The Best Babysitter

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Second Thursday of the Month
Chapter 2: Remembering Pennie
Chapter 4: The Party Will Have to Wait
Chapter 5: The Long Road
Chapter 6: Throw Down on The Friendship Express
Chapter 7: Midnight Dreaming
Chapter 8: Down Into the Dark
Chapter 9: Discovery in the Dark
Chapter 10: The Race is On Part 1
Chapter 12: Midnight Visitors
Chapter 13: NOW Can We Have the Party?
Chapter 3: A Long Fall
Chapter 11: The Race is On Part 2

Chapter 1: The Second Thursday of the Month

Zzzzt….zzzt….zzzt!

The alarm blared annoyingly as it did every morning. With a disgruntled groan the young woman nestled so happily in bed slapped the snooze button atop it, perfectly content to go back to sleep. Of course it wasn’t long before her mother’s voice pierced the comfortably approaching haze of sleep.

“Jennifer if you’re not up and in the shower in five minutes I’ll be up there rolling you out of bed myself!”

With the sort of weary sigh only those suffering under the harshest and cruelest of taskmasters were capable of mustering she flung her covers off and swung her legs out of bed, standing with a huff.

“How does she always know when I try to go back to sleep…” She grumbled to herself. Despite the darkened room, she expertly navigated around piles of dirty laundry before tripping over her slumbering beagle, who somehow always managed to position herself just right the night before to send her master sprawling.

“Arrgh Isabelle I swear!” Of course her dog’s only response, the only one she ever got was a happy wag of the tail and a look that said ‘oh you’re up? Well time to pet and or feed me!’ Obliging the former, as it was too early for the latter, Jennifer gave her a quick scratch between the ears and slipped out the door into the hall.

She could hear her mom busy in the kitchen, no doubt preparing her and her dad’s lunches for the day. A brief snort at the thought of bringing bag lunches to school all the way up to the age of fifteen was her typical thoughts on that matter, plodding to the bathroom with footsteps made intentionally heavier to relate how unhappy she was at having to get up even earlier than usual for school.

“Jennifer Allen if you don’t stop that stomping around you can forget that trip to the art show you were planning Saturday!”

Knowing that it was no idle threat that got an immediate response, instantly quieting her step she hurried to the bathroom for her morning ritual. Pausing only momentarily to sigh at the reflection in the bathroom mirror, she could tell without checking her chest hadn’t ‘blossomed’, as her mother phrased it, overnight like she’d hoped.

“Ugh….ugh fifteen and I still don’t need anything more than a training bra.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously, focusing on the offending anatomy in the mirror. “Listen you, bad enough I have the braces….I don’t need you two making life more difficult too. The last time a boy even looked at me it was to cheat off that history test…” She sighed forlornly, hopping in the shower.

It’s not that she wasn’t pretty, far from it. With wavy auburn hair she let grow long enough that it was a hassle to clean and care for, and a face that promised to be quite a beauty in a few years when she reached maturity. She was on the tall side, taller than most of the boys in her class, with a slender willowy frame (that she kept hoping would fill out every day, dim hopes given her mother’s own slenderness), she had the sort of girl next door quality some guys really fell for. Unfortunately her braces, lack of curve, and good old teenage insecurities gave her a crippling social shyness. Her parents worried about her, mom especially would go on about what a bright and cheery little girl she was. “It’s just not normal for a girl your age to have no friends dear.”

She rolled her eyes as she got out of the shower, drying off. “No friends, thanks mom, nothing boosts the old self-esteem like hearing that every day.” Back in her room she nimbly dodged around her once more slumbering dog with a little 'ha' of triumph, getting dressed for the day and throwing her hair in a ponytail. Tugging on her extremely battered Converse sneakers (the one thing she steadfastly refused to let her mom replace), and grabbing her backpack she bounded downstairs. Grabbing her lunch and a pack of pop tarts, she gave her folks a quick “see ya” and was out the door.

Greeted by the still black of night (extremely early morning, but she thought black of night sounded more dramatic) she heaved a sigh and once again affirmed that coming into school an hour early for ‘peer bonding’ was the worst idea conceived by any human being in history. An opinion shared not only by the bulk of the student body, but most of the faculty as well.

The bus ride was uneventful as always, middle seat, by the window, facing out of said window. She didn’t bother to look over and see who sat down next to her, she was just the weird tall girl after all, no one talked to her. The usual chatter was somewhat subdued by the early hour, there really should be some sort of law against forcing everyone up at five am, and in school by six. It was cruel and unusual.

The shuffle from bus to auditorium was similarly quiet. The only sound the occasional chatter between friends, and the shuffle of tired feet. To say the student body of Rochester High were not fans of peer building day would be an understatement.

The auditorium had been rearranged as it always was on the second Thursday of the month, every chair pushed against the walls so the students could sit in large circles on the floor, separated by class. Plunking herself down near enough to one of her fellow sophomores to be considered in the circle, she set about the important task of examining her years old shoes.

Her class’s councilor was nice enough she supposed, Mrs. Winsom could be a little on the touchy feely hippy side, but she never pushed her charges like the senior councilor did, or treated them like they weren’t there like the freshman’s. An older woman, though still fairly pretty as far as old hippies go, Mrs. Winsom kept her graying hair back in a long ponytail (not unlike Jens own), wearing today yet another dress that could give one a headache from all the mish-mashing colors if they stared too long.

She started in with the usual ‘good mornings’ and ‘hope everybody’s having a good day so far’. Then she got to the day’s exercise, something about getting up and introducing yourself to someone you didn’t think you’d spoken to before. The idea was to force you to meet someone new in the hopes of instantly becoming best friends. Which was a pretty stupid idea as far as most of the students were concerned.

Resolving herself to get the hour over with as quickly as possible, Jen stood and scanned her supposed peer group looking for a slightly unfamiliar face. It seemed it was her lucky day as a pale girl wearing a pretty (and expensive looking) black dress that seemed to glitter when it hit the light just right approached her. She had the darkest blue eyes Jen could remember seeing on a person, and hair such a deep black it almost looked like it had blue highlights in the right light. This girl looked more like she was dressed for a fancy party then a day at school. She extended her hand with weird formality and spoke in a voice that was soft, but seemed to have a formal…almost commanding undertone.

“Good morning, I am Lucy a new student to your academy.” She had a slight accent Jen couldn’t place, but one that had a vague familiarity to it.

Jen stared at the offered hand for a moment in confusion, and then looked back up at this weird girl. Deciding it was best to get this peer nonsense over with, and that her social life couldn’t exactly be downgraded as she didn’t have one to begin with, she shook the offered hand awkwardly. “Uh…hi, I’m Jennifer…Jen is fine.”

Lucy’s face brightened instantly to an annoyingly perfect smile (Jen found anyone with a smile not marred by a mouthful of metal annoying), and she shook her hand vigorously. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance Jennifer! I will admit I was rather nervous about attending a new academy for learning, but I am glad to have made a friend so quickly!”

Now there was one thing Jennifer tried very hard to do, and for the most part succeeded in, and that was to keep a low profile. Girls with braces, flat chests, and old shoes generally tended to attract the wrong kind of attention from their more fortunate fellows at school, and she had no intention of doing that. However with this (possibly deranged) girl flailing her arm about and shouting at the top of her lungs, she was definitely getting every set of eyes on both her and Lucy. She quickly jerked her hand from the other girl’s rather firm grip and hissed under her breath. “Quit yelling! What’s the matter with you?!”

An instant look of consternation crossed Lucy’s face as she opened her mouth once, closed it, then opened it again to finally respond in a thankfully normal tone. “I..I do apologize Jennifer; I am not terribly…comfortable in social settings such as this.”

The look of sadness on the other girl’s face caused Jen to soften her own and she nodded slowly. “Well…it’s okay. I mean I’m guessing you just moved to Rochester, from out of town?” She sat back on the floor unceremoniously, hands propped behind her and legs crossed.

It took Lucy a few moments to slowly settle herself next to her, giving a nod of affirmation. “Indeed, I have only just moved to your fair city the day before last, and my elder sister was quite insistent I begin my lessons immediately.” She paused glancing about at the other students, who were slowly resuming their own conversations. “I am sorry if I drew unwanted attention to you. I simply assumed a friend of… Penelope’s would be used to some exuberance in their companions.”

All the color instantly drained from Jen’s face at the mention of that name. Several emotions flashed across it in rapid succession, mostly sadness, before settling on anger. She jumped to her feet, and (perhaps louder then she should have) yelled, “I don’t have any friend named Penelope! The only Pennie I know was… was a horrible jerk who abandoned me!”

Realizing that once again every eye was on her, and this time the fault being her own, she snatched up her bag and dashed from the auditorium, leaving a confused Lucy with a look of surprise on her face.

One of the guys in the circle gave a quick huh. “So are we all allowed to go?”

Author's Note

So yeah I hope folk are at least somewhat entertained! ^^; It's my first bit of literature I've put out for others to read. I know there're no actual four legged ponies trotting about yet, but I hope people can figure out who the two that got named are. XD

(did a couple little fixes and changed a line...why would a shy introverted girl want to go to a big party? x_x)

Chapter 2: Remembering Pennie

Bursting from the auditorium, embarrassed by the huge scene she just made, and angry for being pushed into causing such a scene, Jennifer made a beeline for the school doors. Her long legs swept her through the front doors, ignoring the shouts to stop from the hall monitor she rushed out into the cold winter air, across the parking lot and into the downtown Rochester area, only slowing when the school was well out of sight behind her.

Barely aware of where she was going, she just knew she wanted to go away from there, the school, that weird Lucy girl, and…the feelings she stirred up. Jen hadn’t thought of her old babysitter for years. She made her way through the small alleys between the shops that dotted the downtown area and found herself in the city park beyond.

A faint frown creased her lips as she lifted her head from studying the new hole in her favorite shoes (her mother harped on her near daily to get new ones); she hadn’t been to the park in several years either. Three to be exact. Her angry pace slowed to a more normal one, and she started on the small path winding through the trees.

It hadn’t been a particularly cold winter; there wasn’t much snow on the ground or trees. Just a faint chill in the air that caused her to zip her jacket up as she walked. She knew she was coming up on it, but something compelled her to veer off the path and onto a less used, though no less familiar route into the trees themselves. She stepped over roots and around what would normally be hard to see dips in the path as if she’d just been down it yesterday. Given how often she used to come this way with Pennie for the usual picnics with her friends, it wasn’t too surprising.

Her frown deepened. Pennie. She thought the name again. Pennie, Pennie, Pennie. Ugh…now she couldn’t stop thinking about her. It only got worse as she stepped into the empty clearing that so frequently served as the sight for picnics, games, and whatever else they’d fancy doing. Walking over to the lone and very sizeable tree in the clearing, she plunked down and leaned her back against it, memories she’d tried to leave behind swirling back up against her will…

-3 years ago-

“But mooooom I’m almost thirteen! Don’t you think I’m old enough to stay home by myself for a few hours while you and dad go do your…whatever, boring…adult stuff tonight?” Jen scowled in an as adult manner as she could manage, doing her best to look proper mature and capable.

Her mother barely spared her a second glance as she swept by, fastening her earrings into place. “No more back talk. When you are thirteen we’ll talk about it. Until then you’re getting a babysitter. “

This elicited a grunt from her pre-teen daughter. “Mrs. Crimshaw is so old I think she needs the sitter more than I do mom!”

Before her mother could respond the doorbell rang. “Get that Jenny, that’s probably her now.” Her mom rushed back to her room to finish getting ready. While Jen rolled her eyes and went to get the door. “Hi Mrs. Crim….uh?”

Standing at the door was definitely not the hundred something, (to a young girls eyes every elderly person must be a hundred something) old crone who usually sat for her. It was a girl. Obviously older then her, probably sixteen or seventeen she’d guess. Only a little taller than Jen, who was freakishly tall (by her own estimation), with a thick mane of pale red curls, almost pink really. She had bright blue eyes that seemed to be full of cheer and laughter…it was the only way Jen could think to describe it. She had a pink hoodie on, with three balloons over the breast, then some more mundane jeans and a slightly scuffed pair of converse sneakers. She had a plain, if full looking denim backpack over her shoulder.

When she spoke her voice was serious, but it sounded like she was straining hard to keep it so. “Hey there kiddo, you must be Jenny. I’m Penelope, are your folks home?” Nodding wordlessly Jen just stepped aside to let her in.

Penelope walked a touch hesitatingly, like she wanted to bound or bounce in but was trying hard to appear mature and professional for her parents. Her dad greeted her in the kitchen and they talked a few moments before her folks hurried out to their car giving her a brief ‘behave you’ by way of goodbye. Jen just sort of stood off to the side quietly while Penelope walked to the window, giving her parents a wave as they backed out and drove off. Once their car disappeared around the corner, she turned on her heel with an abruptness that caused Jen to jump back a moment.

“So! You ready for some fun?! I don’t mean to toot my own horn but boy howdy are you in for a doozy of a great night!” She dropped the backpack off her shoulder and started rummaging. “Let’s see! Board games? Check! Water balloons? Check! Stuff for snacks? Check! Let’s get this party started!” She bounced back up to her feet after dumping out the aforementioned items, a huge grin on her face.

Jen had to admit, if she weren’t so determined to be huffy tonight this girls cheeriness would be really contagious. “Oh well…y’know I was just gonna chill up in my room uh, Penelope. I wanted to just listen to some music and stuff.”

The big smile faltered for just a minute before she nodded, causing her hair to bounce a bit. “Oh! Oh sure you’re not some little kid, I gotcha! It was pretty silly of me to think you’d wanna do little kid stuff huh? Well don’t you worry I’ll just…er…read…these…really big, interesting looking books your parents have on their shelves! Yessiree that sounds like a lot more fun than games, water balloons and making s’mores!” She began hastily packing her bag back up. “Well I’ll be down here with these awesome looking books if you need me kay? And just call me Pennie, Penelope is so boring.” She gave Jen another big grin.

“Um…right ok Pennie thanks.” Jen hurried up the stairs rolling her eyes. “Jeez what a weirdo.” Nudging the door closed and popping in a cd she flopped back on bed, prepared to stare at the ceiling until it was time for dinner.

It was maybe a half hour before she heard it. Giggling. Not just faint, quick giggles like the girls at school usually had, this was loud, long, and just like the smile, weirdly infectious. Only barely able to keep a smile from her face Jen made her way downstairs to find Pennie sitting on the couch, just…making shapes with her fingers. She was using the light from the lamp behind her to cast shadow puppets on the wall. This seemed to be delighting her to a weird degree.

She sat down quietly on the other couch just watching her cast all sorts of shapes on the wall, making assorted growls and bird calls to go with them. She glanced over eventually, putting her hands down. “Sorry, I didn’t interrupt your music did I? I was just sitting here wiggling these guys, then saw the shadows they were making and well…one thing led to another!”

This time Jen couldn’t help it, and found a bit of a smile forcing itself onto her lips. “You’re kinda a weirdo huh Pennie?”

Instead of being insulted that just made Pennie grin all the brighter. “I like to think of myself as interesting! Or exotic! Orrrr just plain old fun! All my friends back home sure seem to think so y’know?” She paused to take a breath. “So…no board games, no water balloon fights…what do you like to do for fun?”

This seemed to give the younger girl pause. It wasn’t very often someone asked her what she wanted to do, and by not often she couldn’t remember it ever happening. “Oh well…I like listening to music, walking in the park when mom and dad let me.” She rolled her eyes at that. “And um…” She hadn’t told anyone about this, but something about Pennie made her really easy to talk to. “I love to draw.” Jen was surprised to find that rather than her eyes drifting away to something more interesting or important, Pennie seemed to be hanging on every word.

“Oooo an artist huh? That’s really exciting I love art! What kinda stuff do ya draw? Can I see? Huh huh can I can I?!” There was genuine excitement in her voice, so much so how could she refuse? She ran up to her room with more energy then she’d felt in a long time, rummaging under her bed for her sketch book, handing it over tentatively. Pennie spent a long time on each page, looking each drawing over carefully. Every now and then she’d give a soft ooo or ohh. Finally she handed it back. “Well…looks like YOU found your very special talent already! Pretty impressive for such a little filly.”

Jen took the book back, a genuinely wide smile on her face now. “Thanks, I’ve never shown the book to anybody before.” She closed it and looked back up to find Pennie staring intently at her teeth…and the new additions on them. Wide eyed she leaned inappropriately close to Jen’s face and burst into more giggles.

“Oooo I can see my reflection!”

This caused Jen to snap her lips shut, the smile disappearing instantly. “My dad made me get em ok?! It’s not funny!” She jumped to her feet dashing back to her room slamming the door and flinging herself face first onto her bed. 'What was all that about?! She seemed so nice then she just made fun of her braces like everyone else at school!'

It wasn’t long before there came a soft knock on the door, and Pennie peeked her head in. “I’m super sorry Jennifer, I didn’t mean to make you upset. I’d just never seen um…anyone with metal in their mouth like that.”

She sounded genuinely sorry, even if it was hard to believe someone her age had never seen braces before. She looked up, eyes red from the brief cry she’d been in the middle of. “R…really? You’ve never seen braces?”

Pennie shook her head, setting her hair bouncing once again. “Nope! Really really, first time! I didn’t mean ta make ya feel bad, friends?” She came over and sat on the edge of the bed.

Jen slowly sitting up and wiping her eyes. “I…yeah ok. Sorry I thought you were makin fun of me…you just seemed so nice and I thought you were like everyone else at school.”

Pennie’s face fell as she digested this. “You get picked on a lot by the other kids huh?” At the responding nod she hmm’d. “Well c’mon! Your dad left us pi-zza money" (she seemed to have a hard time with the word which was weird), "…why don’t you order it huh? You’re old enough.”

This seemed to brighten Jen a good deal. “Really?! Mom and dad never let me order!” She dashed downstairs grabbing the phone with a huge grin. Thirty minutes later a steaming hot pizza was on the table. Jen happily digging in, Pennie eyeing it…skeptically? “What’s wrong?”

The older girl slowly picked up a slice, mimicking how Jennifer was eating it. “Oh well, first time eating pizza that’s all!” She took a tentative bite, before her usually cheer snapped back across her face. “Heeeeey this isn’t bad at all! And you called this stuff pepperoni? I wonder what else we can put on pizza? Maybe ice cream? Jelly beans? Hot sauce? Mmmm I bet it’d all be great!”

Of course by now Jen was staring at her like she’d grown a second head. Never seen braces, never seen pizza. “…you’re not like, an alien or something are you?”

Pennie’s reaction was not something she’d expect of someone who wasn’t in fact an invader from another world. She choked a bit and spit out the bite of pizza that was in her mouth. “AHAHAHAHA! An alien?! Me?! Oh you’re silly!”

Jen frowned now, suspicious aroused fully. “…you pinky swear you’re not an alien?”

This seemed to strike a chord in Pennie and she set down the slice of pizza she was about to bite into. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She bonked her fist into her eye for good measure and smiled. “That’s a Pennie promise. The most sacred promise I can give. I am not an alien.”

From the solemn tone her vow was made, it seemed to assuage Jen’s fears. “Well…ok then.” So satisfied the meal resumed, the leftovers boxed up and put in the fridge leaving the two girls to consider what to do next. It was Jen who broke the silence first. “So…you got games huh?”

An eager spark lit in Pennie’s eyes as she bounded to her backpack with more energy than most kids half her age displayed. “Have I got games?! You won’t believe the games I’ve got!” The rest of the night passed in a blur of fun and well, games.

Jen couldn’t suppress a groan as she heard her parents pull up. “Well…I guess I gotta go to bed, and you gotta go home huh?”

Pennie nodded but smiled all the same, if somewhat more subdued. “Yeah, but don’t worry I’m not goin anywhere for a good while. Anytime you need a sitter, I’ll be there.” She winked and got the door for Jennifer’s parents, a brief conversation and she was gone. Leaving Jen alone with her folks.

“So, was the play nice?” She ventured to ask. Her father just gave a faint nod and a good night while her mom hung her jacket.

“How was that Pennie girl? Did she do ok? The house doesn’t look destroyed.”

Jen nodded eagerly. “She was great! We played some games and I showed her my sketches and I hope she can come back real soon!”

The response seemed to surprise her mother, if pleasantly. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. With your father’s new promotion we’ll be going out a lot pretty soon and we’ll need to have someone we can rely on to watch you. Now…go get to bed, it’s late.”

After that it seemed like every two or three nights her parents were out, and Pennie came by. She had something new to do every time too. As her parents got more comfortable with Pennie, they let her take Jen out to the park which delighted both girls to no end. They’d spend hours wandering off the normal path to explore the surrounding woods. It was on one such expedition they found their ‘secret spot’. A large clearing with a single large elm tree dominating it. After that they’d go right to it every time they went out.

It had been the happiest months of her life, she didn’t even notice that her parent were out of town for her birthday that year. Pennie threw Jennifer the biggest birthday party she’d ever seen, inviting all the neighbors and their kids over for the backyard festivities. Miraculously it was all cleaned up and the house looked better than ever when her parents got back.
It was a pleasant July morning as Pennie led Jen out to their spot in the woods. “Alright Jenny-bean, we’re gonna meet my very best friends in the whole wide world today. And don’t be nervous! They’re all super nice and super fun!”

Normally not a fan of meeting new people, especially in a crowd but if Pennie vouched for them they had to be alright. She couldn’t keep a huge Pennie sized grin off her face the whole way anyhow, staring down at the new (new to her, not new in general) shoes Pennie had given her. The slightly more beat up sneakers she was wearing the day they met. Jen’s old shoes having been a couple sizes too small for some time, the slightly too large shoes were welcome relief. And they were a gift from the very best friend Jen had ever had, it wouldn’t have mattered WHAT they were.

She could hear a number of voices before they even reached the clearing, but rather than shrink back as was her usual reaction, she bounded ahead, inspiring Pennie to chase after her in an impromptu race. Of course running all out in shoes a size or two too big can be difficult, and it wasn’t long before Jen tripped skidding headfirst into the clearing, Pennie, being right on her heels falling over Jen and the two tumbled together, coming to a stop just at a blanket spread out across the ground, laden with food. Both girls burst into giggles as they untangled themselves. Finally sitting up Jen glanced around at the crowd.

There were five girls who looked around Pennie’s age, and three who looked a little younger then Jen herself. The three older girls on the blanket were busy setting out food from a pretty sizeable looking basket. What really drew Jen’s eye though…was the dizzying assortment of hair colors these girls had. They must go through a bottle of dye a week each. “Okie dokie! Let’s introduce everypony! Now that’s Tina, Renee, and Felicity.”

Tina had a very striking hairdo. Black and straight to the middle of her back, but with a stripe of both pink AND purple running through it! She wore slim glasses, and a look of displeasure directed at Pennie. “She meant everybody, introduce everyb-o-d-y, right Pennie?” She had on the uniform of the fancy private girls school across town, a blue blazer and skirt with plain brown shoes.

Renee was probably the prettiest girl Jen had ever seen. She batted long eyelashes over sparkling blue eyes, flashing a vibrant smile. “Well hello dear, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Pennie has told us all about you.” Her hair was perfectly styled and bounced in light curls around her shoulders. While the other girls dressed more like what she’d come to expect girls around her age to wear, Renee looked like she stepped out of one of her mother’s catalogues in her stark white blouse and skirt. She was even wearing heels. Who wears heels to a picnic outside?

Felicity gave a soft eep as Jen’s eyes turned to her, looking back and forth quickly as if seeking an escape route. Tina laid a comforting hand on her clearly nervous girls shoulder, and she swallowed hard seeming to calm somewhat. She peeked over at Jen through a part in her pale pink hair, long and falling down almost to her hips. A thick yellow sweater and long skirt did a good job covering the rest of her up. “Um…hello…” Jen had to strain to make it out, but gave a friendly smile in return. They might be a little odd but friends of Pennie’s had to be great.

Pennie indicated the other two older girls, who seemed to be engaged in an impromptu arm wrestling match. “That’s AJ and Rachel.” Both looked to be pretty fit physically, with AJ on the brawnier side. She was dressed pretty much exactly like Jen’s image of a cowboy from the old west was supposed to dress like. Brown cowboy hat, boots, dusty jeans, work shirt with sleeves rolled to the elbows…definitely a cowgirl. The other girl though, Rachel was definitely the most striking of the bunch. She had a slim wiry build, and was wearing what looked like brand new running shoes, a pair of blue shorts and matching t-shirt. What really stood out though was her hair. It seemed to be dyed all the colors of the rainbow!

With a loud THAP AJ forced Rahcel’s hand against the stump they’d been using as a table down and she grinned victoriously, before tipping her had Jen’s way. “Pleasure t’meetcha sugarcube.” 'Wow she even sounded like a cowgirl.'

Rachel just huffed. “Well let’s have a race then! We’ll see who’s better at that.” She was polite enough to give the newcomer a quick nod of greeting, before turning her attention back to AJ. She never quite got why they were competing but Jen just figured older girls were weird like that.

“And over there is Anna Belle…she’s AJ’s little sister, Stephanie is Renee’s, and their friend Susie.” The three young girls were all huddled around some sort of papers talking quietly to one another. Jen wandered closer and could just hear a bit of their conversation.

“Can we even earn our cutie marks like this?” Stephanie was dressed a bit like her older sister, wearing a cute white dress and matching shoes (though no heel), her hair a curly mop of pale violet tresses.

Anna Belle’s shoulders raised and fell in a shrug. “Maybe? I mean maybe we can get em fer something because of bein like this!” She definitely had her older sisters southern drawl, her red hair tied back with a big equally red bow, wearing a yellow shirt under her sturdy looking overalls.

The third one, Susie huffed. “Well sitting around here wondering isn’t gonna get us anywhere! C’mon Crusaders we got cutie marks to earn!” Pennie hadn’t mentioned Susie being Rachel’s sister, but she sure was doing her best to emulate the older girl. Dressed much the same just in orange rather than blue, she had a windswept head of…purple hair.

All three glanced up to see Jennifer watching them curiously, before they hastily gathered up their plans and rushed off to the tree line. She wandered back toward the girls on the blanket, Pennie now joining them and stuffing her face with whatever sweets she could get her hands on, much to Renee’s apparent dismay. “Hey Pennie, what’s a cutie mark?”

The reaction wasn’t quite what she expected. Pennie immediately began to choke, prompting AJ to rush over and start whacking her on the back. Felicity gave a soft eep and retreated deeper into her thick sweater if that was possible. Renee and Rachel took off at a run (an impressive run in those heels no less), after the three departing youngsters, while Tina chuckled nervously.

“Eh he he…well it’s…just a game those three play. You know how…little kids are?” She looked back at Jen trying to appear confident in her answer, AJ and Felicity looking on with concern (Pennie meanwhile was gasping for breath having the chunk of cupcake expelled forcefully).

Sensing that this was a…weirdly touchy subject, and not wanting to make Pennie look bad for bringing her here Jen simply nodded. “Yup! I get it.” Her own smile was a good deal more confident then Tina’s and all four girls let out huge breaths of relief, (or gasps of air). She glanced passed them to see Renee and Rachel talking in what looked like a very angry parent manner to the other three girls, who kept shooting glances Jen’s way and looking appropriately chastised. Soon however the two older girls came back and took their own seats at the picnic.

“Everything is alright over here I hope?” Renee’s cultured accent did an excellent job of hiding her nervousness, and she relaxed visibly when the others nodded. “Splendid! Well shall we eat…what Pennie hasn’t eaten already that is?”

The rest of the afternoon went great. First was the good food, than Pennie dumped out a big bag of all sorts of outdoor games and activities that everyone jumped in on. Not remembering having this much fun before in her whole life, Jen just went along with everyone else. The sudden impromptu musical number from the six girls, joined shortly by the three returning crusaders caused her to raise an eyebrow, (they must be in choir at the high school or something she reasoned to herself) but even that bit of oddness was easily ignored in the wake of the warm feelings.

After that day she was out to the park almost daily to meet with everyone, her parents allowing her to go alone since it was just down the street, (she was thirteen after all). It seemed like someone was taking charge and scheduling different activities every day, and every one of them was fun and exciting. (Maybe Tina’s reading circle and Renee’s fashion show less than the others). Even Felicity was opening up and getting more comfortable around her.

Once Renee caught wind of her artistic talent, she insisted Jen do sketches for everyone. Rather than do them individually she sketched the whole group at once. Promising to have a copy for everyone the next day, she rushed home already excited for tomorrow’s events.

Upon reaching the clearing in the early afternoon, an armful of xeroxed sketched in tow, she spotted Pennie, and just Pennie looking…positively down. That didn’t seem right. “Uh, is something wrong Pennie? I got the pictures! Where is everyone?”

Pennie looked up, and her eyes looked red, almost as if she’d been crying…or trying very hard not to cry. “Oh uh…well…they went home.”

Jen furrowed her brow processing why this was such a bad thing, it was a little weird that it was so early in the day for everyone to call an end to it but maybe they had family stuff. “Oh well…I can bring these back tomorrow huh? So what’re we gonna do then?” Her cheery smile faltered on seeing just how sad Pennie’s own was.

She seemed uncomfortably, shifting from foot to foot. “HOME home Jenny-bean, where we all came from before we moved here. It’s…it’s really far away and they wanted to say goodbye but there are rules and I’m already gonna get in a WHOLE lotta trouble for staying as long as I am, but I just couldn’t go without saying bye and what a great friend you’ve been!”

Jen was standing very still about halfway through Pennie’s speech, looking like someone had slapped her across the face. “Well…well so how long’ll you guys be gone? I mean…you’ll be back soon right?”

Pennie came close then, looking like she wanted to hug, but Jen stepped back out of it. The older girl let her arms fall slowly. “Well…no Jenny-bean I’m sorry, we um, we can’t come back. It was just for a year, that’s the rule and it’s a stupid rule but we can’t break it no matter how much-“

Jen took another quick step back, cutting Pennie off mid-sentence. “Fine then! Go home and leave me! I…I don’t care! I hated coming out here with you weirdos anyway!” So saying she flung the papers in Pennies face and dashed back toward home, ignoring Pennie’s voice as she cried after her.

Barreling through the front door, eyes full of tears she almost send her mother flying right on her rear. “Jenny! What has gotten into you?!”

She paused just long enough at the top of the stairs to call down. “It’s Jen mom! Ok? Jen or Jennifer! Not Jenny! I’m not a baby anymore!”

---Now---

She could hear her door slam, as if it was happening right now, and not in her head, snapping her eyes open and again focusing on the beat up shoes on her feet. Scowling at the wetness on her cheeks Jen hastily wiped them off and began to stand, when she heard the crunch of leaves underfoot from around the tree. She peered over and standing there was Lucy, the one who started all this.

“I wanted to apologize.” Now she could place the accent. It was close to the one Tina had. The other girl extended a hand offering a fancy handkerchief, which Jen snatched angrily.

“Apologize? Apologize for who? Penelope? Or you for reminding me of her? Which is it? Huh?” She shoved the smaller girl hard, who stumbled back, a look of surprise on her face. She worked her mouth once or twice, before turning and running into the woods, away from the path.

Jen watched her go with a scowl, before frowning. Realizing such a delicate newcomer would easily get lost, and likely not have the knowhow to get herself UNlost in the large forest park. She started after her, following the trail she was leaving through the fallen leaves and bits of snow still clinging to the ground. She quickly lost sign of her trail in a few moments…it’s like she just disappeared.

Wandering around getting lost wouldn’t help anybody, so she quickly made her way back out of the woods, using the handkerchief to clean some of the sweat off her forehead. Noticing the name embroidered in elegant script as she lowered it from her face.

Luna Equestris

Chapter 4: The Party Will Have to Wait

Jennifer couldn’t contain a grin at the pink ponies enthusiasm. She might be a silly looking little pony now, she might have a different name…but she was still Pennie where it counted. “I think that sounds like a lot of fun Penn…uh…Pinkie.”

At the first sign of acceptance Pinkie was on her hooves bouncing about in excitement. “Oh this has to be a special party too! A super-duper best friend came to visit from another UNIVERSE party! It’ll be my first one of those so it HAS to be extra-special!”

The door burst open in mid-Pinkie-bound, as five more ponies, a baby dragon, and an excited dog all rushed in. Now armed with the knowledge that these ponies were indeed the friends she had to say goodbye to years ago, it was easy enough for Jen to recognize who was who, (girls with pink, purple, or polychromatic hair were pretty memorable).

Everypony seemed happy to see their human friend again, and all were soon chatting up a storm about the goings on of the past few years. All except Twilight, who was sitting off to the side with a faint frown on her face.

“Well this is simply wonderful timing darling! I have a big fall line to roll out and I was absolutely stumped on design ideas! Seeing you again has reminded me of all the plans I had to incorporate fashions from your world into my work!” Rarity beamed radiantly.

Rainbow Dash hovered directly overhead, forcing Jen to crane her neck to look up when she spoke. “Hey and you can come to Cloudsdale with everypony else this weekend to see me compete in the trick flyers competition!”

Twilight finally rose clearing her throat. “Let’s calm down a moment everypony…remember Jennifer doesn’t belong in our world. Princess Celestia explicitly forbade humans from coming back with us remember? It’s why we didn’t invite her to come visit when we left in the first place.”

He words had a sobering effect on the group and they all quieted, even Dash landing with a little huff. Pinkie seemed about to speak when Spike abruptly let loose a little belch of flame…blue-black flame, and a scroll bearing a silver seal appeared, only to be caught in Twilight’s aura of magic. “Well that’s odd; this looks like Princess Luna’s seal.”

She carefully unrolled the scroll and cleared her throat, reading aloud:

My Faithful subjects,
I have received the letter intended for my sister, who is presently indisposed at the moment. The presence of this human child (Jen gave a little hmph here at being referred to as a child) is indeed a serious problem and must be addressed immediately. I am dispatching my royal chariot to retrieve her, and the bearers of the elements of harmony to come to Canterlot Castle immediately. This situation is too urgent to wait for the trains to begin running in the morning.
Princess Luna

Twilight rolled the scroll back up with a frown. “Princess Celestia is indisposed? I wonder what that means?” She couldn’t keep the worry from her voice at all.

Applejack was at her side, giving her a comforting nudge. “Aw don’t worry sugar cube ah’m sure it’s nothing at’all. The Princess is probly off in Saddle Arabia or some such place again.”

The others nodded their agreement and chimed in with their own words of support. Jen just looked nervous though. “I ah…I’m not in trouble am I?”

In a dizzying blur of pink, Pinkie was at her side in a flash. “Of course not Jenny-bean! I mean if you were in trouble Princess Luna would probly be getting her Nightmare Moon on and be here being all ‘RAWR’ and stuff!”

She remembered stories Pennie used to tell her back home. She just assumed the Nightmare Moons and Discords and such were all make believe and that Pennie had a REALLY good imagination. So Pinkie’s assurances had the opposite effect as she remembered the story of the wicked mare in the moon.

Twilight huffed and shook her head. “Don’t let Pinkie get you nervous Jennifer. Princess Luna is very kind just like her sister…if a bit more stern and stiff. She’s probably just as worried and confused as we were, and wants to sort the situation out as quickly as she can.”

This seemed to calm the worried teen somewhat who had been nervously stroking her dogs ears…said dog having decided to collapse into her lap…before slowly climbing to her feet. “Well she said she was sending a chariot….should we wait outside?”

This elicited a nod from the purple unicorn who turned to her assistant. “Spike will look after your dog while we’re gone won’t you? I doubt she’d enjoy the flight.”

The little dragon nodded and snapped a salute off to the human. “You can count on me!” He shifted his gaze to the dog…that was nearly as big as he was with a little gulp. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”

The six ponies and one human made their way from the tree house, Jen taking to rubbing at her horn again. Fluttershy seemed to notice this and frowned in concern. “It um…it doesn’t hurt does it?”

Jen almost missed her speaking entirely at first, having forgotten just how soft spoken Felic…Fluttershy could be. “What? The horn? No it doesn’t hurt just….feels kinda weird to suddenly have one y’know? I didn’t even notice it until Twilight pointed it out to me but now I can’t stop thinking about it.” She gave a little grin.

Rainbow was zipping about in the air above the group before she gave an excited cry. “Hey I see it! The chariot’s comin!”
They all turned to watch its approach. Pulled by four of Luna’s intimidating night guard, the large silver and blue chariot landed before them gently. The normally unflappable guard ponies did a brief double take at the sight of the bipedal beast standing with the six ponies, but they quickly regained their composure, the lead clearing his throat. “We’ve come to escort you to her highness, place board quickly and we’ll be on our way.”

Dash of course opted to fly alongside, while the others hopped in quickly. Jen hesitating to climb in. “…there’s no seatbelts. Or…guard rails or anything.”

Twilight merely nodded. “Well it’s typically used by Princess Luna, and more for ceremony then an actual need to be transported anywhere. She doesn’t really need such safety devices.” The ponies were short enough they could hardly see over the edges of the chariot without standing on their hind legs. Jennifer however was a good deal taller than they and could easily topple over the side if it made an abrupt bump or turn.

Her fear clearly written on her face, Rainbow hovered before her. “Hey don’t sweat it kid, if they get butter hooves and drop ya I’ll be right there to catch ya, alright?”

This seemed to mollify her somewhat, and she slowly climbed in with the rest…sitting down quickly with her back braced against the front of the vehicle. Once their passengers were all aboard, the six pegasi broke into a gallop…wings beating as they lifted off into the night sky.

The chill night air blew strongly over the group as the ground grew further and further away. The closest Jen had ever come to flying in the past was her drop from the cliff upon her arrival in Equestria. However the fear was ever so slowly giving rise to something that had been building since she arrived. The thrill she got from exploring a new place was slowly creeping up on her…only now it was an entire new world. Everything would be new and unknown to her. Ever so slowly she inched forward, lying flat on her stomach and looking down at the ground rushing below them. Dash slowed a bit to fly near her head. “First time flyer huh? I can see it all over yer face. Same look a foal gets on THEIR first flight.”

Jen could only nod slowly as she watched the clouds…the CLOUDS…pass below her, before lifting her eyes to Rainbow Dash. “Hey…you said if I fell you’d catch me right? You could do that? Carry someone as heavy as me without much trouble?”

This elicited a shrug from the Pegasus. “Yeah sure, yer skinny as a beanpole still so it’s not like ya weigh much. And I’m a lot stronger’n I look.”

The teenager seemed to digest the information a minute, before she grinned. A grin Rainbow Dash was familiar with. The one she always wore when she was about to pull an awesome new stunt. “Good.” Was all she said. Before springing off the back of the chariot and into the open air.

She heard the shouts of alarm from the ponies…but only dimly. Her falling away from the speeding chariot carried them out of hearing distance quickly coupled with the sound of the wind rushing through her ears made it impossible to hear their shouts. She was too focused on the sensation of the free fall to pay them any mind anyhow. Arms and legs spread as far as they could she closed her eyes imagining she was really flying instead of just falling. She was snapped out of her fantasy by Rainbow Dash’s less than happy sounding screaming. “Are you NUTS?! You just jumped! You can’t fly Jen!” The incense pegasi was keeping pace with the falling human, eye to eye with her.

This just got a grin as she shouted back. “You said you’d catch me! C’mon I thought you were a daredevil! I didn’t know you were such a scaredy cat.”

Dash reared back and snorted. “I’m not scaredy cat! You want daredevil?!” She zipped behind Jennifer and wrapped her forelegs around under her arms, tilting them down into a fast nosedive. Her passenger obligingly brought her arms and legs in tight together as they approached the ground and breakneck pace. She could her her human friend screaming…and was about to slow until she glanced at her face at the huge grin. Screams of exhilaration she could get behind! And soon both girls were letting out loud whoops until Dash snapped her wings open skimming them just over the ground and angling back up into the air. Pushing hard to catch up with the chariot. “How was THAT for daredevil?”

Jen just smiled all the wider. “I think I got the short end of the stick by getting a horn instead of wings.” She laughed as Rainbow caught up to the chariot. They spotted a beleaguered and terrified looking Fluttershy hauling an excitedly squealing Pinkie Pie back up a bit to the side of them.

“You bet you did sister.” Dash zipped ahead to apologize to the pullers while Twilight fixed Jen with a stern glare. “That was INSANELY dangerous! What if Rainbow wasn’t fast enough to catch you?” She swung around to fix the party pony in her look next. “And you! I can’t believe you’d do that to poor Fluttershy!”

Pinkie just beamed as per usual even under Twilight’s scolding. “But Jenny-bean did it and it looked like a lot of fun so I wanted to do it and I knew Fluttershy had my back!” She flopped across Jen’s lap as the girl resumed sitting. “And it WAS a lot of fun! Tons of fun! We should do it again!”

She made for the edge eliciting a squeak of alarm from the timid pegasi, before a shimmering purple aura lifted Pinkie off her hooves and set her down firmly beside Twilight. “Absolutely NO MORE Skydiving! From anypony…” Jen opened her mouth and Twilight shut it with a look. “Or anybody. Besides…we’re here.”

They all turned to look as Canterlot came into view. This wasn’t a new sight to the ponyfolk, but the enchanted city nestled on the side of a mountain with its waterfalls shining silver in the moonlight caused a sharp intake of breath from the visiting human. “Wow.” Was all she managed to get out at the sight.

The chariot came to a gentle landing inside the castle garden. Its passengers all climbed out and milled about for a few moments until an official looking grey earth pony mare trotted their way, bearing a quill and scroll cutie mark. Her eyes only widened very slightly at the spectacle of the universal invader before she cleared her throat. “Twilight Spark and companions Princess Luna will see you right away. Please follow me.”

The mare led them group through the courtyard doors and into the main castle. They passed several waiting groups of dignitaries, none looking too happy at the newcomers getting preferential treatment. Upon sighting the human in the group many gave gasps of surprise or alarm, one looked simply curious. A finely attired unicorn stallion, complete with monocle and slim moustache watched her as she passed. She noticed Rarity give him a faint smile, which he returned inclining his head politely before the doors to the throne room boomed shut behind them.

The room was well lit by the chandeliers overhead. The stained glass windows lining the walls depicted scenes of battle and triumph for the ponyfolk. She smiled a bit when she recognized her pony friends in several. One specifically caught her eye and she stopped before it. Fluttershy noticed this and broke away from the others to stand with Jen. “That was when we had to face Discord…it was probably scarier than Nightmare Moon!” Her voice almost rose to normal levels at the proclamation and she blinked in embarrassment. “Sorry…I get a little worked up thinking about it.”

Jen nodded, just looking at the strange creature transfixed in the rainbow emitted by the ponies in the window. She remembered Pennie telling stories about HIM too. Realizing that the terrifying creatures these six little ponies faced were more than just the fanciful stories from an energetic baby sitter somehow made it all a bit more intimidating. Sure the ponies have beaten everything thrown at them…but it seemed there was always another monster waiting in the wings. She was about to hurry to catch up to everyone before she whipped around to look at the mural of Discord again.

“…I swear he just winked at me.”

Fluttershy had caught up to her friends and bowed before the throne of the royal sisters with the rest of them. Both Princesses were in attendance; however Celestia was not looking her best. She had circles under her eyes and her mane wasn’t flowing quite as freely as usual.

Luna seemed unaffected by whatever was troubling her elder sister, and she surprised them all by speaking first. “We are glad you brought this problem to our attention as swiftly as you did Twilight Sparkle. The presence of a human being in Equestrian is cause for grave concern.”

Twilight frowned and dared to interrupt, moving her concerned gaze from the exhausted looking Celestia who barely managed a faint nod and smile toward her most prized student. “I gathered as much from your reply princess, but why? I mean obviously she stands out even more than a zebra around us ponyfolk, but once they get to know her I’m sure there’ll be no problem at all.”

Celestia lifted her head, even her voice sounded tired…her usual gentle tones just sounded weary. “It’s not her demeanor that’s the problem rather that she comes from a world with no magic. Recall your own didn’t work when you visited her realm. However everypony in Equestria possessed some small amount of magic. Even the creatures and plant life. The portal that brought her here basically broke down what made her…HER…and remade her suited to life in Equestria.”

By this point Jen had grown tired of the antics of the dancing image in the window. It seemed odd to enchant something so serious to act so silly but hey…maybe these princesses were more like Pinkie then Twilight in seriousness. She found herself a bit awestruck at the sight of the royal sisters both of whom exuded an aura of strength and serenity. Though the smaller Princess, it had to be Luna, looked a good deal more impressive than the larger. She gave an awkward curtsy. “It’s um…a pleasure to meet you your majesties.”

Both alicorn mares inclined their head in a greeting. Luna’s horn shimmed softly as the silk handkerchief lifted from Jen’s back pocket and floated to rest beside her. “It’s a pleasure to see you again Jennifer, though I hope our conversation will end better this time than the last.”

Now every eye was turned toward the teen as she blushed in embarrassment and looked down. “Y…yeah I’m really sorry for ah…shoving you down.” This brought a cascade of gasps from the six non-royal ponies. “It was kinda a shocker is all.”

Luna simply smiled and waved it away. “I understand. I am told I am somewhat lacking in social graces from time to time.” She and Twilight shared a brief smile at that. “Would you please approach us? We wish to get a clearer look at you.”

Jen swallowed the lump in her throat and approached the sisters. Celestia drew herself up more fully though it was clear the effort was taxing. Her own horn shimmed with a gentle golden aura, which moved and enveloped Jennifer. “How very interesting. Your horn is identical to any unicorns, and like theirs is tied to your special talent. Has it done anything?”

Glancing back and forth between the two princesses (who suddenly seemed a lot bigger and more imposing up close) she only nodded. “Yeah I think so. When I first arrived I was lost and wanted to find some help. I sorta felt this…gentle tug from my head…well my horn it must’ve been. It led me right to Ponyville.”

The Princess of the night nodded slowly, her own magical aura mingling with her sisters in examination of Jennifer. “You are perhaps fond of exploration Jennifer?” At her nod the princess continued. “I would guess your horn is capable of leading you in the proper direction to whatever it is you are presently seeking. Quite a useful talent. You’d likely be able to develop other magics in line with your special gift, and of course learn the basics as any unicorn filly would.”

Celestia cleared her throat at this. “I believe that would be a bad idea. The use of her new Equestria given magic could accelerate her condition.”

Eyes widening alarm at this Jen looked between Luna and Celestia. She heard the ponies below her gasp and cry out as well. “Condition? What condition?!”

It was Luna who answered. “Well was it explained that we could only visit your world for a certain amount of time?” At a nod she continued. “Well that is because the longer you are in a foreign realm, the more you will change to adjust to it. If overexposed the change is permanent and you will be unable to traverse between worlds without fatal consequences. Generally this process takes only a few weeks, however my sister and I can use powerful spells to delay this process.”

Everyone seemed to relax at this as Celestia spoke. “I wouldn’t worry too much dear; we’ll have you back home soon enough. Well before anything as drastic as that comes to pass.” This brought a few disappointed awws from the ponies. “I know this isn’t what everypony wanted to hear, but Jennifer simply cannot just leave her life behind anymore then you could leave Equestria Pinkie Pie.”

This brought a few understanding nods, (and one pink hoof scuffing on the floor in a pout). “What surprises me most in all this is how careless you were in not only leading her to, but leaving the portal open sister. It showed very poor judgment.”

Luna’s eyes widened at the sudden chastisement, wings flaring defensively. “I did no such thing! I had no idea she had a hound with which to track my scent. And I most certainly did not leave the portal between our worlds open.” She seemed genuinely hurt now. “I know I do not have a spotless track record but I hoped you thought better of me than this.”

Her elder sister frowned deeply at her words, clearly troubled. “The magic required to open and maintain the portals is immense. Only one of us is capable of this. Or the elements of harmony but I have those safely locked away.” She looked to their human guest. “Jennifer can you tell me anything…” She trailed off when she realized her attention was drawn away from the conversation to the windows. “I know the pictures are lovely dear but we need to focus.”

Jen snapped her attention back to the princesses. “O…oh I’m sorry. Just…the moving pictures are kinda distracting.”

Brows furrowed as the royal sisters exchanged a confused look. “Moving…” Eyes widening in alarm they whirled to the windows….just in time for the image of Discord to step off the window. The two dimensional image warped and filled into a very three dimensional draconequus.

The element bearers (sadly at the moment lacking said elements) were on their hooves in a flash. The royal sisters reared back, wings spread wide and horns glowing dangerously. “Discord! But how?!”

A wide grin split the muzzle of the chimeric villain who stretched his arms over his head and gave an exaggerated groan, as if he was just waking up from a long sleep. “How?” There was a flash as he vanished and reappeared behind Celestia, casually pacing behind her and Luna. “How my dear Princess Celestia? All that delightful chaos unleashed when that charming Queen Chrysalis led her changeling army into Canterlot and you really wonder how I got loose? Last time all it took was a pair of fillies having a little squabble.”

The sisters were constantly turning to keep him in eye sight. But he seemed less interested in them and more interested in the only pair of eyes not widened in horror, but watching with curiosity. “Oh and here she is! I was hoping if I left the door open you’d wander in…and so you did! So tell me my dear how ARE you finding out charming little Equestria?”

She let out a little yelp as a plush arm chair just…appeared and swooped behind her dumping her into it, (despite herself she had to admit it was a pretty excellent chair). She was even more surprised as a can of her favorite lemonade popped into being in one hand, while a matching chair with a seated Discord popped in front of her. Jen opened her mouth once. Then closed it. Then opened it again. She’d heard Pennie’s stories about this guy and knew he was bad news…but he wasn’t doing anything she’d call evil…yes. “Oh uh…it’s…nice?”

This caused him to clap paw and claw together and grin all the wider. “It IS isn’t it!? Fresh air, plenty of space to roam and…explore?” He winked at that. “And all the toys to play with that you can imagine!” He snapped the digits on his paw and there was a bright flash. When it cleared the room was free of living ponies…sitting where the six elements had been and two princesses were small decidedly inanimate toy versions.

Jen gasped in horror and jumped to her feet. “Change them back!” Her horn flashed brightly and let out a powerful pulse of unrefined magic blowing her from the chair across the room with a yelp and shattering the windows and cracking a bit of the stone work.

This only caused a rolling wave of laughter from Discord who seemed unphased, he merely whipped a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. . “Oh my! So fierce! So quick to anger! How delightfully unponylike!" He looked at her slyly lowering his shades enough so she could see his eyes. “You certainly pack quite a wallop in that horn too m’dear.” He clapped merrily, but glanced in irritation at the ramming coming from the door. “Tsk tsk, so rude.” Another snap and the doorway simply vanished…replaced by smooth wall. He returned his attention to the fuming teenager. “While I’m eager to keep our budding friendship on a smooth path I just can’t change them back. Last time I let them run about on their own I wound up turned to stone…again.”

Slowly calming down when she realized just how powerless she was against this creature Jen relaxed her posture gradually…lowering herself back into the chair Discord had provided. She couldn’t help but glance at the plastic pony toys on the ground, but she fought back the tears and kept her face stoic. Something he had said seemed…off. “…friendship?”

Seemingly satisfied that his ‘guest’ had once again calmed down he retook his seat. “Well of course! It’s been so long since I saw someone from home. Why I didn’t even think there WERE portals to and from Earth and Equestria. But when I felt Luna’s presence just disappear I HAD to find out why. And imagine my surprise when I found a portal! Naturally I couldn’t pass through myself…I’ve obviously been here a bit longer than a week, but I knew I could bring someone over to me. And here you are!”

The revelation that this…creature had come from her home…maybe even been human at one time set Jen rocking back on her heels. “You…you’re from Earth? But you’re…uh…” She gestured at his body.

Another laugh from the creature was her reward. “Definitely NOT human?” A quick pop and the Celestia and Luna toys where hovering between the pair. “My good ‘friends’ here wanted an ambassador between our worlds. I of course agreed, eager to make such powerful new allies for my king…I was a court scribe at the time by the way...and the Princesses thought it best in lieu of me soaking up the needed energy to settle naturally into an equestrian form that they accelerate the process.” He leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “It didn’t quite work out like we expected.”

Discord heaved a dramatic sigh and tossed the toys into the pile with the rest, drawing a wince from Jen. “Oh playing with ponies is fun and all, but you can only do that for so many centuries before it grows a little boring.” He clapped again seeming delighted once more. “But now I have YOU. A fellow Earthling to talk with! To come up with all sorts of delightfully chaotic ideas to unleash on Equestria!”

Jen’s eyes narrowed at the revelation of what he had planned for her. She was frantically trying to think of a way to help her friends. Then she blinked. “A game.”

This caught Discord’s ear and he looked from the pile of toys back to the girl. “Pardon?”

A plan was slowly coming into shape in her head. She remembered in the story…even when he clearly had the day won for himself; Discord bet it all on a silly riddle and game. “I propose we play a game. If I win, you change them back…and leave the people…or uh…ponies of Equestria alone.”

A spark of excitement lit in the dracequus’s eyes (literally, she could see sparks coming from them) “Ohhh wonderful! I Just KNEW I made the right decision in bringing you here! Thinking like me already! I LIKE That. I like that very much. But what pray tell do I get if I should win?”

Jennifer nodded as if she expected that. “You get me. I’ll go along with whatever you want to do. I’ll come up with all sorts of stuff to unleash on the land. You’d be pretty amazed, and maybe scared, of what teenagers can think up now.”

Leaping from his seat he clapped and laughed with excitement. “Yes! Yes yes yes! Ohhh how fantastically fun! Why I think I wouldn’t even mind LOSING this time! Hmm…but what shall we do? You proposed the stakes so it falls to ME to propose the game of course.”

Jen swallowed at this…she wasn’t expecting THAT but it wasn’t as if she could argue with what she expected was a near all powerful and likely insane magical being.

Discord had been pacing back and forth for some time, looking between Jen and the pile of toy ponies as he thought. “Aha! Yes this is perfect! And it will be fun for YOU too I believe.” He spread his forelimbs apart and there appeared moving images between them. Jen tilted her head at what appeared to be her six friends, though dressed rather oddly and segregated firmly by their race. “Well before Equestria as we know it was founded, the pony tribes weren’t terribly fond of one another, and lived in another land.” The pictures accelerated showing many conflicts, before the six set out separately yet managed to wind up in the same place at the end of their respective journeys. “They eventually came together to found our little land in the spirit of friendship and blah blah BLAH.”

Jen nodded slowly, following everything he was saying so far which seemed to please him even more. “Bright too…ohh…” He hopped from foot to foot in excitement. “So! When the ponies migrated from their homes they left many of their things behind. YOUR task…is to travel to the equestrian’s original homeland…and retrieve an object from each of the tribe’s settlements."

He spread his paw and claw apart and images took shape. An old book, a fierce looking helmet, and a delicate pair of spectacles. “These belonged to very important ponies of the time. Clover the Clever, Commander Hurricane, and Smart Cookie. You have a four week time limit.”

Nodding slowly the girl seemed to consider the challenge put forth. “The Princesses said that I would become a fully acclimated equestrian in one though.”

Waving his paw dismissively, a flash and a pop surrounded Jen. “There you’ll be immune to the outward saturation effect….however…” He grinned deviously. “If you use your own magic you’ll draw in more equestrian energy and accelerate the process all over again.”

This brought an annoyed grunt from her. She was hoping to use her horn to lead her to the ancient pony home. “Alright…but what about you? What will YOU be doing during all this?”

Discord grinned. “Why I’m sure I’ll find SOMEway to entertain myself here in Canterlot while I wait for you.”

Once again her mind was spinning, trying to come up with a way to keep him from bringing misery to the innocent folk outside. She didn’t know them but if they were anything like the other ponies she’d met they didn’t deserve what he’d unleash. “…well if you want to be BORING…”

Eyebrows raised he glared down at her now. “Boring?! Me?! My dear girl I don’t know the meaning of the word…but I suspect you have something in mind? Oh DO tell me I HAVE to know what you’re thinking now!”

A slow nod was her response. “I think we should make it a race. Whoever reaches it first and claims the majority of the three needed items first wins.”

Another hopping clapping laugh and the mighty Discord was looking more spritely and excited than he ever had. “Oh yes! A race! A challenge between you and me? Future master versus future apprentice with the fate of the whole world in the balance! How dramatically exciting!”

Despite the situation the adventurous girl couldn’t hide a smile of her own. “BUT…now I get to make some rules.” She’d remained seated through all of this, and her companion resumed his own seat, eyes glittering with excitement. “First…I want my friends with me. I don’t know a thing about Equestria other then it’s filled with magic talking horses.”

Discord frowned…in thought though not in displeasure as the smile hadn’t left his eyes. “That sounds fair…but I don’t want to run the risk of them getting their hooves on those elements again…you may bring THREE of them with you.”

She nodded slowly. “I suppose that’s fair…then the other condition is we need to be on an even playing field. From what I’ve seen you can pretty much do anything you want whenever you want so…you can’t use your magic…outside of the basic stuff I can do I guess. That’s fair.” She finished with a firm nod.

Now the ancient chimera seemed to need to genuinely consider this rule. “Hm…hm…” He was up and pacing again. “I’ll agree…on the condition that I get to have a team of my own. They’ll be no stronger or more magical then who you choose…agreed?”

Jen stood as well. “Agreed. I’ll bring Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle…and Rainbow Dash.” She held out her hand to shake.

“Aahhh ha ha ha! How delightfully exciting! I haven’t been this excited in oh so long!” He clasped her offered hand with his paw…and there was a flash. When her vision cleared Jen was staring at…another human. Well mostly..he still had that long fang peeking from his lips, and his ears were slightly pointed. Other than that he looked like a distinguished older gentleman dressed in a rather dapper silk suit. “Oh how strange to be human again.” That was when she noticed they had more guests. Discord the human turned to them. “Ah…this is my team!” The first was an icy blue unicorn with a silver mane wearing a conical wizards hat and purple cape both decorated with many stars and moons. “This is the Great and Powerful Trixie.”

The unicorn gave a haughty nod toward Discord and Jen…and frowned in the waking Twilight Sparkles direction before he motioned to a teal Pegasus mare with an orange and yellow mane. “Lightning Dust…one of the best fliers in Equestria.”

Lightning Dust just snorted and glared at the groggy Rainbow Dash. “THE best flier in Equestria.” Discord merely chuckled and indicated the last, a crotchety looking donkey clearly wearing a black toupee. “And Cranky Doodle Donkey.”

The donkey gave a loud harrumph and a snort. “Let’s just get this nonsense over with so you can give what you promised.”

Discord nodded and looked back to Jennifer. “Well then…” He slid a silver chain from around his neck, at the end was a small jewel roiling and swirling with every color one could imagine. “I’ll leave this with you…to keep me honest hmm? It contains all my power. You COULD access it if you wished…but afterwards it would immediately return to me and YOU will have forfeited.” He placed the necklace in her hands and turned to his team. “Trixie if you’d be so kind as to work a way passed the guards for us?”

She gave a soft snort. “The great and powerful Trixie’s magical might is wasted on such mundane tasks…but for what you promised she will comply.” There was a shimmer of unicorn magic…and all four vanished from sight.

Jen moved to help her disoriented friends but paused when she felt an invisible hand on her shoulder. “Good luck my dear, and may the best team win hm?” And then it was gone.

Almost as soon as she felt him leave, the reappeared throne room doors burst open as a contingent of guards charged in. They took in the scene before them and focused on the startled human.

“Seize her!”

Author's Note

So time for the adventure tag to live up to it's name! This is really the first story I've written in a long time, and definitely the first I ever made public. >_>

Obviously I'm taking some liberties here and there, (Discords origin for one XD) But it's my universe and I <3's me some Discord!

Gotten a fave or two and a watch or two, so obviously a couple folks have been enjoying what I've got so far. So to you guys I say thanks, and hope you like what's to come!

Chapter 5: The Long Road

Chapter 5: A Long Road

Jennifer stumbled away from the advancing royal guard hands raised in a gesture of surrender. “I didn’t do anything!”

The guard took in the scene in the throne room keeping the girl cornered. A pair of unicorns wearing the robes of the royal magi swept the room, rearing in alarm at the toy pony replicas. “These are our princesses…and three of the element bearers. Great chaos magic is laid upon them…only Discord could so easily wield such power. The creature must be a creation of his!”

A collective gasp went up from the assembled guard and crowd of waiting dignitaries at the startling proclamation. The guards roughly tackled the panicked teen to the ground around the time Twilight and the others shook off the residual disorientation of the chaos magic.

“Stop! Stop that this instant!” Twilight gave a bright flash of magical light from her horn drawing the eyes of everypony (and human) in the room. “Get off of her immediately! Discord did enspell us but Jennifer had nothing to do with it!”

Any other pony and they might have questioned her order, but Celestia’s prize student was well known to just about everypony in Canterlot and certainly the guard were familiar with her. Gradually they relented letting Jen get back to her feet with a grunt. The cultured unicorn stallion from the waiting room trotted forward and cleared his throat.

“Miss Sparkle, you can confirm without doubt that Discord is once again free and has reduced our beloved Princesses to…” He waved a hoof toward the small toy replicas, which Twilight was in the process of gripping with her magic and gently moving them to rest in the throne of the sun. “To those child’s playthings?”

At a sad nod from the purple unicorn and the room sprang into action. The guard immediately prepared to mobilize and hunt the draconequus down. The assembled noble ponies looked more ready to panic than add anything constructive to the situation. Only the unicorn stallion and the mare hanging off him seemed to be collected.

“Well I say this IS a sticky situation isn’t it? Is there anything we can do to assist? I assume you have a plan in motion already but well…this IS an emergency and all.” Even in the face of such dire straits he maintained his cool air of sophistication.

Twilight on the other hand did not seem to be handling the situation well at all. Hairs out of place on her mane, eyes wide and sides heaving as she sucked in deep gasps of air. “Plan? No we don’t have a plan! The princesses are helpless! And without Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy we can’t use the elements of harmony to seal him again! We’re doomed!”

Even the eternally optimistic Pinkie Pie couldn’t seem to come up with anything to bring some cheer back to the room. Rainbow Dash was zipping about the guards’ heads looking ready to charge off with them. Before Twilight could pass out from hyperventilation Jen cleared her throat.

“Um…I challenged him to a race. We have to get to the old pony homeland before he does and get some stuff from each of the pony tribe’s homes…then uh…he’ll undo everything and leave equestrian alone forever…” She finished lamely looking down at her shoes.

There was a sudden silence in the room before with a steak of color Rainbow was flapping right in Jen’s face. “Well why didn’tcha say so before?! What’re we doin standin around for we gotta race ta win!”

Pinkie seemed to bounce back just as quickly, hopping circles around the pair. “Woo hoo way to go Jenny-bean! We’ll beat that old sour puss in a race easy peasy!”

The good cheer vanished as quickly as it arrived when Twilight next spoke. “This is hardly good news! First of all no one knows precisely where the ancient homelands are! Second who’s to say Discord is going to keep his word? He’s the embodiment of chaos!”

Everyone shuffled from hoof to hoof…or foot to foot…digesting this bit of unfortunate news. Jen spoke first. “Well…” She relayed the conversation…the rules for the challenge, and the shimmering necklace containing his power he gave her to keep.

Rainbow was the next to chime in when the story was finished. “We’re wastin time here! C’mon ponies we gotta race to win! We can’t just stand around doin nothing!”

Twilight still didn’t seem to be convinced. “Even if all this is true, we have no idea where the old homelands are…perhaps some research in the Canterlot library?”

This brought an exasperated sigh from the pink party pony, who trotted over and with a hop skip and a jump she leapt eye level with Jen and tapped her on the horn (causing the poor girl to go cross eyed a moment). “We don’t need a map! Remember what Princess Celestia said? Jenny-beans magic is about findin stuff she wants to find! So if she wants to find the place well…?” She shrugged.

Twilight’s eyes widened and she facehoof’d. “Of course! Jennifer can lead us with her magic! Let’s get moving girls! We’ll stop by Ponyville first and get our supplies together. I need to tell Spike what’s happening too…” She frowned at the miniature figurines. “Oh but what about them?”

Finally the unicorn gentlestallion cleared his throat. “If you don’t object Miss Sparkle I would be honored to take them into my care while you and your friends set out on this urgent quest. I’ll have a message sent to Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor informing them of the situation as well. With our own Princesses out of commission it will fall to her to see to the sun and the moon in the interim yes?”

Giving him a relieved and very grateful smile Twilight nodded. “Yes thank you very much Fancy Pants. I know you’ll take exceptional care of them.” She turned to the other two ponies and waiting human. “Alright girls…Rainbow can pull the chariot home. I know it’ll be a lot of strain for you but we have to go as quick as can be.”

This just brought a grin to the face of the cyan Pegasus. “Ha! You want speed? You’re gonna get speed!”

Hurrying from the throne room the girls could hear Fancy Pants working to get the situation under control. There was chaotic activity everywhere they turned as the guard hurried to mobilize. Some to begin the hunt for Discord, others to return to their normal duties as best they can. They met no resistance from the disorganized pegasi working in the (stables?) housing the chariots as they settled the harness around Rainbow Dash. Once the non-fliers were aboard Rainbow broke into a gallop…a few powerful flaps of her wings and they were airborne, albeit unsteadily.

Pinkie didn’t seem to mind the turbulence at all, but the other two looked a little less sure. Despite her daredevil actions earlier Jen seemed a bit less interested in diving from the chariot with Dash so occupied.

“Are you sure you can handle this Rainbow?” Twilight had to shout to be heard over the rushing wind.

It was clear even the short amount of time they’d been in the air was taking a toll on the young flyer, but she gritted her teeth against the strain. “Of course I’m sure! Who’re you talkin to?”

The trio settled into the chariot again trusting in Dash to see them to their destination safely. Pinkie seemed bursting with excitement while Jen was staring cross eyed at her horn, seeming to be focusing. Twilight frowned. “Remember what the princess said Jennifer? The more you use your magic the faster you’ll change into a native equestrian. I think it best if we used your locating trick sparingly. We only need it now and again to make sure we’re headed in the right direction after all.”

Jen blinked, eyes losing the far off look they’d acquired and focusing on the concerned unicorn. “Oh jeez that’s a good point…I didn’t even think of that.” She rubbed at her forehead again, fingers dancing along the still unfamiliar horn.

This brought a giggle from the pink earth pony. “Aww it wouldn’t be so bad! I betcha’d be a great pony Jenny-bean!”

Jen could only smile faintly at the intended compliment…but she couldn’t keep from looking at the dwindling Canterlot. Thoughts stuck on the friends left behind. Her hand went to her necklace she now wore, fingers playing upon the surface of the roiling gem.

Just one use would be enough to wish Discord out of reality…then the power would be mine.

She blinked and jerked her hand down with a scowl. ‘Where had THAT come from?’ Neither Pinkie nor Twilight seemed to notice her sudden discomfort and she felt no reason to draw attention to the errand thought. She brushed it aside and stood looking out at the ground rushing beneath them again.

The actions of the evening seemed to have dimmed even Pinkie’s spirits, and the group was quiet until Ponyville came into sight. Rainbow brought the chariot to a (mostly) smooth landing, and everyone climbed out. Jen helped unhitch Rainbow who immediately stretched her wings and gave a great yawn.

That seemed to set off a chain reaction as everyone realized just how late it was. Twilight cleared her throat. “Alright girls…I know we’re all eager to get going but I think we should take tonight to get some rest then leave first thing in the morning. After all Discord and his group will need to rest as well.”

Rainbow Dash seemed to want to protest but she shut her mouth as all that escaped was another yawn. “Ugh…fine…we’ll meet back here and leave first thing in the morning!” She flew off toward her home.

Twilight nodded to Jen and Pinkie. “I think it best if Jennifer stays in the library with me and Spike. I don’t want to answer all the questions everypony would have about her right now if she was seen wandering the streets.”

Pinkie seemed a little disappointed…no doubt she’d planned to be up all night enjoying the impromptu slumber party with her recently reunited friend…the other reason Twilight wanted the human in her library. “Alright girls! I’ll make sure we have plenty to eat and see ya both bright and early!” She turned springing back toward Sugarcube.

This left Jen and Twilight to head into the library. Spike was curled up on the couch with Isabelle, the dog gave a little wag of her tail at the sight of her master’s return…but soon enough she was sleeping again. Twilight lead Jen upstairs to her own room, speaking once the door was closed. The room was soon lit from the purple light of her horn. “I know it’s a little cramped for you but you can use the spare bed there.”

The teen glanced at the bed…which her legs would surely be hanging over with only a faint sight. “It’s alright. I didn’t realize how tired I was, I think I could sleep on anything right now.” She gave a faint chuckle, tugging off her shoes and socks and collapsing into the bed. “…I’m really sorry about the princesses…and the others…”

Twilight only gave a slight nod as she climbed into her own bed. “Well it sounds like it’s a good thing you were here anyhow. I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t there to reason with Discord.” She looked to her guest as her horn began to dim. “It really IS good to see you again. I’m sorry if I gave any other impressions…the girls tell me I get a little high strung.”

Clearly remembering how stressed Twilight as Tina could get over any little thing this didn’t come as a surprise to Jennifer. “It’s alright; it was kinda a weird situation for everyone.” She settled her head on the little pillow and curled her legs up over the bed.

Letting the magic from her horn fade, the room was soon bathed only in the light of the moon shining through the window. “Good night Jennifer.”

Rolling on her side she closed her eyes, trying to ignore her racing mind and find sleep. “G’night Twilight.”

“Goood morning girls!”

Spike’s cheerful morning wakeup call was greeted with two nearly identical groans. The little dragon huffed and grabbed a comforter in each claw, yanking them from the sleepers. “Up and at em! Rainbow Dash is already downstairs and waiting. She filled me in on what happened last night!”

This seemed to bring them to the waking world a little quicker and both were soon up and giving great yawns. Spike couldn’t hide a snicker at the near identical bedhead the girls were sporting.

Jen seemed to be waking quicker however and was on her feet chewing her lip. “Hey uh…bathroom?”

Spike blinked and chuckled again. “Right down the hall, can’t miss it!”

She zipped from the room and frowned at the way too low toilet…but made do as best she could. She instinctively went to the sink to wash her hands, then stopped at her reflection. It was the first time she’d actually seen herself since coming here. She knew there were changes…she could tell just from what she could see of herself without the mirror. The girl looking back was clearly still her…just…different.

Her eyes were the biggest change. They were the same dark green color they’d always been…only now her facial structure more closely resembled the natives. Huge eyes, smaller nose and mouth. She spent a little while just making face in the mirror. If she really tried she could stretch her lips open pretty far…but snapped them shut at the sight of the familiar braces. “Happy magical world…and still got braces.” Her eyes of course were drawn to the horn peeking from her hairline. She turned left and right getting a good look at it. “…huh…doesn’t look so bad I guess…kinda neat even…”

There was a crash as the front door burst open and Pinkie’s unmistakable voice drifted upstairs. “Time’s a wastin! Get that bacon shakin and let’s get goin!”

She couldn’t hide a smile as she tore her gaze from her own reflection and grabbed her footwear from beside the bed. Making her way downstairs she saw Pinkie and Rainbow, a pair of saddle bags across their backs. Spike was busy packing a still sleepy looking Twilights…the poor unicorn having stumbled over her still sleeping dog which brought a little smirk to the girls face.

Pinkie bounded to her side as she leaned on the table to tug on socks and shoes. “How was your very first night sleeping in Equestria Jenny-bean? Great I hope!”

She offered her friend a smile and a nod. “Yeah I slept surprisingly well all things considered…” She knelt to retie her laces. Rainbow cantered over as Pinkie bound into the kitchen to ‘help’ Spike with some last minute preparations.

“Y’know I love Pinkie Pie and all…but I gotta wonder if maybe y’know…Applejack or even Rarity mighta been a better choice? I mean I get me and Twilight but Pinkie’s kinda…” She waved a hoof searching for the right word.

“Frivolous? Hyper? Silly? Maybe she is but…” Jen looked over her shoulder watching Pinkie’s antics. She was teasing a smile from the downcast and sleepy Twilight…which caused her to smile a little as well. “I know Applejack is probably stronger and tougher…and Rarity has her magic but Penelope was my first REAL Friend. I couldn’t just leave her like…that. I know it’s selfish.”

She earned a hoof punch to the shoulder from the Pegasus. “I understand. And that makes alotta sense now that I think about it. You guys were always really close…you used to follow her everywhere like a puppy hehe.”

Jen gave a huff and straightened back up. She got her canteen from her pack and refilled it with fresh water before slinging the large backpack over her shoulder and heading into the kitchen with the others. “Any uh…non-pony food around?” She wrinkled her nose at the sight of Twilight wolfing down a daisy sandwich for breakfast.

Pinkie of course offered a small platter of cupcakes…but the idea of having so much sugar first thing in the morning made Jen’s stomach turn a little. Spike, seeing the look grabbed a couple pieces of bread searing them with his fire. A little apple jam and he handed the toast to a grateful Jennifer.

“Thanks Spike…I like cupcakes as much as the next person but…not first thing in the morning.” She crunched into her breakfast as the little dragon nodded sympathetically.

“Tell me about it sister. Try growing up with nothing but pony food to eat. Hay fries are alright but the grass and flowers…no thank you.” He shivered. “I’ll take a nice big ruby or emerald any day.”

This merely caused Jen to raise an eyebrow. She idly wondered if Twilight was some kind of genius billionaire to be feeding her assistant priceless gemstones…but was more concerned with eating and getting on the road then pony financial statuses. She paused to give her still sleeping dog a fond pat on the side before stepping outside with the others.

It was still early and the town was only just beginning to stir to wakefulness which Twilight seemed to approve of. “Let’s get moving girls, the fewer ponies who see Jennifer the better. We can introduce you around town when we’re not on a mission to save it.”

This suited Jen just fine. As happy as she was to be reunited with old friends she still wasn’t terribly fond of the whole ‘meeting new people’ thing. The others seemed to be watching her expectantly and it took a moment for it to click. “Oh! Oh right I’m the uh…compass huh?” She chuckled nervously and frowned up at her horn. “Ok I can do this…uh...we want to find where the ponies came from?”

There was a noticeable tingle this time running through her body. It worked its way up from her feet to settle and focus around her horn. A pale green aura suffused it…then it suddenly felt like her head was being pulled in every direction. She snapped off the effort with a yelp, rubbing her head gingerly.

Twilight tsk tsk’d in a manner reminiscent of one of her teachers. “Magic needs more focus than that Jennifer. It likely tried to lead you to…to any mare that’s had a foal or any city we migrated from. Try being more specific. We’re looking for the land we migrated from before coming to Equestria.”

The girl frowned and closed her eyes. Narrowing her thoughts on the one specific place. She felt the tingles rising again, spreading from toe to horn and focusing once more. This time there was a very faint, but insistent tug angling her to the north and west. “…it’s faint but it’s that way. I think it must be really far…when I was lead to you guys the pull was a lot stronger.”

A nod from the purple unicorn, as if she expected this. “The story says they had to travel a great distance to reach what is now known as Equestria.” She had her ‘talking to the class’ voice going again.

Rainbow was already zipping in the direction indicated. “Well we’re not gonna beat Discord and his team of jerks by standin here talkin about it! Let’s get a move on!”

The others hurried to catch up, settling into a brisk but comfortable pace. The ponies at an easy canter, one which Jen with her longer legs could match without difficulty. The group made it out of the sleepy town without incident…the only ones usually awake so early were the farmers on the outskirts of town and they were too busy to do more than offer a curious stare at the spectacle Jennifer created.

Pinkie paused in her bouncing to look over at Twilight, a slight frown on her face. “Y’know what’s been buggin me? Trixie and Lightning Dust I get. They’re meanies and all…but why would Cranky work with Discord? He’s our friend after all!”
“Well remember how Jennifer described him?” Twilight began. “A donkey clearly wearing a bad BLACK toupee…black Pinkie. You ruined his black one and got him the lovely blonde one from Rarity. I believe it likely that the Cranky Discord recruited is from the past BEFORE you became friends. Also remember what he said about ‘getting what they were promised’? Well I suspect Discord promised to reunite him with Matilda just like you did.”

This caused Pinkie’s ears to splay with a touch of sadness. “So that Cranky still hasn’t found Matilda? That’s so sad! No wonder he’s so cranky!”

The other three rolled their eyes as they continued their trek. It wasn’t long before the outlying farms of Ponyville were behind them. Jen felt it building up again. The thrill of the unknown. Here she was in a whole new world, setting out on a quest…a QUEST quest like in an old book or something, to defeat the bad guy and save the kingdom. It definitely wasn’t the kind of adventure she could find back home. Not to mention the company.

She wasn’t even aware she was smiling until the bounding Pinkie Pie caught sight of it. “Well at least SOMEone’s got the right spirit! You two need to cheer up. We’ll beat Discord and save the day just like we always do!” It was hard to have a negative attitude when she was around, there was no denying that.

“Hmph! Of course we’ll beat him Pinkie. We did it before and we’ll do it again!” Dash had fallen back to keep pace with her frustratingly slower friends.

Twilight was the only one who seemed unconvinced. “I know we have a good track record so far, but we don’t have the elements now. What if Discord doesn’t keep his word? Not to mention the more we rely on Jennifer’s magic the closer she comes to being trapped in Equestria.”

The group once more settled into an uncomfortable quiet as they walked along. Every now and again Jen’s horn would glimmer as she checked the ‘directions’…still unerringly leading them to the northwest.

The sun was well on its way beyond the horizon before Twilight called for everyone to stop. The weary troupe collapsed where they stood having walked all day. Jen certainly seemed the worst off. The strain of exercising her new magical muscle and a full day of walking took a toll. Certainly the others were tired as well…but they seemed to have a good deal more stamina then she, particularly Pinkie. Everyone dug into their bags for something to eat, as Twilight levitated some fallen wood into a pile sparking a fire with her horn. While the other three ate she unrolled a map from her saddlebag and set to studying it.

Rainbow eventually hopped up and dropped next to Twilight running her eyes over the map as well. “There’s gotta be a better way than just walking all the way. I mean I’d be fine but you guys look ready to drop.” The boastful Pegasus really didn’t look much better than her companions.

Twilight surprised her with a nod. “Yes I agree. At first I was concerned about the destination. We have such an unreliable method of navigation.” This earned an indignant ‘hey!’ from said source of navigation. “But it seems we’re heading steadily northwest. The land between here and the Crystal Mountains is well documented so I doubt our goal is anywhere before them. We’re very near the train tracks, and the map shows a small town only a few miles from here. We should be able to make it tomorrow morning. We can catch a train to take us a good deal closer to the mountains, and a lot quicker than if we walked.”

She rolled up the map when she finished speaking, tucking it back away. “That said I think we should all settle in for some sleep. Since we had any sunlight today it’s safe to say Fancy Pants,” (the mention of his name got a snerk from Jen and a reproving throat clear from Twilight) “Got in contact with Princess Cadence and she’s successfully taken over Celestia and Luna’s duties. So that’s ONE thing we don’t have to worry about.”

Everyone lay about the little campsite preparing to sleep. Shivering a little in the cold night air Jen found herself thinking it wouldn’t be so bad if she suddenly sprouted the coat of fur that seemed to keep her companions from feeling the chill. Pinkie must have noticed the shiver going through her as she trotted over and plopped on the ground, thudding her side against Jen’s chest and causing the girl to grunt a bit.

“You looked chilly Jenny-bean, thought I’d come warm you up!” She somehow managed to imply her normal cheery shout while simultaneously whispering to not disturb the other two.

Jen just smiled and did her best to get comfortable with her pack as a pillow. She was used to camping out but generally with a tent and sleeping bag. It hadn’t occurred to her that the ponies wouldn’t be bothered by lacking such things. “Thanks Pinkie.”

The pair were quiet for a few moments, before the little pony peeked up to see Jen was still awake, eyes cast up at the night sky. “I forgot how much you loved night time Jenny…I think you and Princess Luna are gonna be good friends.”

Jen only nodded faintly, distracted by a night sky completely clear of artificial light, pollution, and clouds. She’d never seen so many stars. Her mind flipped through all the constellations known to her and it wasn’t long before she realized she could find none of them. It was a little scary…realizing just how very foreign and alien a world she was on. Funny how something like the stars seemed to be freakier then the talking Technicolor ponies she was surrounded by. But at the same time…it was a whole new sky to learn about. Just another mystery waiting for her to unlock it.

Despite the unpleasantness of the situation…she was soon drifting to a deeper, more content sleep than she had known in a long time.

Author's Note

To the folks who faved and are still readin this, thanks! Glad you're enjoying it.

Chapter 6: Throw Down on The Friendship Express

Chapter 6: Throw down on The Friendship Express

Jen gave a little grunt of displeasure as the first rays of the rising sun seemed to lance right across the horizon and pound against her closed eyes. Squinting them closed and squeezing the warm fuzzy body pressed in against her chest tighter, (and wondering why Isabelle was being so affectionate this morning) she rolled over to put the sun at her back. This of course elicited a very un-beagle like yelp from said warm fuzzy body…forcing Jen’s eyes open to look down at a somewhat disgruntled Pinkie Pie clutched in her arms.

With a sheepish grin she relaxed the grip and slowly sat up. “Sorry Pinkie…my dog does that sometimes…kinda forgot where I was for a minute.”

This only caused the usual smile to find itself on the pink pony’s muzzle. “Not to worry Jenny-bean! Best way to wake up is with a hug and a smile from a friend.” She shook herself out (very much like a dog Jen thought with a smirk) and her mane and tail resumed their normal fluffed look.

Jen was soon on her feet herself, stretching out the kinks left behind from sleeping on the less the soft ground. She looked at the other members of their party…both doing their best to ignore the noise she and Pinkie were making.
Pinkie was having none of this naturally. Her human friend watched in amusement as she crept up on the unsuspecting Rainbow Dash…before pouncing and tickling her fiercely around her ribs. The poor Pegasus let out a yelp and rocketed off the ground, gasping for breath. “I’m up! I’m up!”

The ‘sleeping’ unicorn wisely chose to abandon the pretense of sleep and hop to her hooves before Pinkie could launch a tickle attack her way. “Yes we’re all up.” Her horn sparked to life as a neatly packaged sandwich floated from her saddle bag to her waiting mouth.

Tilting her head a bit and observing Twilight eating her breakfast with her magic…then looking at Pinkie and Rainbow eating in a more mundane fashion she shifted her glance from Twilight’s glowing horn to the one on her forehead. “Think I can do that…move stuff with my magic?”

Her unicorn companion gave a nod swallowing a bite of her meal. Pinkie and Dash looked away and began to pack up…both recognizing Twilight’s ‘lecture face’…a face Jen was beginning to recognize as well. “Of course. Telekinesis is one of the most basic uses of unicorn magic. It’s one of the first things we learn to do as foals. It’s really simple…the easiest way to describe it would be imagining you’re lifting something with your hoof…or well…hand in your case…only it’s an invisible imaginary hand.” She finished with another bite.

This caused the girls eyes to go from Twilight’s glowing horn to the pack where the jam sandwiches Spike packed for her waited. Biting down on her lower lip in concentration she reached deep inside herself…willing up the feeling she felt when she used her locator trick. Twilight seemed to busy eating to pay much attention to her antics…Pinkie and Rainbow were just enjoying the faces she was making. Slowly but surely the green aura suffused her horn, causing her hair to push away from it as if in a gentle breeze. Pinkie was bouncing from hoof to hoof watching something bounce inside the pack…before the sandwich rocketed into the air and out of sight with a brilliant green flash of light. The ponies were sent sprawling on their hind ends, Jen wound up flat on her back letting out the breath she’d been holding.

Twilight was the first to recover…on her hooves and looking less than happy. “Jennifer that’s very dangerous! Magic needs to be studied and developed in a controlled…quiet…stress free environment! You could have…made your pack explode or something! Not to mention unnecessary use of your magic will speed up your change.” She began to pace now…moving into full lecture mode. “You really must be more responsible. That horn isn’t a toy to be played with and…” Whatever else she was going to say was interrupted by a loud SPLAT…the apple jam sandwich previously hurled into the air coming to land solidly on her head.

There was a long silence as the group stared for a moment. A silence broken by Rainbow’s guffaws and Pinkie’s hysterical giggling. Jen to her credit held out the longest…lips pursed tightly…but she couldn’t hold it in for long and she was soon laughing too. This just got a loud harrumph! From the poor unicorn, who trotted to a nearby stream to wash out her mane.
Jen’s laughter was interrupted with a pained wince. She slowly got up from the ground with a huff. “Think I landed on a rock or something.” There was an odd twinge on her tail bone.

The earth and Pegasus pony’s laughter died quickly when they looked Jen’s way. This caused her eyes to widen in alarm. “What? What’s wrong?” She started spinning to see over her shoulder and identify the source of the stares…affording the pair and a returning Twilight a very clear view of the newly grown tail sprouting from the waistband of the girl’s jeans. Long enough to almost drag on the ground, the same auburn color of her hair and just a bit of curl and bounce like her hair had as well.

Pinkie gave a little squeak, while Rainbow zipped ahead on the trail to ‘scout ahead’. Twilight of course stomped a hoof in agitation. “This is precisely what the princesses, I, and even DISCORD warned you about!”

A faint little whine was all that escaped her lips as she ran her fingers down to the tail, swishing it about with wide eyes. “This is so much worse than the horn! This thing is huge!”

Twilight was trotting to her side eyeing it critically. “Actually it IS very full bodied. You’re lucky; most fillies would kill for a tail like that.”

The whine continued as she let her new tail drop from her hands, wiggling her backside experimentally. “I just wanted to try to move stuff like you do…it looked cool…”

By now Pinkie had hopped over to give her beleaguered friend a comforting nudge. Twilight let out a long suffering sigh, (one which would mirror Celestia’s when dealing with an over excited Twilight many times) “I understand the allure. Probably better than anyone…but you have to control yourself. Unless you WANT to wind up a pony by the end of the day?”
Wide eyed and vigorously shaking her head Jen’s voice was little more than a soft whisper. “No ma’am.”
The unicorn gave a firm nod. “Good. I trust you can keep yourself under control then. Come on we need to catch up to Rainbow Dash.” She settled her saddlebags across her back and trotted ahead to catch the Pegasus.

Jen was a bit slower to pick up her pack, wincing at the feel of her tail…that was going to take some getting used to…brushing the ground. She straightened to find Pinkie smiling up at her. Not the usual big goofy one, but a warmer more personal smile. “It’ll be okay Jennifer.” (She knew she was being serious if she didn’t call her Jenny-bean) “Really. We’ll get all this nasty stuff done lickety split! The girls and I ARE professional bad guy beaters after all. And the worst case scenario is you end up living here with us. I mean that’s not the end of the world is it?”

The girl only gave a slow nod as a response, and began following after the others. “I suppose not.” Thinking about it there’s now a whole lot she’d miss. She was never very close with her dad…he was always working or watching some game or another. Mom was more interested in her next social function or gossiping about her ‘friends’ behind their backs. DEFINITELY wasn’t going to miss school. No real friends to speak of. She was kinda close with her Uncle but he lived hours away and they didn’t see one another too much. Isabelle was here with her…and it hurt a little to realize her dog was the closest thing she had to a friend back home.

Shifting her gaze to the little pink pony happily bouncing along beside her brought the ghost of a smile back to her lips. No she supposed, it wouldn’t be the end of the world to be stuck here. Though a sudden twitch from the tail at her backside jarred her from the pleasant thoughts. ‘Of course I don’t know that I want to turn into a pony any time soon either…’

For her part Pinkie kept quiet. Despite the impression she could give to the contrary she knew when someone just needed some time to think. And Jen definitely had a big thinking look on her face! Though just because she needed some quiet time didn’t mean she had to be alone to do it. Secretly she couldn’t be happier Jen was here…and the prospect of her staying filled her heart to bursting. Pinkie had said goodbye to friends often enough. Even her own family she hadn’t seen in sometime, but saying goodbye to a friend forever? Nothing had hurt her so much.

The pair soon caught up to Twilight and Dash. The pegasi had slowed her pace a good deal once she realized she was out of sight of the others. She offered Jen a quick grin. “It IS a pretty nice tail y’know? Not as nice as mine of course…but not bad.” She gave her own polychromatic one a quick snap.

Twilight looked about to admonish her but Jen spoke first. “I guess if everyone dyed their hair to imitate a clown we’d all look pretty silly?”

She WOULD make a fine clown. Make her cross-eyed. Maybe a bit dumber. Hilarious.

Jen’s brow furrowed. There it was again…the voice from before that mentioned…killing…Discord. Rainbow was opening…then closing her mouth a couple of times trying to find a proper retort. It was Pinkie who piped up. “Ooooo she burned you good Dashie!” Ending with a squeal of giggles.

The Pegasus just landed with a little hmph. Looking a bit dolefully back at her tail and flipping her mane. “I don’t look like a clown do I?”

“No you don’t look like a clown.” Jen said with the ghost of a smile. “But we don’t gotta hear about how great you are in every other sentence y’know?”

Another huff from their flying friend. “I don’t go on about myself THAT much!” She looked between Pinkie and Twilight…both of whom were doing their best to avoid eye contact. “…do I?”

Hearing the little hint of desperation in her voice Twilight met her searching gaze. “Not all the time…but it can be a bit much. We don’t have to go over the whole Mare-do-Well incident again do we?”

Rainbow gave a mumbled no…and an only slightly less mumbles apology before trotting ahead again. Jen glanced town at Twilight as she once again retrieved the map, levitating it before her eyes. “So what’s the name of the town we’re headed to anyway?”

Tucking the map away in her pack once again Twilight looked up at her. “Detrot. It’s not a very large city, but they produce many of the more important metal works we use all over Equestria. It’s been growing steadily. Certainly not a Manehattan or Fillydelphia just yet…but maybe someday!”

Jen couldn’t resist an eye roll at the constant barrage of city puns. Her tail even gave an annoyed flick…which caused it to snap Twilight across the flanks. Both girls gave startled yelps, Jen smiling sheepishly while Twilight put a little more distance between herself and the offending tail. “Sorry Twilight…it just kinda…does what it wants.”

Not able to keep ALL the annoyance from her voice, but dulling the edge in her tone as much she could Twilight shook her head. “It’s alright…you just need to learn to control it. I’m sure a little practice and you’ll have it down…” Her own tail gave a sharp crack…reminiscent of a snap. “…just like that!”

Pinkie wiggled her own tail back and forth with a bright giggle. “Yeah I can give ya tail lessons while Twilight gives you magic lessons Jenny-bean! And uh…well you don’t have wings but if ya did Rainbow Dash would totally give you flying ones!”
Nodding quietly Jen glanced back to regard the tail swishing across her backside. If she thought hard enough at it she could get it to flick side to side. She always just assumed horse tails were like…hair growing above the rump. She didn’t know there were muscles in it. Wiggling her hips side to side she sent it swaying and snapping in either direction….causing the ponies on either side of her to take a few more steps away. Noticing the effect she was producing on her companions she calmed soon.

The little troupe walked onward. Following the train tracks toward the nearby city. No more than a few hours passed until the first signs came into view. A clearly hoofmade dirt road a little ways from the tracks lead directly to the city. Traffic was picking up as well, many ponies hauling wagons or pulling carts into the city. Of course most of these ponies stopped and stared at the spectacle Jennifer provided. To her credit the normally shy anti-social girl kept her calm and did her best to tune out the stares and whispers.

It got worse as they entered the city itself. The dirt road gave way to cobblestone streets. While it didn’t have quite the same industrialized smell to the air she was used to the city’s back home having…the loud hustle and bustle was all too familiar. Jen had always preferred to keep out of the busier city areas (the little town of Ponyville was just the right size really), and while it may not have been a ‘Manehattan’, Detrot was certainly bigger then she liked.

Ponies of every shape, size, color, and species filled the streets in a press of bodies. She noticed a lot of the foot traffic was held up by folks stopping for a pleasant greeting to one another more often than not…a far cry from the at best, brusque indifference most citizens of big city’s back home showed one another.

Then of course Jen herself was causing a good deal of slowdown as every filly, mare, and stallion stopped to look. Some cast a quick glance while others were outright gawking. One unfortunate Pegasus smacked right into a street sign he was so focused on the unusual creature. Taking a deep breath and forcing down her nerves, she just flipped the hood up on her jacket and pulled it tight, moving quicker down the street and prompting her companions to do the same.

Twilight floated a handful of coins to Rainbow Dash and slide them into her saddlebag. “Rainbow I want you to fly ahead and get our tickets. The faster we’re on the train and out of the public the better I think for Jen…she’s starting to look like me when I have a big test coming up…”

Dash seemed about to comment until she glanced back. Their human friend did seem to be looking paler by the minute, the hairs on her tail getting frazzled as the new appendage twitched back and forth with more frequency. “Uh…sure Twilight, I’ll meet you guys there.” She zipped off leaving just a fading trail of rainbow color in her wake.

Give them something to stare at! That mare would make a fine buffalo! Maybe that filly an elephant! Could swap that gawking couple…the stallion a mare and the mare a stallion! If they want a show I’ll give them a show!

Twilight and Pinkie closed in closer around Jen’s legs, the latter giving her an affectionate bump. “It’s alright Jenny-bean.” She was using the voice she reserved for calming the Cake twins, her voice seemed to have a calming effect on the girl…banishing those unpleasant thoughts. “I forgot how much you don’t like crowds. We’ll be on the nice quiet train in no time and you can relax ok?”

She managed to give Pinkie a hesitant nod and the ghost of a smile. Until seeing how crowded it was she’d actually been looking forward to seeing a proper pony city. While it certainly seemed more pleasant than one back home having literally every pair of eyes focused on her wasn’t an experience she wanted to prolong.

Much to the group’s relief the train station soon came into view, and Jen fairly sprinted ahead to get to the much less populated train platform. She made her way to Rainbow Dash’s side breathing heavily and hunkering down, doing her best to stand out less.

Dash spread a wing and gave her a comforting pat. “Hey ya made it, home free from here. We’ll hop on the train and catch some z’s. No way does dopey Discord and his pack of chumps beat us now.”

Jen gave her a nod and she took another deep breath. “Yeah thanks Rainbow…I dunno what it is just…bein around tons of people always makes me queasy. Then to have them all staring is so much worse.” She shivered as Pinkie and Twilight caught up.

Rainbow Dash handed out the tickets and the group sat to wait for the train. Fortunately it wasn’t a terribly long wait. No more than fifteen minutes passed before the loud. Jen peeked from the safety of her hood to see the train coming in. Merry gouts of fluffy white steam spouted from the smoke stack on the front. The train itself was a cheerful pink and yellow affair.
Once it became clear the odd being in their midst wasn’t about to start breathing fire or attacking the ponies about her, their interest ebbed. Once the train rolled to a stop passengers began to disembark. Some greeting friends and family, others just heading off the platform. Of course any who caught more than a fleeting glimpse of the human in their midst faltered in their canter or stopped to stare. The second an opening looked clear Jen was on her feet and hopping aboard the train, her friends right on her heels.

The conductor’s eyes widened a good deal at the…creature thrusting a ticket at him. He looked from her to the three ponies obviously accompanying her frowning just slightly. “This…creature isn’t dangerous I take it?”

“I might GET dangerous if you keep calling me a creature!” Nerves strained to the breaking point she definitely couldn’t handle being directly insulted.

The poor conductor caught only a brief flash of her sharp canine teeth and the glint of the metal reflected on them and looked ready to faint dead away. Twilight hurriedly cleared her throat. “No our FRIEND is not dangerous in the least sir.” She had the huffy tone she tended to reserve for one of her friends who was out of line. “I think an apology is in order don’t you?” Her ticket was thrust under his nose magically.

Looking from the angry unicorn (an angry unicorn who was somewhat familiar…like he’d seen her in the newspaper), then back to the angry…sharp metal toothed girl glaring down at him he offered the best smile he could. “O…of course I’m very sorry miss. Took me by surprise is all! Of course you’re not a creature ehe…”

This seemed to mollify the moody teen somewhat as she brushed passed him into the train. The others handed in their tickets and were quick to follow. Twilight slowly trotted ahead and lead them to their car for the trip. “Alright girls, I suggest everypony settle in and get some rest. We’re all achy and tired. I’ll see if I can get the snack cart to come by.”
Jen just flopped back on one of the bottom bunks with a heavy sigh not noticing or caring at being included in the ‘everypony’. It was a bit cramped…obviously sized for people much smaller than herself. A pair of bunk beds dominated most of the car. A pair of large windows they could (and did), draw curtains across.

Rainbow Dash claimed one of the top bunks for herself…while Pinkie just bounced up next to Jen. “Feelin better? You’re lookin better!” She giggled cheerily.

Wiggling out of her jacket, Jen gave Pinkie a nod. “Much better now that I don’t have tons of people gawking at me.” Kicking off her sneakers she swung her legs up onto the bed, easily moving around Pinkie (thanks to years of practice with the same maneuver and a dog fond of sleeping in her bed). It took some shifting about to get comfortable with her tail under her, but she managed eventually.

The little pink pony shifted about and flopped on her back so her head was level with Jen’s. She gave her friend a little pat on the arm with a hoof. “You did really good out there y’know? I’m proud of you.”

In the bunk above the pair Dash’s ears perked up curiously. She’d never heard Pinkie be so…serious. Well except the time she went nuts and was having a party with a bunch of inanimate objects, but this was a different kind of serious.
Jennifer just smiled over at Pinkie letting out another slow breath. “Thanks. Kinda crazy how I can face down a big god of chaos…but something like a crowd scares me silly huh?”

Pinkie, struck with sudden inspiration hopped off the bed. “Lemme sing you a little song Granny Pie would sing me when I was scared Jenny-bean!”

This brought an eye roll from Rainbow as she flitted from the bunk to the door, slipping out unnoticed. Now THERE was the Pinkie Pie she knew.

-Twilight-

Twilight was trotting through the now-moving train toward the dining car. The events of the past two days rolling through her head constantly. What would have happened if Jennifer wasn’t here? Would things have turned out different with Discord…or would they all be trapped as literal playthings? Shaking her head to again banish the melancholy threatening to take hold she glanced out the window instead. The setting sun was a pleasant reminder that her sister-in-law was fulfilling her new duties well which was something of a relief.

Slowly she pulled herself from her own thoughts as she reached the dining car. Glancing about curiously at it seeming to be entirely empty. “Well that’s odd…you’d think somepony would at least be here to serve the customers…” Trotting to the counter where the waiter would normally be she peeked over it into the kitchen. “Helloooo~?”

She glanced to the opposite side of the car as the door slid open. About to call out a greeting it was cut short as a pale pink blast of magic ripped from the hall on the other side of the door catching her full in the face. She flailed falling back on her side with a startled yelp. Blinking her eyes rapidly to try to clear them…she found she couldn’t. Her vision was clouded with a magically induced haze.

A familiar voice spoke from the direction of the door. “I…I AM sorry Twilight Sparkle. Believe it or not this brings me no pleasure.” The voice was Trixie’s of course, though she wasn’t referring to herself in the third person. She couldn’t see the ice blue unicorn but she recognized the distinct voice anywhere.

Ears swiveling toward her voice Twilight spun to face her. “Trixie! What did you do to me? Undo this right now!”
She could hear what sounded like genuine shame in Trixie’s voice. “A blinding spell. It will wear off on its own in a few hours.”

Twilight’s ears splayed back in alarm. “A blinding spell? Trixie that’s powerful and dangerous magic! It can have long lasting consequences!”

The other unicorn was frowning. “I know but I have no choice. Our orders are very clear. We are to ensure that you don’t reach our ancestors homeland first. This was the only spell I could think of that wouldn’t do you harm.”
Twilight took a hesitant step toward Trixies voice, some of the anger had left her face and was replaced instead with concern. “Trixie…why are you helping Discord? I thought you’d changed. We may not have parted as friends last time but…but I hoped we’d moved passed this rivalry at least.”

The show mare’s frown deepened. “I bear you no ill will Twilight Sparkle; you simply defended your home and then forgave me for my foolishness afterwards. As tarnished as my reputation was after the Ursa Minor incident…that awfulness with the Alicorn Amulet made it even worse. Not only was I not allowed to perform in any town bigger than Ponyville, but my reputation seems to have spread far and wide. I am not even allowed within many city boundaries.” Twilight could tell without seeing her face the tears were rolling down Trixie’s cheeks. “I loved the attention…I won’t lie. But more than that I loved to perform…I lived for it Twilight.” She gave a rueful chuckle glancing at her cutie mark. “It’s my special talent after all. Can you imagine what that would be like? Not able to do the one thing you love most in the world?”

Almost at a loss for words it took Twilight some time to respond. “I can imagine it’d be one of the most horrible things to happen to a pony. But that doesn’t explain-“

Trixie cut her off. “Discord has promised to wipe my slate clean. Remove the memory of my misdeeds from everypony in Equestria. He defeated the princesses with no effort at all. I have no doubt he can do what he promises for me.”

Twilight was now truly at a loss. She only looked toward her fellow unicorn with sympathy in her unseeing eyes. “I…I see. I wish I had known Trixie…I would have tried to help.” She closed her eyes taking a deep breath. Her horn sparked to life and when her eyes opened again they were surrounded by a new glow. The blindness still in place, though now she was looking unerringly into Trixie’s face. “But there’s more at stake than one ponies happiness.”

-Rainbow Dash-

Rainbow couldn’t keep from chuckling as she cantered from their car toward the caboose. She could hear Pinkie singing about laughing you fears away. “Sometimes it’s like she thinks that kid’s her filly.”

She lazily made her way through the cars to the back. Giving a polite nod to anypony she passed. The train was nice and all and she definitely didn’t mind giving her wings a rest…but it was always better to feel the wind in her mane and feathers. Studiously ignoring the ‘Do Not Open Door’ sign she nudged the caboose door open and stood out on the balcony watching the landscape rush away behind her.

With a playful smile she flicked her wings open and sprang off. At first the train rushed away but a few quick beats of her wings and she was resting atop the train. Wings tucked tight against her flanks the cyan Pegasus sat with her rump planted firmly on the train, a huge grin plastered on her face.

The only warning she got of the impending attack was a faint whoosh of air behind her…then she felt four hooves slam solidly into her back sending her rolling across the train car, limbs flailing wildly. “What the hay?!”

A solid CLOP from the roof of the train behind her heralded the landing of another Pegasus. Rainbow flexed her wings, relieved to find them in working order though she felt a bit dizzy from the waves of pain rolling up her back. She slowly got to her hooves and turned to see Lightning Dust. The teal Pegasus mare sneered down at the slowly recovering Rainbow Dash. “Look at you, pathetic. Only little hit and you can barely stand.”

The sight of the mare that nearly got all her friends killed gave Dash a surge of adrenaline…enough to momentarily ignore the protests her body shouted as she shifted into a more aggressive stance. “Lightning Dust? Jen said Discord brought you on board but I still can’t believe it.”

Lightning gave a derisive snort. “What you didn’t think I’d work for him?”

A spark lit in Dash’s eye as she gave a smirk of her own. “Nah, I didn’t think he’d settle for a wash out like you.”
The other mare’s eyes widened in shock…then rage and with an inarticulate scream she charged. Dash didn’t need prompting and lunged forward in an attack of her own. The pegasi clashed together, wings beating, hooves flailing and teeth gnashing. Rolling across the roof of the train the pair fought with a viciousness one wouldn’t expect from such innocent looking creatures.

Lightning slammed Dash hard against the roof, fore hooves crashing into her chest just under her forelegs. With a strangled cry mixed with rage and pain Rainbow Dash brought her hind legs up and bucked Lightning Dust in the stomach with as much force as she could muster. With a grunt she took to the air, the wind barely knocked out of her and showing little damage from the hit.

Dash wasn’t as lucky. The initial surprise attack sapped much of her strength and Lightning Dust was rapidly gaining the upper hand. Rolling to get her hooves under her she experienced another wave of pain, intense enough her eyes lost focus and she swayed on her hooves. She barely registered the loud thump as her opponent landed in front of her again.
“This is why YOU were the wing pony Rainbow Dash. You’re a loser.” Dash looked to be gathering her wits to offer a retort. Slowly lifting her head to face Lightning Dust. Instead she was facing the other mares’ hind hooves crashing against her face.

-Jen and Pinkie Pie-

Peals of shared laughter rolled from the train car and spread to the cars on either side of it no less. Once again Pinkie was up on the bed with Jennifer, though they were sitting side by side now. “You should join in next time Jenny-bean! Nothing helps chase away bad feelings then a good song!”

Jen just shook her head still grinning widely. “How’m I supposed to join in a song you make up on the spot.”
Pinkie furrowed her brow and tilted her head. “What d’you mean? Everypony can do it.”

This caused her smile to fade a bit as the human blinked a little. “…do it? Like…all you ponies can just make up music on the spot, and all the rest just…know how to sing it?”

Her pink friend bobbed her head in a nod. “Well of course. Not just sing but dance too! …you didn’t feel the music when I was singing?”

Now the smile was gone completely, replaced with a look of confusion. “Feel the music?”

Both girls looked up as their door slide open. Though it wasn’t Twilight or Rainbow Dash returning…but rather another human…Discord to be precise, in human form. Still wearing the fine burgundy silk suit and wearing the same slightly unsettling smile he seemed to be so fond of. “Well of course my dear. All the happy little ponies of Equestria are linked by an unseeable force!” He chuckled to himself. “And the force is strong with this one.” Nodding toward Pinkie…who looked confused, Jen just looked unamused.

“What are you doing here Discord?” Now she was standing off the bunk, hands on her hips.

The draconequus turned human gave an indignant huff. “Oh come now that was a good one! For YOUR benefit no less, obviously Pinkie Pie wouldn’t get it!”

Pinkie was off the bunk now too standing between Jennifer and Discord protectively. This seemed to amuse him even more. “Unless you’re here to throw in the towel just move along mister!”

Throwing a hand to his breast as if her words were inflicting physical wounds Discord gasped. “Why Pinkie Pie! And here I thought you were all about making friends with EVERYpony! Am I not included?”

This seemed to give the little pink mare pause and her ears lowered a bit. “Well sure but…you’re not very nice. You hurt our friends and the Princesses! They must be really scared! Why don’t you just change them all back and we can call this whole silly race off! I’ll even throw you the best party you’ve ever seen!” She ended with a smile.

Now he was clutching his stomach, bellowing great guffaws of laughter. “Oh Pinkie Pie you are always a delight! What do you think Jennifer hmm? Should I call it all off? Put things back the way they were and let your pony friends show me the magic of friendship?”

Pinkie looked up at Jen hopefully. Throughout their exchange Jennifer had said nothing. Just watching the pair. “Do I think you SHOULD…absolutely. Do I think you’re going to? No.”

As the pony’s expression shifted from hope to sad…Discord affected the wounded look again. “Do you really think so little of me my dear?”

The other human in the room shook her head a bit. “I just know a bully when I see one is all. And you’re definitely the big kid on the playground pushing around the smaller ones.”

Now the amusement fled his eyes, a look of anger contorting his features. “No young lady I am in fact NOT a bully. The bully is the Pegasus putting that brutal pounding to your little rainbow friend on the roof above us.” As if to lend evidence to his words a loud WHUMP and muffled cry could barely be heard above them.

Jen’s eyes widened and Pinkie let out a little gasp, jetting out of the room around Discord…who made no move to stop her. He simply shrugged and slide the door shut behind him walking fully into the room. “Well…now that we’re alone.” He seated himself comfortably on the bed Jennifer was occupying a moment ago. “Have you heard it yet?”

Torn between her friends being in trouble and a niggling curiosity she paused in her move for the door, turning back to Discord. “…heard what?”

Discord chuckled softly and nodded his head toward the jewel around her neck. “The ‘other’ you. The one it’s trying to bring out.”

Her mouth fell open in shock at the revelation. The voice she’d been hearing…the one urging her to do…those things to Dash, the crowd, even to Discord himself. “That’s…that’s where it came from? So it wasn’t ME thinking those awful things?”
This seemed to draw more mirth from her fellow human. He laughed a good while before collecting himself. “Oh no…it’s you. It’s very MUCH you. Just a part of you you keep suppressed. The one that urges us to spontaneously get a tattoo or a rebellious piercing. The part of us that wants to rebel against our parents or run away from home.” The unpleasant smile returned to his face. “The part of us that revels in…chaos.” He drew the last word out long and slow.

Looking down at her feet her hand moved to the necklace, holding it gently in her palm. It was making her think horrible things…but she couldn’t just give it back. Her friends were depending on her. She was only dimly aware of Discord sliding her pack across her back, and slinging the ponies’ saddle bags over her shoulder. “Now now m’dear don’t fret. You seem a strong willed sort. I’m certain you can resist such paltry temptations hmm?”

She allowed herself to be walked through the train. Too caught up in her own thoughts to pay much attention to her surroundings. It wasn’t until she heard the door of the caboose slide open that she looked up questioning. Discord gave a little shrug. “I hope the landing isn’t too rough.” Then with a hard shove…he pushed her over the rail of the moving train.

-Twilight Sparkle-

The crackling sound of unleashed magic filled the air of the dining car as Twilight and Trixie faced off. Trixie may be a powerful unicorn with a talent for magic like Twilight’s own, but she wasn’t trained by Princess Celestia. She certainly hadn’t spent years with her nose in every book of spells she could come by. All in all…she was losing.

Magenta and pink beams of pure eldritch energy met between the two mares. Twilight’s face locked in a grimace of concentration, Trixies beginning to look desperate and panicked. “How…how can you see?”

With a shout of triumph Twilight’s magic overtook Trixie’s and slammed directly into her horn. The struck unicorn gave a keening wail and fell back body contorted with pain and breathing heavily. Twilight slowly approached looking down sadly. “I can’t see like normal. I’m still very much blinded by your spell. But I can see magic. And your horn is shining like the sun Trixie.”

She could see the bright point of light that was Trixie’s horn struggling to rise…though the magical feedback fed directly into her horn was unimaginably painful. She heard another pair of hooves enter the room behind her and turned toward them but stopped cold when she heard the voice.

"Then you probly won’t see this coming.” It was deep, male, and gravelly. Before she could mount a defense Twilight felt a pair of hooves buck her right in the stomach. The air whooshed from her lungs and she doubled over, falling to the ground with a pained wheeze. “Hmph. Striking fillies…this is what I’m doing now.”

Twilight struggled to regain her breath…from the corner of her eye she saw the gleam of Trixie’s horn as she slowly got back to her hooves. She could hear the pain in the other mares’ voice. “I…hnn…I am still sorry for what we have to do to you and you…ngh…friends Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight saw the horn bob in a nod and heard the other pair of hooves move across the car…then the sound of the train door opening and whoosh of open air.

Her own horn was glimmering weakly as she began to bring a shield spell to life…but Trixie was the quicker this time. Lifting Twilight swiftly with her magic she maneuvered her out the door and into the air. “I doubt you’ll forgive me this time…but I pray you do.”

Twilight felt Trixie’s hold over her vanished…then she felt the ground…hard.

-Rainbow Dash-

Rainbow could taste blood in her mouth. The full on buck to the face knocked at least one tooth out and another loose. Her right eye was swollen shut and she couldn’t get her bearings to save her life. Which was probably literal given the beating Lighting Dust was laying on her.
“You ruined my life! My dream! Being a Wonderbolt was everything to me and you took it all away!” The other Pegasus was in a frenzy. Frothing at the mouth, eyes wild as she pummeled poor Rainbow Dash atop the train. Her coat lathered in a sheen of sweat, she had to pause in her brutal ministrations to catch her breath.

Dash was on her side wheezing heavily, her voice was a croaking whisper…but her foe could hear her clearly. “YOU took it away. No one but YOU Lightning Dust.” She punctuated with a wet cough.

Lightning Dust’s eyes narrowed to pin points as a very unponylike growl escaped her lips. “To Tarterus with what Discord says! I’m ending you right now!”

-Pinkie Pie-

Pinkie dashed through the train cars as fast as her legs could carry her. She was worried about leaving Jennifer alone with Discord, but for some reason he seemed more interested in befriending her then fighting. Twilight was missing too but she was probably the most capable of their group. Rainbow Dash though was in trouble…and nothing could motivate her to move faster than a friend being in trouble.

The few passengers she passed in the hall saw little more than a blur of pink rush by them. She was out the back of the train in seconds and climbing the ladder to the roof even faster. It didn’t even register she should be afraid to fall. She didn’t have wings or magic to help her if she slipped like her friends did. All that mattered was getting to Rainbow Dash.
The scene that greeted her stole her breath. A badly beaten and bloody Dash was lying curled up on the roof of the train as a frenzied Lightning Dust rained blow after blow on her prostrate form. A wall of red rose up in the party pony’s vision. She felt herself rush across the train but it was as if she was watching it happen from outside her own body. It would be funny if one of her friends wasn’t so hurt!

When the red went away a groaning, and very unconscious Lightning Dust was laying atop the train a little ways from Rainbow. Pinkie rushed to her fallen friends’ side when she caught sight of something just as awful. Jennifer was flailing her arms, falling from the back of the train. Pinkie let out a cry of anguish that was cut short as the girls horn flashed to life, covering her in a protective shielding of magic. She bounced once…then twice…then sat up woozily.

Relief flooded the beleaguered earth pony. One hurt friend was MORE than enough for one day. The relief was short lived as she caught sight of a flash of magenta, as Twilight erected a similar shield to Jennifer’s to cushion her own fall from the train. Eyes flicking to the now distant Jennifer, then to Twilight, then to Dash lying at her hooves she forced her tears back and took a deep breath. Carefully she gathered Rainbow Dash onto her back and moved to the edge of the train.
“This is going to be SO not fun…”

And then she jumped.

Author's Note

Drama bomb! Sorry for how heavy this chapter is, I promise most are going to be more on the light hearted side! ^^;

I went back and did some minor tweaks to chapter's 1 and 2, and a major one in the Discord scene in chapter 4. Just a few things that were niggling the back of my head.

Chapter 7: Midnight Dreaming

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Jen fell from the train. Discord gave a jaunty wave and turned back into the caboose, not bothering to watch her land. She scrunched her eyes shut tight and prepared for the potentially fatal…and certainly painful landing. Seconds before she smashed to the ground her horn flared to life in response to her subconscious calls, and surrounded her body in a pale shimmering green field. She hit the ground hard. Hard enough to knock the wind out of her, and bounced several times along the tracks before slowly rolling to a stop.

Slowly…so slowly she realized she wasn’t dead. And while she did hurt all over…nothing seemed to be broken. Cautiously she peeked an eye open yelping at the magic shield covering her body. The danger passed, her horn’s glow died down and the field vanished. She looked cross eyed up at the source of her salvation. “Well thanks. Think it might be worth getting closer to ponyhood for that little save.”

She caught sight of a purple glow being tossed from the side of the train and frowned climbing to her feet. “That looks like Twilight’s magic.” Scooping up the fallen saddlebags and slinging them over one shoulder, her own pack over the other she took off in the direction she saw the flash of light. It wasn’t long until she found a dazed Twilight groggily getting to her hooves.

Giving a cry of delight Jen ran the rest of the way to the little unicorn. “Twilight! I’m glad you’re alright! I thought that was you and…” She frowned slowly once she caught sight of Twilight’s eyes. The large violet orbs were covered in a milky film, and she looked about clearly unseeing. Her horn blinked in its magenta aura and a similar glow filled her eyes as she looked onto Jen’s horn. “Twilight your eyes…”

Twilight Sparkle just nodded. She took a few steps wincing and favoring the side she took the nasty buck to. Her voice was still a little wheezy from the nasty kick. “It’s a blindness spell…it’ll fade after a few hours. By morning I should be fine.”
Giving a little squeak the girl chewed her lip looking down at her friend worriedly. “If you’re sure.” She gave a sudden gasp. “I forgot about Pinkie and Rainbow Dash! Discord said that Lightning Dust was attacking her and Pinkie went to help.” She looked toward the now far distant train…barely visible in the distance. “I hope they’re alright.”

The sun had set by now and the moon was making its steady rise. Another big, bright full moon tonight. The land was soon bathed in its silvery glow as the pair began making their way down the tracks. Jen frowned seeing Twilight’s pained winces with each step, and soon knelt down gathering the little unicorn in her arms. She didn’t weigh much more than her dog really.

This just brought a little grunt of protest from Twilight. “I’m not a helpless filly Jennifer. I can walk fine.” Though she was already covered in a thin layer of sweat from the exertion, her breath coming in quick gasps.

Jen just shook her head and stoically resumed the walk. Glancing sideways at Twilight she sent a silent command to her horn to guide her toward Pinkie. It angled her a little ways from the tracks so she turned to follow it. “It’s not a big deal. You don’t weigh much and we can move quicker this way.” Despite her bravado carrying all the packs AND the pony were a bit of a strain for her, but she was worried about the others and didn’t have the patience to wait for the wounded Twilight to keep up nor was she about to abandon the blinded pony.

Twilight seemed to want to protest but it died in her throat as she received a twinge of pain from her side. “I’ve been reading up on healing spells. When we find the others I can try one out.” She even managed to clap her hooves together, her spirits slightly raised at the prospect of new magic.

This brought a smile to the worried girls face. No matter what was going on around them Twilight was still Twilight. “So can anyone learn any kind of magic like you do?” Small talk was helping to pass the time, and helping her ignore the protest of her burning muscle from all the exertion.

“Oh no. Many unicorns only learn magic related to their talents. Rarity for instance has a spell to find gems; she can enhance the quality of her fabrics, once she created beautiful lights and illusions to accompany an impromptu fashion show. My talent is magic specifically so in theory there’s no magic or spell I can’t learn.” She paused in her lecture to catch her breath for a moment. “Every unicorn can perform several basic spells. Levitation, lights, some can conjure shields and the like.”

Jen blinked and interrupted her. “Yeah I did that when Discord pushed me off the train. I wasn’t TRYING to do it…but my horn just kinda reacted I think…”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Yes that’s not surprising. I can see you have an impressive magic reserve, but it’s wild and unrefined like a newborn fillies. It’s not uncommon for a baby unicorn to manifest wild and unpredictable magics. Often times in response to outward stimuli. Conjuring a shield during a traumatic moment like that isn’t unusual at all.” She paused and seemed to consider. “Given your penchant for exploring the wilds of your home, and your enjoyment for art more than likely your magic and special talent will fall into one of those two focuses.”

Nodding slowly the heavily burdened girl trudged on, giving her horn a pulse now and again to keep her heading in the right direction. She knew she was pushing her luck using it so much but she was getting more and more worried about Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. Every now and again she’d shift the pony in her arms slightly to bring more comfort to herself, bringing a wince or soft hiss of pain from Twilight.

“Sorry…sorry I’m trying to keep from bumping you too much.” She was beginning to get more and more concerned. If Dash and Pinkie were in half the shape Twilight was this race might be over already. Her patience was rewarded however; soon she could make out a small pink form approaching her. “Hey! Hey Pinkie!”

The pink blur perked up, but didn’t speed her approach. As Jen walked at a quicker pace she could see the earth pony clearer in the moonlight…and the still blue form she carried on her back. There was little joy in Pinkie’s face. Jen hadn’t seen her so sad since the day they said goodbye those years ago. “Hey Jenny-bean…can you give us a hand?”

Jen’s blood ran cold at the sight of the badly beaten Rainbow Dash across Pinkie Pie’s back. She hastily (if gently), sat Twilight down, dumping the packs on the ground behind her and rushing to Pinkie’s side. She gingerly cradled the wounded Pegasus and lifted her from Pinkie’s back. “She’s hurt real bad…even in the moonlight I can see the cuts and bruises. We need to get her comfortable. We need a fire going too.” First she lay Dash down gently on the ground, then shed her jacket and bunched it up easing her into the makeshift bed.

Twilight stumbled closer, looking about a touch frantically. “What is it? What’s happening? Girls? Why isn’t Rainbow Dash talking?”

Pinkie looked to the blinded Twilight, and what little happiness she’d found at being reunited with her missing friends fled on the spot. “Oh Twilight not you too…”

The unicorn offered her friend a reassuring smile. “It’s not as bad as it looks. A simple charm, I’ll be right as rain in the morning. But what happened to Rainbow?”

Jen cleared her throat. “She’s hurt, very badly. Pinkie I need you to gather some wood or kindling for a fire. I have a little first aid kit in my pack. Once I can see better I can help a little.” She chuckled as she retrieved her fallen back pack. “My uncle insisted I take a first aid class…’you never know’ he’d say.”

Pinkie dashed off without another word to comply with the orders. Jen knelt down beside Dash and fished out the small white kit from her pack. Twilight was certainly handling the situation the worst. Pacing back and forth rapidly, her mane quickly getting frazzled. “Oh this is horrible! We’re miles from anypony else! What if Rainbow doesn’t wake up? We can’t beat them now! Equestria is doomed!”

She might have a bit of woods savvy, and a touch mature for her age…but Jen was still only fifteen. The poor girl was trying to keep her cool but seeing the savaged Rainbow Dash…and now having the older and usually intelligently collected Twilight falling apart was proving too much for her own nerves. She could feel her own eyes beginning to burn with building tears.
As if she could sense the growing gloom over the little group, Pinkie reappeared bearing the fire wood. She looked from the almost crying Jennifer, to the rapidly panicking unicorn. Dropping the wood by Jen and Dash she trotted to Twilight. Placing a hoof on her rump she first forced her to sit. Then grabbed a handy cupcake from her bag and crammed it in Twilight’s mouth. She leaned in close to her ear and whispered with an amount of venom that shocked Twilight Sparkle. “Your panicking isn’t helping anypony…and you’re making Jennifer cry. You need to get your act together Twilight…she’s just a girl and she’s looking to us for strength. Now’s not the time to fall apart…now’s the time to be strong for her, for each other, and for Rainbow Dash. Got it?”

Wide eyed Twilight could only nod as she swallowed the sugary treat. Her voice came out a hoarse whisper. “You’re right Pinkie Pie…thank you. And I’m sorry.”

Pinkie’s mood did an instant one eighty and she smiled brightly. “Right then! Let’s get that fire a-crackling! Jenny-bean can get Rainbow Dash all fixed up and I can get us some yummy s’mores going!”

Jen gave a loud sniff and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Just having Pinkie there being Pinkie seemed to go a long way toward dispelling the dark thoughts taking root in her head. “R…right! Ok!” She hastily gathered the wood together and guided Twilight to it, angling her horn. “Alright Twilight, go ahead and give us a light.”

The unicorns’ horn gave off a little purple spark. The wood caught and soon a fire was burning bright. Jen was chewing her lip again as she looked over Dash, able to see just how bad her condition was in the firelight. She felt the tears coming on again, but then heard that comforting voice chirp. “Well got the fire! You get the band aids out while I get us some dinner goin!”

A quick nod and the girl went to work. She knelt beside Rainbow gingerly probing under her fur to find the worst of the wounds. Her wings seemed to be mercifully untouched…while not an expert she knew if a bird broke its wing it rarely if ever recovered. She wasn’t sure if a Pegasus was as delicate but this wasn’t the time to find out. Popping the cap off her canteen and willing up all the lessons she learned in the class and from her uncle she first cleaned Dash’s cuts with the water. Flipping open the little kit she found some alcohol and a roll of bandages. She tore a strip of material from the bottom of her t-shirt and soaked it in the alcohol starting to dab at Dash’s cuts.

As soon as the makeshift rag brushed the first of her cuts Dash’s good eye snapped open and she belted out a long “YAAAAAH! That smarts!”

Jen gave a little shriek and fell back on her butt breathing hard. Pinkie and Twilight rushed to their waking friends’ side (though the latter had a little more difficulty). “Oh Rainbow Dash we were so worried!”

Their winged friend gave a grimace and tried to lift herself to her hooves, only to be firmly held in place by Jen. “You gotta lemme finish Rainbow Dash. Don’t want any of these to get infected.”

This brought a round of grumbles from the wounded pony, but she did remain in her laying position. Each dab of the cloth brought another series of exaggerated groans, winces, and moans. By now her antics had brought a smile to her impromptu nurse’s face as she worked. Just seeing her awake and this energetic was a great sign. “Well if you’re feeling this good already you probly don’t have any long lasting damage. That’s good news.” She did her best to sound cheerful. Even though there was no permanent damage Dash was still hurt pretty bad. Once the cuts were tended to she began to wrap the bandages tightly around them bringing a new round of complaints from her patient.

“Once my eyes clear I can help speed the healing along with some magics. I can’t work really powerful healings but it should be enough to get you back on your hooves.” Twilight settled down next to Rainbow by the fire.

Pinkie meanwhile was watching the whole scene with a smile. It was a smaller smile than her usual one. Not the huge cheery grin she usually wore. Watching Jennifer carefully tend to Rainbow Dash was filling her up with a kind of wonderful feeling she didn’t have much experience with. She remembered the quiet, reserved and introverted little girl she baby sat for. It took a while to draw her out of her shell but slowly but surely she was doing it over the year she spent looking after her. It had seemed like she was called to baby sit almost every day of the week, and came to realize she was spending more time looking after the young human then her own mother was. That always bothered the joyful pony a more than a little. She was prepared to stay in the human world to be near the girl who had become so close to her, but she had a responsibility to her friends and Equestria as the Element of Laughter. Idly she wondered if this is how Mrs. Cake felt about Pound and Pumpkin. But that’d be silly…

Jen let out a long breath and sat back with a nod of approval at her work. Dash looked like more mummy than Pegasus, but the worst of her wounds were cleaned and covered. “Dr. Jennifer is ready to eat something!”

This brought Pinkie from her musings and her grin returned to its typical ‘Pinkie’ size. “Well Chef Pinkie Pie has just the thing! Yummy ooey gooey s’mores!”

The troupes’ spirits were slowly rising despite the solid flank kicking they had just received. The friends sat and enjoyed the treats provided by Pinkie. Jen’s jacket currently being used as Rainbow Dash’s sick bed, the girl was exposed to the cold winter air and shivered, getting as close to the fire as she was able. The warmth was pleasant on her sore muscles, and she was gradually relaxing. Dash and Twilight were snoring almost as soon as the last bit of food disappeared, both being in worst condition than Jen and Pinkie by a wide margin.

Jen gave a soft grunt as Pinkie thumped against her back and settled on the ground behind her. “Hope ya don’t mind Jenny-bean, I’m a little chilly and you’re nice and warm.” Of course Pinkie’s winter coat was thick enough she didn’t notice the chill in the air, but she could see Jen needed warming up.

The human just gave a little smile and laid back, using Pinkie as a pillow. “Sure Pinkie…I don’t mind.” They lay in comfortable silence for a time. Jen gazing up at the starry sky.

“I’m really proud of you Jennifer. You took great care of Rainbow Dash, and you carried poor Twilight all the way from the train.” She lifted her head and gave the girl a gentle nuzzle on the side.

Jen felt a burning in her eyes again as tears welled up…though she wasn’t sad this time. She spoke softly. “Thanks Pinkie. I’ll see ya in the morning.”

With another affectionate nudge to the hip Pinkie lay her head back down. “Sweet dreams Jenny-bean.”

That had been her usual good night those times she had to stay over when her parents were going to be out all night. She’d tuck her in (something Jen secretly loved and outwardly protested as ‘being for babies’), then she’d sit by her bed and tell one of her crazy fairy tales about a magical land called Equestria. Fairy tales that were probably all true now that she thought about it. She watched the stars overhead as the days accumulated weariness slowly lulled her to sleep.
“For one so young you are very determined Jennifer. I think we could have our fates in worse hooves.”

The gentle and cultured voice brought Jen from her sleep. She blinked slowly and looked about. It looked like she was still at their camp off the tracks, but none of her friends were about. She looked up instead to see the imposing dark alicorn, Princess Luna.

She jumped to her feet in surprise and stumbled. Everything felt oddly proportioned and out of place. With a little groan she looked back at herself…finding her neck able to move a good deal more than usual. She saw…a furry green trunk and flanks. She was a pony?! She reared up on her hind legs with a loud yelp of alarm, clopping back down to all four hooves. “Wha…what happened?!” Her sides heaved in an out as she fought to control her panic. “I know I was doing more magic than I should have bu-“

The night princess laughed gently and raised a hoof. “Calm yourself my little pony. I am visiting you in your dreams. It seems that we are in a state of perpetual dreaming as an effect of Discords magic. As the princess of the night, the safety of my subjects’ dreams is one of my prime duties.” She gave Jen a little smile. “As much as I enjoy raising the moon and decorating the sky with the stars, dream walking helps me keep close to my subjects.”

This seemed to calm the green unicorn a little…though not entirely. She still craned her neck to look over every inch of herself. She plopped her rump to the ground like she’d seen the other sit, imitating them well. “So…this isn’t real? I didn’t change all the way?”

A large blue feathered wing encircled the young filly comfortingly. “No, not yet little one. I became concerned when I found Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash did not share our predicament. Fearing the worst I have been seeking some sign of them…and you for the past few days.”

Her breathing slowed to normal as she calmed in the Princess Luna’s comforting embrace. She withdrew her wing and folded it back against her body. “There…feel better?”

Jen just bobbed her head in a nod. She took another moment to collect herself before raising her eyes to meet the princess’. “So…you really raise the moon?” Luna nodded. “And…you personally arrange the stars in the sky?” Another nod. “Wow…that’s…that’s amazing! Your night is breath taking you know? Night time was always my favorite time to be out back home but it never came CLOSE to the sky you have here!”

This seemed to please the Princess a good deal. “Truly? It is very gratifying to hear you say that Jennifer. So very few ponies enjoy the night. I understand they must sleep of course, but I work so very hard to make it beautiful and at times it seems nopony at all appreciates it.” A little frown tugged at the edge of her muzzle…but then she looked down at the filly’s eyes shining with admiration up at her and the melancholy was replaced with a smile once again.

Luna’s mood brightened further when the little green unicorn dipped in an awkward bow…almost tipping over to plant her muzzle into the dirt again. “Well I would like to formally thank you for the beautiful nights you create for us your highness.”
A gentle brush of her wing steadied the filly and set her back on proper balance. “You may call me Luna little one.”

Giving a little nod Jen settled steadily onto her hooves again. “Well I know we’ve already met, but this feels a little more like an official meeting. So…I’m Jennifer Allen. But just Jen is fine.”

The princess couldn’t resist a teasing smile. “Not Jenny-bean?”

This got a strangled little urk from the filly. “I prefer Jen…”

With a nod the princess began to move at a leisurely pace. Jen scrambled to catch up with her, tripping all over herself several times in an effort to coordinate four legs rather than two. The princess would walk, and then wait. Slowly the filly would catch up, and then the princess would walk again. The process repeated for a time until Jennifer settled into a semi-steady walk.

“I am sure you and your friends are working hard to deal with Discord, but I would appreciate some details. My sister is beside herself with worry, as are the rest of your friends. Some comforting words would go far to assuage their fears.” Luna seemed to be heading nowhere in particular, just content to walk the paths of Jennifer’s dream filled night. She found herself warming more and more to this odd little human in filly shape as she took in the girls own vision of her night. It was as if she saw it’s serene, dark majesty then amplified it to look even more magnificent in her mind.

She had always had a fondness for foals….they seemed to appreciate her gift of night more than their elders. Be it the thrill of what lurked in a shadow to an opportune time to get up to some (usually), harmless mischief. And the girl at her side WAS a child…one closer to marehood than filly…but a filly none the less. Glancing at her from the corner of her eye she took in the little one’s long coltish legs and slender frame. Most likely she’d grow into the sort of wispy beauty Fluttershy possessed but for now she seemed the same as when she was human, a bit too long of limb for the rest of herself but pretty all the same.

Jen for her part was busier staring at the ground and focusing on moving her legs in a somewhat coordinated manner. When she spoke it was clear she was somewhat distracted on the task of walking, but she relayed the encounter in the throne room, the challenge, and with a lower voice the disastrous train ride. “Now Rainbow Dash is hurt, Twilight is blind and they’re getting further and further away by the second. I…I don’t think we have a chance at beating them.”

The princess halted their walk much to Jen’s delight, allowing her to plop her rump to the ground once again. The slow walk had worn her out trying to sort out how to get her limbs going the right way. “Such a defeatist attitude is unbecoming my little pony.” It sounded odd…being called that. But from Luna it also brought a warmth Jen normally only felt around Pinkie Pie. “There are always more than one way to reach a destination…one must simply be brave enough to take the road less traveled.”

Jen looked down at her front hooves while she thought about that. She lifted one idly noting that the green color of her coat didn’t quite reach her hooves, which stood out a stark white unlike the ponies she traveled with. “Are you saying there’s a faster way then the train?” She looked up to meet Luna’s gaze.

A slow nod was the alicorn’s response. “There is. There are many paths and trails through dark places ponies fear to tread. Forgotten roads and caves that only the oldest…and most adventurous of us know about. You have a wonderful talent in your magics that could aid you in finding such a road. I wonder if you are willing to make the sacrifice needed to save your friends.”

She didn’t have to ask what the princess meant by THAT. Her finding spell could root out what she was looking for now that she knew she was looking for it…but something so lost and forgotten would probably require her to use it with increasing frequency. She had already used her magic for the shield when she was thrown from the train, and several times to find Pinkie and Dash. How many more times could she do it until the real her matched the dream her? She lifted a fore hoof again idly wiggling it. It felt so…solid. Having her hands stuffed into a pair of too-small mittens was the only comparison she could draw…but these mittens would never come off.

There were other things too. She would never hold things in her hands. She would never enjoy a juicy burger again (and she DID love her beef). She could never go back to her own world. Though the more she thought about THAT the less it bothered her. She’d miss her uncle that much was true…and now and again she and her dad had shared a good laugh. But her friends were all here. She certainly wasn’t going to miss going to school. Equestria had the added allure of more excitement and adventure then she could ever find back home. Even Luna’s stories of long forgotten pathways had her shivering in excitement.

When she raised her eyes to Luna’s again they were burning with new determination. “It doesn’t matter what happens to me. What matters is us beating Discord and getting our friends back safe and sound.”

Her answer seemed to be precisely what the princess was hoping to hear judging by her warm smile. “Very well then. My power is limited to dream walking while I am reduced to the state I now reside…but call upon me as sleep comes to you, and I will be here. To give advice if needed and companionship if it is not. Now…I think it is time you awoke. Even with the promise of the short cuts you must make haste.” The princess leaned in close, gently touching her horn to Jennifer’s. A glow enveloped the little unicorn and then…

Jen jerked upright with a little gasp. Blinking away the sleep from her eyes she could see the sun just beginning its ascent to herald the coming day. She looked about to see the sleeping ponies in their camp. The fire long burned itself out. Hesitantly she lifted her arms, relieved to find her fingers there and wiggling. Her ears splayed back and she let out a sigh of relief.

…wait. Ears splayed back? That didn’t seem right. With a faint frown forming on her lips she gently ran her fingers along the side of her head. She wasn’t terribly surprised to find her ears not precisely where she expected. A good ways further up than before, she found large…pointed…and fuzzy ears peeking from her hair. A moment of running her fingers along them to get the general feel and shape was all she spent pondering this newest development…before her dreaming conversation with the princess came back with clarity.

Climbing to her feet slowly trying not to disturb her slumbering friends, she closed her eyes and reached into herself…again bringing up the ‘find it’ charm she’d decided to call it. Floundering for a moment trying to find precisely the right way to word what she wanted in her head…she finally came up with “The fastest way to the first kingdom of the unicorns.” She’d gotten a few stories from Twilight about Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever’s journey from their home to find Equestria and it was the first place to pop into her head. She was rewarded with a rush of warmth as the energy reached out and slowly nudged her head toward the north and east…away from their original heading.

Her spell hadn’t lead her wrong yet…and she wasn’t about to question it now. With another determined nod she set about waking the ponies. They had a lot of ground to cover yet…and not much time to do it.

Author's Note

Hoo doggy. I got this one out pretty fast huh? XD I just got into a good groove and it seemed to just pour outta me alot quicker then the other chapters haha.

Chapter 8: Down Into the Dark

Chapter 8: Down into the Dark
While Jen sent out her magic to get their new destination, a worried pair of blue eyes watched her move about. Pinkie was up a bit before her human friend, but she didn’t want to move and wake her up. She couldn’t help but notice her new ears…clearly the ears of a pony, covered in short green fur. A little frown of worry worked its way onto Pinkie’s muzzle. She seemed to be frowning A LOT more than usual which was weird. She was SUPER happy Jen was here. So why was she so frowny all the time? Thinking about how dangerous the wilds of Equestria could be, and that her young friend was putting herself in danger for the sake of the ponies who had abandoned her on her home sent nasty twinges through Pinkie’s chest.

Jen should be at school right now. Or reading books, watching TV, playing those shockingly violent games she liked to play. She should be doing anything but being here, a literal world away from home. Risking her life…and very freedom to help her friends. Friends who didn’t deserve such help Pinkie was thinking. We should have tried harder to convince Princess Celestia she belonged here in the first place. She knew she was ignored and miserable at home. Yet she had left anyhow.

Well things were going to be different this time. She had a chance to make it up to Jen, and she wasn’t going to mess up again. Quietly making the most solemn oath she knew…the Pinkie promise…she vowed not to let Jennifer down a second time. She may be a teenage filly but she was still a filly…and Pinkie was a full grown mare (officially…some would argue about her maturity). It would have to be up to her to make sure she was taken care of. Rainbow Dash was the loyalist friend anypony could have. Twilight would always do anything to help somepony in need…but she had a lot of her own responsibilities to look after.

Feeling her mood brighten at the sudden (potentially life altering decision), Pinkie was on her hooves and getting breakfast out for the girls. Jen finally nodded after she’d received her new direction and moved to wake Pinkie first…giving a little ‘oh’ of surprise seeing her up and about. “Morning Pinkie, I was just about to wake you.”

She received the cheery smile she expected. “Mornin Jenny-bean! Love the ears. It’s a great look.” Pinkie tossed her a big wink and gave her own a little wiggle.

A faint blush crept its way onto Jennifer’s cheeks and she touched an ear with her finger tips again. “Yeah I guess I’ve been using a lot of magic…I have something really important to tell everyone!” She knelt beside Twilight giving her a gentle nudge, relieved to see the unicorns eyes focus on her. The milky whiteness was gone from them. “Hey you can see!”

Twilight gave a little nod and stood with a stretch, wincing only slightly from the twinge in her side. “I did tell you girls I’d be fine in the morning and…Jennifer your ears! What did we just talk about?”

Said ears folded back a bit at the admonishment. “I know I know…lemme wake up Rainbow Dash and I’ll explain everything.”

As she knelt to wake the Pegasus she was rebuffed by a flip of her wing. “How could I NOT be up with all the yelling going on?” She shifted a bit in the bed of Jennifer’s jacket she was given last night, turning to face the group.

Twilight planted her behind right next to Dash giving her forehooves a couple quick claps. “Ready to try my new healing spell?”

Rainbow’s panicked look said ‘no she was NOT ready’ but Twilight didn’t seem to notice. She leaned her head over the cringing Rainbow Dash as her horn sparked to life…a soothing purple aura surrounding Dash who immediately let out a huge sigh and flopped her head to the ground.

Jen took a seat by Pinkie with a grin (and a wince as she squished her tail for the umpteenth time). “Looks like it’s working.”

Pinkie nodded and plopped a sandwich in Jen’s lap. “Yup! No one’s better at magic than our Twilight!” This brought a blush to Twilight’s cheeks as she tended Rainbow Dash. As Jen tucked into the sandwich she gave a startled grunt when Pinkie got behind her and started tugging at her tail.

She hastily swallowed craning her head to look behind herself. Pinkie was busying doing…something to her tail. “Pinkie? What’re you doin?”

Pinkie just used a hoof to push her head facing forward again and went back to work. “Well you keep squishin your tail so I thought this might help!”

Not sure what ‘this’ is…but trusting her friend she just watched Twilight tend to Rainbow Dash while she ate. She could see the worst of the bruises fading a good deal. When the flow of magic finally stopped Dash gingerly climbed to her hooves and gave a couple experimental stretches. She even tried hopping from hoof to hoof but this brought a pained yelp.

Twilight just tsk’d and fetched her own breakfast. “I can heal the worst of it, but you still need some time to rest. Maybe later this evening we can cover some ground.”

Rainbow Dash just harrumphed and flopped back down, munching her own food half-heartedly. Jen shook her head though. “We can’t wait that long. I talked to Princess Luna last night…she said there’s a shortcut we can find to beat Discord!”

Instead of the excitement she expected, she was greeted with looks of confusion from Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.

“Uh…Princess Luna is in Canterlot. Also she’s plastic.” Dash helpfully pointed out.

Twilight nodded with her friend. “I’m sure you had a very vivid dream about the princess but that’s all it was Jennifer.”

The girl gave a little growl of frustration. “It WAS a dream but…but it WAS the princess too! She said that she dream walks to keep ponies safe from nightmares and stuff and…and we did talk…” Now she felt a little niggle of doubt worming its way in. WAS it just a dream?

If they don’t believe me maybe I don’t even NEED them, they’re just holdin me back anyway.

Those thoughts were immediately banished as Pinkie bounced out from behind her. “If Jenny-bean says she talked to Princess Luna then she talked to Princess Luna!” She fixed the ponies with a stern look…then beamed a smile up at Jen. “Sounds like you have a plan! Let’s get our tummies fell and get to trottin ponies!”

Sharing the smile with her pink friend Jen nodded, her confidence returning. Her tail felt a little odd…she’d forgotten Pinkie was evening doing something with it. With a little effort she flipped it around her hip and was surprised to see it woven into a rather sophisticated looking braid. “I…did you do this with…your hooves?”

Pinkie just tilted her head as she slung her saddlebags over her back. “Well duh silly! And my mouth! What else would I use?” She giggled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Dash and Twilight to her surprise were nodding along with Pinkie’s asesment. Maybe having hooves wouldn’t be the burden she expected it to?

The look of concern didn’t leave Twilight’s face though. “Well even IF you saw the Princess…” She gulped at a glare from Pinkie. “And I’m sure you did! Eh he he…” She wiped her forehead with the back of a hoof. “Rainbow Dash isn’t well enough to travel. Maybe in a few hours I can use the healing spell again and we can get under way.”

Hardly before she finished Jen was on her feet and gently sliding her jacket out from under Rainbow. Once she had it zipped up she emptied the contents of her pack into Dash’s saddlebags. Pinkie claimed them without complaint slinging the extra bags over her back. Next she gently lifted Dash and settled her in the large back pack.

This brought a squawk of protest from poor Rainbow as Jen carefully settled the back around her shoulders. “Problem solved!”

Twilight and Pinkie couldn’t contain a fit of giggles at the sight of Rainbows head and forelegs peeking out of the big pack. For her part she was glaring daggers at the both of them. “The only reason I’m goin through with this is cause our friends are countin on us! But not a SINGLE word to anyone about this! I want Pinkie promises from all three of you!”

The girls all recited the solemn oath, and wasted no more time setting out in the direction Jennifer’s horn was guiding. Twilight was still looking doubtful about the whole thing, but Pinkie seemed back to her old self. Bouncing along lightly next to Jen as they walked. “Hey! Know what would pass the time?”

Jen shrugged but Dash and Twilight shared a knowing look…they knew what was coming next. “A song!”

We’ve come a long long way from home, and still have far to go, The road’s been hard, the going tough, but we’ll win for sure I know.

Jen had to admit Pinkie had a wonderful singing voice, all her usual cheer and bubbliness seemed amplified tenfold. She couldn’t help but grin as she bounded ahead a look of determination on her face. She was slightly surprised when she heard Rainbow Dash pipe up from her pack, adding her voice to Pinkies.

The danger’s great, the days are long, Discord’s certain he’s won! That jerk don’t know who he’s messin with, we’ll soon spoil all his fun!

She still didn’t understand how they did that. Harmonized and made up lyrics on the spot. Discord had said that the pony folk were all connected by some unseen force…then he made a Star Wars joke…ugh and it WAS kinda funny. When Twilight’s light alto joined the rest she was even more surprised…thinking the unicorns sour attitude would hamper her singing.

I’m not sure where we’re going, my maps no help at all, But I’ll keep my faith in my friends; we’ll face the unknown standing tall!

Twilight’s words of support touched Jennifer…even if they were given to her in song form. She felt…something building up inside. It felt a little like when she called up the Find It charm…only so much stronger. She could almost feel the invisible thread connecting her to the three ponies.

I know we’ll be alright, I’ll guide us straight and true, With our friendship keeping us together, there’s nothing we can’t get through!

She almost clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide as dinner plates as the music came almost unbidden from her mouth. Twilight glanced at her approvingly from the corner of her eye, as Pinkie grinned wider than ever seeming about to explode with delight. Soon the four were singing together.

Though we don’t know what lays ahead, monsters tricks or traps, We know it can’t stop us, there’s no trouble we can’t mount! Discord thinks his team is strong, we’ll show him he’s so wrong! They may match us in strength, but never where it counts!

She didn’t know exactly how (magic was her best guess though), but she could HEAR the music accompanying their singing. It started soft at first as each girl sang their solo parts than swelled to a booming, inspirational crescendo as the four joined their voices together harmoniously.

Oh they won’t know what hit them; we’ll be there in a flash! Our friends are all counting on us, so we really need to dash!

They were moving at all speed now. The ponies galloping and Jen sprinting as fast as they could. She knew Dash should be weighing her down more, but her limbs felt light as air. She would send out her Find It charm with more frequency…leading them through the hilly landscapes. Twilight and Pinkie were galloping at either side of her allowing her to keep the lead.

Our trials will be over soon, we’ll be back in no time at all! One last leg of our journey, then we’ll return triumphant! Standing tall!

The second they finished ‘tall’…Jen screeched to a halt. Before the group was…a big rock. It was wide and flat, and from the growth of vegetation on and around it must have been sitting there for any number of years. Her softly glowing horn was pointing directly at it. She ended her charm and lifted her head…a little frown creasing her lips.

Pinkie bounded around it, full of more energy than ever. “Good job Jenny-bean! Not bad for your first time!”

Twilight nodded her agreement, but her own good cheer was fading as she noted the look on their guide’s face. “Jennifer? What’s wrong?”

Shaking her head with worry she paced the length of the huge boulder. Her horn constantly flaring…tugging her toward it…then the light around it dying. “It…it keeps saying THIS is where we need to be.”

This caused Twilight to frown all the more, while Dash squirmed impatiently. “Well are we there?! I can’t see what’s everypony…” Jen turned so Rainbow Dash could see the decidedly unspectacular rock. “…oh. Uh…Jen? This doesn’t look like a short cut.”

With a little growl the human sat on the offending piece of landscape. “I know that! I don’t know what’s wrong with this stupid thing!” She gave her horn a flick…then winced. It was surprisingly sensitive.

Ears splayed, Twilight gave her a consoling pat on the knee. “It’s alright, you tried your best and that’s all anypony can ask. When the stars are out tonight I’ll be able to use the map to find where we are and get us back on track. Hopefully we haven’t lost too much ground.”

Tears were welling in the seemingly inconsolable girl’s eyes. Pinkie bounded to face her with a smile. “Aw cheer up Jenny-bean! Maybe another song will help!”

Normally Pinkie Pie’s unending exuberance never failed to put a smile on her face…this time it only served to make her more miserable. “Another song WON’T help! I screwed up! Lead us to the middle of NOWHERE and now we’re going to lose!”

Pinkie shrank back a bit, the smile fleeing her face in the blink of an eye. “Don’t be upset Jenny…we all make mistakes sometimes.” The little earth pony rested her head on Jen’s knee. “We’ll figure it out and be back on track in no time.”

The anger drained from her body…but left only sadness. She seemed about to speak again when her passenger piped up. “Uh…this may seem obvious but did anypony think maybe we should look UNDER the rock?”

Twilight, Pinkie and Jen all raised their heads at the same time and exchanged a look. Slowly Jen slide off it and to her feet turning again to regard the huge slab of stone. She looked down at Twilight. “CAN you lift it?”

Pacing about it slowly she seemed to consider the question. “It’s huge…definitely more weight than even the ursa minor and it took everything I had to get THAT in the air. I’m not sure…”

Dash rolled her eyes, a look only Pinkie could see and set her to giggling. “Uh…there’re TWO of you Twilight. And she launched a sandwich into space earlier. I think with both of you goin at it you’ll be able to move it fine.”

Eyes widening Twilight shook her head firmly. “Absolutely not! She’s been firing off magic all afternoon as it is! I’m surprised we haven’t seen another change already. She can’t take the risk.”

Her protests faltered seeing the determined look on Jennifer’s face however. Carefully sliding her pack off and setting it on the ground beside Pinkie she paced to the opposite end of the rock, nodding to Twilight. “Ready when you are.”

“Jennifer I’m not sure you fully understand the implications…this is going to require the both of us to use a tremendous amount of force…and given what we’ve seen so far it doesn’t take much to elicit further changes. Not to mention it might be for nothing!” Twilight was shifting into full on panic mode.

Jaw set firmly the teen girl shook her head. “I’ll do it by myself then.” She closed her eyes tightly…feeling for the tingling energy inside…then forcing it up to her horn…then out at the rock. The rock however was certainly bigger than a sandwich and she was already sweating just from covering the whole thing in her aura. She managed it…and soon the whole boulder was glowing a shimmering green.

Twilight’s eyes were darting from her pony friends to her human friend in a panic. “Girls say something! Don’t let her do this to herself!”

Dash and Pinkie exchanged a quick look; it was the Pegasus who spoke first. “Only thing I got to say is you better help her out before she hurts herself Twilight. She isn’t doin anything more for her friends then I would…which is giving it her all.”

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah don’t leave her hangin Twilight! She needs you!”

“I…well…that is…” Twilight snorted a blast of air in frustration. “You’re all crazy! Especially YOU!” She thrust a hoof at Jen….but soon her own horn was glowing brightly. Her magenta aura mingling with Jen’s green to produce a rather unpleasant shade of sparkly brown.

Once both girls had a firm magical ‘grip’…they began the arduous task of lifting. Both horns were glowing with more and more intensity and slowly…agonizingly so the rock began to quiver…then twitch…then ever so slowly rise. Pinkie was hopping from hoof to hoof as Rainbow Dash began to cheer them on.

Craning her neck Pinkie let out a shout. “There’s a hole under there! Keep goin girls!”

Both unicorn and human were sweating profusely by now, looking ready to drop. At Pinkie’s words both clenched their jaws…set their feet (or hooves), and gave one great SHOVE…the rock abruptly hopping and jumping to the side…landing in the ground with a dull WHOOM. Twilight and Jen simultaneously flopped onto their backs sucking in great gulps of air.

Dash squirmed out of the pack and limped to Twilights side, while Pinkie zipped over to Jen. Both digging out canteen’s to give the exhausted channelers some water. Pinkie wasn’t as surprised as she should have been to see the state Jen was in. Now covered head to toe in soft green fur to match her ears…her nose and mouth likewise had pushed out and widened into a proper pony muzzle.

“Here Jenny-bean…get a drink.” Pinkie held the canteen to the girls’ mouth as she awkwardly bumped her nose into it before getting her lips around it and gulping the water. Ruffling the girl’s hair (or was it a mane now? Pinkie wasn’t sure how human to pony transformation terminology worked!), she smiled. “That was really impressive, I’m proud of you.”

Finally finished with the water Jen just plopped her head back, smiling sleepily. “Thanks Pinkie…I feel like I ran a marathon.” There was a pause as she considered. “I also feel super-hot.”

This caused Pinkie’s smile to dim but not vanish. She took the zipper of Jen’s jacket in her teeth and worked it up, opening her coat for her causing a sigh of relief from the girl, then gently tugging it off all the way. “Better?”

A little nod as she propped herself up. “Yeah much…” She then noticed she could see her nose…very clearly extending from her face. She didn’t even seem surprised as she wiggled it a little. Only giving a soft sigh of acceptance at the coat of green fur covering her.

Pinkie nudged her side affectionately and let out a soft giggle. “Green is definitely your color Jenny-bean.”

Jen smiled now and gave a little laugh, hugging the earth pony. “Thanks Pinkie…guess I’m gonna have to get used to it huh?” Gradually she pulled herself to her feet and made her way to her fallen pack. Stuffing her jacket in and arranging it to provide some padding and warmth for the injured Rainbow Dash. “Alright girls…let’s head down into our dark creepy hole. The horn says we’re goin thattaway.”

Twilight and Dash shared a concerned look at Jen’s condition, but she waved it off. “Princess Luna asked what I was willing to sacrifice to save my friends…” She shrugged. “If this is what it takes then I can live with it.” She held her pack open for Rainbow Dash who reluctantly took her place inside again…working to get comfy. Pleasantly surprised by the addition of the makeshift bedding she was nodding off soon.

“After that burst of magic she’s going to have to wait til tomorrow for the healing spell again…” Twilight looked down into the hole. Her horn shimmered as a ball of purple light formed and zipped down ahead of them. It revealed a sloping dirt tunnel, big enough for the ponies to walk in comfortable…Jen would have to hunch a bit though.

“Ok girls, I’ll provide the light and lead the way. If we need to change direction or something let me know Jennifer. We don’t know what’s going to be down there.” Twilight took the lead, with Pinkie right behind her, Jen and Dash bringing up the rear. The little globe of magic light settled over Twilight’s head as she pushed into the dark tunnel.

It seemed carved right from the dirt and stone, perfectly smooth around the sides, top, and bottom. Twilight studied the walls as they walked. “I think this tunnel was carved by magic. Unicorn magic to be precise. It’s almost as if someone blasted right through the ground to create it! They must have been very powerful, this is so exciting!”

Rainbow Dash and Jen rolled their eyes at the same time…though neither could see the other doing it. “Yeah yeah its real exciting Twilight, but maybe we should pick up the pace?” The carried Pegasus groused.

This seemed to chase some of the scholarly excitement from the little unicorn who nodded. “Of course…let’s hurry. If we’re lucky this may take us all the way through the Crystal Mountains, bypassing a very arduous climb. I think this was the right way to go after all Jennifer.”

Pinkie looked back and tossed Jen a wink as the group hustled forward. The tunnel came to an abrupt end at a clear hole in a wall. As they emerged Twilight sent her light up…and up…and up. Expanding as it went to almost seem like a tiny purple sun. It illuminated much…but not all of the massive cavern they found themselves in. It stretched from one end of the light to the other, disappearing into darkness as it got further from the glowing globe.

Gradually the group spread out getting a better lay of the area. They overlooked a deep chasm that separated them from going further on, a thin bridge of stone stretched from one end of the span to the next. As Pinkie and Twilight approached the bridge Jen frowned when her shoe stuck to the ground. Lifting it gingerly there was some kind of weird substance that glowed oddly in the light. Almost like wispy bubble gum?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the impatient Rainbow Dash. “Hey hurry up and tie your shoe already, they’re getting way ahead of us!”

Her bearer looked up from the floor to see Twilight and Pinkie already halfway across the bridge. It was wide enough they could cross it easily…but with no rails it still looked pretty dangerous. With a shrug and a tug on her foot she brought her shoe lose and hurried to catch up.

A few steps onto the bridge she froze and looked back and forth, her ears twitching. “Did you hear that?” She whispered back to Dash.

She couldn’t see it, but the Pegasus nodded. “Yeah…kinda…a scuttling noise.”

With a frown Jen looked about…back to the pool of ‘gum’ on the floor. She noticed similar pools on the wall around the tunnel they entered from…and looking closer to the globe of light she could see the ceiling was covered in it. “…I don’t think that was gum on my shoe.”

Without warning large furry bodies began to rapidly drop down at them. Jennifer heard Pinkie and Twilight cry out in alarm…a bright flash near the opposite end of the bridge signaled Twilight using a spell to fight against her assailant. Unfortunately she lost her focus on the light…and the globe winked out of existence plunging the cavern into darkness.

An excited chittering filled the air around the girl and ponies. Jen could feel Rainbow thrashing to get free of her pack and help. Ahead she could see the occasional flash of magic, and hear solid THWACKS as Pinkie’s hooves connected with their attackers. Like some sort of horrifying light show she could only see between the flashes of Twilight’s spells. Their assailants were about twice the size of the ponies…so a little bigger than she herself. Many flailing legs sent a shiver of terror through Jen.

“That’s not gum…those are webs!” The realization of the nature of the threat seemed to send her into a mild panic. She began backing toward the side she’d just come from, hoping to get her feet on more solid ground. Her hopes were dashed as she felt a rush of air just behind her…and another in front of her. Loud chittering from the giant spiders caused her to wail in fright and kick frantically ahead of her. She was rewarded with her shoe connecting solidly to the unseen arachnid…but the force threw her off balance. Arms pin wheeling frantically she and Rainbow Dash with her, teetered over the edge of the bridge and plunged into the chasm.

Pinkie knew they were in big trouble. Being much closer to Twilight she could see the spiders clearly in every flash Twilight fired off. Every beam that connected with one of the spider’s sent the icky things flying away trailing purple smoke. She managed to smash more than a few of her own when she heard Jennifer scream out, her blood ran cold with fear.

“Jenny! Twilight they’re in trouble back there!” The earth pony began to kick at their attackers with more ferocity.

Twilight rounded and sent a spider just over her friends head screeching into the wall with a blast of magic. “I know Pinkie, but we’re in trouble up HERE too and…” She paused to lance out another blast, this one streaked across the bridge illuminating the whole cavern for a second. She could only watch in horror as Jennifer kicked at the spider nearest her…upsetting her balance and sending herself and Rainbow Dash over the bridge. The pair quickly vanished from sight into the gloom; their screams echoing off the walls…before those too faded.

Pinkie let loose an anguished wail and turned as if she were about to jump in after them, but Twilight fighting back tears of her own (and losing), snagged her in an aura of magic and bolted from the bridge to the other side of the cavern. The ferocious assault of earth pony strength and unicorn magic seemed to be giving the spiders pause as they considered how to best attack their prey, and Twilight wasn’t going to let the brief pause in the fight pass without taking advantage of it.

It was almost more of a strain to hold the thrashing, screaming earth pony then it was to move the massive boulder earlier, but Twilight ignored her friends’ cries, lowered her head and charged forward. The glow from her horn providing enough illumination to see they’d entered another tunnel, though it looked naturally formed rather than magically like the one they entered from. She could hear the spiders fast closing in behind them and with a toss of her head sent Pinkie Pie sailing along the tunnel ahead of her. Free of that burden she turned to the tunnel entrance, horn again flaring to life as a searing ray of magic hit the ceiling above the entrance, causing it to collapse and fill with rock and dirt.

Pinkie was on her hooves in a flash shoving passed the exhausted Twilight to pound on the makeshift wall. “Let me out Twilight! Let me out she needs me!” Gradually her slams lessened and lessened…and the miserable earth pony sank to the floor sobbing. “I made a Pinkie promise Twilight…I promised to look after her…”

Her heart felt like it’d sunk all the way to her hooves, but Twilight moved to sit with Pinkie. “…I’m sure they’re fine Pinkie Pie. After all she has Rainbow Dash with her. They’ll make it out alright you’ll see.” She even forced a smile. Thought it was an unconvincing one with tears of her own rolling down her cheeks. “We need to keep moving though…they wouldn’t want us to sit here and mope. We have a job to do…our other friends, the princesses; all of Equestria is counting on us.”

Her mane and tail had by now lost all of their exuberant curl and bounciness, lying flat and straight as the day she thought her friends were going to banish her from the group. Definitely not a good sign in Twilight’s head. But when she looked up to meet Twilight’s gaze there was determination in her eyes. “You’re right…we’ll beat Discord…and those ponies helping him. Then the Princesses can come up with a proper punishment…one that better stick this time!”

She could only nod as she helped her to her hooves. “They will…some things just can’t be forgiven.” Pinkies solemn nod brought more conflicting emotions. She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or sad that the pony who thought every stranger was a friend waiting to be made agreed that their enemy team should receive harsh punishment.

With a heavy sigh she began to lead the way again, a small globe of light once more hovering above her head. “I watched Jennifer perform her finding spell enough I should be able to replicate it without trouble. We’ll find out way out her here soon…and then we’ll beat Discord.”

Pinkie could only nod; eyes focused and anger burning within the deep blue orbs.

Author's Note

For some reason I had to delete the old posting of this and REpost it so...it's out of order. :/

Chapter 9: Discovery in the Dark

“….n…! …en! Jennifer!”

“Mmmg…five mre minnits mmm…” The girl heard her mom screaming for her to get up and mumbled the usual pleas for more sleep. Man did she feel lousy…maybe mom would let her stay home from school. Really all she had to do was play sick and stay in her room all day away from her mother; she generally didn’t care what she got up to as long as it wasn’t around her.

Today didn’t seem to be her lucky day though, as rough hands shook her shoulder. …rough and HARD hands. “Agh Jeez I’m up mom! Don’t gotta go punchin me…” She frowned realizing her eyes were open but she couldn’t see a thing. The next realization was she wasn’t lying in her nice bed…but on stone. Uncomfortably hard, cold, stone. Why did it feel like she was wrapped in her blanket…?

It all came back in a flash. The bridge, the spiders, and the fall. She remembered falling from the bridge into the darkness. Twisting her pack to her front and cradling the injured Rainbow Dash as she fell. She didn’t think it would matter from the height they were dropping but she had to try something.

Turns out it did help…since the voice screaming in her ear belonged to Rainbow Dash. “M’awake…I’m awake Rainbow. And if I was dead I wouldn’t hurt this much so we must’ve survived.” She blindly felt around the ground, pushing herself to a sitting position.

“It’s been quiet up there, I haven’t seen any of Twilight’s magic or uh…any spider bodies falling around us. You think you can whip up some light?” Dash’s voice sounded a bit shaky…maybe she didn’t like the dark.

Jen grinned groping about and finding her pack, digging around inside it. “I CAN do light…though no magic.” She fished out the flashlight she’d packed and clicked it on. Both girls winced and had to look away for a moment for their eyes to adjust to the sudden glare. She could see bloody scratches over pretty much the entirety of her body…but nothing felt broken. Slowly she got to her feet. “How you feelin Dash? Can you walk? I’m…kinda beat and I dunno how far I can carry you.”

Rainbow Dash flexed her wings a few times and took a couple experimental steps. “I think I’m good. Not gonna be runnin a marathon but I can walk.”

With a nod Jen swept the light around the area. They had fallen all the way to the bottom of the chasm. Even with her light shined up she couldn’t see the ceiling…or the bridge for that matter. “I bet I shielded us on the way down like the train.”

The ground was littered with spider bodies. Some still smoking from the magic that slew them, others with large hoof shaped indents in their carapace. “…gross…looks like they did a lot better than us huh?” She laughed nervously.

Her companion gave a laugh of her own…trying to sound more confident and mostly failing. “A lot worse than YOU y’mean. I was stuck in your back pack.”

Unable to argue that point Jen frowned again looking back and forth. “Alright Find It…do your stuff.” She couldn’t just ask the fastest way out…for all she knew it’d send them back the way they came. Of course it could guide her forward but it might be into a sheer wall…and Rainbow didn’t look like she could fly herself out let alone carry a passenger. She sighed. Focusing again on the quickest way to the ancient pony lands. Her horn glimmered and began tugging her along. “Looks like we’re goin this way.”

There was a slight twinge in her leg as they walked…so the going was slow. Not that Rainbow seemed to mind, as she was still far from healthy herself. Jen’s fur was matted in places from the blood. Bleeding in and of itself sucked enough…but then to be covered in a full body coat that got all sticky with it? Doubly sucky.

She looked down at the pony limping beside her with a little frown of worry. “You think the others are ok?”

Dash didn’t hesitate in her confident nod. “Yup. With Twilight’s magic and Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense there’s no way they’re not fine. Gotta be in better shape than us.”

Both girls shared a laugh at that. And while it felt good to laugh…the simple fact was they WERE in bad shape. If they couldn’t get out soon they might be in real trouble. She found her free hand fingering the jewel containing Discord’s power around her neck. She could always tap into that to save them…but then Discord would win. Which given the circumstances seemed a sad inevitability anyway.

The pair found a tunnel…and Jen’s horn instructed them to follow it so follow they did. Rainbow kept shooting glances up Jen’s way. “So….almost a full pony now huh?”

To Dash’s surprise Jen simply nodded. She didn’t look upset or freaked out. “Guess so.”

Rainbow paused a moment to try and find the right words. “Well…aren’tcha worried about never seein your home again?”
Jen gave a nod, looking thoughtful. “I am…it’s a little scary to think I’m never gonna see any of it again but…Princess Luna asked me what I’d be willing to sacrifice to help my friends.” She gave a shrug. “If me not walking on two legs again is the price for stopping Discord and saving your whole WORLD, I don’t think it’s that much to pay.”

The Pegasus looked over at the girl walking beside her in a new light. “Know what kid? Yer alright. Sound a lot like me, and matching my awesomeness is NOT easy to do.” She gave her a fierce grin.

Feeling she had been paid the highest compliment Rainbow Dash could give another Jennifer just grinned right back down at her. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

The tunnel they were following seemed mostly a straight walk, so she didn’t need to use her Find It charm to constantly keep them moving in the right direction. Eventually they came to a split, two paths branching out. She called up her charm which angled her to the right…as she approached though the jewel around her neck began to feel warm. When she moved closer to the right path it cooled…but a step back and toward the left it warmed again.

“…the way out is that way…but…there’s something down this way.” Jen frowned fingering the amulet again. “Something Discord’s energy doesn’t like I think.”

Now Dash found herself torn. She wanted to get out of here…pegasi as a rule preferred the open sky to being indoors, let alone underground with tons of dirt and stone between themselves and the air. At the same time if there was something Discord wouldn’t like down here… “Well what’re we waitin for? Let’s go check it out!”

Without waiting for Jen, Dash started out down the left path. The girl hurried to catch up, her flashlight again illuminating the way. The passage was a slow, but steady decline leading them deeper underground. Neither seemed particularly happy by this, but the gem was growing hotter and hotter against the fur of her chest. Jen had to stop and pull it off, dropping it into her pack before it grew painful.

“Whatever it is we’re getting closer, and it’s not liking it at ALL.”

This seemed all the confirmation Rainbow Dash needed to swallow her fear of being trapped so far below ground. Jen’s step quickened, descending further and further, it was all she could do not to break into a full run and leave the limping Pegasus behind. The air was growing increasingly stale and oppressive until the tunnel finally ended in another chamber.
Not quite as large as the bridge chamber they fought the spiders in above, but big enough the ceiling wasn’t quite in view. Cautiously Jen swept the flashlight across the room looking for any sign of spiders…or any other creepy crawly.
Dash cantered off to the side prodding at a big stone. “Hey check out this big white rock.”

Jen focused the light on Rainbow…and the ‘rock’. “I don’t think that’s a stone Rainbow Dash…” Slowly she crept the light over it revealing more and more…they were bones. Huge bones. A tail from the looks of it. It connected to a much bigger body…big enough that it towered over the pair. The head was a huge horned reptilian skull.

Dash gave a low whistle. “It’s a dragon.” The light moved along the walls, illuminating several other dragon skeletons. “…buncha dragons. Wonder what happened to ‘em.”

Jen’s mouth was hanging open a little in awe. So far the only dragon she’d met was Spike and he definitely didn’t compare to these behemoths. Cautiously moving into the chamber her light landed upon a much smaller pile of bones. “…I think this was a pony.”

Both girls moved closer to the small pile of bones. Clearly identifiable as a pony when they got closer. It was decked out in badly rusted, but clearly high quality barding. A fine helm perched on the skull and the pony’s horn protruded from a smooth hole in the helmet. The only thing NOT touched by rust was an odd looking shield attached to a foreleg by a leather sleeve. The shield itself gleamed proudly in the light of the flashlight. Made of fine silvery metal, embossed with an image of the royal sisters chasing one another’s tails. Half dark, half-light. It looked like the flags Jen had seen in Canterlot. Sticking out of the top of the shield looked like a large knife or small sword hilt.

“Whoa.” Was all Rainbow Dash could think to say.

Jen nodded her agreement with the statement. “You think this pony…brought down all these dragons?”

Dash’s ears were flat against her head as she looked about, trying to imagine anypony besides a princess being capable of such a feat. “I dunno…I think we should get outta here Jen.”

Her friend didn’t seem to be listening to her. Jen’s eyes were dead set on the shield. Slowly kneeling down she gently lifted the ancient pony’s foreleg, sliding the shield off carefully. It resisted only a moment, before the sleeve seemed to expand and allow her to remove it without effort. It was small in her hands, more of a buckler than a proper shield. Carefully she slid her arm through the sleeve and settled it on her left arm. Eyes widening a little as the sleeve itself contracted to fit snugly over her arm.

Rainbow gave another ‘whoa’. “You sure that’s a good idea?”

Jen just shrugged and looked down at her arm, lifting the shield and turning it this way and that. It was obviously made for a pony, the lack of hand straps made that clear. It was also magic. Strong magic if the angrily pulsing jewel in her back pack was any indication. Jaw set firmly she gripped the small hilt peeking out of the top of the shield, giving a tug and expecting a knife. What she drew was a full sized sword. The blade grew until it was nearly as long as her arm. The metal of the blade was a pale pink (light red! Jen would claim from this day forth), covered in several intricate runes.

Dash’s eyes grew even wider. “…whooooooa.” She scuffed a hoof, wings giving a little huffy flap. “I shoulda grabbed it…”
With an apologetic smile to Rainbow Dash, Jen gave the sword a few practice swings and pokes. It was so long…but felt like it weighed nothing. “This thing is so cool…wait til we show the others.” Carefully holding her left arm out she inserted the tip of the blade back into the sheath, sliding it downward. It contracted in on itself until it fit snugly once more.

“Gotta say I feel a lot better having a weapon. I mean Twilight has magic and you guys have your hooves I got…flailing my feet powers.”

Rainbow gave a little chuckle at that. “Hey on the bright side it probly saved our lives! And we wouldn’t have found your sweet sword.”

“Heh. That IS true…I’ll feel better when we meet up with Pinkie and Twilight again though.” Jen lead the way back out, casting one last look at the fallen pony. For a second she thought she saw an image of an ethereal pony standing over the bones, nodding in approval. When she blinked however it was gone. With another quick blink and shake of her head she hurried back to the fork.

-Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie-

Twilight wasn’t sure what to do about Pinkie. She hadn’t said a word since they began moving through the confusing network of tunnels. It seemed there were three or four more branches for every passage they went through. She only hoped she was properly replicating Jennifer’s Find It spell. Pinkie had lost the spring in her step, the bounce in her mane. She just continued forward, one hoof in front of the other. Twilight kept trying to think of something to say, some words of comfort but…what COULD she say? She knew Pinkie was close to Jennifer and cared about the girl a lot but…she was acting as if she’d lost her own foal.

Pinkie surprised her by speaking first. It was so sudden and so quiet she almost thought she imagined it. “You don’t have to say anything.”

The unicorn blinked and looked back at her in surprise. “Pardon?”

“I said…you don’t have to say anything Twilight. I know you’re trying to think of something but…there’s nothing to say. Jennifer and Rainbow Dash are…are gone. So let’s just focus on finishing this stupid race and putting Discord back where he belongs.”

She had seen Pinkie sad but this was just something else entirely. Twilight felt her heart breaking listening to her. “Pinkie Pie…you can’t give up hope. We only saw them fall. Jen said she had a big fall when she first got here remember? And she was fine getting thrown off a moving train! Her magic is really powerful. I’m sure she shielded herself and Rainbow.”
The earth pony heaved a sigh. “Maybe. Even if she did then what? She’s either stuck in Equestria forever. Never able to go back to her real home or…or she DOES go home. Then she’s gone again. I don’t think I can say goodbye again Twilight…”

Twilight gave a little snort. “To be perfectly honest Pinkie Pie, I don’t think she’s all that eager to go back to her world. She never really had any stories to share with us about her home when we visited her. And she doesn’t seem to be pining for home since she’s been here either. I think you two need to sit down and have a frank, open discussion about how you feel. That always helps.”

Pinkie glanced back the way they came from. “Maybe…if we see her again.”

“We WILL see them again Pinkie Pie. We’re all connected. By our friendship, and by the elements of harmony themselves. If something had happened to Rainbow we’d know. They’re just fine. In fact they’re probably waiting for us outside already. I bet Rainbow’s pacing around impatiently saying “What’s takin those slow pokes so long?!” The unicorn shouted out in a mock of Rainbow’s voice.

Pinkie’s lips threatened to turn up in a smile. “Yeah. And Jenny would roll her eyes and just sigh.” The beginnings of the smile vanished as soon as it appeared. “…they’re ok, right?”

“Yes. Yes I’m sure they’re alright Pinkie.” Twilight’s ears perked up. “I think I hear voices…and I definitely smell fresh air. I bet they’re just ahead!”

The pair burst into an excited gallop…they definitely heard voices but the way they bounced off the cave walls made it impossible to tell who they belonged to. Ahead a faint spot of sunlight was visible at the end of the tunnel. Exchanging a look of excitement they charged ahead as fast as their legs could carry them.

“Well well well…you two certainly made good time.” It was a human…just not Jennifer.

-Jennifer and Rainbow Dash-

“Come on! Come on! Do it again!” The excited Pegasus was trotting circles around the casually walking Jen.
With a chuckle and a sigh she drew her sword again, letting it extend to its full length and eliciting probably the fifteen ‘coooool’ from Rainbow Dash, before sliding it back into place. “Kinda weird it’s got a leather arm strap though huh?”

Dash’s shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. “Well way back in the day ponies were a little less…gentle with their neighbors. Before the Princess’s came along ponies interested in harmony and friendship were a bit less common. The three tribes bickered a lot, even after founding Equestria.”

Jen nodded, again regarding the shield and sword strapped to her arm. “Well whatever this is, Discord’s magic definitely doesn’t like it. The stupid thing hasn’t stopped pulsing since I picked it up.” ‘Not to mention the whispers in the back of my head have stopped.’ She thought to herself.

“Hay yeah it doesn’t! I bet that sword can totally take him down elements of harmony style! I can’t wait to see the look on his stupid face when you show up with that bad boy!” Dash was getting closer and closer to her old self.

“Startin to feel better I guess?” They’d been following the right fork for a while now, and it definitely felt like they were moving up much to their relief. The air was starting to smell fresher even.

With a nod Dash even flapped her wings a few times, getting off the ground to hover by Jen’s head. “Yup! Still a little sore here an there but I’m almost back to a hundred percent!”

“Well that’s a relief; I was getting tired of luggin you everywhere.” A grin showed she was joking though.

Dash gave a snort and gave her broader pony-nose a jab with her hoof. “Watch it you. You’re still a filly an pretty soon I’m gonna be the bigger one.”

Jen gave her little muzzle a wiggle, gazing at the green furred nose with a snort. “Yeah pretty soon…”

Rainbow’s ears immediately lay flat on her head. “Oh hey kid I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it…”

With a dismissive wave Jen just shrugged. “It’s alright. Kinda funny how I forget it when I don’t sit on my tail or something. Just wonder what I’m gonna do when I y’know…go native.”

Dash had to land soon; she was recovering but not quite ready for long flights. “Well you’re a filly so…probly school. Maybe a part time job.”

This stopped Jen in her tracks. “Whaaat? You guys have high school?”

Rainbow seemed to be considering how to explain it. “Well…not exactly. We don’t go by grade. We go to school to learn stuff like math, reading and writing right? Then there’s basic history and stuff. Usually when we’re between twelve and fifteen we get apprenticed to learn what we wanna do. Like I’m a weather mare, Pinkie’s an apprentice baker and so on. So while you’d be older than your classmates, you still need to learn Equestrian history an stuff. And you need a career or something.”

Jen was walking again, tail swaying lazily. “I guess that’s not the end of the world…I mean I should probably learn something about the uh…entire new world I’m going to be living in.”

This brought a nod from her companion. “Yeah plus it’s easy stuff. You don’t gotta be an egghead like Twilight unless you want to go to some big fancy magic school. …which I guess you might since yer a unicorn…uh, in the making.”

Learning more magic DID sound pretty cool. But Jen wasn’t sure if she wanted to go to some special school for it. It probably meant a lot more studying and homework and such…not exactly her favorite activities. She’d much prefer…doing what she was now she realized. Even the terrifying giant man-eating spiders had been exciting.

Soon they could see light ahead, and were emerging from the other side of the Crystal Mountains. Sprawling ahead of them was a huge valley glistening a pristine white under mounds of snow. In the distance they could spot a sizeable cloud structure…and what looked like a little village on the valley floor and a castle carved on the side of a mountain.
Dash shot into the air wings flapping excitedly. “This is it! We found it!”

Jen nodded, sharing her elation…before she was hit with a realization. “We’re missing Twilight and Pinkie.”

With a thump the Pegasus landed next to Jen. “…oh yeah.”

-Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie-

“You won’t get away with this Discord!” Twilight was squirming against the ropes binding her legs tightly together. Every time she tried to focus a spell a faint pink aura flickered around her horn sending a jolt through her and disrupting it.
Pinkie was lying in the snow next to her…also bound but unconscious. She’d attacked Discord’s group ferociously, even after they’d subdued the pair she was thrashing to the point where she’d injure herself. Trixie mercifully worked a sleep charm over the frenzied earth pony.

Discord himself had to intervene when Lightning Dust tried to attack the unconscious earth pony. It seems she was harboring a grudge (a black eye, and her missing front teeth too), toward Pinkie Pie for the train incident.

“I will NOT warn you again. They’re not to be harmed…permanently anyhow.” He chuckled to himself and knelt down to eye level with Twilight. “And where oh where is the rest of your team? I don’t see Rainbow Dash or the delightful young Ms. Allen.”

Some of the fight went out of Twilight…and the draconequus turned human narrowed his eyes. “You LOST them?” He stood and barked a laugh. “I can’t believe it! How did you LOSE the only human in the entire world? She kind of sticks out you know?”

Anger flashed in the unicorns’ eyes as she thrashed at the ropes again. “We were attacked by MONSTERS in the cave is how! This is YOUR fault Discord! It’s YOUR fault they’re….they’re….” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word she WANTED to say. “…gone.”

Trixie and Cranky shared a similar…unhappy look and trotted a little ways from the rest. Lightning Dust just gave a little ha and buzzed about the group. “Man if only I coulda seen her go down with my own eyes.”

Twilight was surprised by the look of anger that flashed across Discord’s face. Grabbing the gloating pegasi’s tail he jerked her to the ground. “This ISN’T funny. This is NOT how the game is supposed to go. Humiliating them and making them look stupid is funny. One of them DYING is not. PARTICULARLY the entire REASON I engaged in this entire game!” His voice had been steadily rising during his tirade, and he flicked Lightning away in disgust.

Abruptly his mood switched and he threw himself to the ground next to Twilight, lying on his back with his face next to hers as if the two were old friends. “Well no matter! Once we win this little race and I have my power back I’ll just find them and bring them back. Well…bring Jennifer back, a zombie Pegasus would probably be a hassle.”

Rolling his eyes at the look of horror on Twilight’s face he climbed to his feet. “Ugh, no fun as always Twilight Sparkle. You need to get that stick out of your backside young lady or you’ll never have any fun in the soon to be chaos filled Equestria.”
“O…oh yeah?!”

Three pairs of eyes turned to look up the slope, taking in an apparently green bipedal unicorn brandishing a decidedly pink sword…and a polychromatic Pegasus who looked more like a mummy than a magical flying pony.

Dash rolled her eyes down at Jennifer. “Oh yeah? C’mon you couldn’t come up with a better opening line then that?”
Pursing her lips Jen gave Dash a snort. “Shut it! This is my first dramatic entrance.” Almost as if remembering she was in the middle of said entrance she gave a little urk and whipped around to face Discord and his evil Pegasus minion! (Maybe she was just crazy or something but in the young girl’s mind bad guys are always evil). “N…now uh….let our friends go or else Discord!”

The diminished chaos god gave one of his best laughs, holding his sides…even falling over to roll about on the ground. “Oh ha ha! She looks ridiculous! And that sword! It’s so pink!” Even the ill-tempered Lightning Dust couldn’t hide a smirk. Though she seemed ready to pounce at Dash any second.

“I…it’s not pink. It’s red. A pale red! And it’s super magical! Now prepare to face my wrath!” A flicker of uncertainty flickered across her eyes, but she quickly quashed it and leapt from the slope toward Discord…greatly misjudging the distance and slipping…doing a decidedly uncool face plant into the snow. Her sword landed next to her with a soft PFT as it sunk into the white powder.

Twilight was staring at her lost friends with wide eyes, a joyful smile rapidly spreading across her muzzle. “Jennifer! Rainbow Dash! You’re alright!” A smile that instantly vanished as Jen jumped. “Agh! What do you think you’re doing!?”

Rainbow was flying down to help her out when a streak of teal slammed into her side sending her flying off course with a pained yowl. With a predatory smirk Lighting Dust zipped off to chase her nemesis.

Discord was still chortling to himself as he approached the fallen Jennifer. Unceremoniously stepping on her rear end he knelt to examine her sword. “Say now THIS is familiar…” He reached out to grip the hilt, when a bright flash of light burst from the sword, sending him flying back to slam into a snow bank.

Jennifer groans as she pulled herself out of the snow. She looked from her sword to the dazed Discord sitting in a snow bank nearby. “Whoa! Did I get him?”

With a little sigh and roll of her eyes Twilight shook her head. “No…but your sword got him.”

A touch crestfallen the teen nodded and stood up pulling her blade from the snow beside her. “Oh…well…still…it’s MY sword so it kinda counts!” She turned to (very cooly); thrust her sword at the villain. “And now you uh…are…gone?”

Indeed Discord was running to the edge of the cliff. “Lightning Dust! Get over here now or you can forget the
Wonderbolts!” With a running jump he leaped off the cliff, in time for a streak of orange and teal flash by and snag him in midair. He spared a jaunty wave as he was swept off to catch up with his team. “Arrivaderci girls! Better luck next time!”

Jen watched them go with a frown. “I’ll be right back Twilight.”

Ignoring the protests of the tied unicorn Jen hurried through the snow to find a dazed Rainbow Dash getting to her hooves. “…you ok?”

The Pegasus huffed and flicked some snow off her wings. “Yeah she just sucked punched me, no real damage this time.”
Sure that Rainbow was fine she hurried back to Twilight’s side, cutting the rope from her and Pinkie. “…what’s wrong with Pinkie Pie?” The danger passed Jen slide her sword back into its resting place.

Waving a hoof Pinkie’s way Twilight gave a reassuring smile. “She’s just fine. It’s just a sleep spell; she should come out of it any minute.” Her horn glimmered and seized Jen’s arm, dragging it…and the weapon she bore down to eye level. A little yelp of protest was all the fight Jennifer put up. “Where did you find THIS?! It’s VERY magical!”

Tugging her arm loose from the telekinetic aura Jen shrugged. “We found a pony skeleton surrounded by a buncha dead dragons down in the caves. She was wearing this and I just uh…helped myself. It’s not like she needed it!”

Twilight just nodded, not seeming to be disturbed by the impromptu grave robbing. “Well when we get back to Ponyville I want to run all sorts of tests on it. Ooo a real uncatalogued magical artifact! Maybe they’ll call it Twilight’s Sword!”

Seeing the eyebrow Jen had raised Twilight calmed some. “…or maybe Jen’s Blade…” With a chuckle Jen scooped the little unicorn into a tight hug. “We were worried about you guys.”

Twilight threw her forelegs around Jen’s neck returning the embrace. Rainbow watched from above. “Not me! I knew you guys would be fine.” Though she looked like she wanted to join in the hugging…Twilight just grabbed her in an aura and drug her down to join in.

All three were ploughed to the ground by a pink blur…Pinkie squeezing the life out of them. “Jenny-bean! Rainbow Dash! You’re alright!” Happy tears rolled down the excited earth pony’s cheeks…as her mane and tail regained their trademark poofiness. “I was so worried! We saw you fall and I was all like JENNY! Then Twilight was all “We gotta go Pinkie!” And BOOM she crashed the ceiling on the spiders! Then I was super super sad but Twilight told me you guys woulda wanted us to finish the race and beat Discord and I really really REALLY wanted to buck him right in the face cause I thought you guys were dead! But you’re not!”

Jen got her arms around Pinkie squeezing her close. “It’s alright Pinkie…we’re fine see?”

Pinkie buried her face in Jen’s chest, enjoying the girls comforting presence…but she stepped back abruptly. “But it’s not alright! I’m Pinkie promised to take care of you and I…and I didn’t…”

Not sure what to say Jen just watched Pinkie gush…strangely touched by the sentiments. It was Rainbow Dash who broke the silence, ruffling the girl’s hair with a hoof. “Hey you’re not the only one that cares about her. And I was with her the whole time makin sure she was ok. We’ll just say we’re ALL included in the Pinkie promise to look out for her, and then you didn’t break it.”

Twilight nodded her ascent. “Yes I think that’s a good idea, don’t you Pinkie Pie?”

This seemed to bring her out of her sudden funk, her mood doing a whole one eighty again. “It’s a GREAT idea! She can be our little filly!”

The subject of this conversation was suddenly looking less pleased about being talked about like she wasn’t there. “Oi I’m not exactly little…and WHO kept WHO from getting hurt in the fall Rainbow Dash?”

The Pegasus conveniently found something to be more interested in, squinting to the pony cities ahead. “We’re wastin time sittin around huggin! Discord and his team of jerks are gonna beat us, we gotta get movin!”

The others all scrambled to their feet (and hooves). “Dashie’s right! We’re back together and that’s what matters, no WAY can that meanie Discord beat us!”

“Right! Come on girls this isn’t over yet…but we’re almost there.” Twilight lead the charge, the others hurrying down the snowy slopes toward their destination.

Chapter 10: The Race is On Part 1

Chapter 10: The Race is On: Part 1

They followed the trail already cleared in the snow by the other group who had just passed through. Reaching the end of the slope another path climbed up the mountain toward the castle while a flat one to the left lead to the dilapidated earth pony village. The ancient cloud city hovered above it all.

Twilight paused and the rest of the group halted behind her. “I think we need to split up girls. Rainbow you take the cloud city and find that helmet. Pinkie you’ll head to the earth pony town. You’re looking for Smart Cookie’s spectacles…she was the Chancellor’s secretary so likely they’ll be in her office. The castle is pretty big, so Jen you’ll come with me to find Clover the Clever’s spell book.”

Dash didn’t need to be told twice, she was already winging up to the city floating above. “Back in a flash!”

Pinkie seemed a trifle more hesitant to separate from Jennifer, but looking from Twilight to Jen and seeing the determination etched onto both of their faces she could only nod. “Alright…I’ll meet you at the castle lickety split!” With a tight hug for the tall…sorta human Pinkie bounded off.

With almost identical sighs the unicorn and unicorn-to-be looked up the steep slope to the castle. “…and we should get climbing.”

-Rainbow Dash-

Every flap of her wings sent another little bit of pain screaming from her shoulders down to her ribs and through her flanks, but the cyan coated Pegasus studiously ignored her bodies protests. She was literally the only one who could recover her helmet for her team, and that meant her friends were counting on her and NOTHING was gonna stop her.
Big a jerk as Lightning Dust is though; Dash had to admit the loony mare was a fast flyer, a fact that worried her. Lightning already had a head start, and she couldn’t fly at her fastest. It was going to depend on the search portion rather than the actual speed if she wanted to win. By the time she reached the city sweat was already rolling down her coat from the effort, but the chill temperature and sudden wind so high up was cooling her down.

Being a Pegasus she was more resilient to unpleasant weather than the other pony tribes, but even she felt an uncomfortable bite in the air. Breaking into a gallop (which hurt less than flying but was still pretty uncomfortable), she made her way to the largest structure in the city. If their Hearth’s Warming play was accurate, Commander Hurricane was in charge of the whole city so that’d probly be where she left her stuff.

Speeding through the streets Rainbow couldn’t help but draw similarities between this abandoned place and her beloved Cloudsdale. Not exactly an architecture student, she could never the less recognize a lot of similar patterns to the buildings. Even the layout of the streets seemed sorta the same. Of course Hurricane and her assistant (or squire or something? The story is muddled), Private Posey were the founders of Cloudsdale so it made sense. What didn’t make sense was the absurd amount of ice sculptures.

Every time she rounded a corner she had to swerve to avoid toppling into another one. Some were alone. Others stood in groups. Almost one and all shared one thing in common; they all had angry looks on their faces. If she weren’t in such a hurry Dash might have paused to wonder why someone would make so many ANGRY looking sculptures. Or how they’d survived the elements for so long.

A particularly long, loud, and freezing gust of wind blew over her interrupting her musings. With a heavy shiver she lowered her head and charged onward…telling herself the terrifying howl in the winds didn’t scare her. Nope. Not scary at all.

-Pinkie Pie-

Despite her light hearted departure Pinkie was feeling anything but. After so nearly losing Jen, than reuniting with her she was already leaving her alone again. Of course she wasn’t ALONE alone, she had Twilight. And Twilight DID join in on her Pinkie promise of looking after the girl but still! It was scary not being with her. Scarier by far than the Everfree Forest, or having to chase away a full grown dragon, or having to babysit the Cake twins!

That thought gave pause to her bouncing (she settled into a normal trot). Was it scarier than the Cake twins? Now that she thought about it, it was kinda the exact same stomach twisty sick making scary feeling she felt when looking after them. And it was not a feeling that agreed with the normally jubilant pony at all. Maybe this whole looking after foals wasn’t all it was cracked up to be?

She’d soon entered the earth pony town, but so preoccupied with her own thoughts she hadn’t even noticed. Of course looking after foals was terrifying…and stressful. At the same time…she remembered the little Cakes’ smiles as they slept. Remembered hearing them say her name…some of their very first words. Then she recalled the look on a younger Jennifer’s face as she got the girl to smile, to laugh, and to emerge from her shell.

Casting a glance at the castle in the distance Pinkie couldn’t help but smile. She definitely wasn’t the sad, shy little girl she left behind in the human realm. Oh she still didn’t like big crowds, THAT was obvious…but she seemed a lot more confident in herself than she had before. And that only seemed to be growing the longer they were out here! Of course saving the world can do wonders for boosting a pony’s confidence she supposed.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she slammed into something hard and cold mid-step. With a little squeak she bounced back and landed on her rump in the snow. A vigorous shake of her head and she was back on her feet casting a baleful eye at the offender. It was an ice sculpture of a mare, a little filly peeking out from between her legs.

Trotting closer Pinkie eyed it a bit more carefully. It was very well made even if it was very rude! She gave a little giggle at the thought. She could pick out the individual hairs of their coats. Now THAT was dedication! If only they didn’t have such angry looks on their faces. That sorta ruined the whole piece.

With a nod at her expert art criticism she turned to resume her search. She was a mare on a mission after all and all this baby taking care of thinking, and art studying wasn’t helping her find those glasses! A particularly chilly blast of wind tore through the streets with a long mournful howl. Pinkie wrinkled her nose at the sound. “Even the wind sounds sad out here, no wonder those ponies moved!”

Giving a little giggle at her personal joke she felt a little perkier and began bounding through the streets again. “Hmm…if I was a Chancellor where would my house be…?”

-Twilight Sparkle and Jennifer-

“I’m….never…climbing…again….” The purple unicorn gasped.

The green coated almost-unicorn nodded emphatically. Both girls were managing to move forward…though it was a heavy trudge. It seemed the further up the slope leading to the castle they got, the thicker the snow grew. This was problematic enough on Jennifer even with her long legs…poor Twilight was floundering badly however.

“I know I love hiking but this…” Jen had to pause and take a breath. “…is nuts. How did they do this every day?” With a fierce glare down at the earth pony town she sighed. ‘I could be down there…NOT climbing’ she thought. “Too bad we can’t just…like…teleport or something.” She was obviously in better shape than Twilight Sparkle, but even she was nearing her limits.

Twilight’s ears instantly flattened as she stopped her trudge. “…ponyfeathers.”

-Rainbow Dash-

Dash snorted against the cold wind, giving her wings a couple flaps to clear the accumulating frost. She’d swiftly grown bored of trotting around the city looking for some building that she had no idea what it looked like. The freezing air was starting to get on her nerves too. Why would anypony in their right mind ever settle here?

A subtle shift in the air brought her out of her musings. Dash threw herself aside just as a teal and orange streak blasted the spot on the road she’d occupied moments ago, smashing through a pair of pegasi ice sculptures as it flashed passed.
“Huh…guess you’re not totally worthless, you managed to dodge one this time around.”

Flaring her wings Rainbow Dash looked to the source of the voice. Above her with a smug smile flapped Lightning Dust, hovering in the air over the shattered remains of the ice ponies. “Don’t you have more important things t’do then bug me? Like finding that helmet we’re supposed to be racing for?”

The smile vanished from Lightning’s muzzle in a flash, her eyes hardening. “You really think I care about this silly race? About those pathetic Wonderbolts anymore?” Landing hard and crunching more ice pony under hoof the deranged mare stalked forward. “I’m here for one thing and one thing only.”

Dash could see it in her posture…lowering her head, hind legs tensing, wings flared to give a burst of speed.

“You.”

Even seeing it coming she was still taken by surprise by the sudden and furious charge from her enraged counterpart.

-Pinkie Pie-

Pinkie stopped short in mid leap…a physics defying feat for someone without wings or magic. Sitting calmly in the middle of the street was her opponent from Discord’s team. The donkey looked even more morose than usual regarding an ice sculpture of a pair of fighting colts. She knew Cranky wasn’t a bad guy and trotted up to him calmly taking a seat beside him.

“Whatcha lookin at?”

She knew he heard her by the way he lifted his ear, but he didn’t turn to regard her. The older equine just heaved a sigh. “This. It’s a waste.” He gestured to the silent town with a hoof.

Tilting her head as a dog might when their owner was talking to them she looked about. It was an empty town…a little sad sure but… “You mean the pretty statues?”

Now he turned to regard her, giving a snort of derision. “C’mon kid don’tcha know the story? The blizzards, the bickering pony tribes, the Windigos?”

Pinkie just screwed up her face, more confused than ever. “Well of course silly, every filly learns the story of Hearth’s Warming. The weather got colder and colder the more the tribes fought! So the leaders of the three tribes went out on their own to find new homes!”

Cranky just gave a slight nod…his toupee swaying gently, though Pinkie was tactful enough not to comment. She learned it was a touchy subject the hard way last time. “And then?”

With an umm she tapped a hoof to her muzzle. “Well they found Equestria…but the blizzard followed them so they took shelter in a cave! Then the three big leaders kept fighting while their secretaries or whatever just did what they were told. And the more they fought the more they turned to ice and…” Her eyes widened in realization as she took in the ice ponies with a new light. “…and…oh…oh that’s so sad. These ponies didn’t feel the warmth of friendship like the others did…did they?”

Again the old donkey nodded slowly. “They didn’t. So…here they are. Frozen in time and in hate.” A slow shake of his head as he stood up. “No way for someone to meet their end. Can’t imagine livin like that.”

Slowly sinking to the ground before the statue of the little ice colts Pinkie let out a long sigh. “…this adventure hasn’t been very fun.” This caused the donkey to look at her incredulously and she just returned his look with a little smile. “I know it’s silly…we’re racing to save Equestria from Discord…again. But I have good friends with me…even my Jenny-bean’s come back.” Tears were threatening to form again but she forced them back. “We’ve done a lot of dangerous stuff…but we always pull through in the end. Nopony’s ever gotten hurt badly. But what that Lighting Dust did to Dashie…and I thought I’d lost her AND Jenny no less…” She heaved another sigh. “I’m the Element of Laughter…I’m supposed to be full of it.”

With a dull thump Cranky plopped to the ground next to her. He didn’t seem entirely comfortable doing this but…he shrugged. “Kid…laughter’s an important thing in the world. Everyone needs it sometimes. Without it…well…” He jerked his head at the ice ponies. “…we all need something to keep our hearts warm. A good laugh, a good friend by our side, whatever makes us happy is important to keep. But there’s a time for fun and games…and there’s a time for being serious.” He heaved another world weary sigh. “Everypony has to grow up sometime kid. Keep your laughter alive, but find a way to balance it with responsibility. D’you get what I’m saying?”

Pinkie looked over at the donkey, plucked from the past before they’d become friends…but all she saw was the good friend she’d reunited his lost love with back in Ponyville. With the same small smile she gave him a tight hug. “Thank you Cranky. You’re a good friend.”

The flustered donkey gave a snort backing out of the embrace clearing his throat. “Right well…I’m sick of this whole stupid race. Ready to find a quiet spot and just settle down.” His head sank a bit. “Can’t believe I bucked your unicorn friend like I did.” Yet another heavy sigh. “I miss her a lot but…it’s not worth that maniac taking over the world.” With a flick of his hoof he tossed something into the snow before Pinkie.

Looking down she saw a pair of very old battered spectacles, the lenses glinting in the sunlight. Slowly she picked them up with a hoof. “Cranky are these…?”

With a gruff grunt and a shrug he turned away, starting to plod his way back along the trail. “Figure you bunch should come out on top in this whole mess. Least I can do t’say sorry to your friend.” He let out a strangled yelp as a pink blur crashed into him from behind, crushing him in a huge that threatened to strangle him.

“Oh Cranky Doodle Donkey, you’re awesome!”

-Twilight Sparkle and Jennifer-

Brushing some snow from her shoulders Jen couldn’t help but glare down at the little unicorn, who was sprawled on the stone floor of the castle catching her breath. “I can’t believe you could have just TELEPORTED us here and skipped the whole climb!”

Twilight wanted to respond, she really did…but she was far too busy sucking in sweet sweet air flopped out on the floor of the castle.

Jen looked about with a sigh and rubbed her hands over her arms vigorously. Even with her new fur coat this place was cold. Cold and BIG. And they had to find one little book in this whole place. Her Find It charm should make short work of the task at least. Glancing down she nudged Twilight. “Look.”

Her friend followed her gaze, and saw a pair of shoe prints beside a set of hoof prints. Not made by either of the girls. With a huge groan Twilight got to her hooves. “They got here…first…we need to…hurry.” She was still laboring to get her breath.

With a nod she closed her eyes, focusing on finding the spellbook of Clover the Clever. With a gasp she snapped the spell off…it felt like her horn was trying to tug her all over the castle. “…I think we have a problem.”

“Indeed!” An imperious female voice intoned. Drawing the gaze of both girls to find Trixie standing on a landing above them. “You have quite a problem.”

-Rainbow Dash-

Rainbow didn’t want to admit it, but she was in trouble. Even if Lightning Dust wasn’t able to get the jump on her this time, she was still flying at like…twenty percent less than her usual level of awesome. Even eighty percent of her awesomeness was enough to keep her from getting clobbered by the furious Pegasus she was facing, but not enough to turn the fight around. She was a racer not a brawler.

Lightning Dust had taken a few shots from the more collected Rainbow Dash. Her injured opponent was keeping infuriatingly out of reach. Every time she attacked the rainbow mare would scoot or dive just avoiding the attack, more often than not giving her a solid buck as she whooshed passed no less. Even so she was fresh and healthy, whereas Rainbow was already tiring, her movements growing more sluggish.

“How long can you keep it up Rainbow Dash? Tell you what. Just give up and I’ll make it quick.”

The thought of running away made her sick…but she wasn’t here to fight this lunatic, she was here to find Commander Hurricane’s helmet. Her friends were counting on her. “Alright Rainbow…” She muttered to herself. “…time to bring the dash!”

With a frown Lightning crouched preparing another springing charge. “What’re you…” She was interrupted by a steak of rainbow color flashing by her…a streak that managed a swat to her muzzle with its tail as it went by. With an inarticulate growl she turned and gave chase. How could she manage that level of speed as beaten up as she was?

‘Ow.’ Was all Rainbow was thinking. ‘Ow ow ow ow ooooow ow.’ Beating her wings furiously she almost felt like she was going to go cross-eyed from the pain. A brief image of one of the other Ponyville pegasi flashed through her head…one with an ocular problem of her own. Banishing the idle thoughts quickly her eyes rapidly scanned the buildings as she rushed by them.

‘Commander’s Quarters’

She blew by it so fast she almost missed the small placard over the non-descript cloud building. Resisting the urge to stop on the spot (aided by the raging Pegasus hot on her tail), she kept flying but made a note of the street she was on. Tilting her wing she swerved to the right abruptly. Then another turn…and another.

“I can keep this up all day Dash! How about you?!”

The taunting was getting on her nerves…mostly because she knew Lightning Dust was right. Another turn. She could feel Lightning Dust closing on her, slowly but surely she was running out of steam. Another turn…she was back on the previous street. Quickly darting into the space between the buildings, her foe close enough to touch the hairs on her tail.

WHAM!

Rainbow looked to the ground below her. The pair had been skimming along the surface of the streets when she cut into the alley and abruptly sheared straight into the air. Correctly assuming Lightning Dust was too focused on catching her to pay attention to what was around her, Rainbow lead her in a circle and back to the alley by the Commander’s quarters. An alley with a low brick wall encircling a small long frozen garden between the buildings. A low brick wall Lightning Dust smashed into head first.

Easing herself onto the ground Rainbow tucked her wings in tight to her flanks. Flanks that were heaving for breath from the sudden burst of activity her aching body definitely did not want her performing. She gingerly made her way up the steps and into the Commander’s quarters…snapping off a quick salute toward the low wall. “Thanks private.”

A small placard on the garden wall read, “Posey’s Private Garden”.

-Twilight Sparkle-

Shaking the weariness from her body Twilight Sparkle focused once more on her foe above her. The air crackled with magic as both unicorns loosed blasts of pure energy, meeting in the center of the entrance hall. “Just go Jennifer! She’s here to slow us down while Discord gets the book!”

Jen was torn. She knew Twilight was right but she didn’t feel right running off while she was fighting. “Are you sure?”

With a shout Twilight focused and sent a surge along the line of magic, bursting them apart causing Trixie to flinch back. “Yes I’m sure. She doesn’t have the element of surprise this time. Go!” She felt relieved as the headstrong teen turned without another word disappearing into the castle. Turning her attention fully to the unicorn above her.

Trixie seemed even more conflicted now then on the train. “I am glad your friends emerged from the caves alright Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight just shook her head. “Trixie you don’t need Discord to make your past indiscretions go away. If I can forgive you surely others can too.”

The icy blue unicorn looked about to agree…but then her eyes hardened and she drew herself up. “No I don’t believe they can. You and your friends are…unique. And not everypony is as kind as the folk in Ponyville. A showmare with a bad reputation can never hope to find an act in a large venue.” Her horn flared with a pale pink aura as she readied a new spell. “No Twilight…this is the only way. I won’t let all my studies and training go to waste!”

Twilight leapt forward letting the spell pass over her head harmlessly. As she prepared a counter she felt something wrap tightly around her back leg. Looking back she saw a thick vine growing from the floor…with several more soon sprouting to join its fellow and lash at the snared unicorn. With a panicked shout she whirled and with a blast from her horn incinerated the aggressive flora. Allowing herself a relieved sigh she remembered she was in the midst of a magical duel. She managed to raise a basic shield in time to block Trixie’s next more direct attack.

Despite her words of confidence to Jennifer…it seemed this wouldn’t be as easy as she had expected.

-Jennifer-

Trying to push the sounds of the magic battle raging behind her from her mind, Jen dashed through the hall. ‘Alright…Clover the Clever. Big time magic wizards. Wizards always kept their stuff in creepy basement labs…given how common and cheery unicorns were that was out. Twilight had her big library…that was a possibility. The last was a tower. Every wizard had a tower!’ She spied just such a structure across the courtyard through a window and she allowed herself a smile. “Who needs Find It…that’s gotta be it!”

Making her way outside through a side corridor leading to the courtyard she sprinted across the ground toward the tower doors. Tower doors that were standing open. She burst through them then gave a little shriek at the sword suddenly swinging her way. Purely on reflex she flinched her shield up and caught the blade, shoving it…and the man wielding it back.

“Ah ha ha! Well blocked! Well blocked indeed!” Discord grinned fiercely taking a fencing stance once again. “I have to warn you m’dear…I probably have A LOT more experience with one of these than you do.” He looked at his sword contemplatively. “Even if it has been over a thousand years since I used one.”

Clenching her jaw Jen drew her own sword slowly, letting it extend to its full size.

“What? Nothing to say? None of that teenage snark and spunk I so love to hear?” He raised his eyebrows expectantly…but seeing the serious set of the girls face he rolled his eyes. “Oh very well…we’ll do it YOUR way.”

And then he lunged.

Author's Note

To be continued! :o

Chapter 12: Midnight Visitors

Beep….beep….beep….

With her usual groan of protest Jen flailed her arm out at the alarm. Rather than hitting a snooze button her hand smacked into something…big and heavy, which ended up tumbling over and giving off a tremendous racket.

Eyes shooting open she looked around in confusion. In bed? Check. In HER bed? No check. She was in a…hospital room? That’s what it had to be. Uncomfortable florescent lights over head with a thin curtain between herself and the patients to either side of her she fell back with a wince. It felt like her stomach was on fire! Oh yeah some jerk cut her open with a big sword…

She looked down at herself. Not surprised to find body covered in numerous bandages, but that her skin was its usual healthy tan. No fur. Brow furrowed in confusion she tried to twitch an ear or flick her tail and…nada. She could barely see her little human nose.

Gingerly she reached up to her forehead. Horn still there. So she hadn’t just gone completely insane and made up the last few days in her head. The curtain to her side was drawn open revealing a cranky looking pegasus with a rainbow colored tail and mane.

“Hey you wanna keep it down? Some of us’re tryin to sleep!” But she was grinning all the while.

Jen found herself sharing her friend’s smile. “Hey Dash…” A battered looking book sat on a night stand next to Rainbow Dash, with a rusty old helmet next to it. “Cool hat.”

Rainbow Dash preened her wings with a grin. “Hay yeah it is. Gonna get it fixed up for the next time we go on some crazy life threatening adventure.”

“Honestly girls some of us ARE trying to sleep.” The other curtain was jerked aside by a faltering purple aura. There sat an exhausted looking Twilight Sparkle…she looked worse than Rarity before she got her beauty sleep…causing the pair to cringe.

“Er…sorry Twilight…what happened t’you?” Jen was settling down some. She was curious how they got here…but more concerned with her friends’ wellbeing.

The exhausted unicorn managed to lift her head. “I over used my magic is all. Too many high end spells in my duel with Trixie. I just need plenty of rest.”

Jen was glad to hear they’d be alright but something was nagging her. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?”

With a lazy wave of her hoof Dash settled back into her bed retrieving her book. “She’s fine. Probly still outside with the others. Visiting hours don’t start for a bit.”

“Oh…so…how’d we uh…”

“Get here?” Twilight supplied. “Discord…according to Pinkie. You’ve been asleep for a few days. We won the race by the way. He retrieved the gem holding his power and used it to get you here. Pinkie says he actually looked pretty sorry for the state you were in.” The huff in her tone indicated he was probly less sorry about the state of the others. “He restored the others and has just been bumming about Canterlot Castle according to Princess Celestia…” She trailed off a worried frown on her face.

It wasn’t long before a nurse came to investigate the commotion of the upended machine. She was a white earth pony, pale blue mane with a thermometer for a cutie mark. Jen just shrugged apologetically. “Sorry…thought it was my alarm clock.”

Her nurse gave a reproachful little click of her tongue as she righted the machine, ensuring it was in proper order. “It’s alright dear. How are you feeling?”

“Er…sore, hungry, tired, and more sore?”

Twilight had settled back down for a bit more sleep while Dash had her nose buried in her book. ‘Daring Do and the Mystery of Zebrica’. Her focus was drawn back to her nurse as she flipped through her chart.

“Well it looks like you’ll be fine Ms….Allen. We had a bit of trouble with the ah…uniqueness of your anatomy but Princess Luna was a big help in sorting everything out. You had lost a lot of blood so you received a transfusion. Your friend Pinkie Pie was a match fortunately.”

That raised her eyebrows to a degree she thought they’d fly off her head. Not so much that Pinkie had volunteered but that a pony shared the same blood as her. Had she changed on the inside a lot…or was it just coincidental that equestrians and humans had some shared anatomy.

“You needed a few stitches, especially along your barrel,” (which Jen rightly assumed was her stomach), “But all in all you’ll be fine, just fine. It’ll be a few days but you should be able to go home without delay. Now let me go get you some breakfast hmm?”

Her stomach growled loudly and with an emphatic nod her nurse was trotting off to retrieve a meal. She hoped someone had mentioned her unique dietary concerns…but they seemed to eat a lot of fruit so she should be alright. Settling back into her bed she glanced about the room again smiling as she saw her sword and shield laying on a small table next to her bed. She was worried no one picked it up back in the tower.

She soon settled back for another nap after she had a surprisingly filling breakfast…mostly consisting of apples and apple based products. Twilight and Rainbow were already dozing on either side of her and all this…sitting up, light conversation, and breakfast really wiped her out.

Naturally, the very second her eyes drooped closed…the door banged open. “Whoooo’s ready for an I’m out of my coma party?!”

She couldn’t even feel mad as Pinkie burst into the room and hopped up on the bed with her…carefully avoiding her mid-section. Happy chatter filled the air as Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike followed close behind her. It was clear the way the girls gave quick greetings to the other two they’d already been visiting before…likely every day for the past few she’d been asleep.

“Good t’see ya up an about sugarcube.”

“Indeed…we were all DREADFULLY worried darling.”

“I’m um…glad you’re feeling better…”

This caused Jen to laugh…which turned out to be something of a mistake as her abdominal region reminded her it was literally being held together with thread. Shaking it off she wore a little smile. “I was worried about YOU guys. We were fine.”

Fluttershy settled on Rainbow’s bed, the latter shuffling up to make room for her. Rarity of course delicately seated herself on one of the seats in the room while Applejack just plopped onto the floor. Pinkie was slowly worming her way up to rest her head on Jen’s shoulder. Spike hopped up on the edge of Twilight’s bed letting his legs dangle over the edge.

“Heh, fightin giant spiders an goin toe t’toe with Discord an she’s worried ‘bout US.” The farm pony chuckled adjusting her hat.

“I simply cannot imagine what it was like! Regular spiders are bad enough but ones bigger than a pony?” The fashionista seemed about to swoon at the idea.

From Rainbow’s bed Fluttershy piped up. “I’m sure they were just defending their home…um…probably…” She shrank down when everyone turned to regard her.

They passed the afternoon sharing stories. Pinkie, Twilight, Rainbow, and Jen each recounting their version of the events. It wasn’t until evening when one of the doctors came in looking a tad irritated. “Why are you ponies still here? These girls need to sleep. Visiting time is over. Now go on shoo, shoo. You can come back tomorrow.”

With a chorus of groans and promises to return soon the healthy folk wandered out allowing the exhausted trio the chance to sink back into their beds. With mumbled goodnights to one another the lights were out, the two mares and one human soon sleeping deeply.

A rhythmic tapping sound roused Jennifer from her sleep. Every few seconds she heard another

TAK….TAK….TAK….slowly approaching her room. With a frown she reached for her shield...before the door to their room opened and Discord strolled in casual as can be. Still in his human guise, but leaning heavily on a cane.

“Ahh there she is! How’re you feeling m’dear?” The takking sound was his cane hitting the ground, he seemed to have a pronounced limp on the bad leg…and she had to wonder why he hadn’t just…magic’d it better. With a little wave of his cane a plush chair fluffed up next to Jen’s bed and he seated himself.

Looking from side to side with a frown…noting the ponies were still snoozing heavily but Discord wasn’t exactly being quiet she focused on him. “What did you do to them?”

Affecting an innocent look the humanized draconequus raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. “DO to them? Why my dear Jenny-bean I just ensured they got some well-earned rest!”

She flinched hearing Pinkie’s nick name for her coming from his mouth. “Jen or Jennifer.” She did feel a bit of pride at the pair of black eyes he was nursing, no doubt from the strong bash to the face she’d delivered with her shield.

He paused and some of the frivolity fled his face. Casually he lowered his hands into his lap. He seemed to be acting…odd. Before his eyes were all over the place, flicking from place to place rarely focusing on anything. Now much of his manic energy seemed…not gone, but subdued.

“Fair enough Jennifer. And don’t worry for your pony friends, a simple bit of magic to make sure our conversation isn’t interrupted.” He focused on his pants, fidgeting with a bit of lint.

Several moments ticked by before Jen realized he seemed to be having trouble voicing what was on his mind. “I…” She tilted her head regarding him again, before lying back in her bed more comfortably. “If you want to talk talk…but I’m really tired dude. Someone cut the crap out of me with a sword.”

A faint chuckle was his response. “Yes I did get a little…overzealous didn’t I? I don’t expect you to believe me, but I AM sorry for that.”

She stared harder at him. If this was some game of his she didn’t get it at all. “Just for that?”

He flicked his eyes back up to meet hers. “No…no I suppose I should apologize to you for a good deal more hm? Throwing you off the train for one. Letting that Lightning Dust loose on Rainbow Dash. I didn’t realize how strong the hatred was in her heart…it’s sad to see a pony stray so far.”

Jen just kept her hard stare, trying to see any sign of deception in his words reflected on his face. If he was lying he was doing a good job. She looked to his wrist where he kept fiddling with something under his sleeve. “So what’s the deal the Princesses are just letting you wander around now?”

“Ha! Oh of course not. They think I’m still “under guard” back at Canterlot Castle. And with two of her little Element bearers laid up here, they can’t give me the old petrification whammy again.” He placed his cane on the floor and rose to his feet, the chair vanishing. “I came to apologize, and to see you on your way home.”

Now the girl’s eyes widened. He could send her home? He WOULD send her home? “Back to my own world?”

A shrug was his initial response. “Of course, you won the game. I know that wasn’t part of the original package deal, but I drained all the excess equestrian energies from you…as you may have noticed.” He poked her human nose with his cane.

Home. She didn’t expect she’d see it ever again…had even come to terms with leaving it behind. Now that she had the opportunity to go…did she want to? As much as she didn’t get along with her parents she found herself missing them. Missing her room…her house. She missed her uncle too. She could go home and leave all this insanity behind. No more swords, falling off cliffs or getting stabbed. That didn’t sound too bad. …but also no more friends, no more adventure. No more Pinkie. She’d have to say goodbye to Pennie again.

“I don’t know that I want to go back.”

He nodded as if he expected this. “Well you have to go back. Equestria is no world for a girl like you.”

With a frown she pulled herself up. “What’s THAT supposed to mean?”

He put his cane against her forehead and pushed her back into bed. “Your pony friends are not the norm. Oh most of the ponyfolk are insipidly friendly and cheerful, but most don’t go galloping off into danger at their Princess’ behest. They live quiet, happy, sedate lifestyles. Until very recently the giant monster attacks in Equestria were VERY few and far between. The world outside the Princess’ borders…is a VERY dangerous place at times. There are dangers waiting in the deep dark corners of the world that would make ME look like a kitten on my worst days.”

Jen followed him with her eyes as he paced at the foot of her bed. She didn’t want another prod with the cane so she stayed quiet and let him speak.

“And you? Would you be content to settle down in Ponyville? Canterlot? Live a quiet, boring little life like most of the ponies live?”

Ah…so that’s what he was getting at. He was WORRIED about her. “…why do you care what I do?”

His step quickened as he seemed to grow more agitated. “Why do YOU care what happens to ME?”

Brow furrowed she narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

He whipped his cane to jab the end at her. “In the courtyard, the castle. Your…pony shadow or whatever it was would have finished me. Had me cold. And you stopped her. She was about to put an end to the threat that is Discord for all time! And you STOPPED her? Why?”

Jennifer’s mouth opened, trying to think of a response. Was he MAD at her for saving his life? Then she noticed he was toying with whatever was under his sleeve again. “You haven’t reclaimed your full power have you?”

Discord resumed his agitated pacing, shrugging as if her question was unimportant.

“I heard it whispering to me, all the time. Wanting me to do awful things. I mean…they might have been funny to someone who was deranged, but…they were still awful. …how long did you have to listen to that voice before you started doing what you did?”

The compassion in her voice only seemed to irritate the godlike Discord further. “Years.” He stopped his pacing and spoke quietly. “Years and years. After the alicorn sisters…unnaturally accelerated my acclimation and I grew into the devilishly handsome form adorning their windows,” He paused in his telling to waggle his eyebrows. “I wasn’t immediately…as unbalanced as I became. I wasn’t a bad fellow, an aspiring knight in my king’s court and all that jazz. But the voices…” His eyes grew hard. “They never stopped…not unless I did what they wanted me to do. They wouldn’t let me have any sleep, never a moment’s rest.”

Shaking her head slowly as she absorbed his words she offered him a bit of a smile. “So it wasn’t your fault? The Princesses share some of the blame…and the voices your power brought up are what’s to blame.”

He rounded on her, eyes blazing. “But I gave in! I ALLOWED them to take control, to sweep who I was away and replace it with…Discord. If I had been stronger, if I had resisted longer perhaps the sisters could have found a way to help me. But I didn’t.” With a weary sigh he made his way to her bedside and sank into the chair he conjured once again. “I couldn’t.”

The silence stretched for a long time before Jennifer spoke again. “You know I was like…one more thing getting me riled up to busting out your chaos power? Like…anything.” She wasn’t looking directly at him, but she saw him raise his eyes to look at her as she spoke. “If I hadn’t found my sword when I did…” She let her hand rest on the shield a bit. “It just made them stop…right there on the spot. You held out for YEARS, I lasted like…two days? Three? Before I was gonna give in. I just lucked into finding a crutch to help me through.”

Another sigh was his response. “I appreciate your words child, I really do. They give me some comfort. I’m starting to hear them again already, the faint whispers in the back of my head. I don’t know how long I can resist this time.”

He flinched as she reached down to rest her hand over his. “So…maybe you don’t have to bear it alone. You already removed your power and sealed it in the gem there…” She nodded to his wrist. “Why don’t we share it?”

Now he jerked his hand away from hers and rose sharply. “How can you ask me to do that? To force this on someone else? I may be a monster but I’m not THAT far gone. I should never have given it to you to carry about in the first place, now that I’m in my right mind again…I shudder that I was so careless. I can’t ask anyone to carry this curse on my behalf.”

A sharp rap of her knuckle against the metal of her shield drew his attention. “If this thing can shut the voices out from all that power at once, I’m pretty sure it can handle half.” He began to shake his head in denial but she spoke up again. “You wanted to know why I didn’t let the shadow kill you in the courtyard?”

At his nod she continued. “Even at the castle when you first appeared, you didn’t seem like some…horrible evil monster to me. A jerk, sure but a soulless beast?” She shook her head. “You seemed lonely. Very lonely…without a friend in the world. I know what that feels like. I knew you weren’t evil just…sad. So…as your friend I’m offering, let me help you with this.”

The conjured chair vanished as soon as it appeared. Discord rolled up his sleeve frowning at the chaotic gem on the silver chain he had wrapped about his wrist. Then he smiled. Then he laughed. Not the manic laugh she was used to hearing…but an honest laugh. “You…you are an…interesting little filly Jennifer Allen.”

Slowly he unwound the chain from his wrist, and held the jewel between the fingers of both hands, breaking it smoothly in half. “…you have to swear you will never try to use this magic. I give it to you for safe keeping. You can never give it to anypony else…not even the Princesses. For no reason…under any circumstance.”

She just smiled and drew her fingers across her breast. “Cross my heart, hope to fly,” then plopped her fist against her eye, “stick a cupcake in my eye.”

This brought another chuckle from her fellow human, and he placed the half a jewel in her lap. “Well with a promise like that I KNOW you’ll keep it.”

She gathered the gem in her good hand…the close proximity to her sword and shield had warmed it…but it wasn’t burning hot like it was in the caves, it was a pleasant warmth. Delicately she laid it on the nightstand beside her weapon, looking back as Discord turned to go. “Where…will you go?”

Turning to look over his shoulder he shot a cocky smile her way and shrugged. “Who knows? Not here I think…a bit of bad blood between myself and the government and all. Not to worry though m’dear, I’m sure we’ll see one another again! Good friends can never stay apart for long after all!” He made his way from the room at that, whistling a jaunty tune to himself.
Jen allowed herself to flop back letting out a loud whoof. She wasn’t lying when she’d told him she was wiped. Looking to the nightstand she watched the colors whirl about in the jewel, letting sleep find her once more.

Only to be abruptly awakened by a gentle ‘ahem’.

“Arrrrrgh! Really?! Come on now I REALLY want to sleep!”

A warm chuckle reached her ears. “You ARE asleep Jennifer, I am visiting you in your dreams…nothing more.”

Sitting up and looking about to get her bearings, Jen seemed to be in the hospital bed…though there were no walls or floors…just an endless void stretching out as far as the eye could see. The midnight blue alicorn princess, Luna smiled down at her.

“Oh…sorry I’ve had an…interesting night.” She offered a little smile up to the princess.

With a shake of her head she shrugged the apology away. “Nonsense child, you have been through much. A bit of stress is to be expected. I take it YOU are who Discord snuck out to come see?”

With a slow nod Jen related their conversation to the princess, by the end the regal alicorn seemed deeply troubled. “We had no idea what we…did to him caused such mental distress. My sister and I simply assumed he was always a little…unbalanced and all the power suddenly at his fingertips allowed him to unleash his madness on the world.” She looked up from her inner musings back to the girl in the bed. “And to think a young filly was what it took to chase his demons away.”

Jen shifted a bit uncomfortably at the praise from this royal being, cheeks reddening. “I didn’t really do much…the ponies did the real work an stuff. I tripped off a bridge, fell off a train, and got cut to ribbons.”

The princess nodded slowly. “Perhaps most of your contribution came from good fate. Certainly your pony friends were more experienced and equipped to deal with the dangers you encountered. Yet still you stood beside them, you shared their hardships without complaint did you not?”

Despite not wanting all this praise dumped on her she couldn’t help but nod. “I uh…guess so yeah.”

Luna’s midnight blue aura of magic gripped her shield and lifted it closer, slowly with only a slight hint of a frown she tried to draw the blade…but could not. “The Sword of Harmony has chosen you to be its new wielder Jennifer. That is no small feat.”

Gently accepting it as the princess returned the shield to her hands she gripped it a little tighter. “The Sword of Harmony huh? So it’s like…special?”

The princess nodded. “Oh yes…it was passed down by only the greatest of the unicorn warriors to their squires. Lady Bleeding Heart was the last to wield it. It is the only blade of its kind. Each wielder imbues it with a power of their own…further strengthening their bond to the blade.”

Wide eyed Jen slide the blade free of its resting place in the shield. “So…that’s what these runes are? One for each of the past owners?” When the Princess nodded again she grinned a little. “I used one of them…when I was fighting Discord I kinda…heard a voice asking me to allow her to help. Then the rune glowed and…an image of the knight I took the sword from appeared and fought for me.”

“Yes…it must have been Bleeding Heart herself. She was renowned for her kindness and generosity. The rune in question, as you are no doubt aware, will summon the last wielder to aid you if need be. It’s power is great, but also limited by the wielder. The longer the shadow remains, the more it draws upon its bearers own reserves. If she had remained much longer you would have ended up like Twilight Sparkle.”

Jen set aside her weapon as the princess finished. “Guess I was luckier than I thought huh?”

The princess laughed lightly. “I suppose you were at that. Perhaps THAT will be your special talent hm? Good fortune?”

This drew a wider grin from the girl. “So…I guess I’m staying in Equestria. If uh…that’s ok?”

“I don’t think your presence will greatly upset anyone little one. You will be expected to follow our laws, and as you’re still a filly…even if an elder filly, you’ll be required to have a guardian to look after you until you’re a proper adult.”

Jen nodded at that. “Yeah I kinda figured that already…Rainbow Dash said I’d probly be going to school and stuff…”

The Princess spread her wings slowly. “Most likely. For now however…I will leave you to your rest. Know that you have the gratitude of both my sister and I. When you are well I hope you will come to see us in person in Canterlot. It would be good to meet under more…pleasant circumstance than the last.”

Once more...hopefully for the last time tonight Jen lay back down. “I’ll see you in a few days then?”

With a nod Luna gave her wings a powerful flap and she was off…letting Jen sink once more into the sweet sweet comfort of sleep.

-Elsewhere-

“So…did you tell her sister?”

Luna blinked looking to the doors of her private chambers. There stood Celestia. The night princess’ heart sunk at the sight of her poor sister, so drained and tired. The luster was gone from her mane and tail and her head bowed by weariness.

“Not yet Tia…I will when the time is right. Have YOU told Twilight Sparkle what SHE needs to hear?”

The elder of the sisters gave a little snort of irritation. “I’ll tell her when the time is right.” She parroted in a sing-song voice.
Luna shook her head. “Your time is coming rapidly Celestia…you have delayed it for many years, far too many. I am here now, and I am ready to assume my proper duties. It is time for you to take your rest, and know that Equestria is in good hooves.”

Another stubborn snort was her sister’s reply. “I suppose you’re right. …it will be longer than usual this time, but I’m sure you already knew that.” She cut in quickly, seeing her little sister open her mouth to likely say just that.

The faint clack of Luna’s jaw snapping shut told Celestia she was right on the money with her assumption, bring a smirk to the elder. “Not too much longer, perhaps a year, a year and a half. You will be back on your hooves in no time at all.”

With a sigh Celestia joined her sister on her balcony, looking out over Canterlot, and to Ponyville in the distance. “Very well Luna, I’ll speak to Twilight Sparkle as soon as she leaves the hospital. I’ve waited this long…I can wait a few more days.”

It wasn’t the answer she wanted…but Luna knew her sister would fight her tooth and hoof on this. “Very well sister, the DAY she leaves the hospital, no later.”

This brought a playful smile to Celestia’s face as she swatted her sister with a wing. “Who’s the older sister here hm?”

Luna returned her grin, with a wider one of her own. “You dear Tia. For now.”

Author's Note

Chapter 12! Hints of future stuff! What mysteries await! One will be solved in the next and final chapter of The Best Babysitter! Stay tuned!

(I so hate the name of the story, but I didn't have one when I started writing, and the site demanded I create one to submit so I had a total derp moment and just threw that on there XD)

Chapter 13: NOW Can We Have the Party?

The next few days dripped by with agonizing slowness for Jennifer. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were both discharged the day after she woke up, both with orders to get plenty of bed rest for the next couple of weeks. This left her alone for the mornings and bulk of the afternoons while her friends were busy with their own jobs.

Rarity was by the second day to take her measurements. It was a bit of a chore with her being confined to bed but the generous unicorn had insisted on having some garments for the girl to wear upon her departure. The very day after there was a lovely (if a bit too frilly for Jen’s liking), silk blouse and flowing skirt waiting for her. While she’d have prepared a new t-shirt and pair of jeans she wasn’t sure if the ponies had denim…so she gave Rarity her most heartfelt thanks, the unicorn promising to have a whole wardrobe ready for her in no time.

Pinkie came by as soon as she was done working for the day of course, and usually stayed until visiting hours were over. The others would stop by for shorter visits…but it was still really boring. It came as quite a relief when her doctor finally pronounced her fit to leave.

“You’ll need to take it easy. Very easy. That barrel wound is still pretty bad…but as long as you don’t do any real physical activity you’ll be free to go home. Ah…do you have a home to go to?”

Jennifer was nodding eagerly, the prospects of leaving today went far to bring her mood up. “I do. Applejack invited me to stay with her family at Sweet Apple Acres, until Pinkie Pie saves enough to get a place of her own.”

The doctor only raised an eyebrow at the prospects of his patients’ future primary caregiver being the pony with possibly the worst reputation for responsibility. “Yes well…as soon as Ms. Pie comes to check you out, you’ll be on your way. Just remember, plenty of bed rest alright? You’re fit to walk so long as you take it slow, but I’d keep it to short trips for now.”

She gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks doctor, really. I’m sure it’s been a hassle for you.”

With a chuckle the stallion replaced her chart at the end of her bed. “Oh it was touch and go at first but despite your ah…unusual packaging most of the insides are the same hm? Take care Miss Allen.”

Left alone once again Jen did what she had been doing best the past few days, she settled down to sleep.

She was awakened sometime later by a loud squealing “Wheeeeeee!” Coming from the door to her room. In burst Pinkie Pie whizzing into the room in a wheel chair that looked several sizes too big for her. “Heya Jenny-bean check out the cool chair you get to take home!”

With a very tiny laugh Jen forced herself to sit up. “It’s just until I’m all better, than I have to bring it back. So don’t break it…those things cost a fortune back home I bet they’re expensive here too.”

A cheery giggle was the pink earth pony’s reply as she hopped out. “I know. But aren’t you excited?! You get to leave today!”

Jen nodded emphatically… scooting to the edge of her bed with agonizing slowness. Gently she eased her hospital gown off and tugged on the clothes Rarity had made for her. She’d worn silk once or twice when getting drug to her mother’s functions, but these felt like she was wearing a cloud. Gingerly setting her legs on the floor she oh-so-slowly settled her weight onto them. Almost instantly she felt them threaten to buckle, but with an annoyed grunt she forced them to support her. She carefully moved to the waiting chair and settled in it slowly. Pinkie bounded over with her shoes, which she slid on happily. The poor things looked a lot worse for wear than they had before her whole adventure started, but she refused to let Rarity replace them.

“Surprised they have one in my size really.”

Pinkie grabbed Jen’s effects… mostly her shield and the gem from Discord, slinging them over a handle on the chair. She moved to trot beside Jen as the nurse entered to wheel her out. “It’s in Big Mac size! They have to keep some BIG stuff on hand for when the draft ponies get hurt. We’re not all little ponies’ y’know?”

A little blush came unbidden to her cheeks. Applejack’s siblings had come to visit with their sister a couple days back. She keenly remembered the excitable Applebloom (though she recalled her name being Anna Belle at the time), from her frequent visits with her sister in the human world. She also remembered Big Mac…who just went by Mac in her world. He had come to one of their picnics once, with his ripply muscle and chiseled good looks Jen developed an instant crush. Of course here he was a huge red stallion so the image of her handsome future husband was shattered… but she couldn’t entirely banish the memory of his human form.

If Pinkie noticed she didn’t comment. “So! The Princesses want us to head to Canterlot! I know you’re supposed to be resting up so you can just keep your butt planted in that chair the whole way if you like.”

Nodding slowly, she waited patiently while Pinkie filled out the release forms. Idly wondering if she would eventually have to learn to write with her mouth…and suddenly very grateful for her magic giving horn. She found herself looking forward to the trip to Canterlot and meeting Luna face to face, without a crazy chaos monster interrupting. “Are we going right away?”

Pinkie happily took over pushing duty as she guided Jen from the hospital and into the crisp winter afternoon. Jen winced a bit at the sudden bright sunlight, but she couldn’t hide a huge smile as she inhaled the fresh air.

“Yup! The others’re already waiting for us at the train station. Twilight was a little upset that you weren’t getting any time to rest up at Applejack’s place but Princess Celestia’s letter said she needed to see us right away. So we’re going right away!”

Jen just gave a little ‘oh’ and settled back to enjoy the sensation of being outside. Even if it was pretty cold she didn’t want to zip up her jacket. Having the thin blouse over her tender stomach was uncomfortable enough. She didn’t really care if she was going to AJ’s farm or for a train ride to the royal castle; as long as she didn’t have to do a lot of walking she was content.

Shifting to get more comfortable in the chair as she was pushed along the little lane through Ponyville, she was keenly aware all eyes were on her again. It didn’t bother her as much as it had in Detrot, though it was still a little unnerving. Still she was supposed to live here now so she should get used to it. She just smiled and gave little waves to anypony she made eye contact with. Most seemed to get over their initial surprise easily enough… especially seeing the resident party pony so friendly with the weird creature.

Her smile widened as she saw a familiar little yellow filly charging her way. When she’d first seen Applebloom in her hospital room she couldn’t hide a girlish squeal. The little filly was just so cute. With those stubby little legs and chubby body she looked like a big stuffed animal. Hot on her heels were another pair of fillies, one a white unicorn with a lavender and pink mop of curls for a mane who must be Rarity’s little sister Sweet Belle, the other a little orange pegasus with tiny buzzing wings that had to be Scootaloo. Jen had been warned extensively on the antics of the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ as they called themselves, by their elders.

“Hey girls.” She gave a little smile. “It’s nice to see you all again.”

“Are ya really gonna be livin on the farm with us til Pinkie gets her own house?”

“Is it true you’re staying in Equestria?”

“Didja reallyget in a sword fight with Discord!?”

Even briefed on how much energy the fillies generally put out Jen was still a bit taken aback by the barrage. “Um…yes, yes…and yes.”

At confirmation of the third question all three fillies eyes widened considerably (which almost got another little eeee from Jen at how adorable it looked), “Coooooool.” They all said in unison.

“Hey d’ya think…?”

“It is something we haven’t tried yet…”

“And it’s super cool!”

The trio had stopped following Jen and Pinkie to mutter amongst themselves…then suddenly belted out in unison, “Cutie Mark Crusader Sword Fighters!” Then dashed off excitedly.

Jen couldn’t hide a grimace glancing back at the vanishing trio. “That doesn’t sound good.”

She got a cheery giggle from Pinkie. “Oh don’t worry I’m pretty sure the only actual sword in Ponyville is yours Jenny-bean.”

They reached the train station soon after without further delays. Jen couldn’t hide a grin as she saw Rainbow Dash free of the bulk of her bandages, flying above the group and darting back and forth impatiently. “Finally! We’ve been waiting forever!”

Twilight was looking much better as well, good as new in fact. She only rolled her eyes at Dash’s antics. “We’ve been waiting for about ten minutes.”

Rarity of course was gushing over Jennifer in the new outfit. “Oh it suits you marvelously darling, I’m a little out of practice making clothes for humans but I think it came out wonderfully don’t you?”

Giving a little nod Jen smiled. “They’re perfect…very comfy. Though it has been awhile since I wore a skirt.”

“Hm.” The snowy coated unicorn carefully studied her as they boarded the train. “Perhaps I can get you some slacks…it is lovely to be challenged again. I’ve been in something of a rut even before all this Discord business.”

Pinkie and Applejack stood on either side of Jen, allowing her to use them as braces to shift from the chair to the bed in their train car. Sinking into it slowly she pulled her legs up after herself and lay down. “Who’da thought being pushed around in a wheel chair could tire someone out?”

Her friends all shared a little laugh, except Twilight. “Actually it was more likely you sitting up for such a long period of time coupled with the mental stimulation that made you tired.”

That set the group to laughing again, all save a perplexed Twilight Sparkle. Holding her sore stomach with a little grimace Jen stared out the window beside her bed, watching the Equestrian country side roll by.

Someone was gently prodding her shoulder and jerked up right, then gave out a little yelp of pain as her stomach reminded her of its condition. The sun was slowly setting outside, and she could feel the train rolling to a stop. With a huff she realized she must have fallen asleep. Looking down she saw a rather aghast looking Fluttershy holding her hooves over her muzzle.

“Oh no…I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to startle you…it’s just we’re here and the girls sent me to make sure you were up…” The poor pegasus was gushing.

With a little smile Jen eased out of bed and to her chair, settling in with a grunt. “It’s alright Fluttershy, my fault for falling asleep.”

Wings flapping gently Fluttershy lifted from the ground and nudged Jen’s chair out of the car and onto the waiting platform. “Oh no, not at all. You need plenty of rest…I’m surprised the princesses asked to see you all so soon…they should know better.”

Settling back in the chair Jennifer gave a lazy shrug. She even managed to tune out the gawks she was receiving from the comically snooty looking pony elite of Canterlot. “I can lie around in a bed at AJ’s farm or I can sit in this chair and get wheeled around Canterlot. Doesn’t make much of a difference to me.”

“That’s the spirit Jenny-bean! Besides it’s always fun to visit with the Princess…uh…es! Except when Discord is attacking! Or the changelings! Or we have a parasprite invasion or Fluttershy foalnaps Princess Celestia’s bird…of course it’s not foalnapping then its birdnapping!”

Rainbow Dash quieted the excitable Pinkie Pie with a thump to the head with one of her wings. “She gets it Pinkie Pie.”

With a slow nod the girl settled back in her chair taking in the sights of the royal city. She saw plenty of statues and murals depicting Princess Celestia, but she couldn’t find a thing featuring Princess Luna. Maybe this was the Celestia District of the city or something.

Soon enough the group arrived at the palace gates. The guard eyed their guest for a moment, but she WAS with the elements of harmony so no one made any great effort to bar their path. They passed a trio of what Jen assumed were armored pegasi only…

“…do those guys have bat wings?” She asked, eyes wide.

Twilight glanced to the passing group and nodded. “Yes those are members of Princess Luna’s night guard. When she takes over and the night court begins the changing of the guard occurs. They have a glamour woven into their armor that gives them their more…intimidating appearance.”

Jen craned her head to watch them go, before settling back in her chair. “Cool…”

They were greeted by the same mare who met them in the courtyard. “Ah good you’re here. Princess Luna is just about finished with her business for the evening and will see you all momentarily.”

Everyone settled into the waiting room. “The evening’s just started; I’m surprised she doesn’t have more stuff t’do. I mean the sun’s just barely down.” Jen checked out the nearest window to see the moon just beginning its ascent.

“Well…most of the ponies conduct their business during the day, with Princess Celestia. Princess Luna was gone for a very long time after all and everypony just got used to having one princess. I think a lot of ponies are still a little…intimidated by her.”

Jen nodded slowly as Twilight finished, though she was frowning a touch too. That didn’t make a lot of sense; the Luna visiting her dreams seemed very kind. Maybe a touch formal but she was a princess after all.

She was pleasantly surprised when the charming unicorn stallion she’d met on her first trip here stepped through the doors from the throne room soon, holding a small medal encased in a placard in his magic aura. Jen to her credit didn’t snicker at all when she recalled his name was Fancy Pants…poor guy.

“Ah! Delightful to see you all again. And looking much better than last time hm?” He even sounded fancy… he definitely lived up to his name.

Rarity smiled radiantly. “Oh it’s wonderful to see you again too darling. And we simply cannot thank you enough for looking after us while we were ah…so inconvenienced.”

The stallion chuckled warmly and shook his head. “Not at all my dear, anypony would have done the same.” He trotted a bit closer to Jen, his monocle drifting in a touch closer to get a better look. “I say you are an interesting young filly aren’t you? I do wish I had more time to stay and chat but I’ve a busy night planned. Perhaps you’ll do me the honor of joining me for tea sometime soon?”

Feeling a little out of place…this guy seemed to be pretty much a ‘rich dude’ among ponies…not the type of people Jen usually associated with…she gave a little shrug. “Uh…sounds cool?”

Fancy gave a sharp laugh. “Ha! Indeed I do believe it would be… cool. Until then my dear. Rarity, always a delight to see you and your charming friends.” And with a tip of his head he was gone, leaving an impatient looking secretary gesturing them toward the throne room.

Jen was relieved to find all the damage she’d accidentally done in her tantrum toward Discord had been repaired. The lovely stain glass windows were whole once more, depicting what she assumed were great moments in pony history. She could see her friends occupying a number of them no less.

Princess Luna sat upon the throne wearing a welcoming smile. “It is good to see you all once again. And once again you have been asked to come to us this day so that we might honor your heroism. This marks the fourth time you young ponies have saved all of Equestria from near certain disaster.”

Seeing the look of concern on Twilights face Luna turned to address her personally. “My sister is resting now, and wishes to see you soon. I will only hold you a moment then you may go to her side Twilight Sparkle.”

At a happy nod from Twilight she continued. “In recognition of your many heroic acts and after consulting with my sister on the matter…we have decided you six shall be awarded official noble titles. You will have authority to act in our names in a more official capacity should the need arise.”

Everyone turned to find the source of the sudden WHUMP coming from the middle of the group. Rarity had fainted at the announcement. With a little chuckle the Princess continued as if nothing had happened.

“You will perhaps be asked to come to the court now and again, your opinions would be valued by me in the near future…” She trailed off seeming a bit troubled. “…however we can discuss this further at another time.”

Pinkie was suddenly hopping from hoof to hoof excitedly as Princess Luna settled her gaze on her. “Is it time? Is it time now??” The Princess gave a faint nod and Pinkie sprang behind one of the pillars… rolling out a canon. “Leeeeeet’s party!” With a BOOM the air was filled with balloons and confetti…more surprising to Jen was the sudden table filled with snacks, punch, and a bevy of games spread about the floor. There was even a record player going.

She turned an incredulous look to Applejack who just shrugged. “Eh…s’just Pinkie Pie bein Pinkie Pie…surprised ya didn’t see none of her uh…Pinkieness on the road.”

Shaking her head Jen again regarded the party that exploded from the cannon. “…not this kinda Pinkieness…” But she was smiling as she said it.

Twilight slipped from the room toward Princess Celestia’s private quarters during the commotion. Luna watched her subjects delve into their celebration for a few moments before stepping out onto a balcony overlooking the castle garden. With a firm set to her jaw Jen forced herself up from her chair and made a slow shuffle to follow the Princess.

Almost immediately Fluttershy moved to help her along…but was stopped by a pink hoof. The gentle pegasus was surprised at the unusually stern look on her friend’s face. “She’s fine Fluttershy. If she wanted help she would have asked.”

Tucking her wings back against her flanks with a nod Fluttershy returned to the snack table. “You’re going to take excellent care of her Pinkie Pie, I can tell.”

Her friends’ words helped soothe Pinkie’s nerves…as did the party. Her friends were all smiling and nothing made her happier than to see them smile…but she had filled out the papers to be Jen’s guardian here in Equestria without asking her first. She was sure she wouldn’t mind, even be happy about it but… what if she wasn’t?

“Another beautiful night your highness… that’s right, right?” Jen slowly moved to stand beside the regal alicorn looking out over the gardens.

Luna laughed lightly. “It is indeed…but I prefer my friends to call me Luna, and I do count you among that unfortunately small number.”

The girl nodded a little at that looking up at the sky again. “So you raise the moon and bring out the starts?”

“Mmhm.” Luna was a bit more animated now…there really were so few who enjoyed her night sky, even in this era where ponies were active in the evening. Most of it was in the big cities like Fillydelphia and Manehattan, and most of those ponies were more concerned with their evening’s entertainment than the stars. “I raise the moon and place the stars rather.”

Jennifer tilted her head. “Place them? You mean you can move them around?”

A little glint of mischief glinted in the Princess’ eye as she looked up at the starry sky. Her horn glimmered as a large cluster of stars began to slowly swirl in the sky. The look of awe on her audiences face warmed her heart more than she expected it to.

“That’s amazing! You can make them do whatever you want?” She would probably be bouncing up and down Pinkie style if she wasn’t so wiped out from the epic sojourn of fifty feet from her chair to the balcony.

Luna’s nod was emphatic, her own excitement matching Jennifer’s. “Oh yes… though you should hear some of the astronomers moan when I do. I will no doubt receive no less than a dozen complaints for this from some of the more curmudgeony sorts. Though the young ponies that are about at night seem to appreciate such displays.”

“I can see why.” Slowly Jen sank onto a stone bench on the balcony, breathing a bit heavily.

The princess regarded her with a touch of concern. “Are you well? Shall I fetch your chair?” When Jen waved a hand dismissively she nodded. “Very well. I am glad you accepted our invitation, my sister would have liked to be here to speak with you as well but that will be… difficult for a time. Regardless, we will respect your decision to become a full citizen out our land… however you must understand there will be difficulties. Adjustments to be made. After Discord, human visitors have been… scarce to say the least. The last one was some years ago, and Celestia kept her in the castle under her supervision at all times.”

Jen was frowning now, but the Princess cut her off before she could voice her concerns. “I do not believe I need to keep you here, nor do I wish to.” The relief on the girl’s face told her she had correctly guessed the coming question. “However, I should very much like it if you agreed to come to Canterlot on your weekend breaks from your regular school lessons. There is much I would enjoy teaching you, perhaps give you a little insight on the political system of Equestria, and I was quite the terror on the battlefield in my day. I believe you would like an instructor on how to properly use the Sword of Harmony.”

She wasn’t sure how excited she was about learning politics, though it was probably a good idea to know something about how government worked here. She was never too interested in the political scene back home so she hadn’t even thought about it here. The last bit however had her more than a little excited. “I’d love to! It was a pretty embarrassing fight with Discord to be honest.” She laughed a little…than winced at held her stomach.

“Well now that that is settled… we have another issue to discuss. I understand Discord gave you a not-insignifgant portion of his own power. I trust you are aware of just how dangerous it is?” Jen nodded, the good cheer from a moment ago gone. “Good. My sister and I believe it would be better suited with us rather than left in your care.”

Now Jen frowned, looking to her chair in the other room where the gem was looped around the handle under her shield. “I… think I want to keep it. Uh… with all due respect. I made a promise after all, and my shield keeps it from talking to me.”

Luna’s frown was more than a little troubled. “Very well Jennifer… though Celestia will not agree with me, I believe you are mature enough to ignore the temptation to wield so dangerous a power.” Her mood brightened a touch. “Before I allow you to return to your celebration, we crafted something for you.” Again her horn glimmered, and a small silvery chain lifted from beneath one of her wings. It was a charm bracelet… tiny silver charms of an earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn adorned it. “The last human who stumbled upon Equestria was given this bracelet. It allowed her to take on an aspect of the tribe she wished to experience before settling on the one she most preferred. Celestia thought it would help her adjust easier if she had some freedom of choice.”

Wide eyed Jen accepted the bracelet, fastening it around her left wrist. “So… can I uh…” She nodded toward Luna’s wings.
The Princess spread them wide, the sight took Jen’s breath away in a quick gasp. The Princess was a beautiful and imposing creature with her wings folded against her flanks, but when the magnificent plumage was spread to its full size she was breathtaking. “Grow wings? If you choose the pegasus aspect, yes. I would suggest you spend time as each. Have your friends teach you what it means to be a member of that tribe, before moving onto the next. It would be best if you started with the earth tribe. There are no ponies in Equestria more centered and grounded. It will help give you a better clarity of thought. Without Discord meddling with your inner workings, you should absorb enough Equestrian energy to become a pony within a year and a half, perhaps two”

Fingering the charms on the bracelet Jen nodded. While she really really really wanted to fly with wings of her own…the princess had been nothing but kind to her, and her advice did sound pretty good. She was also pretty relieved it was gonna take so long for her to wind up a pony. While it wasn’t as terrifying a prospect as it had first seemed, she was still pretty fond of her fingers…and bipedal locomotion. “Alright your high..er… Luna. I’ll try that first then. Should I like… do it now or…?”

Luna shook her head gently. “No, wait until you are feeling better. Right now you are of the unicorns, and the change from one tribe to another can be a strain on the body. It won’t do you any harm at all when you’re healthy. As you are now it could be slightly dangerous.”

Almost instantly Jen jerked her hand away from the bracelet. “Oh… well then.” She pushed herself to her feet, rising to eye level with the Princess. “Thank you so much for this… and for all your help while we were on the road.”

Luna dipped her head low, almost in a bow. “Thank you for all you did. Without you Discord would have run unchecked in Equestria. It gives me great pleasure to officially welcome you to Equestria.” A particularly loud bout of laughter rolled from the throne room. “Now… I believe you should rejoin your friends hm?”

With a little grin Jennifer nodded and hobbled back into the party.

-Twilight Sparkle-

Twilight gingerly made her way through the halls of the palace. She walked with steady confidence; she’d made the trip through the castle to Princess Celestia’s chambers often enough she could probably do it blindfolded. She was even more excited to see her brother and sister-in-law waiting outside Celestia’s rooms.

“Shining Armor! Cadence! What are you doing here?” She rushed up giving them both a tight embrace before stepping back. Her joy dimmed a little at their stoic expressions.

“Princess Luna asked us to come.” Princess Cadence frowned a touch, the expression almost as foreign on her gentle features as it was on Pinkie Pie’s. The youngest of the alicorns, she was only a little larger than the average pony.

Shining Armor stepped up beside his wife, leaning against her affectionately. “It’s best if you just go in and talk to her yourself Twily. Just… try not to panic.”

This of course was precisely the wrong thing to say to the high strung unicorn, who was in fact on the verge of panicking as she burst into Celestia’s chambers. Her panic was validated she felt, at the sight of her beloved teacher.

Princess Celestia lay by a crackling fireplace. The Princess of the sun’s coat was closer to dull grey then it’s usually pearly white. Her once luminous tail and mane lay flat against her body, the colors faded greatly. Deep lines ran along her eyes and mouth. All in all she looked…old. really old.

Gingerly Twilight approached. “P… Princess?”

Celestia lifted her head, letting her tired gaze fall upon her beloved student. “Twilight… I’m so glad you’ve come.” Even her voice sounded thin and strained.

Twilight knelt beside the princess, feeling tears welling in her eyes. “Princess I don’t understand… what happened to you?”

With a sigh the princess rested her head on her forehooves once more. “I’m going to share something with you that isn’t common knowledge Twilight… I wish it to remain between a very select few, do you understand?”

Wide eyed… and with some of her worry forgotten at the hint of some ancient forbidden secret, Twilight leaned forward eagerly.

“While we alicorns are immortal… even we need to rest. In ages past, Luna and I would take turns. Just a week or so every hundred years was enough to replenish out energy and vitality for the next century.” She paused to glance at Twilight to make sure she was paying attention; she allowed herself a smile at the notion that her student would somehow not pay attention to every word. “As you might expect… I couldn’t very well take a week away from raising the sun while Luna was…away. And so, I put it off. Year after year I ignored it, I forced myself to push onward. And between you and me, I think I did a pretty good job.” She laughed lightly.

Twilight shook her head, looking over her teacher again. “But Princess what about Cadence? Couldn’t she have taken over your duties? She did a fine job with the sun and the moon the past few days!”

Celestia sighed softly. “You have to understand Cadence is very young still, and not just by alicorn standards. She’s only a little older then yourself, and has only just grown into her power to the point where she could move the heavenly bodies.” Seeing Twilight begin to grow frazzled Celestia gently draped a wing over her. “Now… there’s no need to panic. I’m going to be just fine. I just need a more… drastic revitalization this time.”

This did seem to go a long way towards calming Twilight. “Drastic how Princess?”

“We’ll get to that in a moment. Just know that I will be indisposed for perhaps a year, no more than two at the most.”

Twilight’s eyes popped wide enough Celestia was afraid they’d roll out of her head. “It’s going to be fine. Luna is here now, and she’s more than ready to look after Equestria. Cadence will take over raising the sun for me in the interim. As for you, I’m sure you don’t want to put your studies on hold so…” Her horn glimmered with a flickering golden aura.

Across the room a doorway appeared outlined in sparkling gold light. At a nod from the princess Twilight approached, her curiosity over riding her concern. Inside the doorway was… a library. She looked back to Celestia, confusion on her face. “I don’t recognize this library Princess.”

The sun princess rose slowly, making her way to stand at Twilight’s side. “From what I’ve been told you were unconscious when Jennifer and Pinkie Pie entered the library of Clover the Clever, so I’m not surprised you don’t recognize it.”

She was more than a little amused that Twilight seemed on the verge of hyper ventilating again…this time in excitement. “Are you serious? This is the library of the Clover the Clever! The most esteemed unicorn in history after Starswirl the Bearded?!” She was practically dancing on her hooves.

With a grin Celestia nudged her through the magical door. “It is. Many of the books here were penned by Clover herself. The ones that weren’t, were written by Starswirl.”

Every word seemed to increase Twilight’s excitement until she couldn’t contain it anymore. She dashed about from shelf to shelf. “There’s so much to read! And so much to organize… none of these seem to be in any sort of order! Spike! I’ll need Spike of course. We’ll have a lot of lists to make and…”

Her teacher interrupted her manic rant with a light ahem. “There’s plenty of time for that Twilight. This doorway will be visible to you and only you anytime you enter my chambers.”

Reluctantly Twilight tore herself from the books and followed her mentor back to her place by the fire. “While I’m unavailable I hope you’ll help yourself to as many books as you like. Just… try to be careful with them. Many are irreplaceable.”

Wide eyed Twilight nodded emphatically. Even without being told she’d planned to treat them as if they were worth a kingdom’s worth of bits each…which some of them very well may be. She settled down next to Celestia again, a million questions wanting to spill forth. Before she could ask any of them…she noticed Celestia was beginning to… glow.

“Princess? Are you… alright?” The concern in Twilight’s voice was more than clear.

Glancing back over her increasingly brighter glowing form Celestia nodded. “The process is starting Twilight. I won’t be gone for very long at all…and I’m sure you have more than enough to keep yourself occupied. Just know that I’m very proud of everything you and your friends have accomplished…and I’m excited to hear all about what you get up to while I’m gone.”

As she spoke the glow around the Princess had intensified rapidly. Eventually reaching the point Twilight had to look away or risk damaging her eyes. Abruptly the glow vanished and Twilight blinked the spots from her eyes…looking to where Celestia had lay. In her place was…a tiny white foal. Sleeping contently on the floor.

Cadence and Shining entered soon after, the young Princess gently lifting the slumbering foal and cradling her in a foreleg. “Celestia asked Shining Armor and myself to take care of her. She said she would age quickly enough… but until she reached adulthood she’d be a trifle… precocious was how she phrased it.”

Looking from the tiny filly to his shocked sister Shining gave Twilight a firm nuzzle. “it's fine Twily, you know she’s in great hooves with us. She’ll be back to herself in no time at all.”

Twilight just let out the breath she’d been holding, planting her backside down firmly. “This is just…she’s so…tiny.”

Cadence nodded and held the foal a bit closer. “She is… tiny and defenseless Twilight. If anyone not friendly to Equestria learns of this she could be in danger. You can tell the other elements of harmony, but no one else. We want this to remain as quiet as possible. Luna plans to explain Celestia’s absence as her sister taking a diplomatic trip to a distance realm.”

Finally tearing her eyes from the tiny foal who was her teacher just moments ago, Twilight nodded solemnly. “You can count on us you guys. And if you ever need help you can ask anytime.” She even managed a smile.

Her brother gave her another firm embrace. “Thanks Twily. We should get going… we want to get back to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible. And leaving this late there won’t be many out to see us go.”

Looking from her brother to Cadence Twilight sighed. “Well it was nice to see the two of you again. Maybe next time there won’t be some horrible momentous occasion and we can just enjoy a normal visit.”

Cadence laughed and ruffled her sister-in-law’s mane. “I hope so too Twilight. We’ll see you soon I’m sure.” With that she left with her husband and their new little bundle of royal joy.

-Elsewhere-

A dark figure quietly slipped through the house, her feet making not a sound as she expertly stepped around creaky floor boards and squeaky stairs. Making her way to the second floor of the house, she carefully laid a piece of parchment wrapped in a red ribbon, and sealed with wax on the floor before a door, where loud snoring could be heard from the other side. With a little smile she turned and slowly eased back down the stairs. Clutching something around her throat, a chaotic swirl of every color imaginable swallowed her up…and then the figure was gone.

-Still Elsewhere-

With another swirl of color she appeared outside a small cabin, situated deep in the snowy woods. Her movements were a bit slower, as if she was growing tired. She gingerly climbed the steps of the old cabin, wincing at each tiny creak. Oh so slowly she knelt down leaving another letter before the front door. Turning she made her way back down the steps…then froze as the door swung open.

“Missing for two weeks an ya turn up here? Where the hell’ve ya been Jennifer?”

The figure turned to see her grizzled uncle standing larger than life like always in the doorway. She knew it was silly to think she could sneak up and leave without the cunning woodsman noticing. Gently she lowered the hood on the dark cloak she wore.

Jen gave a weak smile back to her uncle, whose eyes widened when he saw the horn clearly jutting from his niece’s forehead. “Jenny…what th’hell happened t’you?”

With a sigh she made her way back up the cabin steps. “Can we go inside and talk then? I’m freezing.”

Her uncle just stepped aside to admit her into the cabin. She stepped in smiling at the familiar smell of the place. It was close to Equestria in its untainted outdoorsy smell. Close but not quite as pure. She settled slowly on the sofa… her uncles’ eyes following her every step. Eventually he joined her in the chair seated across from her.

“Well first I wanted to know where you’ve been…but I think you got something else you need t’explain first young lady.”
With a little grin she reached up and tapped her horn. “What this? This’ nothing.” Seeing her uncle hadn’t quite
appreciated her attempt at humor her smile faded. “It’s… complicated.”

Her uncle was unmoved. “Try me.”

With a deep breath… she started talking. Not leaving out a single detail of where she’d been and what she’d been up to for the past couple of weeks. Obviously her story sounded insane… but it was a lot easier to prove true when she demonstrated a bit of magic (rocketing one of her uncles beers into the stratosphere in the attempt), and displaying the obviously magical properties of her sword. Her uncle just sat through the telling, only getting up to get a beer from the fridge… then returning to his seat as she continued. Finally she stopped, and sat fingering the charm bracelet around her wrist.

Her uncle took another sip from his beer (his fifth one of the night), and took a deep breath. “So yer safe? Yer happy over in uh….”

“Equestria.” His niece supplied
.

“Equestria.” He repeated. “…I remember you bringin that Pennie up with ya t’visit one time. She was a good kid. Weird… but good. I s’pose you could do worse.”

She gave a nod. “I Could do a lot worse. I’m supposed to start helping AJ out on the farm tomorrow…which is gonna suck since I’ve been up all night talking to you but…I didn’t want you to think I just forgot all about you y’know?”

Giving one of his trademark ‘hrmphs’ he got to his feet. “Well if you got work t’morrow you best get going. …you gonna be able to visit again?”

She stood as well, frowning a little at his question. “Probably not in person… if the Princess knew I’d come at all in the first place I’d be in crazy trouble…” She again fingered the glimmering jewel around her neck. “But I can probably send letters.”

Her uncle gave another grunt, but nodded. “S’pose that’s better than nothing. And you don’t gotta worry about me runnin around talkin about all this I s’pose… I’d just sound nuts.”

This caused his niece to grin now. “Crazier than usual y’mean?”

Now his harrumph was strong enough to count for two or three surely. But he cracked one of his rare smiles. “Well alright then kid. I’ll look forward to hearin' from ya then.” They stood awkwardly for a moment, before he finally folded his arms around her in a hug, slapping her back firmly.

She winced from a twinge in her mostly healed belly… but didn’t let him see. “Alright alright… I better get goin before you start gushing or something.” Her grin showed she was just teasing.

At a nod from him she stepped back outside. “See ya later Uncle Derek. Love ya!”

He had to hold his hand against the barrage of magical light flaring around his young niece…when it cleared she was gone, just a patch of bare grass in the snow where she’d stood.

“Love you too kid.”

-Sweet Apple Acres-

Jen carefully slipped her necklace from her neck and tucked it into the drawer in the guest room of the Apple family’s house she was using. Resting the Sword of Harmony against the dresser she slowly eased into bed.

“I’m sure sending letters won’t be a big deal…not like I’m doing anything bad or anything…” Content in the knowledge that her wielding of Discord’s gifted power was nothing but mature and intelligent, she settled in to sleep.

“…maybe grab my iPod next time…then I’m done with it for sure.”

Author's Note

Well it's done! I hope folk enjoyed my first foray in fan fiction haha. From the ending I'm sure most folk can tell I have more stuff planned for Jen and co. I also have an idea for another character in the same setting...not sure which I'm gonna write first but the first chapter of whichever I end up doin will be up sooner rather than later!

Until then, make mine Marvel! (Don't tell me this is the wrong place for that!)

Chapter 3: A Long Fall

Jennifer frowned down at the hanky in her hands. ‘Luna?’ She thought. ‘I thought her name was Lucy…it could be her mom’s I guess but something about that girl was weird…and she knows Pennie! something is definitely going on here, and I’m gonna find out what!’

She set out for home with a determined gait, making quick progress. The park was only a ten minute walk from home, and she was in the door and upstairs in a hurry. She’d spent enough time in the park that school would be over by now anyway so she didn’t have to worry about her mom wondering why she was home early. Not that she normally took notice of Jen’s comings and goings. Mom always hoped for a more delicate ‘feminine’ daughter, instead she got one who was a lot more interested in exploring every tree in the local woods and sketching out anything that caught her eye.

Isabelle lifted her head and gave a few lazy wags of her tail as her owner slipped into her room and shut the door. She paused to give her dog a quick scratch between the ears before digging out the camping pack her uncle had gotten her one year.

Uncle Derek was a big hunting nut and when he found out Jen had been given a ‘hunting dog’ for her fourteenth birthday he took it upon himself to bring her and the beagle to his cabin up north, giving her a two week crash course in hunting and wilderness survival. Also trying (semi-successfully), to train the eternally lazy dog to do some proper hunting.

‘But!’ Jen thought with a smile. ‘We did get her to follow a scent.’ She tightened the laces on her shoes and stuffed a few of the outdoors necessities her uncle grilled into her to always bring out when she went on a, (potentially) long hike. Canteen, compass, flashlight, and a lighter. She threw Izzy’s leash and collar on and led the suddenly excited dog back out the door and to the park.

“Right then! This isn’t a for fun trip Iz, we have business.” Isabelle for her part was just excited as can be to out and about, usually preferring to sleep the day away she really came alive when that leash came out. It wasn’t long before Jen led her dog back to the spot Lucy’s trail disappeared, and she fished the hanky from her pocket. “Alright, do your stuff.”

She held the piece of silk out toward Izzy who eagerly sniffed a few times, then turned straining her leash. Jen let her loose and she took off like a shot, sniffing the ground rapidly. She’d bound ahead out of sight, then come back with her trademark yowl, waiting for Jen to catch up. Jen did keep a quick pace, jogging up and keeping the trail her dog left in sight at all times. Several times Isabelle would pause and look confused, sniffing and trotting about in a circle, before she straightened and shot off again.

Frowning at the odd behavior Jen kept pushing deeper into the woods. After a good half hour of this they came to the barb wire fence to ward trespassers from the wildlife preserve ahead. Usually she had a healthy respect for the law, (not to mention the potentially dangerous wild animals in the preserve) but Izzy’s behavior, Lucy disappearing, all of it was making her more curious than ever. She gripped the fence and pried an opening, allowing first Izzy to jump through then following herself, letting out a little curse as the barbs pierce her less then thick gloves.

That little thrill of excitement she used to get from exploring new places was rising in her, helping her forget both the trespassing and the (hopefully) hibernating bears. The sun was well on its way over the horizon and a bright full moon was shining down, so bright she didn’t even need the flashlight. Jen paused for a moment just to take in the evening. She loved night time, much preferring it to day. The night just had a haunting beauty she found appealing. She didn’t get to pause long before Isabelle gave an annoyed yowl and darted off again.

So they continued on, another hour passed before the dog finally stopped, and began to bark furiously. Jen charged ahead, pushing through some bushes and stumbling into a small glade. The moon seemed to shine brightly enough in the glade, and only the glade, to bathe the area in silvery light as bright as if the sun were high in the sky. Very unusual pair of trees were bowed toward one another, their branches intertwined around the middle and forming a visible arch. Isabelle was barking agitatedly at the trees.

Jen frowned a little and approached slowly. The air in the glade had an almost electric feel to it. She swore she could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. “…well what’s this? I don’t see a creepy pale girl here Iz.” She walked a slow circuit around the trees, kicking a stone with a huff. Her irritation with the dog vanished quickly, as the stone passed between the arch formed by the trees, there was a…ripple in the air and it vanished!

“…you saw that too right? I’m not crazy?” The awestruck teenager asked of her canine companion, who as usual had little to say save a soft whine and tail wag. Likely demanding reward for her hard work. Jen idly patted her on the head digging out a dog treat from a pocket on her bag and tossing it to the waiting beagle.

While Izzy munched her treat, Jen slowly approached the arch, brow furrowed in concentration. “Ok…I must have imagined it right?” She tentatively reached a hand out…ever so slowly. As it passed through the arch she felt the slightest resistance, as if she were pushing her hand through jello…then with a soft PWORP sound…her hand passed through. She could feel it…wiggle her fingers…but from what she could see it just vanished, her arm ended at the wrist. She gave a loud yelp and jumped back, tripping over the dog and falling on her rear. To her relief, her hand was attached and whole.

“Isabelle these are NOT magic trees! There’s no such thing!” She scowled, remembering something Tina had told her. She seemed shocked when a younger Jennifer insisted magic was all make believe, and insisted that magic WAS real, and all around you, even if you couldn’t see it. “Jeez was she right? I figured she was just…trying to make a little kid happy.” She slowly stood up brushing off the seat of her pants.

Doing another slow circuit of the trees, this time her dog following her happily she frowned. “Well if I put my hand in and pulled it out, there should be no problem…I can just…pop in, see what’s up then pop out!” She looked down at Iz. “…right?” Of course Izzy just wagged her tail and barked playfully, her master didn’t seem distressed, excited really…which made HER excited. “Right!” She took a deep breath…and stepped into the arch.

She felt the odd resistance all over, then the loud PWORP sensation….the immediate lack of resistance caused her to pitch forward off balance. In the midst of her fall she noticed two things. The first…was that things seemed…different somehow on the other side. The second, was that the geography wasn’t the same on the side of the arch, and it overlooked a rather steep drop down, with a loud screech she toppled over the incline and started sliding down, face first.

It SHOULD be hurting…usually a young woman sliding chest down and headfirst on a bumpy incline was cause for more than a little discomfort, and while not exactly pleasant…it didn’t really hurt. The slide went on for some time, her hair whipping back, the initial fear giving way for exhilaration! She let out an excited whoop as she picked up speed…excitement cut short as she came to the end, and went sailing into the air. Arms and legs suddenly flailing in renewed panic, she braced herself for the (likely fatal) landing she was about to endure.

Hitting the ground with a loud WHUMP…she…bounced…once, twice…then a third time. Just…bounced off the hard ground, and THIS hurt, this hurt a lot. But not as much as one would expect a hundred or so foot drop from the air onto the hard ground to hurt. After the third bounce she slid in the dirt for a few moments…coming to a gradual stop. Then she just…layed there breathing heavily for several long moments.

Her voiced came out a soft whisper at first. “…I’m alive?” Wiggling fingers, then toes…she slowly got her hands under her and pushed herself into a sitting position. “I’m alive! Haha!” She jumped to her feet and did an excited little dance. “Alive! Alive! I’m-“ Her next exclamation was cut short as she heard a pitiful yowl…and Isabelle came soaring over the rocky slide to land heavily on her head, and down they both went in a heap.

It took several moments but she slowly disentangled herself, laughing all the while. “We surviiiiiived! And…holy crap! What was all that about?! That sure as heck wasn’t there a minute ago!” She grinned down at her dog…and tilted her head in confusion. Isabelle looked…odd. She was clearly the same dog, black brown and white, tail wagging slowly as she began to share in her owners jubilation and the shock of the impromptu ride wore off. But still she seemed…off. “Hold on Iz…”

Jen dug around in her backpack fishing out the flashlight. It was still a very bright full moon, but she couldn’t see with one hundred percent clarity. Clicking the light on she shined it over her dog and gasped. Izzy looked…weird. She seemed too…smooth? Smooth was a good word. And bright. Very bright. Like…abnormally bright and colorful. Still her normal coloration just infinitely more vibrant. “Isabelle what happened to you!?” Then a thought occurred to her and she shone the light on her other arm. Like Izzy it seemed perfectly smooth, no visible hairs, and her fingers didn’t seem to have nails! She panicked for a moment thinking that they must have gotten torn or broken off in the fall, but it didn’t hurt.

Slowly running the fingers of her other hand over them, they even felt smooth. No nail at all. And her skin had the same odd vibrancy Izzy’s fur did. “Alright this is weird Iz…” She winced at a sudden throb in her head. “Must have banged it from the fall…should be glad a headache’s the only problem I came away with.” She frowned looking back up the sheer cliff leading to the steep incline. “…I don’t think we’re going back that way without some climbing gear.”

Clicking the flashlight off and stowing it back in her pack she frowned looking about. She was standing in what looked to be the edge of the forest, a wide field of green stretched out before her. “Hrm…we need to find people Iz.” Almost as soon as she speaking her thought aloud she felt a…tugging. It was faint, barely noticeable if it didn’t feel like someone was tugging on her head, she’d ignore it. It felt like something wanted her to look to the right…and gradually she did, then the sensation was straight ahead.

“…I walked through a magic portal, survived a plummet off a cliff with nothing more than a headache and now seem to have some sort of compass in my brain.” She glanced down as Isabelle. “Oh and we both went through some sort of air brush station or something…well let’s follow the weird pulling sensation.” She started walking ahead; the faint but insistent tugs would redirect her anytime she veered from her course. She even experimented a bit, so much as turning her head left or right caused it to tug her back in the central direction.

“This is super weird Iz.” Her dog just gave a happy yelp and bounded ahead through the grass. She always returned before long but she was clearly happy to be out and off her leash to run. “We should probly keep it down, might be like…wild animals or something around.” The pair continued walking for some time; eventually she could make out lights in the distance. “H…hey! People!”

Reinvigorated by the promise of help, she began to jog ahead. Seeing a dirt road leading into what was soon revealing itself to be a town she followed it now. It wasn’t until she was much closer and began to slow her pace she realized the pull on her head had faded. She also realized the place she was approaching looked…weird.

The buildings were a bit on the small side. They still stood taller then she, but the doors and windows seemed oddly lower to the ground than she was used to. It must be pretty late because she didn’t see anyone on the streets, but she could hear what sounded like a party going on around the corner. She slowly made her way toward the music and stopped when she saw the source. At the end of the cheery little lane, was a giant…cupcake. There was a door and windows, it was clearly a building. But it was a building made up to look like a gingerbread house.

“Holy crap I fell into Wonkaland.” She approached the…big…gingerbread…house thing and leaned down a little to give the door a couple knocks. Isabelle content to trot at her master’s side took the opportunity to flop down and give a long yawn. “I know I know…we’ll get a phone or something then get home ok?”

The door swung open letting the jubilant music spill out into the night. “Sorry to interrupt your party but I-“She choked a bit and looked down. Standing a bit shorter than her chest was…a horse? A very…colorful horse. She had a bright orange coat, the most weirdly expressive face one had ever seen for a horse, huge green eyes and…a cowboy hat.

Of course the appearance of this little horse was surprising enough, but then it spoke. “….uhhh…Twi? I think we got us a doozy of a problem!”

Jen’s eyes just widened further as the little horse suddenly spoke…spoke…with a southern drawl no less? ‘Oh! I get it! I must be dead or unconscious after the fall. This is all in my head…whew.’

There was a bit of a commotion as another horse joined the first. This one’s coat was deep purple, her mane bearing a pink and purple stripe. She seemed as alarmed to see Jen as Jen was to see her. “I…that’s a human! Why is there a human here?! This…this is not good! They’re not supposed to come here…we go there! I…this human has a horn? Why does she have a horn?”

Something was familiar about this one’s hair…mane…whatever. Before she could ponder that overmuch something she said seemed more important. “…I…uh…horn?” She managed to squeak out. Slowly feeling at her head with shaking hands…there it was. Right in the middle of her forehead just inside her hairline…a horn. “Why do I have a horn?!”

Her sudden distress was causing Isabelle to get riled, the normally docile dog hopping up and growling low at what she assumed where the cause of her masters discomfort…the two little horses. Both of whom took a few steps back.

That’s when a third voice chimed in. “Hey girls what’s goin on? The party’s over here!” Up bounded a very pink, very cheery horse like the other two, her hair flouncing merrily, a huge grin on her face. A huge familiar grin. The first two seemed familiar, their voices struck chords in Jen’s heart…but this one…it had to be her.

“…Pennie?” She barely managed to get the name out.

The Pennie horse’s eyes widened. “Ohmygosh! Jenny-bean! You came to visit us!” Before anyone could react the little pink horse bounded into the air and crashed atop Jen barreling her to the ground in a tight hug. “This is so exciting! I was so sad when we had to go and I missed you soooo much! Every day even! But now you’re here! Ohh! This calls for a party!” She bounded back off the stunned human girl and grinned even wider. “Heyyyy you still have my old shoes! That’s awesome I’m so glad you like em!”

This was all getting a bit much for the poor girl. First the magic trees, then the fall, now talking horses…and Pennie is one of them? Not to mention she sprouted a horn! She opened and closed her mouth a few times…before flopping over backwards, dead to the world.

Pinkie gave a little eep of alarm and rushed back over to the fallen Jennifer. “Oh no! What happened? Did she fall asleep? I bet walking from her world to ours made her really tired huh?”

Twilight frowned, a faint aura shimmering around her horn, then to the unconscious girl lifting her gently into the air. “I think more likely the shock of all this was a bit much for her to take all at once Pinkie. I’m going to get her to the library…the party’s gone on long enough and the Cake’s probably don’t want an unconscious human in their house. Then I need to send a letter to the Princess right away! Humans shouldn’t be able to come to our world…it takes powerful magic to open the gate. Applejack will you let everypony know what’s going on? I want to get her home right away.”

The dependable apple farmer gave a quick nod. “Sure thing Twi, I’ll corral her critter too. Keep her from raisin a fuss in town while you get her t’the library.”

The party pony’s normally bright mood darkened a bit as she fell into step with Twilight, looking over Jennifer with concern. “She’s gonna be okay right? I mean…she’s not hurt or anything?”

Twilight shook her head, quickening her pace a little. She didn’t want anyone seeing the human and causing a panic. “I don’t think so; she was just overwhelmed with everything. I’m more curious about her horn then anything.”

Pinkie nudged the door to the library open when they reached their destination. “Yeah, it looks kinda like yours! Or well, a unicorns! I definitely don’t remember her having that when we left; you think it’s some kinda new piercing or something they do over there?”

Gently moving Jen to the couch and letting the aura around her dissipate Twilight shook her head. “No she seemed very surprised to see it remember?” She looked upstairs. “Spike! I need to send a letter to the Princess immediately!”

While Pinkie fretted over Jen’s prone form, a brief commotion came from upstairs. Slowly the little purple and green dragon made his way downstairs rubbing his eyes. “You know what time it is right? I was…uh…is that a human girl on the couch? I guess sleep time can wait…” He hastily retrieved a quill and paper ready to receive the dictation.

Twilight seemed to be pondering how to best phrase her message finally nodding to herself. “Princess Celestia, I am writing to inform you that somehow a human has breached the barrier between their world and Equestria. Our friend Jennifer is here in Ponyville at the library. She seems to have grown a horn similar to a unicorns which is radiating a faint aura of magic. I await your response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

As she gave the usual closing statement, Spike rolled up the scroll and gave a quick puff of green dragon fire over it, sending it off on its way to Celestia’s desk. His task done he slowly approached the unconscious teen. “Huh…so this is a human? She doesn’t have any fur or scales…how’s she stay warm?”

Pinkie sat watching her as she slept, looking more and more worried. Neither Spike nor Twilight recalled her seeming so…un-Pinkie Pielike since the Discord incident. “They wear clothes to keep warm Spike, not just to look nice like anypony else would.” Twilight gave Pinkie a reassuring smile. “She’s just fine Pinkie, she’s just asleep. If she were in trouble she wouldn’t be breathing as deeply as she is now.”

As if on cue Jen’s eyes fluttered open. Spike scurried back behind Twilight and Pinkie sat up eagerly. “Oh thank goodness! I was all hiya and you were all “eeek I’m gonna faint!” and I was soooo worried but now you’re awake and ok!”

Blinking slowly and staring at the excited pink pony, Jen pulled herself into a sitting position…looking slowly from Pinkie, to Twilight…and glancing Spike’s way. “…right so…I went through these…magic trees. Fell off a cliff. Grew a horn at some point…and Pennie’s a little horse. And…you must be Tina…”

Twilight cleared her throat gently and tried to give Jen a warm smile. “Well…we’re ponies first of all. And our real names are Pinkie Pie…” She nodded Pinkie’s way. “And Twilight Sparkle.” She nudged the little dragon into view. “And this is my assistant, Spike.”

Spike gave her a nervous smile. “Uh…hey there, heard a lot about you from Pinkie and everyone.”

The beleagured teen tried to return the smile but just managed more of a twitch. “Uh…thanks…a pleasure…” She looked from Tina…Twilight Sparkle, to Pinkie Pie slowly. Glancing from one to the other. “So…you’re ponies.” More of a statement then a question, but both nodded in the affirmative.

She took a deep breath before continuing on. “Is this why you left? To come back to…ponyland?”

Pinkie opened her mouth to answer but Twilight stepped in first. “Equestria…and yes. We were on an educational and explorational mission from our Princesses to learn about your world. The magic that allowed us to have human bodies can only last a year before it became permanent.”

Jen seemed to be processing this new information, looking down at her lap, before slowly looking back up at Pinkie now. “Why didn’t you tell me? You just…abandoned me out of the blue Pennie! I kept going back to our spot for weeks before I gave up!” Tears were forming in her eyes and starting to run down her cheeks unchecked.

Pinkie looked alarmed at the sudden turn in Jen’s mood…this wasn’t at all the happy reunion she was hoping for. “It wasn’t up to me Jenny-bean! We were absolutely forbidden from telling anyone about Equestria or who we really were no matter how much I wanted to! And between you and me the Princess can go a little overboard when it comes to punishment…but that’s just my opinion…so…so I’m really really really sorry! I don’t think there are enough reallies to tell you how sorry I am!”

Now Pinkie was starting to cry. Spike shuffled from foot to foot looking worried at Pinkie’s uncharacteristic attitude before Twilight finally cleared her throat. “She’s right Jennifer, if we could have told you we absolutely would have. You were a good friend and it hurt everypony a lot to leave you behind, especially with so little explanation. Poor Pinkie Pie was sad and mopey for weeks! She’d barely leave her room at Sugarcube Corner.”

Jen sniffed a bit looking down at Pinkie. “…my folks couldn’t get me to go to school for a week after you left…” She threw her arms around Pinkie, who responded by throwing her forelegs around her human friend, and both shared a good cry together. Spike gave Twilight a little tug and jerked his head toward the door, both dragon and unicorn leaving quietly to give the reunited friends some privacy.

Eventually the tears slowed and stopped, leaving a pair of red eyed girls sitting on the floor in one anothers arms (slash forelegs). Gradually the embrace ended and they sat looking at one another. Pinkie was the first to smile of course, but Jen found her mood brightening just a bit…like it always did around Pennie. Both girls soon dried their eyes and each took a deep breath. Pinkie spoke first. “Soooo…how in the world did you get to Equestria? Princess Celestia said it was impossible!”

Jen was still on the floor, her back braced against the couch behind her. She gave a half shrug. “Well…this new girl came to school and mentioned she heard of me through you…er…through Pennie. Who is still you I guess…I sorta made a big scene when she brought up your name.” Pinkie winced slightly at that and Jen gave a helpless shrug. “I hadn’t thought about you in a while…I figured you were gone forever so…” She looked down at her shoes a moments before looking back up.

“So I ran to our spot in the woods and she found me. She gave me this hanky to dry my eyes…I kinda uh, shoved her and she ran off and disappeared in the woods. I was a bit worried about her being lost and really curious how she disappeared and knew you. I went home and got my dog Isabelle…I usually call her Izzy…and she followed Lucy’s scent to this…weird portal in the woods. I went through it and followed my ah…” At this point she points faintly to her horn peeking through her hair. “My horn and it led me her.” As she finished her story she gently prodded the horn protruding from her head, still keeping her eyes on Pinkie, but giving experiment tugs or prods to the new appendage.

Pinkie for her part just nodded along, giving the occasional gasp or oh to go along with the story. “Well…now that you’re here…there’s something really important we gotta do!” She paused waiting expectantly.

Jen blinked and tilted her head. “What’s that?”

“Haaaaaave a party!”

Chapter 11: The Race is On Part 2

It was official. Sword fighting sucked. It looks cool in the movies. And if this were like, the new Final Fantasy Jennifer would be all over the semi-medieval combat the game simulated. But it turns out (and she’s not sure WHY this surprised her so much), that even a small cut from a sword hurt. A lot. She didn’t understand why people in popular media who got these small nicks and cuts shrugged it off like it didn’t happen.

Discord was clearly much better with a sword than she was. She was feeling confident at the start of their fight. His wide swings had seemed clumsy and slow. His lunges and thrusts were very clearly choreographed and she could see them coming a mile away in time to get her shield in the way. She soon realized however he was just toying with her. After one exaggerated slash that she had moved her sword up to block, in a flash he had switched directions and the overhand chop became a horizontal slash, opening a thin red line across her belly. It wasn’t deep, she knew she wasn’t going to DIE from it alone…but she was still bleeding.

Then it went on. She’d block a few of his clumsy strikes, and in a blink he’d follow them up with a lightning fast move that scored another hit. She had several cuts on both arms and legs, her right shoulder, and her stomach. Breathing heavily it was all she could do to lift her shield or sword to catch one of his sweeping strikes.

“Oh come now, running out of steam already? It’s not so fun when the other guy has one too is it?” Discord taunted his tiring opponent, swinging out a lazy slash toward her head.

Wearily Jennifer lifted her shield. Grunting under the impact she mentally prepared herself for the next cut…but it didn’t come. It seemed he was content with a casual blow this time. He had backed her into the courtyard by this point, slowly but surely he was forcing her into a corner. She knew once that happened it was over. The only reason she had lasted so long was the game he was making of this, and if she couldn’t maneuver he’d grow bored quickly.

He pulled back…she knew the lunge was coming and moved her shield to intercept. This time when it connected, she pushed back with all her might. Her heart soared as this seemed to take the chaos god turned human by surprise and he stumbled back. With a growl she lunged forward with her sword…only to be met with air. He had smoothly turned to avoid her thrust…carrying her helplessly by him. She wasn’t even too surprised when she felt an explosion of pain at the base of her skull.

Discord chuckled to himself and wiped the now bloody pommel of his sword on the back of the prone girls’ tattered shirt. “Well that wasn’t too graceful was it? You can have all the magical artifacts in the world but they don’t do you much good if you don’t know how to use them hm?”

She could only dimly hear what he was saying. His words sounded far away and…oh…what pretty little dancing spots floating before her eyes. Jen didn’t realize how tired she was until she was lying face down in the snow of the courtyard. Sure it was chilly, but she liked it cold when she slept. Made snuggling under the blankets nicer.

“Hm.” Her foe casually squatted down before her face, regarding her with a slightly disinterested expression. “Well this has certainly lost its fun. Looks like you’re done m’dear. I’ll see you once I have the book.”

Woozily, Jennifer watched the funny man stroll across the courtyard toward the tower doors. Book. Why did that sound so important? Book? She wasn’t in the mood to read. Now a nap sounded good. Her eyes were drooping closed slowly. Too bad Pinkie wasn’t here…she’s such a comfy pillow.

Wait.

Pinkie?

And…a book. THE book. Clover the Clever’s book…man Twilight was so geeked to hear that’s whose spellbook they were searching for. Jennifer needed that book…to…to do something! It certainly was hard to collect her thoughts, bleeding profusely from all her minor cuts and now probably nursing a small concussion.

She had to stand up. Come on legs…let’s go. We have a book to find. Hm…legs are being uncooperative. Alright arms, let’s show em how it’s done! Slowly…agonizingly so she got her hands under herself and pushed up with a little yowl of pain. She almost allowed herself to flop back down but…Pinkie was counting on her. And Rainbow Dash. And Twilight who was still fighting…and the others back in Canterlot. And the whole damn kingdom! (normally she wasn’t one to swear, being punished heavily for doing so but the situation felt appropriate!)

Discord paused as he heard her stirring behind him. He turned with a smirk regarding the bleeding, wobbly mess slowly pushing herself to her knees. Getting one foot…then the other under her. “You must be a glutton for punishment hmm?”

Swaying drunkenly on her feet Jen focused on her opponent. “You…suck.” Yeah! That showed him!

Let me help.

Eyebrows raised she whipped her head from side to side…almost sending herself sprawling back into the snow. That didn’t sound like the other voice in her head…the other one had sounded like herself only…mean. This one was definitely female…but it sounded calmer, collected.

“Uh…kay?” Was her eloquent response.

The other human in the courtyard tilted his head regarding her with a raised brow. “Are you asking if I agree that I suck? I emphatically do not if so. Further…” He trailed off as one of the runes on her sword began to glow brightly. Pinks wisps of light swirled from the blade faster and faster…coalescing into the form of a unicorn mare. Wearing finely crafted barding and bearing the shield Jennifer had strapped to one arm, the sword floating next to her head held in a pale gold telekinetic aura.

“Hey now that’s cheating!” The flustered Discord glared scathingly at the ethereal pony…who seemed more solid by the moment.

Jen just blinked down at the ghostly pony before her. “Uh…sorry I took yer stuff?”

-Twilight Sparkle-

The sound of steel on steel ringing from the courtyard outside was only increasing Twilight’s already considerable stress levels. She had expected to drop Trixie with one or two well casted spells, then rush out to double team Discord and find the book. Instead she was confronted not with the braggy showmare from before, but a competent sorceress in her own right. Mirror images of her foe had her surrounded…the illusion so well formed Twilight found it impossible to tell one from the other.

She had already blasted a number of them…but each time she struck they all retaliated. She couldn’t tell which was the real Trixie…but each retaliation from the small army of them brought with it the sting of a real spell striking home. Obviously the concentration she needed to maintain the imaging spell was impeding her from casting anything stronger than an eldritch lance, but enough of those would take a toll.

Frantically Twilight ran through every combat spell she’d learned…which to her chagrin was few. Which seemed odd when she thought about it, it’s not like she and her friends didn’t get into dangerous situation with alarming frequency…often against foes that far eclipsed their skills. When all this is over she really needed to ask Princess Celestia for a few combat oriented spell books and…

TZAT! Another eldtrich lance burned into Twilight’s flank.

Trixie seemed to notice Twilight losing focus…a sign the other unicorn was tiring. She herself was growing weary, the imaging spell wasn’t simple…and maintaining it for any length of time was causing a strain. How could Twilight Sparkle still be standing? She’d taken at least six lances by now…any normal pony would have succumbed already.

“Surrender Twilight Sparkle. You clearly can’t win, and I don’t enjoy hurting you.” Which was a little bit of a lie…while she didn’t harbor the same animosity for Twilight she once had…and knew her current situation was one entirely of her own making she couldn’t help but feel a bit of anger toward the other unicorn. How different would her life have been if she could have afforded the entrance fee to a Canterlot school of magic? Would it have been her chosen by Celestia as her personal protégé? It wasn’t everyday a unicorn whose special talent was magic itself came along.

To her chagrin Twilight didn’t seem in a surrendering mood. A magenta aura flared from her horn sending a veritable shockwave rushing out in all directions. Trixie braced herself but the sheer force of it was enough to lift her…and all her duplicates from the floor and hurtle them through the air. Many of them vanished as the impact jarred her concentration…but more than a few survived. The attacked seemed to drain Twilight who was now teetering dangerously closed to unconsciousness.

Twilight barely managed to evade the next round of lances. She had removed enough of the images she could scramble away from the remainder…but her shockwave had almost drained her reserves. She was REALLING hoping that would’ve knocked the fight out of Trixie, it was her big trump card. By now she’d run through every spell she could think of that would be a help. Each spell she had painstakingly researched with the help of the Princess…and now she was out of them. She had enough magic left for one more…one lance maybe. But she’d have to hit the right one…and she had no idea which was which. If only she had a way to find which one!

Find It!

Her horn flared to life again…and Trixie gave a strangled little erk as Twilight unerringly whirled to face her directly. Not an image…but the REAL her. Hastily collecting her thoughts for another lance of magic…they were interrupted as a powerful blast of brightly glowing purple ripped through the air and collided with the side of her face.

Her vision swam…this was impossible! Twilight was teetering on the edge of magic depletion…the silly mare could barely keep on her hooves…and this was the FIRST spell she had connected with firmly. Trixie felt the ground rushing up to meet her as she collapsed on her side. Was there really such a huge difference between the two of them?

Twilight let out a relieved sigh as she watched Trixie fall. It didn’t bring her any joy to do that…but she did what she had to. Now to help Jennifer!

Hm…no kneeling down wasn’t going to help her.

And lying on her side CERTAINLY wasn’t going to assist Jennifer in any capacity.

So why was she doing it?

-Rainbow Dash-

Rainbow trotted triumphantly from Commander Hurricane’s quarters, a slightly rusted…but still pretty cool helmet resting on her head. Her heart fluttered a moment as she looked to see where Lightning Dust lay. The howling on the wind had intensified greatly since she’d entered the building…but she was still surprised at what she saw.

Where the unconscious pegasus had crashed, was a perfectly crafted ice sculpture of the hateful mare.

A frown tugged at Dash’s muzzle as she slowly trotted to regard her. She didn’t LIKE Lightning Dust…not after the Wonderbolts Academy incidents and CERTAINLY not after the train incident. But this…nopony deserved this. With a sad shake of her head at the futility of it all she turned and bounded for the edge of the city…cleaning taking off.

This turned out to be something of a mistake. With the first flap of her wings her vision swam and she almost swooned in midair. It took all her focus to not succumb to the blackness. Her impromptu race around the block really took it out of her and it was all she could do to spread her wings wide and go into a smooth glide.

Just barely from the corner of her eye she spotted a flash of pink bounding through the snow…a splotch of brown following it at a more subdued pace. She angled her slow fall toward what she prayed was Pinkie Pie (I mean what else COULD the bouncing pink speck be), and began her descent.

-Pinkie Pie-

Bouncing through the snow toward the castle, Cranky in tow Pinkie was feelin pretty good! She had the glasses perched on her muzzle (a new accessory she felt made her look not only smarter but more mature to boot), and no doubt her friends had already completed their tasks and were probly waiting for her!

She felt a little niggle of worry edging at the back of her head. That nasty Lightning Dust was dangerous and poor Dashie wasn’t up to her usual awesome self. Not to mention Twilight had to deal with Trixie again…and Discord was no doubt up there somewhere. But she knew they’d pull through just like always.

She screeched to a halt and let out a little screech of fright as a streak of rainbow crashed into the snow before her. Rushing to the Rainbow Dashed shaped impact in the snow Pinkie dipped her head in, dragging her friend out by the tail. A very weary looking Rainbow Dash looked out at Pinkie from beneath a helmet the earth pony felt suited her pretty well.
“Hey Pinkie…I won!” Then she was promptly snoring.

With a long suffering sigh Pinkie just shook her head and worked Rainbow onto her back. “Honestly the trouble these ponies get into when I’m not around.”

Voicing this aloud Pinkie realized…there were two very important ponies to her up in the castle…likely in the middle of troubles of their own. This thought spurred her to move a little faster for the castle.

-Jennifer-

Jennifer watched a touch enviously as the semi-transparent pony her sword seemed to have spawned wielded the ethereal copy of her sword with easy. It was almost a dance the way unicorn and sword moved. Controlling it with her magic, the ghostly knight operated independently of the blade. So when Discord would block or parry the oncoming sword, he’d received a viscous buck or slam from the wielder. If he tried to stop the incoming hooves, the sword scored a slash somewhere about his person.

Discord wasn’t entirely helpless during all this. He was still a find swordsman even if he was at a severe disadvantage. A few cuts marked the knight here and there oozing ephemeral black smoke. But he was facing an opponent well-armed and armored, who was in full possession of her own magic as well.

Another wave of dizziness threatened to topple Jen into the snow again. She was bleeding a lot from the cuts Discord opened about her. She had to use her sword to steady herself, planting the end in the snow and leaning heavily upon it. Letting her gaze shift from the battle to her impromptu cane she noted one of the runes was blazing with (light red!), magical fire. The third one from the hilt. There were seven runes along the blade, starting from the hilt and working their way up…it looked like there was room for more as well.

With a grimace she shifted her weight off her sword and settled back onto her feet. She couldn’t help but wince as Discord took a sudden buck to the knee from the armored pony, and he tumbled to the ground with a yelp. Wasting no time in capitalizing on her fallen foes stumble, the knight was on him in a flash. A stomp to his sword snapped the blade off at the hilt, as she reared on her hide legs, sword arcing to deliver the final blow.

“Stop!”

Jen was surprised to find that SHE was the one who shouted stop…and even more surprised when the knight obeyed. Slowly the summoned pony lowered her blade and stepped back from Discord, turning to regard Jennifer with pale violet eyes. She dipped in a bow, and was soon gone. Fading to wisps and returning to the sword.

With a groan Discord was pulling himself to a sitting position, turning to the approaching Jennifer. “Well I suppose you’re expecting a thank you? If so you’ll be waiting a long time young la-“

He was cut off by a gleaming buckler attached to a skinny girl’s arm colliding solidly with his face. It would have been funny if it hadn’t hurt so much.

“Touche.” Was all he got out, before his eyes rolled back and he flopped back into the snow.

With a little huff Jen turned and resumed limping into the tower…leaving a trail of blood in the snow behind her.

-Pinkie Pie-

With Cranky’s assistance Pinkie got the castle doors open, trotting inside and giving a shiver. “Brrrrr! It’s nice to get inside…even if it’s not A LOT warmer in here…” The doors boomed shut behind the pair cutting of the biting wind. Glancing to her side she saw Trixie laying near the door, unconscious but breathing. Across the hall was Twilight’s prone form.
Hurrying to her fallen friends side Pinkie knelt down, eyeing her critically. Twilight was breathing. Faint rapid breaths, but still breaths. She didn’t seem to be badly hurt so she just assumed she overdid it with the magic and was out like a light, which was a welcome relief to the worried earth pony. A quick glance in the direction Twilight had been heading stole that relief. She could see a snowy courtyard through the passage way, but the snow was dark red with blood.

Gently Pinkie rolled Rainbow Dash off her back to lie next to Twilight. “Can you look after them for me Cranky? I need to get to Jenny.”

At a nod from the donkey Pinkie was off like a rocket. She spared the still unconscious Discord a glance as she followed the bloody trail, allowing a proud little smile to find her face. ‘Way to go Jenny-bean.’ Her smile was short lived as she realized it was A LOT of blood she was following. While she wasn’t exactly a doctor everypony knew if you lost too much blood well…nothing good could come of that.

Bursting through the still open tower doors Pinkie whipped her head from side to side frantically. There it was! The trail lead up the stairs. Silly girl shouldn’t be walking around so much if she’s so hurt…but it can’t be helped. Some people were just stubborn. Bounding up the stairs two at a time the pink mare frowned. Jenny’s sword was lying on the floor at the top of the stairs. Still no sign of Jenny.

The little pony moved as fast as her legs would carry her, down the hall…up MORE stairs. Jeez how big WAS this tower? She was dimly aware of the tears forming in her eyes as she ran. She was feeling that bad feeling again…the feeling she felt when she thought she’d lost Jen and Rainbow Dash in the caves. Her forehoof slipped in a particularly large puddle of blood, almost forcing her to trip. She regained her balance soon enough though casting it a worried glance.

The trail finally lead into an opened door on the side. Nudging it open Pinkie found who she sought. Jen was moving slowly through a large library, one arm hanging limply at her side while the other was holding a nasty cut at her stomach. She looked like she was covered in cuts from head to toe; the sight was almost too much for the already worried pony.
“Jenny! Jenny you have to stop moving around! You’re making it worse!” Pinkie dashed to her injured friends’ side.

With a stubborn shake of her head Jen kept limping on. “It’s close Pinkie…can’t find the book…they’re ALL her books y’see?” She gestured weakly with her good arm…allowing the unstaunched blood flow from her stomach wound to go unchecked for a quick moment…before the arm was back covering it again.

The sight of the garish wound almost threw Pinkie Pie into hysterics but she pushed those feelings down. Panicking wasn’t going to help anypony. Forcing a smile and a nod Pinkie pushed herself against Jen’s side stabilizing her. “I know Jenny-bean. We’ll find it. You just sit down and get some rest okay?”

Blinking slowly the girl looked down at Pinkie, as if just now realizing she was in fact there. She gave a weary smile and a nod. “Oh…good idea. I’ll sit…an you’ll find it?”

At a nod from her friend, Jen slowly eased into a sitting position, resting her back against a large book shelf. “Pinkie promise?”

With a little laugh Pinkie nodded. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

This brought a little chuckle from Jen. “Good…find the book Pinkie. Before Discord wakes up.”

Loathe to leave her dear friend’s side…but having made a Pinkie promise she nodded. It might conflict slightly with the earlier promise to look after her, but she was only gonna be gone for a minute. If Clover the Clever was anything like Twilight (and from the Hearth’s Warming pageant she most certainly WAS), she’d keep all her good books on a private shelf.
With quick steps Pinkie galloped from Jen’s side, ignoring the regular book shelves on either side of her as she ran through the library. Aha! There it was. A large book cast standing off by itself behind a big writing desk. Glass doors enclosed it, with a little lock on said doors. Giving an impatient snort Pinkie simply gave the glass a quick buck, shattering it. Almost as if it was begging to be picked up…there sat the unassuming midnight blue tome. Gingerly she took it in her mouth and began the trot back to Jen’s side.

“Fnd it!” Pinkie chirped around a mouthful of book. She dropped it next to Jennifer, but frowned as it gave a splashing sound. Looking down Pinkie saw a slowly spreading pool of red going outward from the girl. The panic was welling in her throat again. She looked so pale…and like she was sleeping. Before Pinkie could let out a wail of despair, Jen cracked an eye open.

“Good…now can you get my back pack? My first aid kit’s in there…and I think I could use it.”

Eyes full of unshed tears Pinkie gave a quick laugh and nod. “Sure thing Jenny-bean. We’ll have you fixed up in no time!” Turning she dashed from the room back to the courtyard.

-Jennifer-

Once she was sure Pinkie was gone and on her way, she stopped trying to hide the grimace of pain that oh so needed to get out. With a groan she shifted her weight to better look at the book beside her. It was pretty boring looking really. She had expected the book of some awesome wizard to look…fancier. She allowed a frown as she saw the book being ruined by the blood…HER blood she thought.

“Gross. I’m sitting in blood…this sucks.” It was getting harder and harder to focus. Really all she wanted to do right now…was take a long nap.

Author's Note

One chapter to go! (maybe two we'll see how I'm feeling as I write the next one!)