Family Ties.

Twilight woke up with Rainbow Dash's tail in her face, she tried to move her hoof to brush the hair out of the way but found that her legs had been tied. Memories of what happened suddenly flooded back, Pinky's party, playing cards, getting to know Sky Wander…. The explosion! What happened? The last thing she remembered was feeling a tug behind her, then a floating sensation….and then Rainbow's tail in her face. Twilight moved her head around and realized that all her friends where there, and that they were in a cave. Her observations got cut off there, as her body woke up it realized the damage done to her and started to protest. Every muscle tightened, and ached. Twilight noticed for the first time that her face was covered in scratches and cuts, and Rainbow's tail was agitating them. She cast a spell to free her legs, only to find them to stiff to move effectively. Slowly working her legs into working condition, Twilight resumed looking around the cave, she saw Sky sitting a short ways off, on a small raised stone plateau, she was tied up, talking to two other ponies. Sky focus mostly on the unicorn, but the earth stallion did interject in the conversation once or twice. Suddenly it struck Twilight that the three ponies where all really young, not newborn filly young, but teenage young. Sky herself could only be about sixteen years old, the unicorn seventeen or eighteen. The mustang could be either eighteen or fifteen, it was hard to tell because he was so tall, but had young-ish features about him. Suddenly Sky lost all the shy, timid stature she had at the party. Somehow her legs became untied and Sky rocketed off the ground, flipped over and dove straight at the unicorn. Twilight hid he face for what she expected to be the ensuing fight, but all she heard was a dull thud. She looked up and saw Sky pinned against a wall that was a good ten feet from where she used to be hurtling out of the air. At first twilight thought the unicorn had used some spell, but on closer inspection she saw no magic aura that usually accompanied unicorn spells. She looked over, the unicorns horn wasn't glowing either, and the stallion's hoof was raised and pointed towards sky. He was obviously concentrating on something, and then he dropped his hoof, and Sky fell off the wall. At that point Twilight laid back down to try and think threw what she had just seen. "Mental checklist! Start with observational facts. 1. The unicorn and earth pony, however young they look, are the ponies who colt-napped us. 2. Sky Wander is not as fluttershy-like as she first appeared. 3. We are in a cave, probably somewhere north of Ponyville judging on the low temperature. 4. Somehow the stallion was able to use unicorn magic, or something similar…… and that just made my brain hurt." Twilight groaned as she tried to figure out the strange event she just witnessed.

Reader wiped her head around to face the pile of ponies over on the other side of the cave. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what lassie?"

"I think one of our guests is awake." At that Reader ran over to the row of ponies, and noticed that the purple unicorn's legs where untied. "Well now, let's have a talk you and I!" Reader teleported the two of them over to the plateau, where the purple unicorn flopped on the ground from the unexpected change. Reader turned her over and held her down with her magic. "Now my dear, let's start with something easy. What's your name?"

"Twilight Sparkle." she responded shaking.

"Good, so then Twilight… If I let you up, do you promise not to run off?"

"Uh….Sure?"

"Good enough." Reader released twilight from her spell. "Now, what where you doing with Wave in that barn?"

"Wave? Do you mean Sky? Nothing we were just having a welcome to Ponyville party."

"You expect me to believe that? You're telling me that Wa- Sky just walked into town, and you all threw her a party?"

"That is what Pinky does."

"Pinky?"

"One of my friends, she is actually over there" Twilight said pointing. "She's…the pink one."

"You don’t say? But seriously what where you doing with her? Was she trying to talk you into anything?

"No, we were just playing cards. Then there was an explosion! Did you do that?"

"Um, no that was Strong Hoof over there. Gravity well."

"What?"

"Well technically it is not a gravity well that caused the explosion, it was the gravitational field recoiling in on itself after the disruption. It was a bit more violent that we expected, but it did that job. Why am I explaining this to you, I ask the questions from now on!"

"Ok sure"

"Thank you, now-"

"I got firewood!" A olive green pegasus  stallion came floating in the mouth of the cave, with an armload of logs. "Who's the purple corn?"

"What have I told you about call us "corns"!" Reader shouted at the newcomer, nearly making him drop his logs.

"Geez it's just a slang term" The pegasus replied. Twilight noticed that he was about Sky's age.

"Now, Now ya two. Let's not get all riled up 'bout nothin' so unimportant" The earth stallion from before called from the corner where he was re-tying Sky's legs. Twilight noticed a Scottish accent, more proof that they where north, closer to the Scots pony lands.

"But he-" Reader started before she was interrupted by a sudden commotion from the other prisoners.

"What the hay is going on here! *grunt* Ow, anypony feel like untying me?" Everypony looked over to see Rainbow Dash hovering in the air with her legs beneath her in an strangely comical fashion that Twilight couldn't help but giggle at. "Twi! What's going on? Why is it so cold? Who are these ponies? Why are we tied up? And what happened last night!?!?" Rainbow dash rattled on, obviously disoriented.

"It's ok Rainbow, I don't think they want to hurt us. Just do what they say, and don't try to run off." Twilight called over to her friend, while glancing over at Reader.

"Uh yeah, what she said… We're in charge here!" Reader barked "Now get over here so I can untie you, Matt, can you see about waking up the rest of our guests."