means food, water and a tent or two. I’ve already got some of our supplies, but you need to pull some of our weight in consumables, not fashion.”

“Aww…” Rarity groaned. She began dragging her hooves back to her closet when a squeaky voice called out from the other side of the kitchen.

“Rarity, are we leaving now?”

Both mares turned their heads to Sweetie Belle, standing uncertainly at the bottom of the stairs. An indescribable emotion in her eyes, she looked at her bigger sister for answers.

“Yes, we’re leaving quite soon, dear. I have all your clothes packed already. Have you gotten any toys and belonging packed in your bag just like I asked?”

“Yes, they’re up in my room.”

“Do me one more thing and go bring your bag downstairs. Me and Twilight have just a few things to work out, so wait a little bit longer, ok?”

“Ok.” She replied, traces of weariness in her voice. As Rarity was turning to go back to her tasks, one more question hung in the air. “Where are we going?”

Rarity flinched at her sister’s question. “I’ll tell you once we get on the road.”

“Ok.”

Sweetie stared at the steps almost her size and began climbing up. She spotted a pair of large white feet as glanced up to see Griffin, slightly surprised at almost stepping on her. He got out of her way before she continued trudging. The room was entirely silence, save for the rain and the sound of Sweetie ascending.  The human read the filly’s face, recognizing the hint of negativity in the scene around him. He met eyes with the other two ponies, all sharing looks of concern with one another. As soon as Griffin was sure she was out of earshot, he stepped down the stairs and struck up a conversation.

“Did I come down at a bad time?”

“No, not at all dear, not at all…” Rarity began, looking along the floor for something amiss. “I’ll be taking my leave for the time being, unpacking my belongings and whatnot. If you need me, you know where to find me, right Twilight?”

“Yeah.” Twilight replied, her voice softer than normal. The white unicorn levitated her items back off the floor and traveled down the hall. Once the sound of a door closing rang out, Griffin turned his eyes away from the fleeing sibling and looked towards answers.

“Twilight, what happened?”

She hesitated, pretending to triple check her double check-list before answering. “Nothing. Nothing big. Rarity’s just gotta deal with big sister issues, that’s all.” She turned her back towards him, trying to avoid the subject.

However, Griffin wasn’t going to have any of that. “Please Twilight, tell me what really happened. Tell me all of what happened. Please?”

The stressed librarian sighed before gathering her thoughts. “Last night, after you went to bed, Rarity had to go to Sweetie Belle’s room to talk about moving out. Unfortunately, she waited too long and picked a bad time to tell Sweetie: while she was asleep. During the time I was still awake, however I still heard the entire thing.” Twilight swiveled her head to meet her converser. “After Sweetie woke up, Rarity began to explain that they both needed to go out for a ‘vacation’ for a little while, and that they would be returning to Ponyville for quite some time. Every time Sweetie asked a question, Rarity dodged with the vaguest answer you could give. It was painfully obvious to pick up the pain in her voice, and I think Sweetie figured out something was wrong.”

Twilight turned to the kitchen window and observed the drops of water spreading down the canvas before continuing. “She tried her absolute best to hide her feelings, but those kinds of feelings you just can’t hide properly, especially to loved ones. It didn’t help that Rarity wasn’t answering any of Sweetie’s questions except for ‘we need to go out tomorrow’, but I don’t blame her. She tried her best, and she did it before it was too late. If Sweetie was told to today and not yesterday I think the stress would have broken her little heart. Still…”

Twilight’s eyes once again met the boy’s. “She is so sad. She and her big sister. It’s like a domino effect: I got moody, then Rarity got moody, and now Sweetie got moody. It shouldn’t be this way. All this sadness, all this pain; it shouldn’t have to come to this. I don’t know why it does, but it shouldn’t.”

The true emotions of Twilight Sparkle reached Griffin.

“And I feel like it’s all my fault.”

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 7

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 11

{*Omniscient point of view, Carousel Boutique*}

“No! It’s not your fault! It’s not! Twilight…”

Griffin was dealing with the troubled unicorn and her guilt trip. The pair stood in the creepily still kitchen, working out the mare’s problems. The constant ambiance of rainwater constantly reminded the teen of how negative the situation was.

“Well, maybe, it’s not but…” Twilight began, unsure of herself. “I just wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t gone to Rarity’s.  What would have happened if I stayed at home and took care of you and Spike. Would we have avoided all this sorrow and punishment? I feel like this could have been avoided if only if I just said no to the princess for once and stayed in the library.”

Griffin, speechless, allowed Twilight to cast her gaze to the waxed kitchen tiles. “What right do I have to cause this much grief to my friend in order to protect her? Am I really preventing disaster to happen? It feels like I’ve created more pain then preventing it.”

Her eyes closed, feeling the pangs of defeat wash over her body. Griffin finally found his voice after considering Twi’s words. He slowly stepped towards the purple pony, taking care in his approach both verbally and physically.

“It’s not your fault Twilight. It was out of your power that this would happen. You did the best that you could. You did what you knew and that was to loyally follow your leader with bravery and stride. I bet most people-I mean ponies wouldn’t have enough courage to accept such a quest you’ve taken upon yourself! Give yourself a little credit.”

“But I still could have prevented this!” Twilight snapped, tears breaking through her mental wall. “I had the choice to go and break the news to my friends who had nothing to do with this or to stay and let the storm roll over! I had that choice! And I used it the worst way possible!” She collapsed to her knees.

“I used it to hurt my friends…”

The tall biped loomed over the sobbing, distressed mare. He smiled weakly, advancing with care and consideration. Kneeling, he placed his palm on the top of her head and stroked soothingly. However, she continued to lie on the ground, covering her face with her forelegs in absolute confusion and stress.  Griffin took a deep breath in his nose before grinning further and letting out a chuckle.

“Heh, now this sounds familiar…”

“Wha-what?” Twilight sniffed. “Why’s that?”

“You sound just like me. Too hard on yourself for things that you can’t control. I remember that when I was younger I would go crazy for making small mistakes that don’t even matter. Heck, I still do, except now I actually have better control over how I react. You sound just like I would if I made an error such as this.”

Twilight looked up into the human’s gaze. She wiped her tears before controlling her breathing and grinding her crying to a halt.

“You may have had that choice Twilight, but you also tried your absolute best to meet the quota for the task. It was inevitable. You can’t have both parties happy with this kind of news.  You were placed in a perfect storm: a situation that was bound to cause pain and sadness. But, that doesn't mean you need to beat yourself up for it! As long as you tried your best, answered the call and know that in your heart that it was right, you are golden.”

Twilight sniffed before casting her look to the left, away from her speaker.

“Hey. Look at me.” She did. “You do know that you did what felt right in your heart, right?” After a pregnant pause, she nodded. “Well then. That’s all your friends can ask for. To try your best. Ok?”

“Ok…”

Griffin continued to pet Twilight until she was willing to get up. Her head in a storm of it's own, The element of magic analyzed the human's words carefully. She found balance in his phrase, one that made sense and gave her brain clarity. Her body felt a newfound strength to move forward and onward. Wiping her tears again, she got to her hooves, slowed her pace of thinking and started right into Griffin’s eyes.

“You’re right. I can’t let this get the better of me. I need to keep going and persevere. If not for me, for my friends!”

The amethyst unicorn took a deep breath, exhaled and let the life flow to her eyes.

“Thanks, Griff.”

His response was a soft smile. He was content, his goal to aid Twilight's woes completed. The experienced teen felt that once again, everything turned out alright for the moment. And although the conflict of the two sisters loomed in the distance, the short break until then was greatly savored by the savior. The rain wasn't a bother to him anymore. Instead, he focused on what was to come, and how to deal with the future situation. Furthermore, he thought about home, and what kinds of events he would have to push through to reach it.

"And I still have no idea how to get back to Earth!" he mused ironically.

All of the sudden, the heartwarming moment for the two was interrupted by a horrible gut-wrenching screech that rang throughout household. The shrill note was so loud it caused ringing in Griffin’s ears. Both Equine and Sapiens flinched and flicked their heads upward to meet the strange sound. It sang again a mere moment later, except with more intensity, The windows began to rattle and shake against the frames, the pots and pans shook against each other and the wind substantially picked up speed. The air outside could be heard by a distinct whistle, the sign of extreme wind speeds communicating itself to the beings inside. Griffin got onto his feet and spread out his stance, almost mentally hitting the panic button.

Rarity rushed into the room, her rain apparel nowhere in sight. She yelled, trying to throw her voice over the deafening groaning of metal. “WHAT IS GOING ON?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Twilight replied, struggling to get her message clear and across. All three of them looked at the ceiling detecting the sound coming from somewhere above. Griffin noticed that the walls around the house seemed to be shifting and stretching upwards. There was another loud grinding sound and a pit fell into Griffin’s stomach.

“Oh no…” he muttered inaudibly.

“RARITY!”

The trio looked towards the kitchen stairs. Standing at the bottom was a panicking Sweetie Belle. Her eyes were wide with fright as she looked at her sister.

“WHAT’S HAPPENING?” she asked, a question no one knew the answer to.

Suddenly, the sound of breaking wood could be heard, and the ceiling was ripped right off of its infrastructure. The entire top of the Carousel Boutique was sent flying skywards, bits of wood flying along with it. Twilight watched in disbelieve as she saw the wires and pipes of the main and second floor get severed from each other. Now, jutting out of the walls were a couple of water pipes, gushing out water which was being sucked upwards as well.

The sound of rushing wind blew through everyone’s ears as they were exposed to the elements. The air pressure was very high all of the sudden, much so that the ponies and human ears popped. Griffin was surprised that they weren’t getting rained on, but had second thoughts when he noticed that in the distance rain was falling down, but was getting sucked back up into a single space right above them!

He glanced up for a single second to catch what was the strangest sight he as ever seen in his life. A circular black abyss of nothingness was floating right above Ponyville, spinning perspiration around it. The hole was placed right above the storm, but at the same time could still be seen because of it sucking up any nearby clouds. In fact, the only thing it was doing at moment was sucking things in. There were other houses and buildings in the distance flying towards the spinning dark doom. Statues, trees and other bits could be seen getting attracted too.

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

I was lifted right off my feet.

And it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen it coming. As soon as I saw the roof right above my head, I knew that I was screwed over by gravity. And by screw over I mean gravity not being there. That said, it still took me a few second to hit the panic button and actually take action. First thing that happened was I completely flew off the tiled floor. Time slowed as my mind thought of a way to survive. Before I got too far out, I reached towards the now slightly decimated wall and grabbed a swaying pipe. My legs got flung towards the black hole as my grip tightened on my literal life anchor. Almost forgetting someone, I shot out my other hand to grab Twilight, barely catching her tail in time. The pain went straight to my elbow; the only thing that was keeping me attached this god-forsaken planet. I winced at the sudden discomfort while grimacing at the irony that was ‘hanging on to dear life’.

“RARITY!”

I looked behind me towards the skyline (which was a strange experience) to spot a distressed tiny Sweetie Belle flying away in the suction of the black hole. She was reaching for her sister in vain, her being trapped in the infernal hold of the  vacuum. It was then that a small part inside of me died. That poor, poor young girl-pony was dead meat, and there was nothing I could do about it. However…

“SWEETIE BELLE!”

I turned my attention to my immediate left, to which I recognized Rarity grasping the remaining part of the wall with both of her forelegs. Before Twilight or I could say a thing, she let go and gave herself up to the force of inverse gravity.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!” I screamed, for obvious reasons.  At the same time, Twilight had a call of her own.

“NOOO!!! RARITY!!!”

The purple pony struggled under my grip to reach out to her friend. I pulled her closer to my body, making sure she wouldn’t copy Rarity’s actions. I could see her face wilt as she witnessed the white-coated unicorn make herself smaller in attempt to reunite herself with her little sibling. Twilight’s horn faintly glowed before disappearing in a shower of sparks. Twilight looked exasperated. I watched her mouth the word ‘no’. Holding my breath, I saw Rarity rocket towards Sweetie and tackle her in a grip of love. Both were hugging each other, soaring towards whatever fate lied for them in that hellish ball-o-destruction.

Horrifyingly I watched their tiny spec get absorbed into the unknown. It was then I saw a bunch of other tiny specs follow shortly after. I wondered if they were other ponies too, or just my insane imagination. But I digress. The wind picked up from its impossibly fast speed and threatened to rob my grip from the cold metal pipe. I could feel my fingers slipping right underneath my grasp, my palm sliding down the length of the pole. I just barely managed to grab hold onto the last ring of bolts attaching one pipe to another. I checked my behind to see exactly how far we were from death. I then remembered that I had a unicorn with me, who was currently staring into the direction Rarity exited off to. She looked so cold inside. But enough of that, I needed to survive!

“TWILIGHT!!!” She didn’t respond. Not a reaction, not a look, not even a flinch. She just hung there like a dead carcass getting battered by the intense wind. I tried again. “TWILIGHT!!! DO SOMETHING!!!”

That seemed to do it. She, blinked closed her eyes and her horn glowed once again. I found myself dropping downwards forcefully. Land with an “Oomph!” I sat up, and looked at the pony that just saved our lives. she was on the ground as well, belly first. Her eyes were still closed, except they leaking with tears… again. I didn’t blame her. From what I could tell, both unicorns were very good friends, and now... she was long gone. Long gone. There was no was she would could possibly come back from that black hole of doom.. Well, that’s the best I could describe it anyways. I know what a black hole is, and if that was a proper black hole I’d be dead by now, but it was literally a black hole of darkness that sucked things up. Anyways, it would take a miracle for this to all reverse and go back to normal.

Well, at lease Rarity didn't have to worry about leaving Equestria anymore...

END OF CHAPTER

Done. End. Finite. Got that pressure off of my chest. Now, all I have to do is slowly go back and edit while dealing with my life. Fun!

Don't expect anything new soon.

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 8

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 1

-CHAPTER 6: BITTERSWEET SOUR-

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

The storm.

For a mere moment of my life, those two words were the only thing that floated around my head. The storm, how it twists and turns the otherwise peaceful clouds into a malevolent spiral of destruction. How it not only brings down rain, darkness and destruction, but also the spirits surrounding the grim event. The storm, being one of nature’s hands, showers the land with both nurturing elements and heart-breaking emotions.

I was lying down on the cold, hard floor that used to be Rarity’s house. The chill of the naked stone ran across my spine, but I shrugged off the sensation and let my mind take a break from the stress and pain I was currently experiencing. I dragged my palms up to my forehead and let them paint across my face, groaning in the process. My eyes were staring into the lightless unknown abyss that was the black hole. The object that killed Rarity and poor Sweetie Belle and countless other citizens of Ponyville, if the flying house parts were any hint.

Yet, why was I still alive? Why was I still stuck to the ground and everything else was taken to the sky above me? I had to remind myself that I wasn’t alone, that I wasn’t the only one suffering. In a fit of panic, I immediately sat up and exclaimed:

“Twilight!”

She was lying a few feet away from me, unmoving. Her horn was lit with a strange but alluring purple light, her body soaking from the rainwater and her eyes closed, tears running freely. Flipping over to my stomach, I tried to get to my feet. The oddest prickling ran through my entire being and I found that my limbs felt like Jell-O. It felt as if I had just come back from an intense work out and my muscles were shot! I grunted, inhaled and brought my feet underneath my body. With that step done, standing up was less more of a struggle and more of a step-by-step process. As my back straightened, my legs screamed in protest because of a newfound weight put onto my knees. I winced and got steady on my feet.

Why did I feel so heavy? Did I gain a few pounds while Rarity’s home was torn apart? Getting a better look, I realized that my arms, legs, feet and hands were enveloped by the same indigo light that had covered me when Twilight threw me against the wall of the library. It finally occurred to me that she was casting a spell that kept me planted to the planet, thus explaining the sudden weight change. I turned around and dragged my heels through the pooling water towards the unicorn. Reaching her figure, I collapsed to my knees and sighed wearily. She needed to tone down her power a little bit; my body felt like it was getting slightly crushed!

But enough about me, I had turned my attention to Twilight. Her being was still limp and lying on the ground. I picked up her head and whispered into her ear. “Twilight? Twilight, are you ok?” She didn’t respond. I turned her skull upright and lightly tapped the side of it. “Come on Twilight, wake up! Open your eyes! Make some kind of reaction!”

Suddenly, it dawned on me that there were small sobbing noises underneath the roar of the storm’s wind. I picked up the notion that she was quietly crying to herself, and in fact, not un-conscious. She muttered something incoherent, and proceeded to turn away from me. With great care, I cautiously pulled her muzzle towards me again. “Twilight, it’s gonna be fine. It’s gonna be just fine. I just need you to open your eyes for me, ok? Please Twilight, open your eyes?”

“Rarity…”

The weak, violet pony allowed her eyelids to rise. What I saw next just plain scared me. Her eyes were there, but her iris was a discoloured purple. Slightly greyer, the normally cartoonish eyes were now just lifeless copies of their previous form. There was no shine or glimmer to her complexion, just immense sorrow and hopelessness. An entire piece of Twilight’s personality and push was cut completely out of her soul.

“Rarity, I’m so sorry…”

Her gaze looked right past me. Sure, she heard my request to open her eyes, but the meaning to such an action evaded her brain. It was like she was blind: looking, but not seeing anything. I heard her softly whisper out her friend’s name as if she was going to come back the more she said it. I absolutely understood that I wasn’t staring at the same Twilight Sparkle I was conversing with five minutes ago. She was just a heavily mentally scarred unicorn, sanity lost and spirit not included.

“I’m so sorry, Rarity…”

All I could do it peer into her broken being. Where would I go from here? Now that she’s in capacitated, how was I supposed to continue? I had no idea where Pinkie Pie lived, or where Fluttershy was hanging out, or even where that farm girl had headed off to now, so I couldn’t get any help of any kind. I had no idea where I was, or how to get out! There were so many questions unsolved, yet is my journey ending already?

I looked back down at what mattered most.

“And what am I supposed to do with YOU?” I asked aloud, shaking my head at the tiny unicorn in my arms.

“I’m so sorry…” was all she replied. I frowned, losing all sense of progress. There was no chance of me getting anywhere anytime soon, not without getting this stupid lump of meat out of her stupor first.

But why should I? Why should I care for her? She’s been nothing but annoying and way too sentimental! I mean, she’s cried at least what, four times in the past twenty-four hours by now? I somewhat understand her pain, but Jeez n’ crackers, get a grip! You need to let go and move forward! You need to get up, brush yourself off and smell the roses, because life isn’t going to stop for you! You need to grab life by the reigns and never give up hope!

Hope…

Her horn was still glowing. Both of us were still sticking to the ground without falter. Why? I finally realized that she may be crying up a storm, but she was still hanging on! She had a drive! She had hope! For somewhat reason, this silly mare still had hope and refused to let go! That had to mean something! Whether or not I understood it, Twilight kept us living by her little gravity spell!

“Rarity…”

I glanced at her eyes again. They were still empty, but mine were still filled with fire. I started grabbing the bulk of her torso and lifting her up from the ground. It was a slightly strenuous effort due to the added weight from her magic, but there was no room to complain. Once at my feet again, I carefully slung her over my right shoulder, sort of in a fireman’s carry. I looked around at my surroundings. Even though there was a black hole in the sky, not all of the buildings were flung into the darkness. Some swayed and wavered, but otherwise held their position. I was glad that at least not everyone was screwed over by such a freak of nature. Of course, the wind was still trying to pick both of us up, but I was certain that Twilight wasn’t giving up anytime soon.

“Griffin?”

I looked to my right. Speaking of Twilight…

“Um, can you put me down?” she inquired, squirming in my grip.

“Sure.” I slowly let her get back to her hooves. When she was steady, she turned her back towards me and stared off into the distance. “Are you ok?” I simply asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”

Those words gave spark to a smile on my face. Even though she couldn’t see it, I was very, VERY happy to see that she wasn’t completely broken. Well, not yet, anyways. For now, I didn’t have to worry about that. Instead, I would let her do all the thinking for now.

“So, where to now, boss?” I queried. She chuckled at my wit.

“Off to Pinkie’s.” She said, not leaving her straight gaze.

“Ok. Lead the way.”

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 9

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 2

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

We walked towards Pinkie Pie’s without a word, the wind buffering our clothes and fur respectively. It would have been worse it Twilight hadn’t selflessly cast a heat-up spell while we traveled. I was grateful for her kindness, considering the powerful freezing combo that was wind and rain, even though the rain was still flying upward towards the black hole. Still on the subject of dark black objects, the hole was still in the smack dab of the center of the sky. Nothing about its manner has changed; it was still sucking up a butt load of clouds, trees and houses, however it seemed to shrink and recede a bit, causing the force of suction to reduce. That didn’t mean it was still dangerous however, and Twilight kept up her artificial gravity spell, except will a little less power to it by my request. My muscles sighed a mental sigh of relief that it didn’t have to carry any fake weight with it.

Even though the rain had technically stopped, we were still up to our shins in water, the aftermath of the fierce flash of moisture the storm threw at us previously. It pained me to see that the water was draining out underneath cracks of some remaining houses, no doubt flooding and ruining the infrastructure. Sure, there were still drains and manholes slowly emptying the streets, but the progress was so slow that I wasn’t surprised that rainwater was leaking into other places.

Of course, we were the only ones outside. I’m assuming that since this is a town there are other ponies around, either hiding in their homes, ran away already or met a similar fate to Rarity. Twilight and I tried to ignore the blood-curdling screams that rang out above. Instead, we trekked forward, looking forward to the warm company of Pinkie Pie. I have no idea what we’re going to do after, but for now I’m content to go with the flow, no pun intended.

Speaking of Pinkie Pie, I haven’t thought about it too much, but she’s kinda a nut. First of all, she appeared out of nowhere, and of all things hung from the CEILING of the library! What’s worse is that she stayed upside-down for a good minute or two! Maybe that’s why she was talking so much, the blood had to have rushed to her head! Wait, do ponies have blood? I mean, they’re not Earth’s ponies, so what are they made of? Flesh? Ectoplasm? Cotton candy? But I digress, I’m just hoping that Pinkie can accept out need of hospitality on such a short notice. Oh, and the hanging-from-the-ceiling thing, I’m not gonna question it. She might be a unicorn, ‘cause her hair might have been covering her horn or something. Whoa, now that I think about it, both of our heads’ have the same hairstyle! We both have very curly, un-controlled hair! Well, her hair actually looked a bit tamer than mine and was obscenely pink, but that’s beside the point.

My thoughts were stopped when I bumped into a unidentified object. I looked down to see that Twilight stopped in the middle of our journey, lowering the front half of her body.

“Huh? Twilight, are you ok?” I honestly buzzed.

“Yeah…” she mumbled. “Just a bit tired, that’s all.”

“Ok…”

She got back up and we resumed. That was a strange occurrence. Well, maybe not considering that it’s believable that she’s tired, but at the same time it was only like an hour ago since we woke up! We haven’t even been walking for thirty minutes and she was already tired? What gives? Not that I’m gonna badger her for being out of shape, but it’s not like she was chubby or anything, so it doesn’t really make any sense. I had a sinking feeling that her sudden exhaustion was out of my understanding.

---

It was another fifteen minutes before anything else happened. Most of the journey was silent safe for the swiftly moving air and the slush of our feet and hooves in the water. I’m not sure about Twilight, but I didn’t want to talk right now. Sure, there were a lot of things that needed to be talked about, but I was scared. Scared that if anything was said she would break into tears again and something else bad would happen. I was scared to confront the situation. But you see, the thing is, I didn’t have to. Instead, all I had to do was continue following Twilight as she light up the surrounding area with her luminescent horn.

That said, she stopped once again and I actually noticed it this time before bumping into her rear.

“We’re here.” she announced, her words carrying wear and tear. I glanced up, looking for what she was talking about.

“Which one’s her house?”

Like I’ve said, there were some houses still standing. As such, there were at least five houses in front of us. She pointed to the one that looked peculiarly like a life-sized gingerbread house. I raised an eyebrow even though she couldn’t see it.

“Is that building EDIBLE?” I asked, the confusion hanging in my tone.

“No, it’s just for aesthetics. Welcome to the Sugarcube Corner!”

“What, she gave a name to her house?”

“No, she lives inside a bakery. She also works there as a baker. Her cupcakes are the best, maybe we can get some once we get inside.” she plainly stated.

I said nothing. Approaching the building, my eyes glazed over the multiple features of the structure. Frosting shingles, candy cane doorframe, chocolate roof, no doubt this was some kind of bakery, and a well-advertised one too. How peculiar it was that a hyperactive pink pony to not only sleep and eat here, but as well as make a living to pay to live here. Twilight approached the front steps and knocked on the door several times, surprisingly forcefully I might add. When no one responded for a few seconds, she tried again. Nothing.

Bob Saget, not the waiting game again! We already did enough of this at Rarity’s! Can’t people-or ponies actually answer the door from time to time? Sure Rarity did, but it took her FOREVER to actually respond to Twilight’s knocking! And besides, why shouldn’t they let us in? If they think we’re salesmen or saleswomen or salesponies or something, them they’re bonkers! No one’s gonna be selling anything at this point of time, so why don’t they just let us in? Twilight attempted for a third time, this time groaning in frustration and really rattling the door. This wasn’t good. Last time, Twilight actually kept her composure, and now she’s getting’ angry!

Weren’t we both.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is a transitional chapter, so I'm sorry that there isn't any major developments occurring. That said, this chapter DID have a purpose.

I hope you enjoyed this part!

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 1

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 3

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

The loud *clop clop clop* sound echoed throughout the street. This was the third time Twilight was trying to get some kind of answer beyond the Sugarcube Corners door. I heard her groan with frustration and resent, the reaction of a bluntly aggravating cause. For the time being, I crossed my arms and let Twilight do the work and worrying. She was the one that had a slight idea where to head next, so I let her take the wheel and drive us ahead to some vague objective. Tapping my submerged feet against the pavement, my patience for the evening was wavering, and so was Twilight's.

I guess third time's the charm, because not too soon after Twilight's knocking I heard talking behind the pink door. I couldn't make out any words, but it seemed like there was some kind of important, desperate conversation going on. I raised my eyebrow as the voices got louder and louder, proving that whoever was inside was approaching our position. The door was unlocked with a click and opened, the sound of a bell ringing beneath the top of the door frame.

"Twilight? What are you doing out here?"

The pony that answered our call was a light cerulean colour. She (I think) had a yellow apron wrapped around her front with light purple earrings. Her hair was probably the most ridicules thing I have ever seen (even more so than my hair), but was also pretty impressive. The tip of the hair was whipped upwards in a swirling fashion, causing a whipped-cream like effect. She was a bit paunchy, but otherwise was the only other pony I've seen beside Twilight's friends.

And oh, what an impression she gave me.

"Get inside, you'll freeze out there-AAAAAAAAHHH!" she screamed. Holy god, my ears! "Twilight! There's a monster behind you!"

"Hello Ms. Cake. This is Griffin. He's from a different planet. Now, can we please see Pinkie?" the unicorn rebutted, irritation lingering in her tone.

"Does that mean he's an ALIEN?" Ms. Cake squealed, backing up slightly from my figure.

"Yes, it does. Now can we PLEASE see Pinkie Pie?" Twilight quickly responded.

She slammed the door on Twilight's face. I facepalmed. Adorning a neutral face, Twilight knocked for a fourth time. Ms. Cake edged the door open, shaking as she glanced outside. With a "meep!", the coward attempted to shut the door again before Twilight stuck her hoof out and stopped the entrance. The baker panicked and looked at Twilight. I could see her silently pleading for Twilight to let her shut the door!

"Please let us in, Ms. cake?"

The blue pony's pupils widened, seeing Twilight's face. I realized that Twilight was making a fairly convincing puppy pout. Thankfully, from my angle I couldn’t see all of it, thus protecting my cuteness shields. It took the baker a few seconds to make a decision. Finally, she sighed, gave me one more look and opened the door wider.

"Fine, you can come in. However, I trust, Twilight, that you'll keep your alien in control, right?" she requested, her posh stature hiding her insecurity and panic from seconds ago.

I deadpanned. "For your big fat information, I’m not a pet”

"Eep! I-It can talk?” she screeched while backing up and flinching. I facepalmed again before Twilight could do anything to calm her down.

"Yes, he can. He’s very smart. Please show him some respect." the magician stated, cutting into Ms. Cake’s subconscious. Thank you Twilight! Score one for the unicorns!

We entered the tasty-looking building, allowing myself to absorb the inside decor. My jar slightly loosened as I spotted the several displays of cookies, cupcakes, brownies, cakes and other Delicious delights. Each good was pasted in some kind of bright shade of red, pink or blue, enhancing the urge to gorge myself. The main counter stood several feet away from me, with a cleanly polished window housing more divine treats. Around the room were etched carvings of lollipops and candies, a fantastic complimenting the overall theme of sugar. If there was one thing to note, however, it was the fact that darkness covered every corner of the room. No lights were on and the storm outside didn't add anything to the lighting, so the designs kinda gave off a grimmer sense of being then they were probably designed for.

I stopped myself from grabbing a cup-sized cake after noticing Ms. Cake still cringing in my direction. Her eyes were absolutely focused on my form, still grasping the fact that I was walking on two legs. I made a bad poker face before increasing my pace to catch up to Twilight. She took a look around, gave a sigh and approached a set of stairs to her left. I was about to follow suit before a voice stopped me.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! WHAT IS THAT THING??"

Really? That's what they call me when they see me? A 'thing'? Out of all the words he could have used, the one he chooses is ‘thing’? Wow, these insults are wearing my patience very, very thin. With a disgruntled face, I turned around to see what the hubbub was all about. Behind the counter was another pony sprawled across the floorboards. He was heaving at my sight. He scrambled back a bit before knocking his head on the back wall. I noticed several boxes that were scattered along the ground from where he fell initially. He pointed at me (with his hoof, I might add), gawking at my presence.

"You st-st-stay away from me, ya hear? G-G-Go back to where ever you came from and don't come back!"

"Mr. Cake, calm down!" Twilight exclaimed before I could retaliate. "He's not going to hurt you!"

"Twilight? What are you doing here? And why were you hiding behind that 'thing'?"

"His name is Griffin. He's with me, but right now I need to see Pinkie as soon as possible." she answered, pointing up the stairs.

"Don't worry sweetums, he seems ok for now." Ms. cake said as she helped what I assume is her husband off the floor. Both had scared eyes and a facial expression that told millions. They embraced each other while backing up towards a door behind them.

I then realized the weight of the situation. They were looking at me. AT. ME. Not some kind of monster or nightmare, but me. Just little ol' me, a human being stuck in a world that it doesn’t belong in. Of course, I didn’t see myself as an alien, but they did, so that begs the question: what did they really see in me? Did they see a cruel, heartless slaver that came to take them away for my own kinds' purposes, or did they see me as the last thing they would ever see in their entire life before dying at the hands of my cosmic powers? What exactly was it they saw in me?

This realization filled my conscious with a newfound resolve. If I could just wait ten, maybe twenty more minutes, then I could probably straighten some things out and teach them that I'm not the alien they think I am to be.

Twilight looked at the two, groaned and turned to proceed up the stairs. Her mane was getting a bit messy, sticking up in some places where it shouldn't. I guess that's inevitable after being in a storm like that, but if that's what her hair looks like, then I can only imagine what mine looks.

"Twilight, wait!" I heard Ms. Cake call out. The purple unicorn looked back, her venomous gaze cutting the tension like a laser. "C-C-Could we talk for a minute?"

"Fine." she plainly stated before walking around the front counter to get to the duo. I followed her until I was stopped by yet another request.

"Alone?" the baker bluntly added.

Twilight looked back at me, searching for some kind of confirmation. I gave her a nod of approval, then backed away from the small horses. She followed Mr. and Ms. Cake into a back room behind the counter, but not before Mr. Cake peeked out of the doorway and gave me a dirty look.

"Yo-you ju-just stay there and don't try any funny business, ok?"

He didn't even give me time to answer before he slammed the door shut. I sighed, turned around and sat on a bench too small for my behind.

"Yep, left out of the conversation again..." I muttered to myself.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Sidenote: Second edit

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 2

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 4

{*Omniscient point of view, Sugarcube Corner*}

The kitchen door inched shut as the blue pony behind it kept a weary eye on what was outside. She stared at Griffin through the tiny keyhole underneath the door handle, making sure he didn't pull any funny business. Meanwhile, her husband was giving Twilight an glare a few feet away.

"Twilight, care to explain where you got an ALIEN in the middle of nowhere?" he interrogated.

The unicorn looked back at her speaker with tired, pleading eyes. When Mr. Cake stared further, she sighed in defeat and let her ears droop. "Well, Applejack and I were traveling across Sweet Apple Acres when he crash-landed into the planet. It was just him. No spaceship, no companions, just Griffin and his clothes."

She glanced up at him, making sure he was following. "After that, I really had no clue what to do. We couldn't have left him there in the middle of the field, he would have waken up sooner or later and might have caused a ruckus in Ponyville! I decided to take him into the library with the help of Applejack. Once that was done, I sent Applejack to go find Fluttershy. I figured that with her talent with animals, she might have been able to help to control him once he'd woken up."

Twi turned her back from Carrot, looking at the cloud-ridden sky outside the window. "And he woke up alright. He had so much of a panic that I panicked and almost killed him. Thankfully, he didn't die, and instead, made a full recover, sanity intact. From there I started to... Ask him a few questions. I wasn't sure if he was still safe to interact with, so I had to use a bit of magic to make some rules clear..."

The young mare hesitated, recalling and regretting her decisions a mere day ago. It was dragging down her mood that she actually acted that way towards Griffin, when he just arrived at the planet and was clueless to what was going on. She reflected once again that she should have acted with kindness and welcoming, not like the aggressive display she began with. "It was a bit rough, and I did some things that I'm not happy about. I later learned that what I did only angered him, instead of accepting me as his first contact from Equestria. It also didn't help that all of my friends caused a little bit of trouble too, but..."

She looked back and smiled. "Thankfully, everything turned out alright. Everypony calmed down and apologized for verbally and in some cases, physically attacking him. To make it up to him, I..." She paused, wondering if telling Mr. Cake was the right thing to do. Trusting his judgement, she continued. "I wanted to teach him magic."

"WHAT???" Mr. Cake exclaimed before Twilight could go any further. "Why would you want to do that? Isn't he dangerous enough without magic under his control?"

"Mr. Cake! He is not dangerous in any way, shape or form! I thought we already established that!" Twilight counteracted. The mustard-coloured earth pony glanced towards the door, unsure of himself. Cup Cake was still keeping a straight eye on the outsider inside their bakery.

"By communicating with him, I found out that his species, 'humans' did not know how to perform magic, and yet he seemed to be a living, breathing source of it!"

Mr. Cake was speechless at her statement, his jaw agape at her news.

"There was just so much untapped potential that could have gone to waste if I didn't encourage anything! So I did. I taught him the basics and the results went, uh, much higher than I expected." Twilight finished, sheepishly blushing with that last sentence.

"I'm not sure if I approve of you teaching a 'human' such a powerful power..." he commented.

"Well, with all due respect, Mr. Cake, I wasn't looking for your approval." Twilight snapped back.

"But are you certain that you can trust him? I mean, he is from another planet, right? And he just appeared out of nowhere, without any warning?" Then, Mr. Cake had a thought. "When did he appear, before or after the storm started?"

"Before." The lavender-coated student answered.

"And you found him when?"

"Yesterday."

"Right before the storm started?"

"Well..." Twilight hummed, hesitant to tell the truth. Sure, Griffin had told her that he had no idea what was going on, but at this point she wasn't sure that the Cakes would believe her. They were being strangely aggressive today, and that wasn't going to win her any favours any time soon if she flat out spoke the honest word.

"No, actually n-now that I think about it, I may have found him a few days ago. Ye-yes, I in fact, did find him a few days ago. Yesterday was Tuesday, right?" Twilight said, closing her eyes purposely to not have to look at her speaker while nodding.

"No, yesterday was Wednesday. And Twilight? You're a terrible liar." Mr. Cake deadpanned. Twilight reeled back in shock, having seen her fib get caught so easily.

(Oh my gosh! I don't believe it! Didn't Griffin warn me about my lying skills already?)

"Tell me the truth, Twilight. Did he appear before or after the storm?"

Seeing no way out of the inevitable, Twilight dropped her head and replied with a defeated tone, "Before."

Mr. Cake gritted his teeth in anger. "Darn little bugger... He probably started this entire storm too!"

"Mr. Cake, what has gotten into you?" The librarian asked. "I know for a fact that he had nothing to do with the storm! What's causing you to be so mean to him? He's done nothing wrong!"

"Are you positive that he's done nothing wrong? Because I don't think that you realize the situation here, Twilight! This is a real-life, honest to Celestia ALIEN we're talking about! One that could probably take over the entire planet with just one call to his alien buddies up above! What makes you so certain that he isn't biding his time, waiting for his moment to strike?" the baker questioned, puffing his chest out and standing tall over the slightly cringing unicorn.

Twilight had had enough. Mr. and Ms. Cake's behavior was definitely unusual, but she wasn't going to let them get away with ridiculing and insulting her friend like that! She stood up and proud before continuing on.

"Because, Mr. Cake," she began, "Applejack, told me so. And Fluttershy, and Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash! They were all with me one-hundred percent that without a doubt, Griffin is not planning anything sinister! And before you say anything else, Applejack told me that he was telling the absolute truth. I would think that means a lot, coming from both the Element of Honesty and one of my dear friends, wouldn't you?"

Mr. Cake turned away and said nothing. He saw in the corner of his eye that Ms. Cake had stopped looking through the keyhole and turned her attention to the scene behind her. Concern in her eyes, she had the helpless look of not knowing what to do in this type of situation. The mother of two waited for a response from her husband, searching for some kind of direction towards this hopeless situation.

"Ok Twilight, I believe you." he affirmed, directing his gaze back at Twilight. "And if you have the support of others, then I can trust this... Alien, too."

Twilight smirked, the rush of victory running over her mind.

"But, please, try and keep him in control?" he requested, calming down all of his emotions and thoughts.

"For the last time, he is not a PET!" Twilight roared, causing all of the objects in the kitchen to rattle slightly. Her eyes glowed with a creepy violet light before dimming to a scowl. The Cakes flinched back before leaning their place in the household and nodding in acceptance. Looking towards his wife, Mr. Cake was actually somewhat glad that that matter was over and done with. He approached the door to the front room, a small grin stuck on his muzzle.

"Honeybun, I think it's time we go back and apologize..."

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 4

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 6

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

The group that consisted of Twilight, Mr. and Ms. Cake stared at me suspiciously. Pinkie was giving a wide grin back in greeting. Me? I just stood there, shrugging my shoulders at Ms. Cake's question. I actually had no idea why Pinkie Pie was here. I mean, of course she lives here, but I'm not sure why she choose to speak to me instead of avoiding me altogether. Is she really that friendly? Did she see a lonely human being on the bench, not  some kind of monster like the Cakes do? Whatever the answer is, I'm not sure how much it matters.

"Hi Mr. and Ms. Cake! Hi Twilight! I'm talkin' to Griffy-Griff here. He's a really swell guy!" she answered, wrapping her arm around my shoulder like two buds might. My eyes widen at the sudden gesture and close contact. How the heck is she even doing that? I'm almost twice her freaking size!

"Please don't call me that." I state, silently pleading for Twilight to get her off of me.

"But Pinkie..." Ms. Cake began before Mr. Cake gently moved his hoof over her mouth. He smiled softly, both bakers' eyes met, and they had some kind of inner understanding that I could never comprehend. The yellow pony looked back at my direction, a determined expression adorning his muzzle.

"I believe sweetums and I owe you an apology, Griffin" He said, eyes trailing the edges of my own. "We're sorry."

I grinned. And not just a simple, happy grin, but a grin filled with victory and pride. See? What did I say, Griff? Patience prevails throughout all! All I had to do was wait and everything would be sorted out sooner or later and I would get my apology! Genius! Fantastic. Then, I looked downward to the short couple, whose gazes were locked with the floor in shame. I was suddenly a bit tentative, curious as to why the sudden change of heart. What would make then say sorry? What exactly did Twilight say to them to get a reaction such as this? Is this a truthful bout of words? Well, if I didn't trust them, then who would? Besides, I’m not one to hold on to grudges.

…Ok, I am, but this one time I think I can make an exception.

"Ok then." I stated, shrugging.

"So you forgive us?" Mr. Cake asked expectantly, his entire stature shooting up in anticipation.

"Mmmaybe. You racism know no bounds, after all." I commented while folding my shoulders and glaring through the corner of my eye. Their ears flattened and their heads lowered at the sound of my sentence.

"Nah, I’m just kiddin' with ya. I forgive you." I spoke, chucking at my expert trolling technique. The reaction was instantaneous. They smiled honestly at me, glad that they were able to make amends. I glanced over to Twilight, who nodded and smirked in secret approval. I winked. It just goes to show that some things can be said without words.

"So, did you want to see Pinkie, Twilight?" I brought up, breaking the silence. Her ears fluttered before her mind raced back to her senses.

"Oh yeah, that's right! Pinkie..." The unicorn remembered. Her voice got substantially less energetic halfway through that sentence. I suddenly had a notion as to what she wanted to talk to Pinkie about. Uh oh. My expression was shot, having calculated the resulting confrontation in front of me. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I have to bring up such a heavy topic at such a cheerful time? Why couldn't I have waited and asked later instead of bringing it up now? Why? Fuck, why am I so stupid sometimes?

Twilight turned towards the offending pony. "Pinkie, I need to talk to you. In private."

Her face and overall demeanor was absolutely negative. Her shoulders lowered, her back slumped, her hooves dragged along the ground when approaching Pinkie Pie and her eyes looked very, very tired. Strangely, she seemed to lose colour in her coat. Yes, her coat, not her face. Her purple had gained a few darker hues, appropriately reflecting what was probably going on in her mind right now. I could see the look of concern between the two Cakes in the corner of my eye. Pinkie Pie slightly tilted her head at Twilight's abrupt change of emotion.

"Why's that?" she simply inquired. There was so much innocence surrounding her voice, it was killing me. I wanted to punch myself for forcing Twilight into a situation such as this after she so selflessly gave her good word towards my well being. Fuck me!

"It's... about very important things." The sorrowful magic user replied. She tried to smile to sell the conversation, but to no avail. If anything, she just gave off the sign that everything was NOT alright, like it had been just a few seconds ago. Pinkie seemed to ponder before hopping (what?) towards Twilight.

"Okie dokie lokie! Follow me to my room!" she lightheartedly requested. Twilight's posture slightly straightened before following the hopping bundle of hyper. They reached the stairs to the right of the front counter and Twilight gave me a look of immense grief before going up the steps. I responded with a sympathetic look.

I'll see you soon enough, Sparkles.

Both ponies left up the stairs, leaving me with the two slightly confused yet alert bakers. I knew that they were actively looking for any clues as to why Twilight was so sad while that entire conversation was running. They looked questionably at each other, before staring at the bottom of the steps. I scratched the back of my neck, feeling awkward as distant ambiance filled the room once again.

"So... How 'bout this weather we're having?" I commented, trying to get the conversation going once again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------{*Omniscient point of view, Sugarcube Corner*}

Twilight followed Pinkie Pie into her room, noting the change in decor from the last time she was there. She'd only seen Pink's room during Gummy's birthday, but otherwise, she would never get to visit the hyperactive pony's sleeping quarters. The space was shaped in a semi-circle, with the door cut into the flat side of the wall. The room itself was quite sizable, spanning several meters in length, width and height. There was a small staircase to her immediate left that led to a small platform, spanning the edge of the room. A pink oval window adorned the upper space, but not much else was on the second floor. On the main floor was Pinkie's light-blue bed sitting in the middle of the room, her wardrobe in the back, a wooden chest underneath the stairs and several jars of candy placed on the rightmost wall. There were multiple groups of balloons tied to, well, everything. From the bed posts to the candy lamp and on the underside of the ceiling, the colourful floating objects were littered everywhere.

Twilight perked up, hearing Pinkie shut the door behind them. The playful earth pony hopped over her friend, spinning to face the right direction. "So, Twilight, what did you want to talk about?" she asked unknowingly.

This was it. This was Twilight's chance to let out her feelings and get all of her stress off of her shoulders. All she would have to do was spill the beans and let Pinkie know what happened and she would get some well deserved friend support. Pinkie Pie would understand the situation. That's all she had to do. Besides, isn't that why she got Pinkie's attention in the first place? To notify her of the fate of Rarity and many other Ponyville citizens? If there was any time to do action, it was now.

"Pinkie, I..."

Twilight found that she couldn't continue. Her emotions started to bottle up as her confidence failed her. The stressed out unicorn began to doubt herself and her original intentions. She couldn't bear to look at Pinkie directly in the eyes, the guilt would have killed her before she started saying anything. Among the ideas bouncing around her youthful bright mind, questions of doubt filled the majority of her consciousness. She asked herself, 'should Pinkie know this?', 'does she deserve to know this' and 'what right do I have to bring down her mood?'. She couldn't tell one of her best friends. She wouldn't.

"Are you ok, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie queried, concern threading through both her voice and her expression.

Twilight lied. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just fine."

The librarian closed her eyes. Not knowing what to do next, she had gotten so close yet so far. Even she didn't want to face the truth. In fact, she never did. She put away her feelings to get Griffin to safety, but now, there was no holding back. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to make Pinkie miserable with the news she wanted to give.

"Are you sure? Because you're crying."

"What? I'm not..."

Twi instinctively wiped her eyes. Her hoof returned wet. She was suddenly aware of her blurry vision and clogged up sinuses. Her breathing was ragged and full of hiccups.

"Oh, Pinkie..." the lavender sorcerer began.

"Twilight?"

"Yeah?"

Twilight then noticed Pinkie Pie lowered her head enough so that her eyes weren't visible from her angle. Her colour also looked disjointed and unusual.

Pinkie looked up.

"Did something happen to one of our friends?"

Just a side note, Pinkie Pie's room is based off of the German and Swiss designs of the Nickelodeon MLP web pages.

Also, I might have been a bit fast with this one. If I have, please, please tell me in the comments!

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 5

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 7

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

For the sixth time in these past two days I found myself lying down on another comfortable, supported object. The object in question was the Cake's living room on the upper floor of the Sugarcube Corner. Just like Rarity's house, it was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Not only was there space for both Pinkie's room and the Cake's room, as well as the huge-ass kitchen downstairs and the store itself, but also had enough feet to spare a living room, a baby room and two bathrooms! This place is pretty cool!

But I digress. I was casually lying down on the sofa in the living room. Interestingly enough, this room was peculiar to Rarity's living room. The set-up was mostly the same, with two sofas surrounding a coffee table beside a fireplace in a semi-circular room. The only thing that was different was that the room were painted to accustom the different theme the shop brought on. Vivid reds, bright pinks and contrasting dough colours were splattered across the walls. Oh, and the fireplace was also lit. Ms. Cake was kind enough to light it while I had my stay here. And stay here I would, because Twilight was out like a light.

Yes, the little purple horse was sleeping in a different room. More specifically, the Cake's room. They were also kind enough to let Twilight sleep in a proper bed. I sighed, envious of her successful attempt at resting. I thought it was a good idea to try and get a nap too, after all that's happened lately, but no matter what I tried, I just couldn't fall asleep. There was just too many things to consider and too much to think about. Twilight's state of being after leaving Pinkie's room especially disturbs me.

She was in there for a long time, and I mean a LONG. TIME. I had no idea what time it was when she got in, but about ten minutes later I check the clock in the kitchen to start counting. An hour and a half later, Twilight slowly descended the steps carrying very red eyes, a look of over exhaustion and an absolutely negative demeanour. She was sniffling and I could spot traces of many tears along the canvas of her face. She sounded stuffed up when she talked to me, and after I asked her how her talk with Pinkie went all she told me was that she was tired and needed to take a nap. The unicorn then proceeded to talk to the Cakes about a room and that's how she ended up sleeping in their bed.

That said, this is the worst I've ever seen her. And I thought her state was bad in the library, no! She's an absolute train wreck! She couldn't even muster up the strength to look at me when I spoke to her! Her fur coat was so discoloured it was like she was an entirely different pony! Twilight Sparkle? Hah, there was no sparkle in this Twilight! I couldn't get my mind off of her, so half an hour ago I peeked into the room to see if she was still sleeping or not, and by god, even when sleeping she looked sad! And not just sad sad, but terribly, awfully sad! So sad it made my heart ache! I think she might have been having nightmares, because after seeing your friend die like that, I don’t think it’s possible to NOT have nightmares.

This is bad. No, this is beyond bad, this is terrible! I don't know if Twilight will ever recover from this! I mean, I know that people deal with death all the time, but losing a friend like that? And it wasn't like she had to hear the news from somebody else, she was right there to witness Rarity’s demise too! Twilight had to witness the death of one of her best friends and her little sister! That's just awful! I’ve never lost any of my friends before, so I can’t possibly imagine what Twilight’s going through right now.

And Rarity. I don't even know what to think. Sure, I knew her for a few hours, but... I just don't know. She's gone. Just like that, in a blink of an eye. One minute I'm talking to twilight about her sibling issues and the next minute she's dead. And me and Twilight couldn't do anything about it. Well, Twilight could, and I think she tried, but something happened to her magic, I just know it. It was as if her spell got interrupted or something. I dunno, it's hard to recall what exactly happened to her, it all happened so fast. But most importantly (well, to me, anyways), Sweetie Belle died as well.

I got to know her better than her sister. She was a sweet young pony, one that definitely looked towards the future and wasn't hesitant to do whatever it took to reach her dreams. She told me about her adventures with her friends and how they were looking for their 'cutie marks'; their calling. They were so close and yet so far, so they just kept searching, hoping that one day they would find it. And they would try virtually anything, whether it be simple or just plain stupid. But she didn’t even reach her goal! She didn’t get to live to see the day where she got one! What's worse was that she wasn't in best terms with Rarity! I mean, Rarity didn't get a single chance to make amends before her fate was sealed!

I sighed out loud.

She was so young, and she was just trying to find her place in life...

Fuck.

I'm not sure how Twilight's sleeping through all of this. She must have been at the very end of her stamina to actually fall asleep. I can't tell how much sleep I'll be losing tonight, but I guess I’ll just have to see.

"Knock knock, party coming through."

I sit up, looking for the source of the words. In the doorway was Pinkie Pie, giving a slight grin.

But at the same time, it wasn't Pinkie Pie. It couldn't have been. There was just too much of a difference between the Pinkie Pie of the past and the Pinkie Pie before me! Her mane was drooping down, her colour several shades darker (just like Twilight) and there were large, black bags under her eyes. Speaking of her eyes, they were very red too. But most disturbing, she wasn't hyper. She just stood in the doorway, smiling softly. I was surprised that she wasn't tackling me at this point, but no, she was calm. Now, I've only known Pinks for a day, but man, that couldn't have been natural for her. Or healthy.

"The Cakes told me you would be in here." she stated, entering the small living room.

"Yeah. I've just been chillin' for the last hour or so." I answer back. she walked to the edge of the sofa, looking at me over the arm rest. Why would ponies need an arm rest for? Stay on subject, Griffin. "What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" she curiously spoke.

I gave her a 'really?' look before realizing that she honestly had no idea what I meant. It's kinda sad that she's so innocent. Or maybe being oblivious is apart of her personality. I dunno.

"I mean, why do you look so... dark? Your coat is kinda, sorta, really dark. And I mean a dark pink, not just a dark dark."

"I don't look dark." she responded in denial.

"And you're manes fallen straight." I countered, pointing with my arms crossed.

"Is it?" She glanced up and lifted up the front of her hair with her hoof. "Oh. I guess it is."

I almost face palmed. Almost. She just acknowledged it like it was an everyday fact! Does her mane do that THAT often? Or is she too mentally shot to realize what's in front of her?

"Griffin, can I ask you a question?"

Ok, sudden change of subject. Strange. "Sure, go for it."

"Do you care for Twilight?"

I jumped, completely not prepared for the question. I waved my hands frequently in denial. "No! No no no no no! That's just wrong! Why would ask me that?"

She giggled, but not the same giggle she was giving me before. "Silly Griffin, that's not what I mean. What I mean is do you care for her as a friend?"

"Well, I..." I hummed, calming down. I put my hand to my chin and started rubbing it in thought. I mean, of course I cared for her, but I wasn't sure as to what level of care I put into her.

"I guess I do." I respond whole heartedly. "I mean, I just met the girl, but we get together pretty well. She seems a bit too factual for her own good, but otherwise I have no problems with her. Well, besides the fact that she basically took me hostage and threw me against the wall magically, but that's all in the past, and I really don't want to focus on that. That said, she HAS saved my butt once, but I also saved hers. Yeah, I think that it's save to say that we've got each other's backs."

"Wow." She said, accepting my answer. "You really do care for her."

I gave her an incredulous look. I'm not sure if she still means 'care' as in care for a friend or not. It's hard to tell with the crazy pony. Well, it's actually hard to tell ANYTHING with her! Maybe that's just how she is. Random and hyper, but at least she was sane.

"Hmm. Good to know. Now that that’s settled, I think that it’s nap time for the twins. I think that I’ll need to put them to sleep..."

She took her leave. All of the sudden. Really? That's all she had to say about my answer? Bullshit! That’s very suspicious of you, Pinkie! She's not telling me something! And that single question must have had some kind of great importance! I had to know what she's up to, especially if Twilight's somehow involved in it! I leaped from the couch, vaulted over it and dashed to the hall, ducking my head underneath the doorway. "Pinkie, wait!" I call out. As I checked both directions in the hallway, I realized that there was no one to call out to.

She completely disappeared.

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 6

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 8

{*Omniscient point of view, Unknown Location*}

A single pony sat alone in the forest of dark destinies, her knowledge of how she got there unknown to her. The sky was painted a terrible purple, one colour that projected the term 'omen' perfectly. The ground was an equal shade, but duller, and with less life, if one considered it to be possible. All the grass was dead and gave way to the cold earth. No cloud was visible to the naked eye. A sole tree sat on a hill in the distance, dead and contorted. A large hole in the trunk gave the oak a mouth, with the dancing wind carrying its scream.

A reflection of the pony's past stood tall in front of her; a tombstone with words unreadable to the mind's eye. Several other stones and signs littered the nearby area, a thick dark mist swirling around each one. She didn't have to turn her head to read what they all had to say; she somehow knew every single one of them. Rosemary. Aloe. Bell Perin. Berry Frost. Lyra.

Rainbow Dash.

Applejack.

Fluttershy.

Spike.

Mom.

Dad.

She wept for the ones she had lost. The ones not found. The ones she could not see for one last time.

"Why..." she cried. “Why did this happen? All my friends... My family... Everyone I knew and loved..."

She wanted to stop crying, but her eyes didn't listen to her. She wanted to collapse, but her legs didn't budge. She wanted to set everything right, but couldn't. She wanted to drop dead and join the others, but fate had other plans for her.

"Twilight!"

The pony in the graveyard looked up. Leaning on the grave was Rarity, one of her very best friends. One that used to be her very best friend.

"How could you?"

"Rarity? I... What?" the pony squeaked between her sobs.

"How could you let me die? How could you let me die like this? You could have saved me! You could have saved me and Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie Belle was suddenly standing on Rarity's back, a discoloured mess of black, white and grey. The filly gave the pony a sorrowful look.

"I'm sorry Rarity. I'm sorry..." she stated, as if those words would make everything better. Her eyes closed, not accepting the fact that was standing right before her.

"You could have used your magic to save me? So why did you save an alien but not your best friend?" Rarity demanded.

"I tried, Rarity, I honestly tried, but..."

"This is all your fault! You could have saved us Twilight! You could have saved us all! You could have saved us! You could have saved us!"

Rarity's last sentence repeated several times over. The pony couldn't bear to open her eyes, and yet she was still seeing what was before her. Rarity leaned over her tombstone, drilling the words into the pony's being. Soon, other voices joined her. Eyes still closed, she saw Fluttershy appear from the right.

"You could have saved us!"

Then Applejack approached from the left.

"You could have saved us!"

Next, Rainbow Dash from the sky.

"You could have saved us!

She collapsed due to the sudden weight on her back. She turned her head, seeing a certain purple-scaled individual.

"You could have saved us!"

The royal princesses descended from the heavens.

"You could have saved us!"

"Princess..." The pony muttered. Her eyes could not stop the water works.

All the ponies she met in her life slowly surrounded her in a circle, anger in their expressions.

"You could have saved us!"

Finally, her mother, father and brother appeared right before her.

"Mom... Dad... Shining..." she whispered.

"You could have saved us all!"

"I'm so sorry..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------{*Omniscient point of view, Sugarcube Corner*}

Twilight awoke to a startle. She didn't scream, she didn't jump, she just lifted her head slightly. The purple unicorn pony concluded that that was the worst dream she ever had. Vivid images of said dream replayed in her mind several times over. She shuddered, getting over the emotional aspect of the thoughts. Her body was still slick with perspiration, slowly soaking the covers of the bed and making her clammy. Her skull pounded like a thousand punches. She winced, holding up her hoof to her horn and quietly wondering what was making her head hurt so much.

Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark confines of the room. She scowled in realization, her memories catching up to her. Groaning, she flipped over in the bed and covered her head with a pillow, wishing to go back to the dream world and not the horror she woke up to be in. The walls around her suddenly made a terrible, deafening groan. Cracks and splinters from the wood inside the infrastructure could be heard all around. The room seemed to twist in pain as a lightning-fast wind battered the building from the side. The windows rattled, trying to keep the raging storm from coming into the house. Twilight lifted up the pillow and watched in horror as the the wall before her seemed to stretch sideways.

"Oh no..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------{*Omniscient point of view, Sugarcube Corner*}

The human ran. Dashing down the hall, his sub-conscious urged him to find Pinkie posthaste. He had no idea where she went or how she dissipated so fast, but he had a feeling that he needed to find the pink poofball, no matter what. Reaching a door to his left, he steadied his breath as his heartbeat before reaching and twisting the doorknob. Inside, he found a supply closet.

(Huh. Go figure.) he mused. Swiftly shutting the door, he continued onward, taking only a few steps before he reached the next location. The bipedal took a right and grabbed the door handle firmly before turning and swinging open. Another supply closet.

(What? Now this house is just messing with me!)

His feet quickly turned around and off he went again. Turning a corner, he spotted the doorway to the Cake's bedroom, where Twilight currently slept as of that moment.

(I'll just skip that, don't wanna disturb Twilight from her rest.) he analyzed. The bipedal figure slowly tiptoed across the door, but stopped an inch after. (Wait, what if Pinkie Pie is hiding in the Cake's room? Then I would have missed her completely!) Retracing his steps, he carefully took a hold and spun the door handle, flinching as it squeaked. (Damn it, stupid old door handle!)

Griffin opened the door just enough to peek in. There Twilight was, in the middle of the bed with nothing around her that was unusual. A red clock on a small shelf beside the bed softly ticked to the beat of time. There was no sign of any crazy, depressed pink pony anywhere in the room. Satisfied, he cautiously shut the door and silently sprinted down the hall once more.

The next door showed itself to the desperate alien. He grabbed a hold of the handle, praying silently that this would be the last door he would have to check. As his hand turned, the door knob didn't seem to budge. Confused, he tried again. He let his frustration get to the better of him and started rattling the handle and hitting the door, grunts of scorn escaping his breath.

(God damn it! If out of all the other doors this one's locked, then that must mean that Pinkie Pie's in here! She must have locked herself to keep me out!) Griffin concluded. He swore under his breath ramming the door with his shoulder, having no success.

"Occupied! Occupied!" a female voice shouted from behind the doorframe. Griffin immediately backed up, realizing what he had been banging on the entire time. "If you really need to go that badly, there's a bathroom downstairs!" Ms. Cake said.

"Oh!" Griffin exclaimed. "Uh, sorry! I didn't know that this was a bathroom! I'm sorry for bothering you!" He immediately shot off down the hall, not wanting to worry about encountering Ms. Cake on what he just did. The baker made a puzzled hum before shaking the strange occurrence off of her.

(Fuck, I'm running out of doors!) his head swore, swiftly running across the hall at an unmatched speed. He remembered two doors before the stairs to the first floor. (What did Pinkie Pie say before? Something about the twins? Mr. and Ms. Cake have a son and daughter, don't they? I remember them mentioning it after Twilight went up to talk to Pinkie. But which room is the baby room again?)

Suddenly, the floor beneath him shook violently, causing him to lose his footing. He quickly reacted by rolling, but the action didn't help keep his balance from the sudden vibrations beneath him. He laid down, trying to get a grip on the carpet to say in one place. The roar of the earthquake wrecked his eardrums.

(What the fuck is going on now?) he wondered. The walls around him began to creak and groan in distress. He could hear the timber beyond the walls crack in distortion. The ceiling seemed to stretch up higher, as if something was pulling it upwards. When the shaking stopped, he could clearly hear the wind outside whistling furiously against the outer surface of the building.

"Aw crap."

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 7

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 9

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

Fuck, again?

Really, fucking AGAIN?

I thought we were done with this black hole bullshit! Really universe? You just HAVE to force this down my throat at this exact moment? I’ve got way too much to worry about without YOU sending me a big ‘fuck you!’ in the form of a swirling mess of darkness! Well fuck you too! Fuck you and your tendency to send every single bullet at every single moment of my life! Can’t I get a break? Fuck! First I wake up in a different universe, then Twilight needs to gather up her friends during the biggest shit-storm I’ve ever seen, then Rarity and Sweetie Belle die, and now this? WHAT THE FUCK.

I wanted to sigh, but there was no time for that. The hallway walls began to crack and split apart, reminding me that time was of the essence. I still had no idea where Pinkie Pie was, so it was too much of a risk to try and find her before the black hole got through. I’m not sure if Ms. Cake’s still on the can or not, but that’s won’t help unless I find her husband too, which by the way, I have no idea where he is either! And Twilight. Oh shit! She might be still asleep! I have to go wake her up! Well, on the other hand, the creaking of the house could probably wake up a mammoth, but at the same time, Twilight fell dead asleep as soon as she hit the mattress! Who knows how deep in sleep she is! And if I can manage to find Twilight, she can use her magic to fortify the house while I go find the others! Genius!

Ok, that’s the plan.

I began to sprint towards the opposite direction. I barely got a few feet where I heard a familiar voice call around the corner. Out came a galloping Twilight, bedhead and hot on her hooves. We almost ran into each other but was saved by my quick reaction. I slowed and caught the rushing unicorn in my arms. She hastily backed up, realizing who exactly caught her.

“Griffin! It’s happening again!” She yelled, fright lingering in the edges of her tone.

“I know! I was just about to get you!” I answered back.

“We need to find Pinkie Pie and the Cakes!” the unicorn pointed out.

“I know! Ms. Cake’s in the bathroom, but I have no idea where Mr. Cake is! Also Pinkie Pie completely disappeared! I think she went to the baby room, but I don’t know!” I informed her. She started running in the direction I was going before this whole mess started. I think she wanted to find Pinkie Pie first, because she certainly wasn’t headed towards the bathroom! At this point I considered that I could go get Ms. Cake and she would go get Pinkie, but if we ran out of time before we found each other, Ms. Cake would be screwed anyways, and I would join her along to boot!

"Wait, Twilight, we need to-" I got out before I was interrupted by an enormous crackle. I felt a fresh freezing wind blow down my back and inflate my shirt. Looking up, I noticed that the roof was completely missing! “Well, Jesus.” I nonchalantly muttered. Bracing for any kind of suction, I grabbed Twilight by the tail before she could get to me and lowered my center of gravity. Strangely for a few seconds there was no sensation of getting pulled up, until the wall to my right completely broke apart as well.

“Wah!” Twilight squealed, the first to leave the floor. I felt my arm get pulled along with her as I grabbed the side of the carpet. It wasn’t exactly the best material to hang on to, and it soon got ripped right out of the floor. The purple magician behind me cried out again before I found a stray pipe sticking out of what was once the outside wall of the Sugarcube Corner. Focusing, I reached out and grabbed the pipe before we were past the point of no return. My forearm screamed in pain as the skin stretched to accommodate the sudden pulling pressure. I winced. Knowing that I still had Twilight in my other hand, there was absolutely no way I was letting go anytime soon. She was practically my lifeline! But ironically at the same time, I was her life line. Keeping her connected to something was my job, and her job was to secure our gravity to the planet side.

I think I'm starting to understand the purpose of Pinkie Pie's question.

My grip was slipping. The cold metal slowly rubbed against my palm, creating pangs of discomfort in my wrist. I looked down to see Twilight doing something magic-related, with her horn glowing purple and all. But whatever she was doing, it was not getting us out of the black holes pull!

"TWILIGHT!" I screamed over the loud wailing of the wind. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? BRING US DOWN!"

"I'M TRYING TO GET PINKIE BACK!" she retaliated. I looked up to see a familiar square-shaped object glowing with the same glow that Twilight was emitting. It was a significant distance away, about fifty, maybe a hundred meters away. Still, Twilight somehow managed to grab onto it with some kind of magic spell and hold it in place. I was impressed, but that feeling quickly dissipated when my grip loosened even further. Craning my neck upward, I looked to see that we were at the end of the rope, or in this case, the pipe. My hand was dangerously close to the dangling end of the object, and steadily approaching our final destination. Thinking quickly, I grabbed Twilight's tail with my two feet, crossed my legs and used my now freed hand to grasp the pipe for double the grip. Twilight squeaked when I had to let her go for a split second to get a hold of the lifeline.

My fingers were in agony. The fact that Twilight hadn't done anything to help at this point were causing even further pain to my excruciating to my wrists. I'm guessing that magic takes a certain amount of skill and energy to pull off, considering she hadn't reeled in the room yet. I thought that it would be as simple as one, two, three! No, I guess it had to be much more difficult than that, nothing in the real world is that easy. Then again, am I still in the real world? I have to consider the fact that I'm on a completely different planet, and moreover a different universe! Never the less, I was living on a prayer, hoping that the unicorn would retrieve the item by now and get us to safety.

But why was it taking so long? My mind raced to find some sense in the situation. It appears that the black hole in the sky is no ordinary black hole, as it doesn't absorb light like the normal black hole would. Sure, it's really dark, but every time something flies in front of it I can see it clear as day, while standard black holes would render the object invisible. In addition, at this close range the black hole should have sucked up everything by now, the planet and then some! And yet it has barely managed to scrape the world’s surface. Obviously it’s a very weak black hole, considering that I'm still holding on the pipe and still managing. But it’s still sucking things up! Wait, if it’s sucking up the buildings, trees and the like, it must be sucking up the room too! So then while Twilight's pulling, the black hole is sucking, creating a tug-of-war of epic proportions! Wow, Twilight might be a little over her head right now! Can she really beat the gravitational force of an unnatural object? Does she really have enough magical power to do so?

Well, it's not like she has any choice. Pinkie and the Cakes' kids could be in that room! Although, we're not one-hundred percent sure that they're in there. I mean, Pinkie Pie dropped a hint, but she seems to be kinda random. Who knows where she could be! Maybe she's safe somewhere, wondering where her purple friend and that human went. Or maybe she's a floor beneath us, safe until the suction of the dark circle rips the second floor in two! No matter the answer, it still doesn't matter because the kids are in that room! I can only imagine how they're gonna be scarred after this! If we get the opportunity to save lives, then we need to take it!

...Although I'll be honest with you. I kinda, sorta want Twilight to change priority from saving those kids to saving us. I'm not saying that I don't want to save the twins, but if we're putting this much effort towards two babies, aren't we putting ourselves more at risk? The longer we linger here, the more our chances of living deplete. My grip's slipping, Twilight's struggling to keep a hold, and we aren't going anywhere but up if I screw up! Sure, we get to FREAKING SAVE LIVES, but... Is it worth our mind and souls? We aren't going to end up saving anyone if we get sucked into the black hole before we can make a sensible about saving ourselves!

I guess I make a pretty crappy hero. And a terrible human being to boot.

"TWILIGHT, YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING, AND FAST!" I shout will all my might, hoping that Twilight will look in my direction to see the severity of the situation. She didn't, and instead kept her eyes closed in concentration.

"I ALMOST GOT IT!" she hastily replied. There was no way to move her. That stupidly stubborn horse is going to get us both killed at this rate!

Something needed to be done. My hands were at their very and this wasn't going to end well if I didn't do something about it. I couldn't reach Twilight's common sense, because apparently she was outright hell-bent on getting that room back! I wanted to smack her, but my hands were tied at the moment. I can't loosen the grip on my legs for any reason, otherwise she might slip and fall into oblivion! There was literally no solution to the predicament without the aid of Twilight's magic, which I can't do. So what was I supposed to do? There was no way out!

Is this is? Is this the end of my life? Is this how it's supposed to end? I die via black hole of doom? Really? Wow, reality's such a flatterer. Well, if there's one way to meet death, it's to get sucked up into an extremely dense mass of nothingness. I guess I'll never see my parents again. Or my classmates for that matter. Heck, I'll never get to see Earth before I freaking die! I still can't believe that I meet my end at the hands of a space vacuum on an entirely different planet than the one I was born on! I expected myself to die of natural causes or cancer or something, but this? This was too outrageous! This was completely from left field! This was insane!

I don't want to die!

I barely glanced up to see that a part of the second floors floorboards had been ripped loose and was flying right at me. My head moved slightly to the right, just in time for a racing two-by-four to zoom past my head. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get away completely. The pointed side of the wood scraped my left cheek, leaving a stinging sensation within all the madness. Looking back at the passing board, I realize that I was lucky. If I hadn't looked up at that exact moment, I would have got hit, and my grip would have faltered for sure! That would have been bad.

My eyes widen when it occurred to me that that piece of wood still was a potential threat. Time slowed down as I watched the danger head right towards Twilight's noggin. I flinched, having nothing to do to prevent the event. All I could do was observe Twilight get smacked right up across the face by a big wooden plant. She exclaimed in surprise when it connected. Her face whipped back and her neck craned from the force. The purple glow from her horn diminished as her facial features relaxed and the room lost its purple light. I helplessly watched the room go, go, and disappear into the black hole.

Whatever was in that room was totally obliterated. It was gone for good, and I knew it. Pinkie, the twins, and any personal belongings were just... gone. There was no getting them back. They were dead, and nothing would chance that. I took a moment to forget that Twilight may have been unconscious to look back on my own feelings. I shouldn't have been so critical and selfish. Three lives have been lost because of this specific development! If Twilight had enough power to reel them in, we could have saved lives! Lives! With a plural! And we didn't. We failed. I felt like a jackass, wanting Twilight to let go in order to save ourselves. That was an asshole move, Griffin! I'm a real jerk, not strong enough to overcome my instinct of survival and instead encouraging Twilight to do what she needed to so. Wow, I suck.

My fingers reached their limit. The rims of my fingernails barely latched on to the corner of the end of the pipe. My wrist was writhing in pain and strain. In just a few seconds, I would let go for sure, and be released to my doom above, along with Twilight. Poor Twilight, she lost two friends in just a fore night, and good neighbors that she probably knew well. Speaking of Twilight, from the corner of my eye I saw her shake herself awake and realize the gravity of the situation. Her horn glowed and...

...I felt extra weight on my body! My fingers finally gave and we both fell to the ruined earth below. I landed on my stomach, shielding my chin with my hands to prevent and jaw injury. I groaned, having the feeling of internal pain from my abdomen area. Oh shit, do I have internal bleeding? I grasped my stomach, moaning and rolling off to the side. Thankfully we didn't land on anything sharp and instead landed right in front of the entrance to what used to be the Sugarcube Corner. Taking note of my injuries, I had a sore stomach, numbed knees, disjointed fingers and possibly internal bleeding. All the pain was rushing to my head, but the adrenaline was still in effect, creating a somewhat effective painkiller.

And that's when I saw it. Twilight, at my feet, unmoving but her horn still glowing. "Twilight?" I call out, seeing as the wind had significantly died down and the background noise dimmed. She didn't move or respond. "Twilight?" I tried again. No effect. Oh god, what has happened to her? Did that spell knock her out? Did she hit her head on the pavement? Her spell was still in effect, but... What if... I need to get to her! She needs help!

I tried to get to my feet, but the sudden weight on my knees caused me to collapse. Settling to crawling, I slowly but surely shuffled to Twilight's unmoving body. Getting to her stomach side, I put my palms on her neck and back and softly shook her. "Twilight?" She didn't respond again. "Twilight, please! Please wake up! Please wake up, Twilight!"

"Griffin..."

I inhaled deeply. She whispered! She whispered weakly, but it was a whisper! She was alive! Oh god she was still alive! I tapped her on the shoulder some more, trying to get more of a response. "Twilight, get up. We need to get up!"

"Griffin, I..." she said, raising her head and placing her front hooves. I then realized that she was crying, tears and all. Her eyes were a red as could be, her breathing erratic and her nose slightly oozing. "I lost her..."

"Twilight..."

"I lost her, I lost another one! I let her down! I let Rarity down! I let everypony down!" she cried, letting her head fall to the ground. I frowned, moved in front of her and scooped up her head, resting it on my lap. She accepted the offer and pushed herself onto my being, her face buried in my stomach and her hooves wrapping around my torso. I placed my hands on her head, brushing her soft mane back and getting her bangs out of her eyes. There was a loud ripping sound behind us, and a huge shadow passing over. I looked up to see the remains of the Sugarcube Corner fly right over and towards the black hole. I took a glance behind me to see a gaping hole of where the building occupied. The suction took the entirety of the structure, basement and all! Whatever was left in the bakery was gone for sure.

But that didn't matter now.

"I lost her... I lost another friend..."

I wrapped my arms around her crown.

"I know. I'm sorry."

-{END OF CHAPTER}-

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 8

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 1

-CHAPTER 7: BRASH INSTINCT-{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

On the road again.

The howling wind did nothing to calm Twilight's nerves, or mine for that matter. We were cold, tired and weak as the wreckage of Ponyville passed us. Entire plots of land were either completely destroyed, sucked up into the black hole from their roots or on fire from angry lightning strikes. On my right I could see the flames spread with the help of the sweeping air that ravaged the area. East Ponyville was steadily becoming an inferno of lost hearts and broken dreams. To my left were the empty shells of what were once homes for the pony folk. These building held warmth, love and hope once upon a time, but now they were just mere piles of wood, glass and ash.

The echo of our foot (or hoof) steps rang out into the open air. The sky couldn't have looked any darker, the pitch black storm clouds covering up the horizon. The hole of doom itself took up the direct center of the mess. It swirled and turned, occasionally devouring a tree or a piece of construction or two. What really creeped me out was the translucent mist that outline the edge of the giant vacuum, spiralling around it but yet not getting sucked in. It appeared to form some sort of barrier that defined the black hole better but did not prevent anything from getting pulled in. The way I looked at it, with the mist skimming the top and bottom of the hole yet connecting at two ends far away from the left and right side of the circle, it looked like a single eye. Yeah, an eye. The black hole itself was the iris and the mist was the outline of the eye socket.

And I could swear it was staring straight at me.

Twilight shivered under the bright purple glow of her horn, a sure sign that we were safe under the effects of her spell. Whether she shivered because of the freezing temperature or because the looming danger above us, I could not tell. What I could tell however was the fact that her stamina was draining at a substantial rate. Her pace lacked a sense of urgency, her head dipped slightly lower than normal and her hooves barely left the ground enough to take a step. I would offer a break, but there's nowhere safe that's within a one-hundred meter radius that we could stop at. Besides, it was her decision to keep moving, not mine, and considering she's the one who knows where everything is in Ponyville, it's best that she kept being the leader of the trek, of course me following not far behind.

Both of us opted not to talk. These kinds of situations are not for pleasant conversations, or any kind of conversation for that matter. It was just us, the black hole and the desolate landscape, which in a more positive view allowed me lots of time to think.

How long had the black hole been here? By the way Twilight has acted lately, I can conclude that it's not a re-occurring event. So when did it get here? Did it just appear out of nowhere? Something must have spawned the stupid thing, because there's no way such a dense ball of mass would appear out of thin air! Was it magic? Did magic have something to do with it appearing? I bet that there's some kind of 'dark' magic out there, and at this point I wouldn't be surprised if evil spells were at work here. I mean, if there was some kind of evil-doer out there, it would totally be in his best interest to create a black hole and destroy everything! Although, now that I think about it, It's kinda stereotypical, and doesn't make too much sense considering he or she doesn't get anything out of it. Well, unless I'm wrong and by ripping the ground apart the chaos will cause some kind of obscure prophecy to happen. I don't know. I don't want to think about it too much, because I have way too many things to worry about without adding 'foretold apocalypse ' to the list of items of concern, which, by the way, consists of 'getting to safety', 'finding food and water', and 'caring for Twilight'.

Twilight...

That poor girl really has been through a lot lately, hasn't she? She virtually lost everyone she held dear to that stupid black hole, including Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Those three were close, weren't they? Twilight risked her life to save Pinkie and beat herself up for not saving Rarity... And what's more to come for her? More pain? More suffering? Where's Fluttershy and Applejack? Have they lost their lives to the vacuum too? I have no idea, and once again, I don't want to think about it.

Gah, none of them deserve this! Not Applejack, not Fluttershy, not Rarity, not Pinkie Pie! They all should have lived a prosperous life, not find their end in the middle of a cosmic anomaly! In fact, the rest of Ponyville shouldn’t have had this fate! This is a fate worse than death! To know that not only your life is going to end but possibly the rest of the world’s, that’s just horrible! This is bullshit! If someone was responsible for this atrocity and I find him or her, I’m gonna kick their ass to the next dimension! For all the ponies that were lost! For Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie!

Pinkie Pie...

I bet there was more to her than meets the eye. She was pretty hyper and random, the way she popped out of nowhere upside-down. She could talk very fast too. She spoke her mind but respected Twilight when she was told to be quiet. Then she just sat there with the utmost obedience! Obviously she was some kind of genius, and granted she might have been a tad bit annoying at the Sugarcube Corner, but otherwise she had a very pleasant and upbeat personality! Yes she did.

...

...

...Jeez, is that ALL I know of Pinkie Pie? I mean, come on, I just barely met her, yet now she's dead, meaning I'll never get to know the rest of her! In fact, I'll never get to know Rarity or Sweetie Belle or anyone else who has died! For the moment I'm mostly concerned about Pinkie Pie, because she definitely had something going on behind the scenes. That question that she asked about Twilight and I threw me for a loop for a second or two, but there was some kind of meaning behind her words! Furthermore, it was like she knew when the black hole was going to act up again, because she plain out disappeared as soon as it hit! Did she know, or was it dumb coincidence? And if she did know, how?

I have no idea, and will never find out at any rate.

We were walking for a straight ten minutes. I had no idea where Twilight wanted to head next, but where ever it was it certainly wasn't close by. Never the less, I kept my mouth shut from complaining, since she was the leader and had a better idea of the scope of Ponyville. As the blowing winds occupied the otherwise eerie, quiet landscape, I sensed a large, shiny object in the corner of my eye. Turning my head left, I spotted a very strange sight not too far off from our location.

From what I could tell, it was a huge building completely made of metal. A great mechanical door was placed on a big, rectangular infrastructure, with two circular chambers sticking out of both sides of the building. The main section was very tall compared to the rest of the town’s houses. There were at least three, maybe four stories to the metal beast. Several circular windows adorned the outside walls. They kinda looked like windows you would see on an old submarine: compact in design, but solid and resistant to the outdoor elements. At the direct center of the building was a single tower, build not taller than six stories but still had to be a fantastic vantage point. A single circular window stuck out of the tower like some kind of glass pimple. It was round on the outside, and appeared to be a small extra room that was made of glass. At the top of the tower were two things. First, a flag that showed both a sun and moon circling each other on a black and white background, and second, many speakers that pointed in all directions. Inside the glass room I could slightly see a silhouette surveying the area who might have been spying on us.

"Uh, Twilight?" I begin, tapping on the mare's shoulder to get her attention. "What's that building over there?"

"Hmm?" she hummed, craning her head to where I was pointing at. I saw her face lit up with a smile and a sudden flare of energy.  "Oh! That's Lockdown's house!"

"Who?" I asked.

"He's an old stallion that's been living here in Ponyville for quite a long time now. He has a severe case of paranoia and always ranted about the 'end of the world', and how it was coming closer and closer every day. As such, he fortified his house with several metal plates, walls and added extra rooms just in case he needed to hide an entire town in his 'safety bunker' as he called it. According to... Rarity... he had everything one would need to survive in an apocalypse, including a power generator, a cellar full of food, a giant refrigerator and plumbing!" she explained, clearly proud of her knowledge. "Everypony in town thought the old timer was crazy, including me-but I still kept a more open mind than everypony else!" she hastily added to her point, causing my eyebrow to rise in suspicion. "All his preparation must be why it's still the only standing structure in Ponyville! He must have drilled every piece of the entire building together so that they wouldn't fly apart! Heh, I kinda find it ironic that he was the crazy one, and yet he still was right in the end." the unicorn finished, a small blush of embarrassment flushing her cheeks. I rolled my eyes while she took a step in that direction. "I can't believe that I forgot about his house! We must head there right away!"

I nodded. "Ok."

As I got up from kneeling, the wind picked up once again. My shirt flapped like crazy as a chill ran down my spine. The sensation of panic left my being when I felt my weight move several dozen pounds lighter, sweeping me off my feet. I lifted off the earth by several feet before the gravity turned itself back on, causing my butt to be the landing padding. I grunted and got to my feet, annoyed that such a random thing would happen like that. Suddenly, the purple sorceress in front of me barely took two steps before she collapsed, her horn flickering for a moment.

"Whoa, are you ok?" I said, concerned and lowering myself to see if she was or not. On her knees, she grunted and looked up at me.

"Yeah, I'm ok," she answered, placing her hooves on the ground. "The gravitational pull from the black hole skyrocketed all of the sudden. I had to adjust for overall magical output, and ended up overcompensating."

She sighed.

"I'm just tired."

And tired she looked. Not only the huge dark circles under her eyes were a sure sign, but also the fact that when she tried to get up, her strength failed her and she just fell back to the ground again.

"We need to get to safety as soon as possible. Can you walk?" I asked, helping her to her hooves and supporting her weight until her legs stopped wobbling.

"Ye-yes, I can. Just give me a second."

Standing upright, she teetered a bit as if she lost her balance. Getting steady with her center of gravity, she winced and exhaled a breath she was holding. She continued to look up and me, nod and start walking to our next destination. Getting about thirty meters from the building, I noticed the silhouette in the tower move about, as if something was going inside the building. I took the possibility that she saw us and was taking some kind of action. I grew nervous, wondering if she would consider us hostile and give us an ultimatum or something.

"Twilight! Get into the building! Quick!" a voice coming from the tower speakers echoed.

Twilight's jaw dropped and her vision scanned upwards. "Carrot Top? Is that you?"

"Yes! You're in danger out there! I'll tell Time Turner to open the door, just hurry!"

We approached the entrance as a slightly faster pace. "What are you doing up there?" Twilight queried.

"Lockdown told me to keep an eye out for stragglers!" she cheerfully responded, her tone doing a complete one-eighty. Isn't 'stragglers' a rude way to put it?

Just then, there was a flash of lightning, quickly followed by an ear-splitting thunderclap. I heard a huge gasp through the speakers, then a high-pitched squeal as this 'Carrot Top' smacked her microphone. My palms immediately went to cover my ears while Twilight's ears folded back. We both flinched as the annoyance carried volume throughout the area.

"Twilight, there's a huge ugly monster behind you! Run!" she cried, her voice more urgent than last time.

"What?" I spoke out loud. The both of us turned around to see nothing. "What is she talking about?"

An abrupt increase of air pressure caused Twilight to moan and collapse once more. I grabbed her side and hefted her up. She appeared to be in a daze, and sparks were flying out of the slowly diminishing light of her horn. That could not be a good sign. I saw that that the huge mechanical door of Lockdown's house creaked open, a welcoming sight indeed.

Repeating Carrot Top's instructions, I yelled "RUN!" at the top of my lungs.

We both started sprinting. The scenery around us was a blur as we closed the twenty-five meter gap in a few seconds. If I didn't know any better, my feet were leaving the ground as we ran, which could have been all possible if Twilight's spell was wearing off as fast as I thought. The two of us dove through the entrance and landed in a heap in what appeared to be a small circular chamber. The door behind us quickly shut, leaving a loud *CLANK* over the tiny room. I took a few breaths, knowing that for the first time in two hours, I got a break.

We were safe.

Chapter 8: Compassion Distorted, Part 1

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 2

{*First Person View, Main Character*}

My ears popped as the air pressure changed in the entrance chamber me and Twilight were situated in. The dull hum of electricity rang overhead. I looked up to see an orb of light giving off a dim glow, sufficiently lighting up our surroundings. The clanks and titters of gears could be heard beyond the door in front of us. The walls were made of pure metal, but not in the fashion that you would see in a futuristic movie, and instead formed with sheets of aluminum hammered together in a crude manner. I had a slight moment of panic due to the sudden change from the loud and dangerous outside world to a creepy metallic house. A moan behind me knocked me to my senses and caused me to turn around to see Twilight sprawled out on the ground. Her horn was no longer glowing, but instead shooting purple sparks.

"Griffin..." I heard her mutter before her head fell to the cold metal floor.

"Twilight!" I cried out, getting to my knees and grabbing a hold of the mare's body. Flipping her from her stomach to her back, I shook her head lightly and tapped on her temples. "Twilight? Twilight! Wake up!" I tried prodding on her ribs. No response. I tried messaging her ears. No response. I even tried tickling her stomach, but still nothing! I slid her right eyelid open. It dilated, but otherwise I didn’t notice any other changes. She was knocked out cold.

What was I supposed to do? She was the one that knew Ponyville! And what was I going to do without someone to watch my back, especially if there's another paranoid pony in this establishment! I don't think they'll take kindly to creatures they've never seen before. Is she even ok? She was still breathing, which is a good sign, but her sputtering horn didn’t look too good! Maybe she's sick! Oh man, now that would be bad! I wouldn't know how to treat horse sicknesses! Twilight, for the love of god, please wake up!

I tried brushing her bangs out of her face and ended up smacking her horn with the back of my hand. Bad move. As soon as I pulled away, a spray of bright, sizzling sparks sprayed in my face. Turns out that sparks, no matter whether they’re from heat or magic, are hot. Really, steaming hot.

"OH GOD! AHH, HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!"

My face thoroughly stung as I tried to brush off the pieces of energy. The end result gave me injured hands, a pained mental conscious and a slightly melted face to boot. I realized that my scream of utter agony and shock was so loud that anyone living in the building probably heard me. Heck, that shout could have woken the dead! Jesus Christ, why did that have to happen to me? Haven’t I already gotten through enough shit and piss without having a miniature volcano shower all over the front of my skull? I think my eyebrows were singed off! Fuck this!

“Grrrr!” I growled out loud, shooting off some steam. It seemed like one bad thing after another. My life had turned a complete three-sixty, going from relatively peaceful high-school life to running-in-the-midst-of-an-armageddon life! What the fuck, destiny, what the fuck!

Man…

…

…This rage wasn’t getting me anywhere. I needed to calm down. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed, closed my eyes and let myself simply listen to the surrounding ambience for a few seconds.

However, amidst the various clanks and hums, there was the sound of breathing.

I opened my eyes and let my gaze fall to the pretty little unicorn lying in front of me. Her face was slightly wincing, an odd sight for one who is unconscious. I couldn’t take that as a good thing, considering when she was asleep in the Sugarcube Corner she didn’t look as nearly disturbed as she was here. At least her horn stopped sparking, but that might necessarily not have been a good thing. I couldn’t tell what would be considered ‘good’ for a unicorn’s health. I’m no god damn pony doctor.

Twilight. Poor, poor Twilight. She keeps trying and trying to save everyone she cares about, and yet she can’t. Every time, her friends are barely out of her reach, taunting her until she’s lost them for good. How many ponies have died that Twilight has known? How many have died without Twilight’s knowledge? That lavender mare was fighting for lives, a fight she was sure losing. It didn’t matter to her if her life was on the line, as long as she had a chance to save someone, she took it. She may have acted like a hero, but she’s just one unicorn. She’s one unicorn against the world, against odds that are well stacked against her, against threats that are far beyond her understanding! She tried to save Rarity and Sweetie Belle! She tried to save Pinkie Pie and the twins! She tried! She honest to god tried!

And yet, she’s only successfully saved one.

Me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------{*Omniscient point of view, Lockdown's Bunker*}

Carrot Top manically rushed from the top of her outpost to the bottom entrance of Lockdown’s steel abode. Her breath was laboured as she dashed through yet another metal hallway, trying her best to remember the inner workings of the complex. All the halls looked alike, and with several floors of white-painted iron halls, it was very difficult for her to keep track where she was. However, one resolve kept her going. It was a reason to keep running without stopping, and a reason to keep working until she found the entrance!

It was the reason that she found Twilight Sparkle.

And not only that, it was the reason that she was in grave danger! For not only was she fighting the elements of the storm, the cold and the black hole, but also she was being followed but a horrible, hideous monster that wanted nothing to eat the unassuming magician! There was only one pony that could save her! Well, technically two, but that detail did not concern the orange mare! It was Carrot Top (the otherwise useless farm pony) to the rescue!

After turning another corner, she spotted what she was looking for. The front entrance never looked better, with its shiny metal exterior flashing against the inside lights of the rectangular room. She hopped over the metal doorway and spotted her assistant, Time Turner working the controls to the entrance behind a console of buttons, switches and sliders that she had absolutely no understanding of. The brown stallion seemed to press and flip in a panic, desperately watching a glass screen (which she heard Lockdown call a ‘monitor’) with a careful eye.

Carrot Top voiced her thoughts. “Has she arrived yet? Is she safe?”

“She’s entered the stabilization chamber. I’m just levelling out the air pressure and locking up the front door.” He steadily answered with an accent that for the life of her, she could not place. Carrot Top simply nodded in response, having no idea what he just said. She bit her lip nervously, watching the cogs that attached to the door turn. The system of gears, chains and other moving parts attached to the entrance door ran along the wall and extended to the main control console Time Turner was working at. The mechanized system seemed to work well enough, if not a bit uncontrollable in some situations.

There was a large blast of air that exhaled from the stabilization chamber. The door gradually opened with a loud disruptive squeak that bounced around the room’s flat and round surfaces. Carrot Top couldn’t tell who was inside; the entrance chamber was too dark to determine anything. Suddenly a figure entered through the doorway. Carrot Top gasped at the unconscious form of Twilight, but was more shocked and frightened at the one who was carrying her body.

“Eek!” she squealed, racing over the console of controls and hiding behind a stunned brown stallion. “Time Turner you goof! You let the monster in!”

“What monster? I don’t see any monster.” he innocently responded.

“What, are you kidding me? Look at the size of that THING!” she shouted, pointing at the confused human.

Time Turner tried to defuse the situation before Carrot Top said anything she would regret. Looking towards the tall organism, he said “Now before you do anything, calm down. She didn’t mean anything when she said-”

“Wha-what have you done to Twilight?” Carrot Top demanded, shakily stepping away from Time Turner and moving around the console. She approached and stood in the center of the room, her legs still shaking and threatening to collapse with fright. “P-put down Twilight this instant! Or-or else!” she demanded, stomping on the ground for extra effect. Time Turner was about to interject when he noticed the expression on the bipedal. The old earth pony made a neutral expression, lowered his head and allowed the situation to unravel.

Carrot Top was surprised at the look the ‘monster’ was giving. His frown was so emotional… So full of feelings… So… ponylike.  It shook her attention for a moment, but her hard gaze returned when she recalled who she was dealing with. A monster was a monster, no matter how many ways you slice the carrot. It would still rampage, it would still create chaos and it would still devour, even if it just looked a little bit different than the average monster. More so, if said monster was threatening a life, well there was no excuse! That monster had to be dealt with and dealt with quickly!

She saw a single tear slide down its face. Her protective look was replaced with shock.

“Please…” it muttered, taking one step before falling to its knees.

Carrot took a timid step back.

“Please, save her.” he pleaded, holding out Twilight’s body. His tears were freely streaming over his face.

(WHAT???) the mare yelled in her head, her jaw dropping.

“Please, I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but you have to save her.” He asked, shuffling a bit closer to Carrot.

“I…I…” Carrot stuttered, unsure how to respond.

“For the love of god, please…” he continued. “She has helped me through thick and thin. She had supported me as I have supported her. She has kept me company through this whole ordeal. So please, I beg of you, save Twilight Sparkle!”

Carrot couldn’t answer. She was completely taken aback by his request, as well as his actions and physical movements. Monsters didn’t cry! Monsters didn’t care for others! So why did this one?

“Certainly.”

Both the orange mare and the human directed their attention to Time Turner, who, with a serious expression, pushed a stretcher through a door that was behind the console. He directed the bed-on-wheels to the center of the room, ignoring Carrot Top’s appalled stature and strolled right on up to the monster in question.

“Put her on here, I’ll rush her to the medical ward right away.” he stated.

“Thank you…” the creature replied with a smile. He hoisted the unmoving prodigy onto the stretcher. "Thank you so much..."

Time Turner strapped Twilight onto the device then took a hold on the side, ready to move. “Are you going to help or what?” he forcefully quizzed. It took a few moments for Carrot Top to register that the question was directed to her. Her head snapped back to reality as she took a look at Twilight, unconscious and lying on the stretcher. A sudden feeling inside of her told her to take action. A calming warmth filled her belly, rejuvenating the earth pony with a newfound strength and resolve. Taking a breath, she grabbed the other side and shot Time Turner a nod.

“Ok. Let’s go.”

The two were off, down the hall and well on their way to the medical ward. Carrot Top actually had no idea where that was, but trusted the clock engineer to guide their patient to the correct room. She yelped when a burst of speed suddenly overcome the rolling stretcher. While still galloping, she glanced behind her to see the monster push from behind, his strength easily creating enough momentum to propel all three ponies. Even though tears ran from his cheeks, his goal would not deter him, as his expression showed. Carrot turned back and took a right. They carried Twilight down the hall with a burst of speed. With the human at their backs, there was no way they would be slowing down. Right. Left. Left. Right. Right. That was the route that Time Turner directed them to. Shut doors, slight moist pipes and hanging lights all pasted by them as they zoomed through the halls.

Eventually they came to a stop at a large circular room. The ceiling stretched four stories tall, each story with two dozen door litters around the wall. A large light was posted at the very top, shining down all the way to the bottom. Several smaller lights were adorning the walkways on the different floors. There were three exits to the room: one behind them and two on the east and west sides of the wall. Carrot remembered the chamber as the main hub for all the dorms that the ponies housed in. Hundreds upon hundreds of ponies had taken refuge in Lockdown’s home when they believed that the end of the world was coming during the great thunderstorm. Many cried on his doorstep, begging for forgiveness for when they mocked the old stallion for making up such uncanny foresights of doom. Carrot could remember seeing Lockdown smirk, chuckle and then let everypony in. When she asked what made him let them in, he replied “If I didn’, then I would’ave made a bunker fer nuthin’!”

“Over there.” Time Turner instructed, pointing towards the corridor to his right. All three began pushing that direction, but hastily stopped to avoid a collision with a certain cyan Pegasus. Rainbow Dash came flying down the hallway and burst into the room. Spotting Carrot top, the athlete went into a moment of excitement and giddiness.

“I heard Twilight was here! Where is she?” she asked desperately. When she saw the mare sleeping on the stretcher, her posture wilted. However, when she saw what was pushing said stretcher from behind…

“You…” she spoke, her voice a deadly tone as her eye narrowed and her breath quickened.

(Oh no…) Griffin thought.

UPDATE: Chapter 2 Re-written!

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 3

{*First Person View, Main Character*}

“What have you done to Twilight?” The rainbow Pegasus in front of me wanted to know. Flapping in position, her face gave a scowl full of scorn, resent and murder. Her left forehoof pointed to Twilight, unconscious and asleep. The flying one’s tone was obviously not a happy one, and in fact had a certain edge to it that one might consider murderous. With all these negative factors radiating from her form, one would be very lucky to not take part in the events that might transpire involving said mare.

Unfortunately, that was unavoidable for me, because she was looking straight into my eyes.

“I haven’t done anything!” I answered back, bending my knees a bit and balling up my fists in precaution.

“Liar!” she accused, swooping in for the tackle. Her speed went unmatched as she closed the distance between us in a colourful blue blur. I remembered that she did the same attack back when I was in the library and when Twilight was scrubbing me for information. But this time, I was at a different location at a different time with a different circumstance. This time, I was ready.

I swiftly ducked, allowing her to harmlessly soar over my back. Once she passed, I immediately turned around to meet the potential threat.

“You wreaked Ponyville by sending this giant thunderstorm after us! You and your stupid alien technology screwed us all! You probably even made that strange hole in the sky too!” she ranted, taking another go at me.

“I did no such thing!” I counteracted, ducking again to avoid her sweeping blow.

“The weather, Ponyville being in a mess, everypony getting sucked up into that weird circle-thing… That was all your fault!” For a third time she dashed towards me. I promptly stepped to the left instead of ducking to not get predictable. I had many defensive options at the moment, the difficult part was choosing the right one.

“And now, you had to take out Twilight? That is where I draw the line!” she shouted, her eyes ablaze with rage. To my left I could see the orange and brown ponies standing beside Twilight’s stretcher, not being sure what to do. The two stared at me with deep, shining eyes, completely confused about what was going on. I bet that the orange one was probably not happy about what Rainbow was saying, but she was probably more concerned about Twilight, so I had nothing to worry about. I motioned over with my head to tell them to get a move on. Surprisingly, the brown stallion seemed to understand, as he nodded his head, whispered something to his companion and went off into the hallway we were about to go into before we got so rudely interrupted.

My eyes went back to the fight scene. Instead of blindly rushing towards me, this time she carefully approached me with her hooves raised in some kind of battle stance. I could see the fire alit in her eyes, an unwavering flame of scorn in her iris.

“You can mess with the weather, you can mess with Ponyville, heck you can mess with the rest of Equestria for all I care! But you…” she said, her shoulders rearing back with her right foreleg. I raised my own arms in preparation.

“Do!” She took a swing. I blocked it, my arms covering the majority of my face.

“Not!” A second punch flew in my direction. I defended.

“Mess!” A third. Blocked again.

“With!” This time, she threw a roundhouse kick towards my skull. I ducked, preferring to avoid such a high-octane attack.

“My friends!” she cried. Her entire being extended as her back legs kicked out forcefully. The attack was lower than expected, and she crushed my stomach inwards. I stumbled backwards and forcefully exhaled. She flew away a distance, which was a wise move from her perspective, getting out of my range of attack like that. I was pissed because after that move my stomach was as sore as FUCK. I hovered my left hand over it before bringing it back in front of my face. That hurt! A lot! Two hooves lashed out into my stomach did NOT feel good! Not at all!

I took a moment to calm down. Anger wouldn't get me anywhere, especially in a fight. Anger leads to blind rage, which leads to pain, which leads to much more severe consequences. To win this encounter, I would have to use my wit to subdue Rainbow, which will be a challenge considering she is hell bent of attacking my guts. Offensively, it would be a bad move to violently attack her, because Twilight might get mad when she finds out. Sure, she might understand my position, but I don't want to take any risks, I need her to be on my side if I wanted to survive in the god-forsaken world!

If I absolutely had to, I would have to shove her away just to keep her subdued. I couldn't punch, or retaliate, and if I did, I would have to do it in the lightest way possible. Sure, it didn't help that I had to be on the complete defence and she was on the all-out attack, but I do have one thing up my sleeve. As far as I saw it, her advantage was her speed, but my advantage was her rage.

It was then I noticed that some of the doors around us were ajar. Ponies of different kinds, shapes, colours and sized peeked into the room, checking out what all Rainbow's shouting was all about. Looking up, I saw more ponies on the upper floor looking down on the main event. There was no doubt that a lot of them were staring at me in fright, confusion and concern all at once. I could see a bunch of young ones getting corralled back into their room by their guardians. For the most part, they were silent, but I wasn't sure what they were thinking to do next.

It was almost amazing. I had no idea how many ponies lived in Ponyville. Well, I mean, obviously besides the town name being ‘Ponyville’, I hadn't gotten a good idea of how many there were exactly! Come to think of it, the only ponies I've really seen on this planet were Twilight, her friends, Sweetie Belle and the Cakes! Otherwise, I haven't seen any other living soul until now! And boy, were there a lot of ponies here! There must have been at least forty peeking at the fight! And there were probably more behind doors that haven't come out yet! I think that ponies are truly the dominant species of this planet!

"I'm not done with you yet!" the tomboy called to me. I twisted my head around, seeing her gritted teeth approach me. I raised my arms and started to block more of her blows.

"Rainbow, think about this!" I spoke, deep in thought and battle. "What would I have to gain by attack Equiss?"

"I don't know!" she replied, throwing a left kick which I promptly deflected. "I don't know what you sick, twisted creatures are up to, but it can't be any good!"

"I'm not insane, Rainbow! I know right from wrong, and I know not to randomly attack other planets for no reason!" I corrected. She tried to charge head-first into my being, but I took her crown and threw her aside. She flew a few feet before flipping and regaining aerial control. "My kind haven't even met any other sapient beings yet! We've barely gone out of our planet’s pull! We didn’t know that you even existed!"

"You're lying!" she huffed, backing up and catching her breath, which I didn't mind, because for a few seconds she wasn't attacking me. Besides, I could catch my own breath too. "There must be something here you want! Something here you need! Something that would drive you to attack Equiss!"

I backed up. Now, more ponies were coming out of their dorms, and now were slowly surrounding us. There was a thin circle of unicorns, pegasi and normal ponies watching the event, and more were trickling from both of the exits. The pegasi in the air from the upper floors decent into the group of spectators. This wasn't looking too good. If they're listening to what Rainbow is saying, they aren't gonna be happy with me, and I can deal with one slightly disgruntled Pegasus, but fifty of them was way out of my league.

"And what, Rainbow Dash, would that be?" I ask. She growled and went in once again. I kept parrying, defending and blocking until she tried something different. Spinning in mid-air, her tail whipped right in my face, poking my eyes and rendering me blind temporarily. I felt a sharp pain on my right cheek as she punched me in my moment of weakness. For a second, I thought I heard some of the ponies watching cheer a little bit. I hoped I was hearing things.

Through watering eyes, I saw her smirk at her successful hit. "You know, everything was fine until Twilight found you in Sweet Apple Acres!" she stated. The ponies around her murmured. Damn, that bitch! Not only was she avoiding my previous question, she was also feeding the crowd information!

"It was, huh?" I said, wiping away the spittle from my lips. "I wouldn't know, because I wasn’t awake at the time!"

"Yeah, it was going to be a totally awesome day! Clear skies, light wind, not too hot, not to cool either! I would know, I'm the captain of the Ponyville weather team."

"What?" I questioned. Weather team? What's a weather team? What the heck would a weather team even do? Control the weather?...

"But then YOU and your STUPID ALIEN RACE had to go and MUCK IT ALL UP!" she accused, pointing at me. All the ponies gasped in surprise at the revelation. I nervously looked around, spotting the several scowls growing on their faces. "You had to bring the biggest thunderstorm in equestrian history!"

Some of the pegasi got to the air. Their angry looks and aggressive posture did not help keep me calm.

"You had to bring about the dang apocalypse!" she continued. More ponies moved from their spots, closing the circle around both me and the neon-coloured Pegasus. Their eyes seemed to shoot daggers, which was very close and accurate when compared to the utterly murderous looks they were giving.

"YOU HAD TO HURT TWILIGHT!" she shrieked, going in for the kill.

That's it. That's the last straw. Rainbow could have kept it between the two of us, but instead she decided to bring others into it. The ponies around me don't know the truth, and instead are following this bitch’s lies! They have no idea what they're getting into, and neither does Rainbow! She needs to shut up and learn her place before someone beats her to a pulp because she said something MORALLY IDIOTIC!

She approached again, getting into my range. Without any hesitation, I threw an uppercut to her midsection. She wheezed, holding her stomach and bending down while floating in the air. I followed up by grabbing her mane and pulling her down to meet my knee. I let go as it connected, knocked her back a significant distance. To keep that distance, I let loose with a roundhouse. She went flying, lost control of her aerial movability and hit the ground, sliding from the force of my legs.

All the ponies gasped at my actions. Rainbow sat up, holding the tip of her muzzle with her eyes tearing up. They suddenly looked very, very mad. More mad than before, definitely. They slowly closed their little circle on me, approaching my positing, although taking enough care to avoid stepping on rainbow dash. I whipped my head back and forth, looking for an exit. It was a fruitless effort, as they had tightened the gaps around me. Pegasi took to the air and made punching motions while normal ponies stomped harshly on the metal floor, snorting and breathing hot breath all over the place. Unicorns lit up their horns and I quickly realized just exactly how screw I was.

My vision was suddenly filled with many colours as my feet left the ground. My limbs were constrained in mid-air and I found myself unable to move. The circle closed further, with the unicorns in the back powering the spell that kept me in place. Rainbow was up in the air again. Her eyes were darkened and she was slamming her upper forehooves together.

"You are soooo going to pay for that!" she declared, flying directly at me.

This was it. Whatever happens next, I'm screwed. I couldn't break free of the unicorns and Rainbow was going to beat me to a pulp for no good reason besides my self defence! I couldn't rely on Twilight to bail me out, she was still unconscious, and the brown and orange ponies were with here, so I had no allies to trust at the moment. There was no getting out of this!

Jesus, what have I gotten myself into? First I appear in another planet, then there was a thunderstorm I had to truck through, then Rarity and Sweetie Belle, then Pinkie Pie, then Twilight got knocked out, and now this? What the fuck? Was I just about to get beaten the crap out of me by a bunch of bright, crayon-coloured ponies? If I did make it home, they would never believe me. I guess a man's last thoughts before death should be of home. Well, I'm guessing their roaring to kill, but I've never seen ponies as the murderous kind of folk. They're probably making an exception for aliens that, according to liars, sent entire planets to hell and chaos.

Rainbow Dash wound back. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable...

…All of the sudden, there was a bright flash of purple light in my vision, even with my eyes closed. A sharp sound of distortion revolved around my ears. I flinched, thinking that they were shooting a spell to end my life. But when I heard a group of gasps come in front of me, I thought differently. My vision returned to me when they let go of their magical grasp and I fell to the floor. I opened my eyes just to catch the metal floor inches away from my face. Landing with a harrumph, I looked up to see why exactly they stopped their advance. The circle of ponies all had wildly shocked faces as they backed up from the source of the bright light. That's when I noticed the big blur blocking the right side of my vision. Standing no more than a few inches from me was…

"DON'T YOU DARE LAY A HOOF ON HIM!" Twilight ordered. Her mane was disheveled and unkept, as was her tail. I could see sparks fly out of her horn, an after result from her recent spell. Speechless, her appearance most certainly surprised me. Not that I wasn't happy to see her, but my gaping mouth kept my smile from forming properly.

"Twilight? You're ok?" Rainbow exclaimed in disbelief.

"DON'T ANY OF YOU LAY A SINGLE, CELESTIA-FORBIDDEN HOOF ON THIS POOR SOUL! IF YOU DO, I'LL PERSONALLY SEND YOU STRAIGHT TO THE MOON, PRINCESS LUNA STYLE!" the raging magician spoke. All of the ponies swiftly backed up to the edges of the rounded room. “AND IF YOU WANT A PIECE OF HIM, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME FIRST!"

"Buh-but Twilight, he wrecked Ponyville! You must have seen it yourself, the outside world's a mess! And that's all because of him!" the light-blue whiner explained, pointing an offending hoof at me.

"NO HE DID NOT!" Twilight screamed. Anyone that was in front of her verbal assault had their manes blown back in an ironically humorous manner. "THAT WASN'T HIS FAULT! I KNOW IT! MY OTHER FRIENDS KNOW IT! APPLEJACK, THE ELEMENT OF HONESTY KNOWS IT! WHAT MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED!?"

Rainbow hovered in place, not sure what to say next. Knight to eff-nine, checkmate! Thanks a lot, Twilight!

Twilight… She came back for me! But I thought she was out for the count! Is she healthy now? Oh man, am I happy to see her! She's bailing my butt again from this crazed group of rainbow ponies! Thank god! It looked like her breathing was a bit laboured, but otherwise she was fine! Although her eyes were glowing a creepy light, and her mane was floating in mid-air, but that's probably because of the magic or something! Never the less, it looked like Twilight was to the rescue…Until she collapsed in a crumpled mess. All the ponies gasped as she fell on her stomach, her hair following gravity and her eyes normal once again. I rushed up to her, fearing the worst.

"Twilight? Twilight!" I desperately yelled, attempting to shake her awake.

"You ponies keep away from Griffin…" she muttered in a more than stupefied voice. She was definitely still recovering. I took a glance around the room to see that everyone else was too confused and/or shocked to make a move and seize me again. Rainbow was about approach Twilight before I gave a glare of my own. I silently said "you've done enough." through my eyes to her. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, probably because the ponies were figuring out that I did care for Twilight's well being, unlike a certain loudmouth had claimed.

"Miss Twilight!" I heard someone call behind me. I craned my neck to spot that brown stallion that got Twilight that stretcher earlier. He rushed down the hall behind me, quickly approaching the room. All eyes were suddenly on him and his abrupt interruption of the current situation.

"Uh, hello everypony." he nervously chatted, clearly noticing the tension in the air. "Has anyone seen Twilight Sparkle as of late?" Everyone pointed towards me while I held her in my arms. "Oh dear." he mentioned. "Ooh, I leave the medical ward for one bloody second and she goes wandering off! It's not good for an injured unicorn to force herself to move, especially if she's recovering from magical exhaustion!"

All the attendants gave me another dirty look. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with them again, but the way the conversation's going, I'm not sure anymore.

"Time Turner, have you found Twilight yet?" a voice called from the hall he just entered. Through the doorway came the same orange mare that almost denied me entrance to this stupid place. She looked to be a bit stressed, her mane disheveled and signs of sweat drying on her canvas. She looked down to what I was holding in my arms. "Oh dear!"

"Look what the monster did!" Rainbow said, trying to pin the blame on me.

"Miss Dash, I highly doubt that this creature had the motive to hurt anypony. He seems to be a very friendly fellow, and only cares for the well being of other around him." he cleared up, leaving the flier with a dumbfounded face. Wow. I don't believe it. That's the first time someone on this planet has stuck for me besides Twilight and Fluttershy. What a new development! But why does he trust me so much? And why does he have a different opinion comported to everyone else? Normally, I would consider pressing further, but I'm not going to be rude to the pony that's gonna save Twilight's life… and mine as well.

"And I highly suggest you get the injuries that you've sustained from your… argument, checked out." he advised, turning back towards me.

"But-but-I-I-I-" she stuttered, not believing just how freaking denied she was.

"Well, we best get her back to her room…" 'Time Turner' decided. He looked towards the crowd of ponies, who were still glaring at me. He shook his head, as if disappointed or unimpressed with something. "Mister creature, could you possibly carry Twilight to the medical ward with us? As you can see, I'm not a unicorn, and neither is Carrot Top."

"Sure." I swiftly replied, wanting to get out of the room as soon as possible. I stood up with Twilight still in my hands and followed 'Time Turner' and 'Carrot Top' out of the room and back down the hall again.

Through it all, I could still feel the ponies staring daggers down my back.

Prologue

-PROLOGUE-

“Thanks Applejack, for letting me take a shortcut.”

“Daw, there ain’t no favor too big for a friend”

Twilight Sparkle and Applejack were walking through Sweet Apple Acres, leisurely chatting to each other while heading towards Twilight’s destination.

“So where ya'll headed off to again?” inquired Applejack.

“There's a library that's a Kilometer or two away from Ponyville that has a book I want to take out.” Twilight responded. "However, it's a pretty far distance from the mane road, but when I checked one of my maps, I saw Sweet Apple Acres was right beside the location, and well, that's how I ended up here."

The two young mares smiled at each other while continuing towards Twilight’s destination. When there was a break in their conversation, Twilight took a second and look upwards, only noticing now what a beautiful day it was. The sun shone brightly through the leaves of the apple trees, creating a dark-green like shade over the scene. There were all different kinds and types of apples she was passing, each with a bright, healthy colour covering the apples' skin. Red apples, yellow apples, green apples; she was quickly reminded how well the apple family tends to their fields, and how hard they try to keep their crops looking juicy and ready to eat.

The sky was a clear, light blue, probably because of the Cloudsdale Weather Team’s cloud control duties. Twilight wondered if Rainbow Dash was up there right now, helping to clear out the white pillows, but hastily remembered that if Rainbow was, she was either sleeping on the job or procrastinating in some way, shape or form. A flock of cyan and beige birds were flying through the wide expanse, singing their songs so that that all of Equestria could hear. Their notes further increased Twilight’s peaceful state of mind.

Yep, this was the perfect day to take a walk…

The vast array of apple trees ended abruptly, leaving Twilight from the sudden glare of the sunlight. Twilight shielded her eyes, letting herself adjust to the bright rays. When Twilight lowered her hoof, she was taken aback by the gorgeous nature before her.

She stood before large green stalks of grass swaying in the soothing south breeze. The sun’s rays shone brightly off the prairie plants, causing a magnificent but glaring shine effect. The grass seemed to dance underneath the soft, calming whispers of the wind. On the horizon you could see a single, lonely tree, standing in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Behind the tree was more cerulean sky, clearer to observe than before. Twilight could barely spot a few stray clouds floating in the distance, left there to add balance to the atmosphere.

“Ah, this here’s a new plot of land we’ve just bought. We’re gonna use it to expand our apple tree line so we can get more produce.” Applejack clarified. “Now, before we bought this land, we could only fit so many kinds of apples onto our farm. But now, with the extra land, we’re planning to add all new types of apples!”

Twilight looked towards Applejack while she continued her explanation. She seemed so giddy, talking about how her family was prospering from their new purchase.

(Well, it seems like the nice weather’s affecting everypony today…) Twilight thought to herself.

Twilight looked back up at the sky. She took a deep breath in, and then out, allowing the fresh air of the outside world to fill her lungs. Then, something sparked in her eye. She raised her eyebrow, checking her field of vision for what she saw..

There was something in the sky: a dark blue-like dot, just floating in the open air. She squinted and tried to mentally zoom-in her sight, making sure she wasn’t just seeing things. It was in the same spot, but now, she noticed that it was flickering different shades and colours of blue.

“Hey, Applejack, do you see that blue thing in the sky?”

“…Meanwhile, ah’m gonna see if- wait, beg pardon Twilight?” Applejack responded, snapping out of her talkative trance.

“Do you see that blue flickering dot in the sky?” Twilight repeated, pointing towards the blue dot so her friend could see it.

“What dot? Ah don’t see no dot…” Applejack replied, looking in the direction that Twilight was. “Wait…”

Applejack looked a little bit closer.

“…What in tarnation is that?”

Twilight had no answer. While pointing to applejack, she noticed that the blue dot was moving slightly to her left, and that it was progressively getting bigger and bigger. It now took more of a flame-like shape, with several ultramarine tips coming out of its sides. Also, it had a strange brown circular object in the center of it, with a veil of azure covering it up. After a few seconds, the blue object got to about the size of her hoof.

Twilight felt like she's seen something like the blue ball in the sky before, but couldn't tell what. She was frantically searching the depths of her memory to try and figure out what it was. Attempting to determine whether it was dangerous or not, the overall nature of the blue ball seemed innocent, slowly moving across the horizon with a soft flicker. Twi decided that it was too early to make any assumptions about the object.

Then, it suddenly hit her. She's seen exactly the same thing as she was seeing now, except at a different time of day. Her memory brought up the many astronomy books she's read in the past, noting that the blue dot looked slightly different than the books described them to be. The purple unicorn recalled seeing similar flaming objects tear through the night sky through her telescope.

It had to be some kind of meteor! There was no doubt about it, the blue flickering points coming out the side of it was the flames of the object, while the brown circle thing in the center was the meteor itself. It was slowly moving to Twilight's left and was becoming bigger because…

Twilight’s eyes widened in fear and shock.

It was headed right towards them!

The sapphire comet was approaching the two mares at a surprisingly quick rate. At this point, it was about the size of a fully grown stallion’s body. Twilight could easily depict the number of flames that flickered off the meteor. It was then that Twilight realized that the meteor was not completely circular, but in fact, some kind of straight, arrow-like shape. The librarian started to doubt that it was made of rock due to the abnormal shape and form the meteor took.

Twilight and Applejack stood there, gawking at the shining blaze before them. It took a few seconds for one of them to register the danger at hoof. Twilight suddenly screamed “RUN!” and telekinetically grabbed Applejack.

The magician scrambled for her life while Applejack floated behind the purple mare, still transfixed on the meteor. Twilight did not look back, but instead tried to multitask by activating her magic reserves and casting a motor-acceleration spell on herself, immediately increasing her running speed.

She ran. She ran while her subconscious was panicking, trying to figure out a way to get out of this situation. Her teleportation spell wouldn’t give her enough distance to get away from the danger area, unless she used a long-distance spell, which would take precious seconds to power up. A shield spell would do her no good as well. Twilight bet that since the meteor was traveling at several hundred miles per hour, it would squash her like a bug, with or without a shield. The only thing that she could do was keep running while the motor-acceleration spell was still in effect. She almost held a telekinetic death grip on Applejack, trying her best not to lose her friend. Of course, Twilight only thought for a matter of seconds before deciding that running and hoping that they wouldn't get crushed was the best option. In those few seconds, the meteor was already several hundred meters from the ground, but was still hurling at the two mares at an extreme speed.

Soon after Twilight started running, she felt a shaking sensation and her hooves left the ground. There was a large flash of light, and a deafening *BOOM* coming from behind her. Twilight’s senses did barrel-rolls; her sense of direction thrown off, her balance telling her that she was upside-down and her nerves saying that she was being squeezed by an intense pressure. The only thing that the unicorn knew for sure was that she was currently soaring in midair, launched by the explosion and impact of the meteor.

Her surrounding seemed to come to a screeching halt, with dirt floating in mid-air and dust suspended in space. Time slowed down for her and her thoughts. She lost track of time, place and meaning, and was only aware of her own presence. There was nothing around her, except for the whiteness that was the innards of her daydreams. She was floating, but she knew that in reality, that she was in fact, falling. Her eyes were open, but she was blind. The world around her was being seen not by her sight, but by her mind.

Suddenly, there was a deep purple colour that flashed out in front of her. It hit the back of the white universe with a bell-like sound. It was like a paint drop; creating a purple that only she knew too well on the back of the wall. Then, there was a voice. A single note of an unknown entity cried out to her. At first, it was gibberish to her ears. But, slowly, her mind started to unravel its cryptic message, which sounded like:

“Hello.”

The voice that called out to her was that of an aging stallion’s. It wasn’t such an voice that Twilight wouldn’t consider it exactly old, but it was such a voice that made Twilight calm and peaceful, for she had a feeling that the entity that was talking out to her held all the knowledge of Equestria itself. She started consider if it was just a fake illusion caused from the meteor’s explosion, but retracted the thought when it started talking again.

“This is a telekinetic message, pre-recorded so that there were no mistakes during this transmission. Do not try and converse with me, for I shall not respond.”

There was a long pause.

“Element of magic, you have been placed in the middle of a destiny that was not meant to be. The resulting consequences is that you are the one responsible for the fate of your planet.”

There was another long pause. Twilight would have loved to analyze the situation, but for somewhat reason, her mind could not function properly in the universe that she was floating in. All she could do was blankly stare at the purple wall while listening what the voice had to say.

“Inside the meteor, you will find the contents of the things that you will need to save your world. It is your duty as the element of magic to help teach, guide and grow the seed that is deep within the meteor. Once the seed has grown enough, he will take full control, and understand what is necessary to save your world. Do not leave him alone, for he himself is alone in his own being, and will need your company to survive. However, out of all the orders that I have instructed for you to do, there is one thing that you must never fail and never forget.”

Silence.

"You alone, are the only one who complete this task."

Yet again, there was another pause. Twilight had noticed that the voice was slowly changing from a scratchy, old stallion to a slightly higher pitched of a young stallion. Also  at this point in time, she could actually think simple thoughts, when compared to before, she couldn’t. She felt as if her senses were slowly coming back to her; her eyesight becoming clearer, her ears starting to ring and her nerves starting to release the pressure that was holding her in this universe.

“He is waking up. You must hurry and retrieve the contents of the meteor before it’s too late. I must go. I will continue to watch you, and wish for your success.”

The colour on the wall in front of Twilight had become a subtle blue. Twilight watched it transition from her favorite colour to the one appearing to her now. She wondered what significance it had to the conversation that she was in.

“Good bye.”

Twilight suddenly had a surge of power go through her head, and managed to ask a question she wanted to ask the entire time using telepathy:

“Who are you?”

Twilight’s senses came rushing back to her as a tidal wave of emotions, sounds, pains, feelings and smells. She was suddenly aware of her situation, and found herself flinging downwards towards the ground from midair. With only moments until impact, Twilight didn’t have enough slow her decent with magic, let alone trying to brace herself. She hit the earth with a sickening *whump*.

Pain erupted from Twilight's back as she did a small, pitiful bounce off the bare dirt. She then progressed to rolling on the ground, unable to stop her momentum. Every time there was a rock or a jagged part of dried mud that was in from of Twilight, she would just roll right on over it, or in some cases, right thought it. Small pricks of stings started to poke at her sides, not to mention the soreness that started to arise in her right front leg. Large amounts of rubble from the explosion were pelting at her. She barrel rolled for several gruesome seconds until she slid to a stop, ending Twilight’s onslaught of agony and bringing a moment of peace to her body.

She didn’t move, or breathe for a few seconds. Her mind was trying to get past the fuzzy haze that was her own wounds. When she did decide to inhale some oxygen, all she got was a cloud of dust and airborne dirt. Coughing and sneezing, she slowly opened her eyes to a squint while trying to focus on the surroundings before her. She groaned as she painfully rolled to her stomach and tried to get up. She wasn’t acting by her own thoughts anymore, but rather her primal instinct for survival. Her vision faded in and out while she got to her hooves, almost falling forwards from imbalance in the process.

When she was standing, she shook herself out of her stupor and got her brain to work. Her eyes started to focus themselves on the devastation around her. Twilight was comparing everything she saw to what she remembered a few minutes ago. No longer were there swaying green stalks of grass, or a bright blue sky to light up the pony’s day. In their place was a vast barren brownness, stretching as far as the eye could see. To Twilight’s left: dirt. Behind Twilight: dirt. All around her: more dirt. Even the air was covered in flying dust and earth, still trying to settle after the rumble that shook them up in the first place. There were a few piles and hills of randomly placed dirt, created after the meteor blew large amounts of the ground to different places. The lighting around Twilight was darker than she remembered. With the sun nowhere to be seen, there was just barely enough light for Twilight to see more than 20 feet in front of her. She then realized that there was a strange blue glow coming from the direction that the meteor hit. She immediately started walking in the opposite direction, keeping a sharp eye for what she was looking for next.

Her friend.

“App-Applejack! *Hack* Appleja-*cough*jack!” Twilight called to the surrounding area. The dirt in the air caused her lungs to clench in detest.

Twilight looked around the newly formed wasteland with anxiety in her eyes. There was nothing left alive in the path of the explosion, not to mention the path of the meteor. No sound came out from the world around Twilight; no chirp from a bird, no whistle from the wind, no leaves ruffling from said wind. It was almost virtually silent, except for some pebbles and dried up mud pieces landing here and there, creating crackles in the noiseless farm. It made Twilight even more desperate to find her friend, in one piece or not.

“A-A-Applejack!?!”

Still no reply. Half of her thought only the worst possible outcome for Applejack, but the other half was in denial, trying to convince herself that she was alive, just out of her vision. Twilight began to panic. She began to limp around, getting used to a throbbing irritation on her back-right leg while searching for anything that looked remotely orange in the area.

“APPLEJACK!” Twilight cried out again.

Nothing. Twilight let a few tears loose before hearing a voice for sore ears:

“Ah-*cough*-ah’m here!” a familiar voice shouted from a distance. Twilight then saw Applejack arise from a nearby pile of dirt, covered in multiple bruises, scratches and mud-spots.

“Applejack!” Twilight ran towards her friend, despite her restrained leg. Both of the mares embraced as they were delighted to be reunited with each other.

“I’m so glad to see that you’re ok!” said Twilight.

“Ah’m glad to see ya too, Sugarcube.”

“I-I-I thought that…That…” Twilight stuttered while choking on her tears.

“Naw, ah’m A-OK, besides, I thought… I lost ya'll fo' sure” Applejack began, her own tears dripping down her face.

The two friends stood still for a minute or two, thanking Celestia that the worst didn’t happen. They hugged in silence, completely at peace once again. At that moment, there was not a care in the world. All that mattered for Twilight and Applejack was that their friend was almost perfectly fine, with only a few scratches from the event that just conspired in front of them. The worst possible situation could have happened, but it didn’t. Instead, lady luck shined upon them (and possibly Celestia and Luna) and the two pulled through.

Twilight was extremely content with the situation at hoof; she was happy, Applejack was happy, everything was happy-go-luck! She felt as if nothing could be possibly better. However, in the innards of her mind, something tugged at her conscious. It was a nagging sensation, something telling her that some kind of duty was not done yet; some business that was not finished. After pondering for a second or two, she then remembered the strange dream she had while flying through the air after the meteor’s impact.

She slightly frowned. She unfortunately could only remember specific parts of her dream, and the other parts that she could not remember were blank, scratched up spaces in her movie-like memories. While trying her best to remember, she also tried to focus on what she did know: the contents of the meteor were extremely important to her and whatever future that Equestria had. She also knew that whatever was in that meteor, she had to take care of it, no matter what.

She made her decision. Her first move after her hug would be to retrieve whatever was in the blue flaming rock that was probably sitting at the bottom of a crater. Then she realized that Applejack might not approve of her moving towards a possibly dangerous object that glowed with an unnatural blue colour. So, she reconsidered her first step and decided to try something else.

But first, she had to break up their little ‘get together’. Hugging Applejack gave so much peace to Twilight that it pained her slightly to break the bond, but when she did, she took a few steps back and looked seriously into her friend’s eyes.

“Applejack… I want your support for something I’m going to ask you right now.”

Applejack was caught off guard at Twilight’s sudden words. What could be on Twilight’s mind? It made Applejack slightly nervous to think about it. Twilight looked somewhat nervous as well. What could Twilight possibly want to ask her with such anxiety? Suddenly, Applejack remembered the meteor. Maybe it had to do something with the meteor! She thought that she could trust Twilight with an intelligent subject such as that. So, she looked right back into Twilight’s eyes and nodded her head, waiting for her to continue.

“I… I’m going to take a look at that meteor.”

The orange farm girl was taken aback by an inquiry such as Twilight’s. The meteor was probably dangerous with some kind of astro-poisoning or something! Heck, they almost got killed by it! Why in tarnation did Twilight want to take a look at the meteor? She couldn’t possibly let one of her best friends’ just march into a stupid situation like that!

…But, then again, she had to try and trust Twilight, maybe just this once. Well, in fact, she has had to trust Twilight with dire situations in the past, so why not one more time?

“A-Alright, but make it quick, ah have a bad feeling about the meteor, and it’s makin' me mighty nervous…”

Twilight nodded her head. “Ok. Now, follow me.”

The purple pony turned around and looked for the faint blue glow that she saw earlier. Not being able to spot it, she started to walk in a random direction, hoping to randomly stumble upon it.

While walking, Applejack had time to absorb the scenery around her. Truth was, she literary woke up 20 seconds before she heard Twilight calling for her, and didn’t really get a chance to see her surroundings. It not only shocked her to see her newly bought plot of land to be in such a devastated state, but it also saddened and enraged her. What the hay did her family deserve to get a random meteor thrown into her farm? She almost cursed Princess Celestia, before realizing that she probably had nothing to do with this.

Twilight only had about a minute trip before she caught a glimpse of a blue shine in the corner of her eye. She made a slight smirk and started to gallop (to the best of her injured ability) towards the light. Applejack saw this and started to run after her, briskly figuring out what caught Twilight’s attention. Soon enough, they came to a large ledge with a steep slope that the two slid off of a few times before managing to stay at the top.

There, lying in the center of all the heaps of rubble,

Was the meteor.

The luminescent meteor glowed a soft blue, which was somewhat hypnotizing to the two mares, but was also hard to stare at for too long. It sat at the bottom of the humongous crater that it had just created seconds ago. This crater was easily 20 meters all around, and about 8 meters deep. There was nothing but scorched earth and pebbles around the sides of the crater. At her current distance, Twilight couldn’t exactly tell what the meteor was made out of, or what contents it held, but she did know that she would find out soon. She stepped over the lip of the crater and began sliding down a steep slant towards the meteor.

“Now ya’ll be careful down there, ya hear?” Applejack called from above.

“I will!” Twilight answered back. Hastily arriving at the bottom of the slope, Twilight got to all fours, dusted off her ankles and looked up to her target.

She slowly approached the blue ball, exercising extreme caution, just in case something alien might jump out and attack her. As she got closer, she began noticing a magical presence coming from the meteor. At first it was fairly faint, barely noticeable to the normal unicorn, but then it became stronger and stronger as she tip-hooved towards it. The light became brighter as well, forcing Twilight to squint her eyes before she could get any closer.

The blue glow had a pulse to it. It moved in and out between somewhat bright to immensely bright. Twilight was about to cast a lightshade spell on herself, just so she could observe it easier. But then she decided against it, coming to the conclusion that she might need to store up her remain magical power for something else she might want to do later. She held her front left hoof up, trying to further shield her eyes from the magical glare of the meteor.

She was about seven feet away from the meteor when she was suddenly truly aware of its presence. Right before her was a possibly alien object that had fallen from the sky and had a blue glow to it! It most likely was dangerous! Maybe it was poisonous to even breathe the air that was around it! Twilight never felt more naive in her life! Well, maybe there was that one time at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but that was at a completely different setting, in a completely different tone of atmosphere! Never the less, Twilight felt the pressure of finding a meteor from space hit the back of her head like a ton of bricks. She could feel her head pound, her breaths quicken and her heart nearly burst out of her chest. She took one more step towards the meteor…

The meteor abruptly toned down the intensity of its light, becoming a small, blue oval shape. Twilight then realized that there was no rock laying at the bottom of the crater, but instead an object that was floating inside a magical shield! There was no doubt about it, the oval object before her was magical. She had seen it so many times before in her textbooks that the picture of a magical shield was burned inside her photographic memory, so there was no way that it couldn’t be a shield. And boy, this was probable the strongest, most durable shield that Twilight has ever seen! Not only did it fly through the atmosphere at several hundred kilometers per hour and stay intact, but it also flew head-first into Applejack’s farm, and still had enough power to leave a residue of light, which Twilight used to locate the meteor. No everyday unicorn could of cast this powerful of a spell; it would have taken dozens, maybe hundreds of extremely powerful unicorns to have put their magical reserves into a shield in order to make it this firm and sturdy.

It was only in such a dim state for about three seconds. Without warning, it flashed outwards, filling the entire crater with its blue shine. Twilight was knocked to her rump, covering her eyes with her forelegs while squealing. At the edge of the crater, Applejack too had to prevent herself from becoming blind. The meteor gave out a wave of pure magical energy, almost rendering poor Twilight unconscious from the sheer force and power of the magic that came from the meteor. Of course, the wave had no effect on Applejack. The magical shield then shattered into a thousand pieces, shedding the brilliant light it once had. When Twilight opened her eyes, she could see a bunch of tiny light-blue crystals floating in midair, slightly twirling in position. This conspired for a few seconds until the shards flew back into the object in the center of the shield, traveling as fast as the meteor when it was soaring through the air. The object began to give off a blue glow of its own, except it was substantially softer than the magical shield’s glow. After a few seconds, it seems that gravity seized control of the meteor and let it hit the ground. It seemed like the magic show was finally over; the object ceased to glow, and there was no telekinetic grip holding it.

At last, Twilight got to take a look at the true form of the meteor without light nor shield blocking her view. She was slightly horrified at what she saw, since she never had seen anything like it before. Although, she reconsidered, and gave herself a chance to check her photographic memory for anything that was in her books that described the creature before her. While focusing her eyes on the creature before her, she could hear Applejack slide and trot up behind her.

“… What in Equestria is THAT thang?”

Twilight shook her head, having absolutely no ideas herself. No matter which ‘Species of Equestria’ or biology book that she recalled, none of them had anything that was like the… thing lying in front of her. It appeared to be either unconscious or asleep for now. Whether it was hostile or not, she could not tell. So far, all she could classify it as was an alien. It made sense to call it that; it came from the sky, it didn’t look like anything she’s seen before, and she might have seen something similar in a sci-fi movie before.

The creature in front of the two mares was easily at least a few feet in length and a foot in width. Twilight was assuming that the alien was bipedal, considering that its legs were lying complexly flat on the ground. Also, it had arms and legs, just like Spike has, so considering that Spike walks on his to back legs most of the time, it was a safe bet that the alien was bipedal. It wore clothes that were outfitted to the upper and lower parts of the body, separately. The top half of the clothes had two holes for the arms, while it had a hole cut out that marked the half-point in the body’s length. The colour of the upper clothing was white, while the bottom part was black. In addition, the bottoms completely covered the creature’s legs, and also had a single white streak running down the side of the right leg. Furthermore, the top had a design right below the neck, which appeared to resemble a device that she saw DJ PON3 wear before: earphones. There was a cord that traveled down to the bottom of the piece of clothing, but was connected to nothing.

Its skin was a light peach colour, with uneven patches of tanned skin adorning some areas of its arms and face. It was wearing white shoes over its hooves, or feet, Twilight couldn’t exactly tell which. Its head was much smaller than any natural being in equestrian; being less than half the size of its body. The mane that stuck to the top of its head was in several long curls and ringlets, which was kind of like Rarity’s mane style, except the creature obviously took less care of it. From a distance, Twilight could easily tell that the mane was dry, greasy and was not combed, even though she knew little about keeping manes clean and stylish. The organism’s miniscule eyes were separated by an equally small nose, which sat right above some blood red lips.

Both Applejack and Twilight let themselves take a minute or two to soak in the visual information that their eyes were sending them. The object that came from the meteor definitely looked alien to them. Although at one point in time, Twilight did relate the creature to several species of apes, but quickly dismissed the thought, seeing as the alien looked way too different to be some kind of strange looking ape. After a few more moments, an earth-shattering crackle boomed throughout the air. Twilight and Applejack immediately looked up to see that the dust and dirt had cleared to reveal an ominous, dark sky, crammed with storm clouds that probably created the thunderclap that the two mares heard seconds earlier. There was a blinding flash that came from the sky, followed by another loud window-shattering sound.

“Now where the hay did those thangs come from?” Applejack asked, slightly ticked due to the sudden change in weather.

Twilight looked back at the still alien. The gears of her head were turning, trying to figure out what was her next best possible plan of action, and what consequences would come with that plan of action. She just couldn’t leave it here, that wouldn’t accomplish anything. She still considered the fact that it might be dangerous to even go within 5 feet of it. Then, she remembered her dream, and realized that she would have to take it with her somehow, whether she liked it or not.

Just then, Twilight felt something tap on her muzzle, bringing out of her brainstorm. She felt another tap, except she saw what was falling on her. It was a raindrop.

“Huh?” Twilight said aloud, looking skyward once more. She felt more and more rainwater drop on her head, back and flank, slowly increasing in number. Soon enough, there was a total downpour that rained upon the weary young mares.

Applejack was slightly cross with the situation. “Well, now that’s just DANDY…”

Twilight turned around to her friend and gave a frown because of the scene around her. She hastily glanced back at the meteor and prepared to make a decision…

Applejack, where is your nearest barn?” Twilight inquired.

“Well, if mah sense of directions is right, it should be not more than a quarter mile that way.” Applejack pointed back towards the bushel of apple trees they recently passed.

“Ok.”

Twilight let herself pause for a second, biting her lip while re-considering her decision. The rain continued to pour all around her, steadily turning the crater they were standing in into a bowl of mud. At this point, Twilight’s coat, mane and tail were drenched in water, slowly dripping down and causing mud to splash against her hooves. The purple mare’s bangs were slightly blocking her vision, so she began to lift her hoof out of the brown slop she was standing in, but decided against fixing her bangs, since her hoof was covered in soaked earth.

“Applejack, I need you to lead me to that barn while I telekinetically carry the… meteor behind us. Is that ok?”

“Are ya’ll serious ‘Twi? That thang could be dangerous! Even if ya’ll use your magic to keep it at a distance, it might activate some kind of strange alien doo-hicky on its clothes and fry us like an overcooked apple pie!” Applejack’s face showed her concern.

“Well, would you rather just leave him, or her, or it, lying here, in the rain, at the bottom of an enormous crater in the middle of your farm? Who knows what it will do once it wakes up and finds itself wet in a bowl of mud! It’s best if we just take it now and keep it in a safer place, where nopony will get hurt.”

“Well, where do ya’ll have in mind?”

“I’m going to take it to the library, but first, we need some kind of vehicle to take it with us all the way back to Ponyville. Sure, I have lots of magical energy, but there is no way that I can carry such a large object to such a faraway location. Besides, if somepony sees me carrying around a strange looking creature around Ponyville, that might cause attention, and trust me, the last thing we need is a bunch of ponies freaking out because a librarian and a farmer brought an alien to the middle of a well-occupied settlement!”

Another thunder strike caused the orange and purple pony to jump in surprise and fear.

“Ya’ll got a point there. And ah kinda want to get outta this here rain. Let’s go.”

While Applejack started to trot towards the border between the forest of apples and the ruined field, Twilight was starting to gather up her magical energies to start lifting up the sleeping organism. As her magical grasp enveloped the meteor, Twilight thought back to what Applejack said about the alien having booby-traps on its body.  She took a nervous step back; suddenly paranoid that she might have set something off when she grabbed it with her magic. She waited a few anxious seconds before she here Applejack call out to her from afar.

“Are ya’ll comin’ or what?”

“Yeah, be right there!”

Twilight thought to herself, “Well, nothing’s happened so far. And besides, I’ve already grabbed the darn thing, so there’s no turning back now.”

Twilight magically lifted the organism into the air and let it float a foot or two behind her. Then, she continued off in Applejack’s direction, which was standing beneath an apple tree.

The two mares briskly walked into the field of apple trees once again. The pitter-patter of the raindrops hitting the trees’ leaves could be heard all around Twilight. The leaves were also acting like natural umbrella, somewhat protecting the ponies from the relentless rainstorm. Twilight was starting to get a bit frightened just because of the darkened environment she was in, along with the frequent booming echoes of the thunder which followed the brightening lightning. The apple trees seemed to create more of a bouncing echo effect whenever there was thunder. Twilight felt that the sound of the electricity went through one of her ears, came out the other just to come right back in! She couldn’t escape the bellowing rainstorm, so all she could do was hope that the barn wasn’t too far away.

She timidly checked behind her to see if the meteor was still following her, and if it was still unconscious. To her relief, it was. When she looked back, she could see the outline of her orange cowgirl friend, right in front of her. Twilight wondered if she was as scared as she was too. She couldn’t really tell, because she couldn’t see her face, and Applejack wasn’t talking, meaning that her emotions were a bit difficult to read.

Not soon after Twilight had that ponded that thought, she got her answer. Applejack started to increase her pace, forcing Twilight to a brisk trot. Not more than a few seconds later, Applejack began to break into a light gallop, making Twilight slightly nervous and tired, because of her body trying to balance both her magical and physical strain. Of course, not only was she still recovering from the explosion from the landing meteor earlier, but she also was drained just from analyzing the alien and it’s method of transportation. Applejack suddenly broke into a full-tilt sprint, almost leaving Twilight in the dust before Twilight managed to call out:

“Applejack, Slow down!”

Applejack immediately stopped in her tracks and stood still for a moment, catching her breath even though was wasn’t even legitimately tired. When she heard Twilight catch up to her, she turned around to face her equally exhausted friend.

“Ah’m… Ah’m sorry, Twilight, ah-ah don’t know what got into me…”

Twilight gave a sympathetic look to Applejack. “That’s ok. I just want you to know that I’m behind you all one-hundred percent all the way. I won’t ditch you, and you can count on that.”

“Thanks, Twi.” Applejack wore a tired smile on her face. “Oh! Wait a second!”

Applejack about-faced and walked a few steps forward. When Twilight followed, she began to barely make out an outline of a building. Her spirits instantly lifted when she maniacally rushed towards what she recognized as a barn. She plowed through the front red doors, not considering that they were locked or not. Applejack was shocked to see her normally peaceful pony friend blast through and COMPLETELY OBLITERATE one of HER barn doors. Normally, if the culprit wasn’t one of her best friends, she would have basically murdered whoever pony that dared to break down out of her pieces of property. However, she just grit her teeth and walked into the barn, finding Twilight lying peacefully on a pile of hay with the organism plopped right beside her.

“Ah, it’s sooooo good to be out of the rain…” Twilight cooed in relaxation.

“Umm… Twilight, hate to break eur relaxin’, but ya’ll broke down mah farm door…”

Twilight instantaneously jump up in surprise. “Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry!” Twilight looked behind Applejack towards the broken pieces of the once non-desecrated barn door. “Uh, I didn’t mean to break your door, I guess I got a little carried away. Don’t worry, I’ll fix it!”

“That’s okay. Ya’ll don’t have to fix it today, not with all this rain and alien-landing business goin’ round. Besides, we need to get the alien to eur library. Why did we come here again?”

“Oh, I’ll explain that in a minute, right now I have to fix the door.”

"Ah just said that-“

Twilight strode past Applejack, determined to fix what was rightfully her fault. Applejack watched in wonder as Twilight once again summoned her magic reserves to cast a repair spell on the door. The pieces of the painted wood started floating in the air with a purple glow surrounding it. Then, all the wood chunks floated closer and closer together, until there was two flashed of lights: one from Twilight’s horn, and the other from the center of the focus of magical energy, which was the mass of broken door planks. Next thing Applejack knew, she was looking as a fresh barn door, looking as if it was just built yesterday. She then watched as the door floated and snapped perfectly into the door frame of the barn. It looked somewhat out of place, a completely new door attached to an old, slightly run down barn.

“There! All patched up! Now, about getting a source of transportation…”

Applejack was a tad bit surprised. Not because the unicorn repaired her door, but because she just did it without acknowledging that her friend said not to. Of course, she didn’t mind one bit, but Twilight’s sudden behavior was unexpected.

“Ok, so Applejack, do you have anything that we could use to hide and carry the meteor to the library?” Twilight inquired.

“Hmm… Now lemme think for a moment… Wait, yes, ah think ah have sumthin’ that’ll do the trick…”

Applejack turned to her right and started walking past the pile of hay that Twilight was resting on a minute ago. Twilight followed suit, to see Applejack removing a tarp from an object with two wooden wheels at the bottom. She spit out the tarp and faced Twilight.

“Now, ah think that this here apple cart will just be big enough to hold the alien, and we can cover him with the tarp too.”

Twilight’s face broke out into a wide-eyed grin. “This is perfect, Applejack! Nice thinking! Now, let me just lift the meteor into the thing and we’ll be outta here in no time.”

Twilight quickly levitated the organism into the cart while Applejack threw the tarp back onto the top of the cart. As Applejack got behind the bar that steered the cart, Twilight had one more sudden thought.

“Oh! And one more thing; do you have any raincoats or cloaks that could keep us out of the rain?”

“Umm, yes, ah think…”

Applejack got out of the steering bar, briefly walked out of the room and returned with two black, rubber raincoats in her teeth.

“Great!” exclaimed Twilight. She levitated one of the raincoats towards her while Applejack started slipping on her own raincoat. Once they were both outfitted for the weather, Applejack opened the barn door once and once again got behind the steering bar. Twilight quickly join her by standing to the right of her.

“Twilight, ah just have one more question to ask you.” asked Applejack.

“Yes?”

“What’ll ya’ll plan to do next once we get to the library?”

“Oh, well, I’ll explain that on the way there”

“Ok! Now, let’s get goin’!”

(Actually, I’m gonna have to think up the next part of my plan on the way there…) Twilight thought to herself as she and Applejack began jogging through the Thunderstorm.

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Chapter 1: First Encounters, Part 1

IMPORTANT NOTE:

From now on, I will be switching the point-of-view of the story from time to time. I'm either gonna use the main character's point of view (which is the point of view in this part) or an "omniscient" point of view (which made up the entire prologue). I'll clearly label when I make the switch, but if anything confuses you, please tell me in the comments section below! More details of this change will be up on my blog.

Otherwise, enjoy part one of chapter one!

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-CHAPTER 1: FIRST ENCOUNTERS-

{*First-Person, Main Character*}

Sleepy.

And not the kind of ‘not-enough-sleep’ sleepy, but the “It’s-way-too-early-for-this-B.S.” sleepy. At the same time, I didn’t feel like I was awakening from a normal slumber. Oh no, this time, I fell a little bit… different. A bit, oh, I dunno, out of place? I had no idea why I was thinking that, but it was my gut feeling talking, not my standard conscious.

My head was pounding, but that's just one more note to add to my growing list of confusing facts. It’s definitely a bad sign if you wake up to a skull-splitting headache. I tried to move my hands up to my temples to massage them, but then realized that I physically couldn’t. In fact, I couldn’t feel my arms at all, or any of my other limbs! Then, after a few seconds, the feeling in my fingers, toes, and main torso started to come back to me with a strange tingling sensation. It kinda felt like when a body part falls asleep: when you try to wake it up it has a poking, pinching sensitivity to it. It was strange to say the least.

My brain was slow to start up and get going. For the first few seconds of my day, I could not feel, nor hear, smell, see or even taste my dehydrated morning mouth. When I was able, the first thing that came out of my mouth was a groan, signalling my discomfort towards waking up so early.

I started thinking about last night. Or, at least I tried to, because every time I tried to look back my mind's eye came back with a big blank. There was nothing. It's not like I didn't do anything yesterday evening, it's just that I couldn't remember exactly WHAT I did. Slowly panicking, I tried to remember what I had for lunch yesterday. Well, I had a steaming hot pile of CAN' REMEMBER! In fact, I couldn't figure out anything about the previous day! Was it a school day? Was it a weekend? I couldn't recall, same as before! Day before that? Nadda! Day before that? Nope! My entire week? Zip! No can do! Not gonna happen! Because apparently, my brain chose an AWESOME TIME to have amnesia! Good job brain, good job! Well, at least I can still remember my name and schtuff, so at least it wasn't full blown amnesia!

Suddenly, the tingling feeling went away in my legs and my brain registered the pain in my knees. I winced, wondering what I had done this time to make them hurt so early in the morning. Then it came to me that my legs were in an awkward position, hanging over the edge of the bed. Not only was it immensely uncomfortable, but was probably bad for the joints in my knees as well. But why were they hanging off the side of the bed? My bed certainly can accommodate my entire lengthy, so why were my legs not fitting into the bedframe? This entire situation was not boding well with me.

My other senses were starting to awaken. I could hear voices in the background, but until my brain woke up enough to start recognizing speech, all I could hear was mumbo-jumbo. I took a deep breath through my nose, and then frowned. The air around me did not smell right. It didn’t have the distinct odor of MY room, or, in fact, MY house. This room smelt heavily of pine, dust and wood, which was definitely was not the smell of my room! I let my hands grasp the bed sheets underneath me. They did not feel like my bed sheets!

A few seconds later, my instincts were  screaming “GET UP, GET UP, THIS IS NOT YOUR ESTABLISHMENT, THIS IS NOT YOUR BED. GET UP AND FIND OUT WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW!” Of course, I controlled my mind’s outbursts as I tried to analyze the situation accordingly. Was I kidnapped or something? Maybe someone hit me over the head! That would be a good reason as to my why head hurt so much and why I couldn’t remember what happened this past week.

I steadily creaked my eyes open, adjusting to the light in the room. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much. The source of light was coming out of the right corner of my eye, but what interested me was the ceiling of the room that I was in. It was a mahogany colour, with several strange brown swirls and lines painted on the surface. What’s more is that that it appeared to be made of wood, and yet it was as smooth as a baby’s face. Shouldn’t wooden structures be made of planks? Unless I'm looking at some kind of weird wood pattern-painted room or something. Anyways, I squinted, trying to wrap my head around the situation around me. I lifted my head slightly and looked towards the source of the voices that I was hearing.

“-mean, he doesn’t have any visible injuries, and nothings broken, so there’s nothing really wrong with him, except that he’s still unconscious…”

I could barely hear the voice that was talking. It sounded like a teenaged girl’s voice, except a lot calmer and less rowdy. However, when I looked in the direction of the voice, I couldn’t see anything except a blurry mess. I guess that my eyes were still waking up. Jeez, that’s a new thing, eyes waking up. But so far, all I could see was a crummy blend of browns, purples and yellows. Wow, what a strange combination of colours.

Ok, why are my senses so messed up this morning? Well, I’m not even sure if it’s really morning or not, but that’s beside the point! I feel out of whack with my uncooperative speech recognition , my sight blurry and my numbed limbs! This isn’t normal. Did that girl do something with me? Why the heck am I not in my house? I was definitely abducted. I mean, that’s the only logical reason for this particular situation, right? Anyways, the point is that something’s wrong with me. Something’s wrong with my senses and my body!

I heard a sigh. “Well, at least he’s recovering right?”

That voice that just spoke was not the same first voice that I heard before. No, this voice spoke with firmness, and yet I could hear multiple tones of knowledge just by the way she spoke. Somehow, I could tell that there was a wise mind working those words.

“May I please see the patient?”

“Oh, yes! Of course…”

The yellow-thing moved aside while I watched the purple blob move towards me. Its form was slowly transforming, getting in the range of my eyes focus.

“Oh! I think its awake now!”

My eyes widened as the purple-blob-thing was finally recognizable… somewhat. Recognizable would be the wrong word for it. I would say more a correct term would be FREAKISH, ALIEN-LIKE! I have no idea how to describe this… creature (yeah, creature would be one way to define this thing) in front of me. It kinda struck me horse-like, except it was wayyyyyyy too stubby to be any kind of horse that I’ve ever seen before. Pair that with the fact that It’s body was covered in a dark lavender colour and It’s head was two-thirds the size of it’s body, and you’ve got ONE FREAKING NASTY KIND OF HELL SPAWN!

I mean seriously, why was such a horrifying creature ever created in the first place? It’s head was filled up with two unnaturally large eyes, coloured a dark purple to match the rest of the body. I could see an outline of a tiny muzzle, with two slits for nostrils and a mouth slightly curved upwards into a smile. There was a somewhat large, pointy thing that was sticking out of it’s forehead. It’s hair was a dark purple as well, except with a pink highlight strand in the middle of it’s hairdo. I could see that it had a cute, petite tail protruding out of IT’S ASS.

Aw, freakin’ A, this creature is seriously screwed up in so many ways, but at the same time, it… it was just so freakin’ girly! Not that I have anything against girly things, nor am I sexist, but this was just on the borderline of being girly-cute. The only thing that KEPT it from being cute was the fact that IT LOOKED LIKE A MUTATED HORSE THING FROM OUTER SPACE!!!

What’s more is that from my point of view, the graphical detail of her body was abnormal. I wasn’t able to recognize the fine strands of coat hair that NORMAL horses should have (assuming that this thing IS some kind of horse). In addition, her entire… colour scheme was way too vibrant and bright to be real, and I felt like I was looking at a marker drawing brought to life. Sure, I could clearly see depth, seeing as the back end of the creature looked farther away than the front, but several three-dimensional aspects of were still lost in the process of viewing translation. The best way I could sum up the look of the creature in front of me was THAT IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS FROM A FREAKING CARTOON.

My eyes opened even more. I suddenly was more aware of my surroundings, aware that the rest of the room carried the same style of detail as the horse-thing in front of me, which was cartoon-like. Unrealistic colours, improper shading, strange depth of field; this was one heck of a nightmare that I was experiencing. I glanced over to the left side of the room. The walls were the same wood-like material that the ceiling was made out of, except this time, there were a few bookcases that were built into the walls. To the right of me, there was a single lit candle sitting on a small drawer. It was the only light source in the room. Behind the candle was a window that was covered in dark green curtains. My recovering hearing ability had returned enough to recognize the sound of a fierce thunderstorm creating havoc outside.

My gaze returned to looking forward. This time I looked at the blankets that were covering me up. They were a light-blue colour, once again holding a striking resemblance to a cartoon art style. Or maybe at this point I could call it cel-shading. Whatever, it still looked weird! I had already tucked in my legs from the edge of the bed and they were now hiding underneath the blankets. Then I realized that I was sitting up completely, clutching the blankets and scared beyond belief.

If everything in the room looked cartoonish, then what the heck did I look like? Well, curiosity killed the cat and I glanced down at the top of my hands. I could feel the blood leaving my face. My hands were void of any kind of hair, knuckle or skin detail that it once had. The only thing that remained was a thin outline of my fingernails. While I screamed“WHAT IS THIS MADNESS???”in my head, my voice could only manage a wimpy squeak.

“Oh! Hello there!”

The yellow blob, which now looked more cleared now that some time has passed, began to approach me as well. As she got closer, my jaw dropped even further. She. Was. Exactly. The. Same. As. The. Purple freaking horse-THING! She was the same basic shape; immensely puny compared to the NORMAL kinds of horses I knew! Her coat was the same yellow colour I saw before, but now it was accompanied by grapefruit pink hair which was hanging down over her right eye. Speaking of eyes, it had large, cyan eyes, which were similar to the purple thing beside it. Whatever these two creatures were, they were obviously the same species.

It continued to walk towards me.

“How are you feeling? Don’t worry, you’re safe with us now.” It got to the left edge of the bed. “You shouldn’t sit up so suddenly, your head will start to hurt. Lie back down so you can rest a bit longer.”

The yellow thing reached out to try and help me settle back into the lying position, but I scooted myself scooted over to the right, sucking in my legs regardless of the pain and felt my butt feel empty space. I’m not sure how scared I looked at that moment, but I knew that inside, I felt like I pissed myself in fear. Not only was I scared of those horse-things approaching me, but I was also scared of the entire situation that I was literally sitting in.

Nothing in this morning (if you could call it that, I had no idea what time of day it was anymore) made sense. Talking, colourful horse things trying to unnecessarily ‘help’ me, unnatural shades of colours surrounding me, the fact that I had an abnormal awakening a few minutes ago: my mind was very close to snapping. There was no freaking way, in the basic laws of reality, that light is supposed to reflect of a smooth surface such as WOOD in the fashion I’m seeing before me. Also, since when to FREAKING DEMON HORSE TALK??? And where THE FRICK ARE MY KNUCKLES???

No… Nothing made sense anymore; logic was in-existent. It didn’t matter if up was up or down was up, no, nothing like that mattered to me anymore! All the laws of time, space, and physics, as I knew them, were flushed down the tube. They were kaput. Done. Finished. Out of luck! OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE! BURNING INFERNO! MU AH HA HA HA!

“Oh, don’t be afraid of us, we’re here to help you…” the yellow thing tried approached me again. I watched her movements and fell off the right side of the bed, still having a death grip on the blanket. I shuffled as fast as I could into the corner of the room, right beneath the window. In the process, I accidentally bumped against the small drawer with the burning candle on top of it and toppled it to the floor. The candle was still alight when it hit the wood, and I thought for a second that I single-handily created a fire out of sheer fright.

“Oh dear, are you alright?” the yellow-thing asked me.

“One sec…” the purple thing followed up. I looked at purple as she focused her gaze onto the candle. Then, the pointy thing on the top of her head started to glow with a soft purple light. I watch the candle become enveloped in the same light as purple-y had going on over here and LEVITATED back onto the drawer. There was no fire, there was no knockdown, it was as it that little light show of it's reversed the past five seconds of my life.

What. Just. HAPPENED?

It’s pointy-horn thing just glowed and suddenly the candle LIFTS ITSELF FROM THE FLOOR AND BACK ONTO THE FREAKING DRAWER??? WHAT IS THIS I DON’T EVEN! IT’S NOT EVEN WORTH IT TO USE MY COMMON SENSE OR BRAIN ANYMORE! STUFF JUST HAPPENS, WITHOUT RHYME OR REASON, AND IT’S ALL ACCEPTABLE??? WHAT THE FUCK AM I WATCHING??? THE COLOURS DON’T MAKE SENSE! THE SHADOWS AND LIGHT DON’T MAKE SENSE! THE ANIMALISTIC ALIENS DON’T MAKE A FUCKING DROP OF SENSE!

IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!!!!!

“EEEEEUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” I screamed, with all my might, with all my breath, with all my strength left in my scared body.

Suddenly, my visions turned to darkness and my ears went deaf. Every single nerve in my body screamed out in agony at I felt like I was being singed by a lightning bolt from every single angle. Next thing I knew, my neck snapped painfully backwards and made a *crack* sound, which at the time was the only thing that I could hear. After that my hands and feet went numb, with the rest of my body following suit. It was like I was waking up all over again, except backwards, with my consciousness swiftly turning itself off.

Then, nothingness overtook me.

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Chapter 2: Chasing Answers, Part 3

Chapter 2: Interrogation, Part 3

Small Note: Words/Characters that are in parentheses and italics are thoughts.

{*Omniscient point of view, Ponyville Library*}

Two mares stood in the now open front door of the Ponyville library. Caught in an intense argument, a flash of lightning glared behind the duo for a split second, causing the figures to look quite menacing. Twilight, Fluttershy and Griffin could easily see the frustration and aggravation in the fighting mares’ faces.

“Ah understand perfectly; that y’all gots eur parasol cap screwed on too tight and you worry about the small stuff when there’s bigger stuff to worry about!”

“For your information, Applejack, this is not a ‘parasol cap’, it is a highly stylish, beauty-mane line rain hat. Furthermore, the ‘small stuff’ does matter because in the end, little things add up.”

(Oh brother, what the heck have we got here?) Griffin asked himself, rolling his eyes.

As the squabbling pair walked into the light of the library, Griffin could see the ponies clearer. While Rarity had a quite stunning set of matching white rain boots, a rain coat, a rain hat and an umbrella, Applejack was soaked to the bone with just her Stetson hat adorning her head. Applejack’s mane limped to the floor, causing a small puddle to form underneath the orange pony. However, Rarity’s mane seemed untouched by the grueling weather. In fact, most of the white unicorn was dry except for a few spots on the raincoat. Griffin was somewhat amazed that someone could stay so dry in such a bad storm.

“Well, whatever! Can’t y’all see that there’s a mighty big storm out there? Its thunder strikes are so powerful that ah can believe that it migh’tave struck down summa mah apple trees while I’m gone away from mah farm! Hay, it might have even shaken some of mah farmhouses!” Applejack pointed out.

“Obviously I see the storm, and as YOU can see, I had just TREKKED through it a few seconds ago. It’s not like I’m ignoring the rain, but if I worry about it too much then all the stress will get to me, and if you didn’t know, stress causes early wrinkling."

As Rarity closed her umbrella and levitated it to an umbrella rack, Applejack rushed up to her, muzzle to muzzle.

“Like ah’ve said, y'all don’ need to worry none about dumb ol’ wrinkling! We gotta try and help everypony out so we can get through this storm al‘right!”

“Well, I don’t see YOU supporting the community in any way. All I see is a wet, musty earth pony who doesn’t know not to talk about subjects she doesn’t understand!”

The two ponies pushed up against each other’s faces.

“Are you saying mah mouth is speaking about things that ah don’ know about?”

“What if I answer yes?”

“ENOUGH!”

Twilight got out of her seat and used her magic to separate the two brawlers from their heated argument. Both ponies were surprised that Twilight used such brute force to deal with the situation. Griffin and Fluttershy watch the scene unravel from a distance.

“Look, I’m ok with my friends coming into my home for a nice visit and chat, but when you bring a fight into MY library, that’s where I draw the line! You two BOZOS can either calm down or continue your little  squabble outside in the cold, unforgiving rain!” Twilight demanded.

There was a few seconds pause where no one made a sound. In that time period, it seemed like the crackle of the fireplace and the pitter-patter of the raindrops got several times louder. While every pony looked at Twilight bewildered, Griffin scanned the room nervously, waiting for something to happen. Fluttershy broke the vocal silence when she whimpered out of fear from the thunderclaps.

“Ah… Ah’m sorry Twi’, ah dunno what came over me.” Applejack began to apologize.

“Me too, Twilight. I’m sorry for taking my rage into your quaint library. It was wrong of me.” Rarity responded.

“Good, now that that’s settled…” Twilight trotted back to where her writing supplies were, releasing the magical grasp on Applejack and Rarity. The both dropped with a *wumph*, then proceeded to take a seat on the u-shaped furniture arrangement around the fireplace. Rarity was taking off all her garb with her telekinesis and placed it on a nearby coat rack and boot rack.

(Wow, did a fight really just come out of nowhere?) Griffin pondered to himself. (This day can’t possibly get any random-er… And I probably just jinxed it, didn’t I?)

“Now, back to the questions-“Twilight started to say, grabbing her quill and parchment with her magic.

“Ooh, now I remember why I wanted to go here in the first place! I wanted to see the alien that Applejack mentioned!” Rarity announced while sitting down, getting awkward looks from Fluttershy, Twilight and Griffin.

“Um, Rarity? He’s right there.” Twilight pointed to a bashful-looking Griffin, sitting upright on the sofa.

“Ahh!” Rarity squealed. “I didn’t expect him to be so… tall. It is a ‘he’, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is a ‘he’.” Twilight answered.

(Ok, now this is just getting insulting.) “Hey, I have a name you know!” Griffin spoke out loud.

“Oh, it can speak?”

Griffin face palmed while groaning slightly. (Ya think???)

“Now don’ get eur nickers in a bunch, Rarity was just asking some friendly question about you, mister…” Applejack defended.

“Griffin. Call me Griffin.”

“Mister Griffin. Ah actually have a few question ah wanna ask mahself, but I’ll just let the question expert here to ask all the questions.” Applejack gestured towards Twilight.

“Right. Question number four. What planet do you come from?” Twilight inquired.

“Planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy.”

Twilight quickly wrote down Griffin’s answer.Applejack noticed that Twilight started to write on a new piece of parchment, so she pitched a question towards Twilight.

“Hey Twil? Can ah look over the notes y'all written down so far so I can catch up on everythin'?”

“Oh?” Twilight looked up from her writing. “Sure, if you want. Just make sure you give Rarity a chance to see it too, ok?”

“Yeah, ok.” Applejack dragged Twilight's first page of notes towards herself with her nose, then began reading.

“Question number five. How old are you, and what point in life are you at?”

Griffin hesitated for a split-second, but reminded himself that if he stayed honest that everything would be alright.(…Hopefully.) “I am 14 years old, and I am in my teen years.”

Twilight stopped writing. She had flashbacks of her teen years, which were not that long ago. In fact, everypony in the room was looking back in the horrible days of acne, bullies, homework and rough teachers. Twilight was the first to shake herself out of her stupor and write down Griffin’s response.

“Ok, Question number six. And actually…” the purple unicorn double checked her sheet of notes. “This is probably the most important question of all…”

Slamming her hooves onto the coffee table, Twilight leaned towards Griffin and dramatically yelled:

“What do you wish to achieve by invading our little planet of Equiss?”

Wow, that chapter was shorter that I actually imagined it to be. Oh well, live and learn, Right?

Anyways, thank you for reading this part of chapter one! Don't forget to leave some feedback, as it helps me improve as a writer.

Also. be sure to check out my blog on my user page for author's notes and updates!

Chapter 5: Donations Due, Part 6

Chapter 4: Journey, Part 4

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

Twilight had just finished what she saw at ‘Canterlot Castle’ as she called it. And wow, what a story to tell.

Apparently, there was a lot of stuff going on outside this library. Mass demolition, annihilation and chaos were all a part of the storm’s payload. The purple unicorn was crying pretty badly after having to describe to me her past experience witnessing all the destruction. Her eyes were bloodshot, her ears were bent back and she was sniffling from all the mucus caused from her sobbing. I didn’t know what to think. I know I should give her my condolences, but should I also try and calm her down?

I didn’t like her crying. It just didn’t fit in into the emotions of this room and was kinda sudden. It’s not like I’m a heartless douche or anything, but I really didn’t know what to do. She obviously needed some kind of outside help to guide her along through her troubled times, but I barely knew the girl! I don’t think it’s in my place as a practical stranger AND an alien to lend out my hand and help her get back to her feet-hooves. What if she felt uncomfortable if I did try to comfort her? I didn’t want to come off as a creepy person getting all touchy-feely with another species! That would end up very badly.

I looked at her eyes again. She just simple looked back at me with her lips trembling, pleading in her eyes for the pain and sorrow to stop. My back was relaxed on the nice soft sofa while I watched another living being wail her eyes dry. What was I doing? She needed help! She was standing all by her lonesome self without anyone! And I’m not gonna just sit by like this and let it all happen! I’m not an asshole! Sure, I don’t even know her, but still, she needs someone, anyone to help her ease the suffering!

Well, fuck.

I launched out of my seat and slid across the floor on my knees towards Twilight. I reached and wrapped my arms around her in a great big hug. Yes, a hug. Now don’t mistake me for those kinds of people that go all mushy every time someone cries, but I felt it was necessary and appropriate for the situation. She returned the gesture by grabbing me in her own well-needed embrace. I could feel her tears soak through my t-shirt. Gross, but well worth it.

It was then I realized how awkward the situation was! I was hugging a bright purple unicorn from another planet that was crying into my arms! Not only was it strange because of the nature of this angle that came to be, but also because normally I don’t hug people I don’t know. It’s just kinda weird. Well, if anything, I guess I’m learning the personality behind the unicorn bit by bit, eh?

I allowed my mind to get back to the present. Twilight was still in my grasp but was slowly calming down. I kept my patience, waiting for the moment when she would be ready again. When her breathing stabilized, she let go of me, shuffled backwards and levitated a hanky out of nowhere. I flinched when she started to blow her nose, creating a trumpet-like sound in the process. Eww, I hoped that none of her snot got on me!

She seemed like she was ready for another go.

“Ok, so what happened after the balcony?”

The unicorn sniffed before explaining her story. “Princess Celestia brought me inside to tell me something. I followed her to the innards of her bed room. Once there, she said…”

Twilight began crying again. “What did she say?” I asked softly.

“She said…” Twilight could barely contain her sniffles. I gave her time to answer my question. I didn’t need to push anything.

“She said that I needed to leave Equestria!” Twilight announced, beginning to bawl once again.

“WHAT???” I answered for the millionth time.

“She-she said that I-I-I nee-neede-ed to leave Equ-Equ-Equestri-ria fo-for my own safe-ty…” The poor, poor unicorn could sparsely get her stammering out.

“But why?”

“She-she said that it was to-to-too dang-er-ous to st-stay in Equ-Equest-ria with the st-storm out an-an-and abou-t, so she-she told m-me-me to ge-get my friend-s and lea-ve the kingdom…”

“So was that why you were down here?”

She nodded, hiccuping from her rampant emotions.

It all makes sense now! Sort of. I bet she was trying to leave while we were asleep because the Princess told her to go gather her friends and leave Equestria for their own safety! But then, obviously she didn’t mean to create such a mess and was trying to sneak away, so does that mean that she was going to ditch me here? Also, isn’t the Princess’s methods a little extreme? Well, I’ve still got a lot of questions, but inch by inch is a synch, right?

“So were you going to just ditch me here while you ran away from your country?” I queried, leaning forward with my arm supporting my head by resting on my leg.

“Oh, no-no! I wasn’t go-going to leave any-anypony be-behind! I-I planned to come ba-back as as-soon as I got every-everyone. I would nev-ever leave you or Spi-Spike behind! Never!”

Spike? A sudden variable into the mix? “Who’s Spike?” I buzzed while at the edge of my seat.

“Oh, he’s my ass-assistant. He li-lives here with me whi-while I run-run the library. He-he-he helps me run err-ands and wri-te lett-letters to other ponies…” Twilight replied, wiping the tears from her face with her foreleg.

“So why didn’t I see him while I was awake and you were interrogating me?”

“He was sl-eeping in my room.”

“The entire time?”

“Yeah. He-he can be a very heavy sleeper sometimes.”

“So why didn’t he wake up with all the screaming and yelling that was going on?”

“I-I cast a sound barrier sp-spell around the roo-room because he-he had trouble sleeping wh-while the sto-storm was going on.”

Well, that was very nice of her. I tried to study her expressions some more and get a sense of what she looks like when what she feels. All I could tell was that she was still a bit blue from all the events she had to go through. I had a few more questions about her assistant, but I had to put them aside if I wanna wrap this questioning session up.

“So… What now?”

“Wha-what do you mean?”

“I mean what are you going to do now? Are you going to still go out and get your friends and just leave? Or have you lost your confidence and you're just going to stay here?”

“Well…” Twilight sniffed. She was once again recovering from her fit of tears, except at a swifter pace. Her eyes lost contact with mine as she gazed off towards the distance. I could see the gears of though churning in her mind, spinning and turning with utter consideration. She was obviously troubled and had a lot to think about, but that’s what I was trying to determine. What kind of thought process does she use to conclude questions and ideas? In what order does she organize her thoughts and how does she use that to create better solutions? What kind of first step does she like to take? And most importantly,

What are you going to do next, Twilight Sparkle?

Chapter 7: Brash Instinct, Part 3

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Sour, Part 5

{*First-Person View, Main Character*}

Here I sat, in the somewhat uncomfortable wooden bench beside the front door of a pony-run bakery. I guess this bench was here for customers to rest on just in case lines got too long, but that doesn't really matter now. I could barely hear the chatter between Twilight and Mr. Cake beyond the door behind the front counter. Whatever they were talking about, it sounded like a heated argument. I hope that Twilight's giving in a good word for me, because by the looks of it, the owners weren't too keen of an otherworldly being staying in their slice of business (no pun intended).

Since the black hole was sucking up any and all precipitation, no rain hit the windows, creating and eerily quiet environment. Sometimes I could hear the foundations of the building creak under the tiny sucking forces of the hole, causing me to look around and fidget in nervousness. I really didn't have any options on what to do, considering the current situation. I don't think it would be a good idea to explore this store, just in case that I find something that I shouldn't have found in the first place. Besides, I think that Mr. and Ms. Cake hate me enough without another excuse to kick me out of their safety zone.

I sighed loudly, hoping that for the love of god, my future would turn alright this time.

"Hiya Griffy-Griff!"

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, falling off my seat from the sudden view of pink intruding my view. From the floor, I looked up to see Pinkie Pie looming over me with the widest grin I've ever seen. There was a strange sparkle in her eyes, which knocked my creepiness meter upwards by several points. "Hey Pinkie."

"What'cha doing on the floor?" she asked innocently.

"Playing dead." I deadpanned.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"So I can hide from the boogieman." I said while getting to my feet.

"WHAT? THE BOOGIEMAN? WHERE?" the pink poof squealed, jumping and hugging onto my torso in fear. While she shivered and actively searched for said culprit, I face palmed. She had to be joking. This had to be some kind of joke. I'm joking! Can't she understand that, or is this pony too innocent to actually comprehend my dry humour? I tried pulling her off, but she was stuck like bubble-gum underneath a desk. Every time I pushed, her body would move but her hooves stayed right where they were.

"Pinkie? There's no such thing as a boogieman. I was kidding."

"Oh, really? Woo, that's a relief!"

Thankfully, with that statement she got off of me.

"So, what'cha doin' in the Sugarcube Corner?" she asked, looking happily towards me.

"I dunno, I was following Twilight and she led me here."

"Twilight's here? Where?"

"She's in the back talking with the mister and the missus."

"Oh, wow! Why is she doing that?"

I let out another sigh, mentally preparing my mind for another of onslaught of questions. Before progressing, I took a seat on the bench once again and leaned back.

"Apparently, aliens aren't exactly welcome in their bakery. They hate my guts, so Twilight's trying to convince them to let me stay until she can do whatever the heck she wants to do here."

"Why do they hate you? You're the nicest, peaceful-ist, most super-fantas-gristic alien I've ever met!" she complimented, strangely hopping up and down.

I didn't know what to say. That was the nicest thing anyone has said to me ever since I got to this stupid planet! "Well, thank you, Pinkie." Actually, I'm probably the ONLY alien she has ever met, but I'm not one to turn down compliments because of details.

"And I really mean it! You've been nice to all of us despite Twilight interrogating you against your own free will, Rarity treating you like an animal and Rainbow Dash knocking the BEEJEEBEES out of you! Thank you so much!"

She leaped up and hugged me. I awkwardly smiled in response, creep-o-meter teetering between ‘friendly gesture’ and ‘oh god bad touch get out’. I didn't realize it before, but she was one friendly pony! Much nicer than the bakers that live here. Didn't Twilight say that she works for them? Talk about a tough break! She couldn't be working for meaner people-I mean, ponies! I couldn't believe the sudden change of treatment that I had gotten. First, I was being shunned, but now, I'm being hugged? Sure it’s a bit creepy, but I'll take hugs over racism ANY day!

"So, why did Twilight want to come here for?" the hyperactive horse pondered, backing off of her grasp of me.

"I dunno, this place was the first thing on her mind after-"

I cut myself short, running myself into a verbal trap. Crap, what do I say now? And even if I have a good answer, Twilight might straighten it out later, letting Pinkie know that I lied!

Well, shoot.

"After what?" her voice rang out.

"...After the storm got worse." I plainly acknowledged, nodding my head in a silent agreement towards the fib not really being a fib. The storm DID get worse, I just wasn't planning on mentioning Rarity or Sweetie Belle any time soon.

"Oh yeah, it did get worse, didn't it? I mean, the wind was all like 'whoosh!' and Sugarcube Corner was all like 'creak!' and I was all like 'yikes!' and the rain suddenly disappeared!"

My mouth was in a 'oh' shape. She said that really, really fast.

"Strange weather, huh?"

"...Yeah..." I managed to get out after that sudden rant.

"So I guess Twilight was thinking of me so much that she just had to check up on me after the storm picked up! Wow, how sweet! I gotta thank Twilight later for her concern!" the pink, poofy pony concluded.

"Uh, yeah... That's what happened." I confirmed. That was one of the worst lies I've ever agreed with, but my mind was moving at a snail's pace because of all of the information being thrown at me. Jesus Christ, how can this girl be so gosh darn hyper? It's insane! One moment she's talking about the weather and the next she's making up lies for me to use! What's the deal here? Is she just crazy? Heck, is she downright INSANE? I mean, I made an obvious joke a while back and she STILL didn't get it! What the flaming fire truck is wrong with her? Is she trolling? That has to be it. I bet she's trolling. She has to be!

"Want a cupcake?" she suddenly asked, bringing up a small, delicious device to my eye level.

Suddenly, I heard a door open. From behind Pinkie I could see the kitchen door open to the mister and the missus and Twilight, all walking out with slightly tired expressions. All three of them stopped to gawk after seeing the cotton-candy-coloured pony right in front of my figure.

"Pinkie Pie? What are you doing?"