Our Inner Ponies 3: A New Villain

Chapters

Chapter One, Back to Ponyville Already?
Chapter Two, A Quest for Success
Chapter Three, The More the Merrier
Chapter Four, True Love?
Chapter Five, Riddles Galore
Chapter Seven, An Inhuman Adventure
Chapter Eight, Hasta la Vista, Villain!
Chapter Nine, A New Choice, A New Life
Epilogue
Chapter Six, A Path to the Beginning

Chapter One, Back to Ponyville Already?

You know that creepy feeling you get when someone's staring directly at you when you're just minding your own business? Well, that had happened much earlier today when Maya's new friend Kayleigh stayed over at her house. And no, I'm not speaking in third person. This is Zaria talkin'. Surprised much? Anyways, Maya was still upset about the whole fight that her pacing was giving my a migraine.

"Unbelievable!" she fumed. "She was like a total stranger or something! Oh, what nerve! Calling me a—you know what!"

"Dude, calm down," I advised her, trying not to laugh at her angry screechy voice. "Look, I realize she was mean and called you a—er, you know. But there's no need to get angry over—"

"Oh, I'm not angry. I'm outraged!" I rolled my eyes. Just so you won't be confused, the fight went something like this:

We were in Maya's room, chatting and whatnot, when somehow Kayleigh brought up the subjects on ponies. I'm not kidding; she'd literally asked, "How come there aren't many pony cartoons on TV? For kids, I mean." Of course I didn't want to talk about it since I wasn't a big fan of MLP:FIM, and I was afraid that I'd blab out our little time traveling and Discord butt kicking secret. Nevertheless, Kayleigh began taunting me about if I were too big of a wimp to watch shows like that. Maya had gotten mad and stood up for me, and the rest of the argument was like a big blurry blob.

Maya then sat next to me, smoothing her hair back.

"I'm sorry for the way she acted Z," she apologized, toying with her skirt. "I guess my new friend isn't friend material after all." I nodded.

"You got that right," I joked, which made Maya laugh. Good. She was starting to forget about obnoxious Kayleigh. My Cheer Up plan was working! Oh God, that sounded like Pinkie Pie, I thought as Maya stood up. I watched as she searched for something and pulled out a box marked Elements.

"Ugh, you still have those?' I groaned as my friend lifted out two necklaces; one with my face wearing an apple necklace, and one with her face wearing a balloon necklace. "Aren't those a bit...corny?"

"Of course not!" Maya objected, slipping hers on. "These things are reminders of our adventure helping Equestria!"

"Whatever. But didn't you turn all psycho or somethin'?" I questioned, remembering how Maya had attacked Rainbow Dash. "Your hair went all straight, and you turned darker." Maya huffed.

"Let's not speak of that memory ever again. Promise?"

"Sure."

"Great. Now put on your Element."

"Heck no!" The thing was, I kind of wanted to forget the whole Ponyville adventure thing. I mean, I know it was fun and all (except gathering all those apples as Applejack and tending those pesky animals as Fluttershy), but when I despise something, I try and forget it. I'm not into the show like Maya is, and even though I wanted to stay in Fluttershy's body a few years ago, I secretly knew that I was enjoying every colorful moment in Ponyville. And that's bad. Right?

"Zaria, I swear to you...Put this on right now or it gets lodged in your windpipe," Maya demanded.

"But then how would I be able to put it around my neck?" I wisecracked. "Regurgitate it back up?" This response got me and Maya to play wrestle. After several rounds, I decided to surrender and put the necklace around my neck. It felt a lot heavier now that I was all tired and sweaty from the tackling, but somehow I felt a small amount of energy inside me. After a few levels of Papa's Wingeria, Meeblings 2, and Boombot on CoolMath, I was fastened inside my mom's car, taking the long curvy ride back home.

"Where'd you get that necklace?" my mom asked me, staring at her rear view mirror. "It's very cute."

"Oh, Maya got it for me," I answered carefully. It was a lie, but if I told her Princess Celestia rewarded me with it for saving Equestria and our world from Discord, god of chaos, chances are I'd be in a straight jacket eating mushed up peas. Once the car was parked inside the garage, I immediately greeted my family members relaxing in the living room and bolted up the stairs to my small bedroom. Though as I switched on my TV, I couldn't help thinking about how rude Kayleigh had acted to Maya and me. I mean, what gave her the right to talk to us like that? I wanted to bop her upside the head and stuff her in boiling gravy.

About twenty minutes later, I was dozing off when I heard faint ringing. A minute later: "Zaria, phone call for you!"

"Coming!" I rushed downstairs, thanked my dad for the home phone, and retreated to my room once more.

"'Ello?" I asked, bouncing on my bed. All I heard was heavy breathing. "Maya, this isn't Star Wars. You're not Darth Vader." Still nothing.

"Maya, answer me now or I swear, I'll—"

"This isn't Maya," some robotic demon voice interrupted.

"Then...who is this?" I asked. Still nothing!

"Listen bastard, if you don't tell me who you are, I'm—"

"Going to do what?" the voice interrupted once more. "You're exactly how I imagined: naive." Click. I immediately dialed Maya's number. She answered on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, that prank call was not funny," I snapped. "Don't you ever do that again. But that was pretty good! I'll give you that."

"Z, what are you talking about? I never called you," Maya replied, confusion in her voice. "In fact, I'm walking Max right n—don't pull! Go away you darn squirrel! Sit, heal! See?" Then who called me? I wondered. Suddenly I heard a Slam! When I turned to look, my door was squeezed shut. My TV instantly shut off, and the chatter I had sworn I'd heard downstairs stopped abruptly.

"What was that?" Maya asked.

"I dunno. Hold on." I quickly slid off my bed and jiggled the door knob. Oh crap! Was I locked in my own bedroom? Just to be safe, I tried to switch on my TV, but it wouldn't obey its watcher. I was considering whether or not to dial 911 when I heard this strange laughter; a mix between sugary sweet and demon like. I put the phone back to my ear.

"Okay, my TV just shut off by itself and so did the door," I said, looking around. "And I heard some demon laughter."

"Zaria?"

"Yeah?"

"My necklace is glowing and Max is, like, frozen!" Oh crap. So I wasn't the only one with a malfunction in my own home. Without warning, my own necklace began producing a low orange glow. I pressed the phone against my ear harder.

"You, you do realize what happened last time something like this happened, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. And judging by the fact that I'm fading away..." I raised an eyebrow.

"Maya, what the heck is that supposed to mean?" I asked. I looked at the phone and nearly screamed. My very own hand was dissolving into the air! The phone slipped from my grasp, and when I tried to run, the lower half of my body just seized out of existence. Either I'm dying in my sleep, I thought as my face disappeared, or me and Maya are in for it...

Chapter Two, A Quest for Success

After what felt like a million years, I finally got to see my own feet again. A few minutes later, Maya began fading next to me. Once I was sure she was solid again, I squeezed her into a tight hug.

"What's going on?" I hissed, looking around. We were in some kind of forest, and I know it wasn't the Everfree Forest because bright light was streaming through a set of green trees. Maya pried her hands off of me and stood up. I slowly followed her gaze once the path was clear, and before us stood an elegant white castle with tons of ponies walking around and, not to mention, guards.

"Canterlot," Maya breathed, smiling widely at me. I could only shrug in reply. I needed information about why we were here if I ever wanted to enjoy myself. We made our way toward the guards, and I clearly assumed they would make a big scene about what kind of creatures we were. Instead, they just bowed and let us right in! Even the ponies wandering around paid no attention to us. They just kept walking and chatting while occasionally giving us a smile.

"Why isn't anyone running or screaming their heads off?" I whispered to Maya.

"How should I know?" she whispered back. "I'm not a pony expert."

"Pssh, you watch the show a lot, don't you?" I muttered under my breath, which resulted in a light slap on the forehead. I had no idea where we were going, but I kept following Maya. When she stopped, I stopped. When she turned, I turned. Finally successful, we reached this palace like building, and like the guards at the front gate, they let us right in.

"Whoa mama!" I cried, letting my eyes drink in the view. "Talk about a palace!"

"I know, but keep your voice out of the shouting range, okay?" Maya instructed me. "We don't know who's here, but let's hope they're friendly."

"We sure are!"

"AAAH!" Maya and I whirled around to find none other than Pinkie Pie smiling and waving at us. The rest of the Mane Six appeared behind her.

"Oh great, they're here. I didn't think I could wait much longer," I heard Twilight say.

"Yeah, about that, why are we here exactly?" Maya asked, not being able to ignore the hug Pinkie was now giving her. "I mean, I'm happy to see you all again after so long, but why?"

"Well, that's the thing!" Applejack exclaimed. Glad to know she was feeling better. "We're not sure why we're all here, but I reckon it has somethin' to do with those." She pointed her orange hoof at our necklaces.

"They did send us here without warning," I mumbled, fiddling with the straps. "Maybe it's a sign?"

"It's no sign," a majestic, loud voice declared. "It's the truth." We all turned around to see a dark violet alicorn with flowing blue and purple hair similar to Princess Celestia's. What in the wide world was Luna doing out of her kingdom or wherever she came from?

"Princess Luna," Twilight began, giving a respectful bow, "pardon my manners, but where's Princess Celestia and what are you doing in Canterlot?" Princess Luna gazed at me and Maya.

"I believe these two can answer your question," she stated, but she looked at me the longest. What the heck?

"Uh, listen, Princess Luna is it?" I started, stepping toward her, "my friend and I haven't a clue what we're doing here or why we even got sent here. So how can you possibly expect us to answer your question about how we're here?" I was expecting Luna to be a little thrown off by me remark, but she didn't show it.

"Did anything strange happen back in your world?" she asked.

"Yeah. Our necklaces both glowed and some stupid prank caller called me earlier," I answered flatly. My eyes widened when I thought about that call. That voice never seemed to leave my mind; it was like a mixture between Morgana from The Little Mermaid Two and Mother Gothel from Disney Pixar's Rapunzel.

"Something wrong, my dear?" Luna questioned, probably noticing my freaked out expression (who wouldn't? It was HUGE!). I had to nod.

"Do you think...that caller who called me before we got sent here had something to do with this?" I asked slowly, freaking out faster than my question that I'd asked. Luna shrugged.

"It depends on how they sounded. But we have no time to waste on this topic. Walk with me everypony." Obeying the princess's orders, we all followed her at a distance, glancing around at the old artifacts tacked on the walls.

"My sister could not be with us today because of some major royal duties in Saddle Arabia," Luna spoke as we walked. I could hear both Pinkie and Maya snickering at Luna's choice of words at the end of her sentence. I rolled my eyes. How mature. "While you girls have been away for many moons, Ponyville is slowly stretching itself apart from being healed by Discord's chaos. I think it's safe to say that we have a new villain on our hands—one that's probably more powerful than all of the villains Twilight and her friends battled." Dang. More powerful than Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and possibly some more villains I haven't heard of yet?

"Have you been able to find out just a little information before we came?" Maya asked, and frowned when Luna shook her head.

"This villain appeared at the same time you girls came here," the princess replied. "Maybe it was hiding in Ponyville this whole time and Celestia and I weren't able to see it. Whatever this villain wants, it shows no mercy to anypony and it'll destroy anything in its way. What I want you all to do is put a stop to this." A light purple aura formed around the alicorn's horn as six necklaces floated past her and clasped around six necks. I wasn't trying to think negatively, but what if the Elements of Harmony—plus me and Maya's very own—didn't work?

"Don't worry, we won't let you down Princess," Rainbow Dash declared, hovering in midair before zipping off toward some double doors. The others followed behind, each promising Luna that we wouldn't disappoint her. I was the last person out the door, but Luna used her magic to stop me from leaving.

"Zaria, stay for a second." I raised an eyebrow as Luna controlled my feet to walk toward her.

"How did you know my name? I haven't even introduced myself to—"

"Celestia told me much about you, as well as Maya and how you girls found out about Equestria. I just wanted to say I noticed your body language and I know you'll do fine. Alright?" I gave her a small smile, taking in all the support Luna was bestowing upon me.

"Don't worry, I won't let you down," I mimicked Rainbow Dash, jogging toward the door. Luna waved after me.

"Remember Zaria: it's your duty, and you have to make sure nothing backs you up!" This time I let out an earsplitting laugh, and when I looked back at Luna, she had the most bewildered look on her face.

"What?" I cried, catching up with the others. "You did that on purpose!"

Chapter Three, The More the Merrier

The character Lucky is portraying my good friend LuckyBlitz. Hope you enjoy it Lucky! ~NYQUTIE

"So we have to find this careless villain and put a stop to his or her evil plans. Can we all do that?" Twilight clarified, resulting in all of us to nod. "Good. As long as we stay together and not get distracted, we'll be fine."

"Got it. Absolutely no distract—hey, who's that?" Of course Pinkie was the first to break the No Distractions rule. A cloud of pink smoke replaced where she had been recently standing, and a moment later she rushed back, bouncing up and down on her hooves and pointing straight ahead.

"A new pony! There's a new pony down the road right now! See him? See him?" she screamed excitedly, skipping around all of us in a joyful circle.

"Yeah, too bad they chose the wrong time to come here," Rainbow mumbled, not so soft I may as well add. I had to agree with her. Me, Maya, and the Mane Six (plus Spike, since we had made a quick stop to the library) were on our way to kick some villain butt, and now some new pony was going to get in the way of it. How ironic can life get?

"Maybe he could be helpful," Twilight said, making her way toward a blurry blob, who was now a few meters away from us. Rainbow stopped her by grabbing her purple tail and tugging her backwards.

"Are you insane?" she screamed in Twilight's face. "We can't just go up to some random pony and be like, 'Hey new guy! You look like a person who could help us defeat some unknown being that's torturing Ponyville!'" I would recommend the person to a mental hospital if they ever came up to me and asked me that.

"Rainbow's right," Applejack spoke up. "We don't have time for a welcomin' committee. We need to focus on our real task."

"Aww," Pinkie whined, her lips sagging into a frown. "No Welcome to Ponyville Party? I could throw one real quick with my Party Cannon!"

"What welcoming party?" I swear my scream was the loudest out of the eight when we heard a male's voice ask what we were talking about. I didn't realize I was hiding behind Fluttershy—Fluttershy!—when I had screamed, but when I moved my face away from her light pink hair, my jaw practically smashed into the ground.

Wearing a confused look was a red-coated alicorn with highlight yellow hair in a similar style to Rainbow Dash's front bangs. His eyes were a nice shade of ice blue, and up close I noticed that his hair also had red highlights on his bangs. For a horse, he was kind of cute, but I knew I'd need to see a physiatrist if I was going to have a crush on a freakin' horse.

"Wow," Twilight breathed, her eyes scanning the alicorn up and down. "It's not everyday you see an alicorn walking down the streets of Ponyville."

"Oh don't you worry Twilight. Next time there'll be a purple alicorn walking down the streets," Maya assured the unicorn, and I had no idea if she was talking about the show or if she was going crazy.

"You'd be surprised," the alicorn responded. "Where I'm from, I'm the only alicorn in town. Fillies and colts all want to hang around me just because I've got wings and a horn, so I came to Ponyville to get away from all that attention."

"Well you chose the wrong time to take a vacation," I stated, moving from behind Fluttershy to stare at the alicorn. I almost jumped back when his pupils shrunk and his horn lit up but fizzled out immediately. This time I did jump back when he stuck his hoof at me and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Lucky, LuckyBlitz. My friends just call me Lucky. Gosh, it's really nice to meet you," he blurted out. I meekly shook his hoof and turned toward the girls. What just happened?

"Nopony told you two?" Spike asked. "You and Maya are technically famous all over Ponyville! After you defeated Discord, you guys are basically gods. Everypony wants to be brave like you." So that's why nopony—no one!—was scared to see two human girls walking around Canterlot. They weren't scared of us because we were their heroes.

"I know all about you," Lucky went on, still staring at me. "It was amazing how you just defeated Discord like Bam!" Maya cleared her throat.

"Uh, hello? Other girl who risked her life saving two planets is right here," she said, waving both her hands. Lucky frowned.

"I heard you went all psycho and nearly killed somepony." I caught my laugh fast, but Maya still elbowed me in the ribs.

"Oh please, give her a break," Rarity said. "If it weren't for her going all psycho, we never would've escaped and found Discord."

"Yeah, and if it weren't for her going all psycho, I never would've had to tend to all those scratches she put on me," Rainbow joked, winking at Maya. My friend just buried her face in her hands while Pinkie patted her back understandingly.

"Anyhow, what party?" Lucky asked, getting back to the topic he'd overheard. Pinkie opened her mouth to say something, but I stopped her.

"Look, there's no party and we're all really busy with something," I explained. "So if you could do me a favor and get out of our way—"

"Why? Where are you guys going?" Rude much? I thought in frustration.

"Well, um, it's actually really private, um...yeah. So, can we all go now?" Fluttershy sputtered. Lucky gave her a long look before shrugging.

"Oh well. Guess that means I'll have to tag along." My eyes widened.

"No!" I screamed. "You're not joining us no matter what!" Lucky gave me a challenging look before using his magic to lift me in the air. Even if I was just ten inches from the ground, I was still stabbing the laws of physics right in the heart.

"Hey! Put her down!" Maya demanded, and Lucky switched from levitating me to levitating my friend. "Seriously?" she asked when she was surrounded by a light red bubble. Argh, boys can be so challenging, I thought grimly before finally agreeing that Lucky could come with us. I got a few disagreements from the others, but if I didn't say yes, I'd be floating in midair inside a red bubble right now.

"Alright!" Lucky cheered, using his magic to drag me near him. "It's time for an adventure, huh?" I glared at him.

"The more the merrier," I grumbled sarcastically.

Chapter Four, True Love?

The ten of us (wish it were only nine) had finally set out to search for this mysterious villain, but it wasn't like what you see in movies; we don't immediately start getting clues on where this antagonist was lurking. We spent seconds, minutes, and hours taking our sweet time to jot down any strange behavior from any of the ponies, animals, or even nature. I mean, nature? Oh no, that bush looks like it's going to eat me! Yikes, watch out for that stick! It could smack my face!

"Is this really necessary?" I finally blurted out, unable to take the silence and the painful slowness of Twilight's inspection of the grass. Yes, grass.

"Of course," she answered, using her magic to pluck several blades from the soil. "Think about it; this bad guy could be right under our feet and we wouldn't even know it!"

"Yeah, 'cause if I were a powerful villain, the first place I'd hide would be under the grass." I got an impatient "shh!" from the unicorn and had to kick a nearby tree stump in order to not choke someone. I was grateful for friendship when Maya dragged me to sit under a shady tree. The shade, and not stressing out over blades of grass, really helped me cool off.

"I don't think we'll ever make a difference at this pace," Maya said, fiddling with the hem of her dress. "We've checked every place in Ponyville, including the Everfree Forest, and so far no bad guy." I rested my head against the tree's trunk, feeling tired already.

"I wish we had stopped and taken a break like this one earlier," I mumbled. "Once we complete our mission, I'm totally taking a five year nap."

"You get angry easily, don't you?"

"What the—?!" My head jerked up when I saw Lucky's red body in front of my face. Where'd he come from?

"Well, do you?" he asked.

"Do I what?"

"Do you get angry easily? I saw you kick that tree stump." I rolled my eyes. I was about to show him an answer by pounding his face into dust, but Maya stopped me.

"Look, Lucky, Zaria really doesn't need the stress, okay?" she responded calmly. "It's bad enough that we both saved Ponyville and our world once, but it's even worse that we have to do it all over again. So could we get some space please?" Lucky nodded and flew back to the group. Something wasn't right. He wouldn't just say yes if me or Maya asked him to do something. He couldn't even take no for an answer!

"Well, I'll be right back," Maya said, standing up. I grabbed her leg, shaking my head violently.

"Last time you said that, you went Pinkamena on Rainbow Dash! I'm not taking that chance again—"

"Relax, I'm just going to take a look over there," Maya insisted, stretching her arm in a direction away from the group. "I'll be fine, Zaria. If I see or hear something weird, I'll tell you. Okay?" I sighed and slowly released my friend's leg. If she was going to be fine, then she'd be fine. I hope.

"No worries," she repeated. "I promise I'll be safe. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I had to roll my eyes at that Pinkie Promise she just made, but they were very serious on the show. And, apparently, to my best friend. I let out another sigh as I watched her walk off, and nearly screamed when a flash of white light popped up beside me.

"So, what really gets you angry fast?"

"You're doing it right now, Lucky!" I screamed, then lowered my voice. "Look, so far you're a semi nice guy, but I have a space that's very personal. Personal space, ever heard of that?" Lucky blinked before grinning.

"So...do cute male alicorns drive you nuts? Especially if they're red?"

"Keep messin' with me and you're face will go from red to blue," I threatened, causing him to shut up on command. We were both quiet for a good amount of time, and I was about to go searching for Maya when Lucky asked me something.

"So, what kind of adventure is this? What are we all doing that's so important?" I gave him a look, but it wasn't mean nor happy.

"If I told you, you would chicken out and run back to your hometown," I replied flatly, hoping that would get him to shut up again.

"Pssh, LuckyBlitz can take on anything!" Lucky declared, giving me a triumph smug. Alright, he asked for it.

"We're all looking for a villain who has no mercy over Ponyville and they're powerful than any other villain that the Mane Six has defeated." Lucky's wings, which had been fluttering in excitement when he'd bragged about being brave, snapped shut and his face went blank.

"Y-yeah," he stammered, trying to mimic his earlier smug with a fearful grin. "No problem that Lucky can't solve! And don't worry, I won't let anypony get hurt—especially you." I ignored that last statement. Ignored it like the plague. What I couldn't ignore was Lucky's hoof adjusting to settle on my hand. It felt really warm, and I wasn't used to that.

"What are you doing?" I asked, though it came out in a nervous squeak.

"Oh, sorry. Hope you don't mind my hoof there," Lucky replied, almost apologetically. Yeah, he better be sorry if he knew what was coming afterwards if he tried any funny business.

And remember when I said how ironic could life get? I must've jinxed the whole "funny business" thing or whatever, because when I turned my head, Lucky planted a giant kiss right on my face! Need I say on my lips? This time I showed no mercy to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze ever...so...tightly...when a Bloody Murder scream made me release automatically. Heads turned toward the direction Maya had investigated, and I couldn't believe my eyes. My friend's dress was covered in dirt, her black hair was tangled all over the place, and her eyes held a mixture of fear and realization.

"I...I think I found our villain!"

Author's Note

This chapter may seem short, but I plan on having the rest of the chapters longer and more action packed, kk everypony? ~NYQUTIE :)

Chapter Five, Riddles Galore

I was the first one to catch up with Maya when she ran back to the spot she'd claim the villain was located. At first, nothing was there and I was just about ready to recommend some good mental hospitals for her when a small bunny rabbit hopped out from nowhere.

"Yeah, we've got ourselves a true bad guy here," Rainbow wisecracked as Fluttershy scooped up the baby rabbit and cradled it in her yellow arms.

"I'm not afraid to go Pinkamena on you," Maya warned, pointing a finger at the Pegasus. "Just try me and I'll snap." You're already doing that, I thought, looking between the innocent rabbit and my about-to-go-insane friend. Suddenly I heard a soft squeak and saw a hint of white pass my eyes. The bunny seemed to be part dog, chasing its tail around and around in a cute circle, but seemed to stop when everyone (except Maya) said a simultaneous "Aww!" I was about to scoop it up myself when I noticed a dark purple glow seeping out of its chest.

"Exorcist bunny!" I couldn't help but scream, half joking half serious. Everyone looked at me as if I were a complete loon, but looked back at the bunny when it opened its mouth and squeaked out a familiar laugh. An evil laugh. My eyes widened. Back in my room earlier, had that sugary sweet but demon laugh come from...a bunny?!

"See? What'd I tell you guys?" Maya gloated, crossing her arms. "No one ever listens to the insane chick, and you wonder why everyone else disappears but the insane one survives. So sad..."

"Okay, so this bunny just laughed. Now what?" AJ asked.

"Maybe we should take him to a hospital?" Fluttershy suggested softly, looking at the bunny with worried eyes. The bunny turned its back to us and started hopping away like all of us had burst into flames.

"Hey, get back here!" I cried, running after the bunny with the others on my heels. We literally spent the next half hour chasing this stupid animal around trees, through bushes, and into lakes. Using magic and speed wasn't enough to stop this runner, but a small sliver of violence did the trick. I dive-bombed on the bunny and held it up above me like that baboon did with Simba in the Lion King.

"Got him! I got him!" I chanted over and over until the others caught up with me. "Okay bunny, what was with that evil laugh? Talk fast! I know you want to!" Maya cleared her throat.

"Uh, Zaria...?"

"Ssh! Not now Maya! I'm getting some 411 with this guy!" Another evil laugh echoed in my ears, but this time it hadn't come from the bunny. I looked up to see a dark violet cloud spinning above my head, producing mini lightning bolts, a hint of thunder, and a lot of wind.

"Didn't I tell you? Naive, naive is what she is!" a voice inside the cloud said. "Chasing an animal and then talking to it like it's some sort of criminal? HA!"

"If you're so brave to talk like that, then why don't you say it to our faces?" Rainbow shouted over the roaring wind. "We're not afraid of you!" The voice in the cloud laughed again.

"I wouldn't be that stupid to reveal my true identity, now would I?"

"Wait a minute! I know who that voice belongs to!" Maya cried, hair flying everywhere. "Yeah! I know that voice! It's—" The cloud got wider than ever and, like a vacuum cleaner, sucked Maya inside as well as the other ponies. It didn't suck in Lucky, which made me both grateful and annoyed.

"Give me my friends back!" I demanded when the cloud shrunk back to it's original size. "You're so gonna regret ever doing that when I get my hands on you!"

"Listen: if you ever want your friends back, meet me somewhere where no one will ever suspect us. I'll give you a bunch of clues that lead to the destination, and if you follow them right, I'll give you your friends back. If you don't, I'll happily destroy them and then you two love birds next."

"We're not love birds!" I objected. The voice ignored me.

"Here's the first clue!" it began as it faded from me and Lucky's view. "Where ponies walk, talk, eat, and play, this'll be the first clue to find your way. One answer is false, three are true. If you don't follow these instructions, I'll destroy you!" Kind of harsh for a little riddle, huh? The cloud poofed out of sight, leaving an awkward moment between me and Lucky.

"Sooo....should we get started on the riddle?" he asked when a full minute passed. When I didn't answer, he talked some more. "Okay, so this place is where ponies talk, walk, eat, and play. Maybe it's a school, 'cause ponies do all of that inside, right? Ooh, or maybe it's a park since a lot of ponies play there." There could be a million location choices for the riddle, and by the time we found the right one, it'd be too late.

"She said one answer was false and three were true," I pointed out. "What did she mean by that? One of our choices is wrong and the others are correct?"

"Maybe she just said that because she was running out of rhymes." I gave Lucky an are-you-this-stupid? look and began heading in an opposite direction from him, hopefully towards Ponyville.

"I guess we'll search the park first," I said once Lucky was next to me again. "If this town even has a park. Should've asked Maya about that when she was still around." Lucky looked a little bit confused, so I had to tell him she was a real expert about Ponyville. I didn't tell her how she'd gotten so smart about this place, but I did tell him that she was my BFFL and I wanted her back now.

"You two are real good friends, huh?" Lucky asked when my story was finished.

"Of course," I replied. "I couldn't imagine life without having her as my friend. Nothing would be the same anymore." Lucky nodded.

"And if this whole rescuing thing doesn't go as planned...you still have me—"

"Don't even think about it," I snapped, noticing his outstretched wing hanging near my shoulder. It retracted immediately. Somehow through all that silence, we made it to some kind of town square.

"This is probably it," Lucky announced, flying ahead of me.

"Where are you going?" I asked, running to catch up. "Lucky, what are you doing? We have to focus!"

"This could be an answer to the riddle that cloud gave us," he replied, looking around. "There are ponies here walking and talking."

"Yeah, but nobody's eating or playing," I pointed out.

"We don't know that for sure," Lucky responded, walking further into the town square. "It's like when Twilight was inspecting that grass. This time, we're expecting a simple town square. Who knows? Maybe the riddle's answer could be right under us." I couldn't argue with that logic, so I kept quiet as we searched through the square, sidestepping multiple ponies and crates full of fruits. Farther into the square seemed like some sort of fair or something. Colorful streamers were taped everywhere, and ponies were laughing and smiling with others.

"See? I told you," Lucky bragged. "Ponies are walking, talking, and eating."

"Okay, okay, you were right. But no one's playing. We might as well turn around and look some place else—"

"Hey! You two love birds over there! Are you gonna stand around or earn some tickets in our booths?" a blue pony shouted at the two of us. I was about to ask why she thought we were "love birds" when I felt Lucky's left wing wrapped around my left shoulder. Mental note: Snap his wings later, search now. Ignoring the blue pony and shrugging of Lucky's wing, the two of us continued our walk down the square until nothing else was left to look at but four broken crates. Four...

"One is false, three are true," I recited the cloud's rhyme. I turned to Lucky. "One is false, three are true! Maybe these crates are holding the answer Lucky! We found it!" Out of habit, I pulled Lucky into a quick hug before I rushed over to the crates, looking at them carefully. I then realized I was searching for an answer all by myself, and when I looked up at Lucky, he was standing there frozen. I could've sworn he was blushing, but I guess it was just the light from the sun making his skin look rosy.

"Are you going to help me with this or not?" I asked, and when he didn't move, I continued searching for something when I finally found it: three pieces of torn paper under one of the three broken crates. I stuck the pieces together, which formed some kind of rhyme.

You've found these pieces using your mind, but better hurry or you'll run out of time. Where ponies run, shake, and yell, follow a path that'll lead you to a spell.

"What path?" I whispered to myself. "What spell?" I had no idea what to do next, but one thing was certain: This riddle wasn't solved just yet.

Chapter Seven, An Inhuman Adventure

"Aw geez. I'm going to be in huge trouble if anypony found out I killed one of the heroes who saved Ponyville! Please, please, please wake up!"

"H-huh?!" My head ached as I tried to pry my eyes open. When I achieved that goal, I found myself staring into a pair of blue eyes, which caused me to scream and jump back.

"Who are you?" I demanded, getting ready to put years of taekwondo practice into action. "Where'd you come from?" I was staring at a boy who looked about the same age as me. His hair was a bright yellow, and his skin was a light cream color. He wore a red jacket and black jeans with hints of red at the cuffs, accompanied by red Nikes. Oh...my God.

"Oh thank Celestia, I thought I'd killed you!" The boy tackled me with a squishy hug, and I stood there stiff. How did Lucky manage to turn into a human? How did he still have his wings and horn? And where were we?

"Back at Zecora's, I felt this strong wind come out of nowhere, and when I tried to find you, I guess you found me! I don't know how we got here, or where we are, but at least we're together, right?" I ignored Lucky's sunniness when a far off sound echoed in the air. It was either a scream, or a loud car horn, so that answered my question on where we were: back in my world. I felt around for something to grab on and got some assistance by a dark brick wall close to me. I made sure not to leave Lucky too far behind as I stepped toward some sort of clearing. I shaded my eyes just in case there'd be a bright light to blind me, but what I really needed was a pillow to cushion my fall before I passed out.

Before my eyes was absolute chaos—worse than Discord's when he took over! People all over the place looked worn out as if they'd been beaten by a whip or something else to cause pain. Chains were hooked to their feet and wrists, ginormous fires were engulfing nearby buildings, the power lines were sending up dangerous sparks to the air, and above all of this destruction was the same cloud that had been above my head when I'd chased that suspicious bunny.

"Hey, what's going on out there?" I heard Lucky's voice call from behind. "I hear a lot of noise. Is there some sort of party or somethin'?"

"You might want to see for yourself," I called back, then smacked my forehead when I realized Lucky needed a little bit of my help walking. When I turned around, I had to hold back my startled scream when I saw Lucky limping toward me, trying not to fall.

"How'd you get to your feet so fast?" I questioned, helping him stand up straighter. "I mean, how'd you get used to walking with two legs instead of four that fast?"

"It really doesn't feel that bad," Lucky replied, steadying himself without my assistance. "It feels like I'm walking on my hind legs, but with flatter hooves, you know?" I quickly showed him the destruction before us, and he agreed that what was happening was indeed chaos. The first thing we decided to do was find the others, but stay in the shadows in case we were spotted. That took a great deal of time, and usually in those action movies, a long time limit helps you find missing people faster. The strategy didn't work so well with us. We took a good half hour searching for the girls and Spike, and the longer we took, the worse the chaos got.

"Maybe we're not looking hard enough," Lucky said when we searched the same ally twice. "I mean, where else could they be hiding?"

"Well they must be somewhere near here since the violence is obviously taking place here," I pointed out, resting my back against a wall. "Besides, we don't have that much time to search every nook and cranny of this entire state. They're either here...or not. But they have to be here, have to!" I looked over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of the updated chaos; some people were trying to extinguish some nearby flames, the wind had picked up, sending leaves and bits of trash into the air, and the sky couldn't have been far from worse as lightning bolts zigzagged through the sky. Talk about a cliche moment!

"Wait a second...I think I know where they're hidden," Lucky said, and my ears perked up. "It's probably really dangerous, but it's worth shot, right?"

"Anything's worth a shot at this point!" I cried, feeling happy that Lucky knew where my friends were hidden. I followed his gaze when he pointed a finger past the building we were hiding beside—and straight toward the dark cloud from much, much earlier back in Ponyville.

"Are you insane?" I shrieked, holding onto Lucky's arm when his wings flung out. "I'm not letting you get hurt like that! What if they're not in there and you—"

"We don't have much of choice, do we?" Lucky asked, shrugging my arm off and walking toward the chaos area. "Sometimes we have to take chances and make mistakes. If they're in there, I'll get them out. If not, then we'll keep searching." Lucky was now hovering in the air, and when I tried to pull him back down, he zipped straight toward the cloud and right through its mouth.

I didn't say a single word; I just calmly passed chained up people and sidestepped small fires until I was right below the dark violet cloud, staring up at it with hopeful eyes that it would just spit Lucky out. Safely, of course. Even though he had driven me insane when he first came to Ponyville, I still feared for his safety like any other person with a human-alicorn acquaintance would. Just as I was about to doubt myself—just as I was about to walk away—I noticed the cloud swaying back and forth, as if Lucky himself were punching it. A minute later, I finally saw Lucky flapping downwards for a landing, carrying something bridal style in his arms.

"MAYA!" I shouted happily, hugging her arm before Lucky could put her down. "Oh my God, I was so worried about you! Where are the others? Why are you all chained up? Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" Maya gave me a weak smile.

"Glad to see you too, Chatty Cathy," she joked. "I was really worried. I thought me and the others would be floating around chained to a cloud forever. I'm not really sure how you can get chained to a—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, something destroying the Laws of Physics, sweet," I interrupted, helping Lucky set my friend down. "Before you got sucked into that cloud, who were you gonna say that voice belonged to? Do you remember?" Maya nodded.

"Yes, the voice belongs to—"

"How about I just tell her myself?" The three of us turned around, and I could not believe my eyes.

"Kayleigh? You're behind all of this?" I cried. The blonde smiled and bowed her head modestly, producing the same evil laugh I'd heard in my bedroom and back in Ponyville.

"That's right Zaria," Kayleigh answered. "I guess you're not so naive as I thought. And you." Kayleigh pointed at Maya, who jumped back. "You're out of line, solider."

Of course I was confused at her lame attempt of a joke, but my confusion changed to anger when Kayleigh snapped her fingers and sent Maya back into the cloud, screaming Bloody Murder as she vanished.

"Kayleigh, that's enough!" I declared. "You've already caused so many trouble today; making Ponyville fall apart, making our hometown suffer, and calling my BFFL a—well, you know what you called her. But this ends right here, right now!" Kayleigh smirked and planted one hand on her hip.

"You think you can defeat me sweetie?" she asked haughtily. "Then show Kayleigh what you've got."

Author's Note

My apologies if it seems short and un-detailed, but the reason why Kayleigh did all this is in chapter eight. Here it comes! ~NYQUTIE

Chapter Eight, Hasta la Vista, Villain!

"Why are you doing all of this?" I demanded, the only question burning through my mind right now. Kayleigh shrugged as if what she was doing wasn't even a big deal.

"Simple really," she replied, before her eyes morphed into the most serious look I've ever seen. "When I found out about Maya's secret obsession with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, I decided to do some research on the show. It wasn't so bad, but when Maya started hanging out with you more and me less, you bet I was angry."

"You don't know what we've been through," I said. "There's a reason why we stuck closer than ever by each other."

"Oh, believe me I know," Kayleigh snapped. "I was really ticked off when Maya didn't come to me for advice. I mean, if my friend told me they transported to the 'magical' land of Equestria, I'd stop being friends with them. But if she would've told me she had a problem and needed a few hints of advice, I'd give it to her." My eyes widened at the sentence after Kayleigh said she was ticked off at Maya.

"How...how did you—?"

"Maya didn't have to tell me," Kayleigh interrupted. "She was really stupid for wearing that Element necklace when we had that one sleepover. And she made the fatal mistake of talking to herself while we were sleeping about when her 'next adventure in Ponyville would be.' I swear, brainless people hurt my head."

"Don't call my friend brainless!" I scoffed. "If anyone's brainless it's you! How could you destroy your poor hometown just because Maya stopped being your friend?" Kayleigh was silent for a moment before she crossed her arms, eyes brimming with angry tears.

"I didn't do all of this just because she stopped being my friend," she whispered. "I did it because I couldn't believe she hid the biggest secret in her life from me. Me! Her best friend!"

"You're not her best friend." I nearly had a heart attack when Lucky spoke for the first time. Kind of forgot that he was standing next to me.

"You're not her best friend," Lucky repeated, "because a true best friend wouldn't destroy the world just because of a hidden secret. That's why Zaria's her BFFL. Get your facts straight, Kayleigh." Kayleigh's eyes widened in shock, and I couldn't help but gloat by laughing in her face. She just got owned by a human-alicorn!

"We'll see who's the first to laugh when one is dead," I heard Kayleigh murmur, which caused both me and Lucky to back away slowly. "Let's play a little game, shall we? It's called Find the Lost Human. Who'll be first?" Without waiting for a reply, Kayleigh outstretched her palm toward Lucky—which sent him a five feet into the air!

"Put him down!" I demanded, trying to malfunction Kayleigh's magic. It only seemed to make things worse; as I fought with Kayleigh's glowing hand, Lucky just flew left and right in the air like rag doll being thrown around.

"I'm not finished with the game yet," Kayleigh said, smirking widely. With flick of her wrist, she sent Lucky flying somewhere to the west—past burning buildings and forlorn people. "Now go find him, Zaria."

I was so mad I could knock Kayleigh's teeth out! Lucky had been right; she was no true friend to me or Maya! A real friend would never go this far in order to show their feelings!

"Wait a minute, I'm in the game too, so we might as well make it fair," Kayleigh went on with her lame Find the Human game joke. "So how about—" A dark purple glow surrounded me as I was lifted into the air like Lucky—"I find you?" This is bad! This is so bad! my mind thought frantically as my heart raced. I could get killed, and then I'd never see my friends again.

"Okay, calm down Zaria," I coached myself as Kayleigh spun me around slowly. "What would Maya tell me in a time like this?" Trying to fight back dizziness, I thought back to the time Discord had been ruling our town. She said something about concentrating on something...but what? My eyes snapped open once I realized I was thrown in the opposite direction Lucky had gone, and my whole life flashed before my eyes as the wind smacked my face.

"Goodbye Maya!" I cried, squeezing my eyes shut. "Goodbye my amazing pony friends!" I slowly opened my eyes as a building not too far off appeared before me. "Goodbye Lucky." I felt tears streaming out of my eyes; I didn't want to end this way, but it had to happen. I braced myself for the impact of the building...but I never felt it. I didn't know if I had flown past it and was heading for an even taller building, but when I opened my eyes again, I found myself face-to-face with the building's wall, surrounded by an orange glow.

"I forgot about my Element," I murmured to myself, looking down at my necklace. "If I forgot about it, I'm pretty sure Maya did too." Then I had an idea; I visualized myself floating backwards at a rapid speed, bumping into Kayleigh, and when I heard a sudden "What in the—AHH!" I immediately knew my own kind of magic had worked.

"B-but, I threw you...and you, you're here now. And I—"

"Are you going to be finishing any of those sentences?" I asked, releasing myself from my protective force field. "If not, then quit wasting the time sputtering when we should be battling." Kayleigh gave me a challenging glare, firing up her palms in the process. I simply made myself glow a bright white, excited to unleash what secret power I had waiting for Kayleigh.

"You know, I really don't feel comfortable doing this," I heard her say as we walked in a slow yet threatening circle. "You remind me so much of Maya. Oh well, guess I'll have to hold back the guilt of pounding your face into dust."

"You'll never stop me," I replied in a giggly voice. "You'll never stop us." Kayleigh raised an eyebrow, getting closer to my face.

"And who are the 'us' you speak of?" I took a step back and smiled, my glow glowing brighter than ever. Suddenly, it just fizzled out. Now it was Kayleigh's turn to laugh in my face.

"You call that magic?" she cried between laughter. "What a phoney!"

"Oh, I'm just getting started," I explained, draining all of my energy for concentration and fighting up the nerve to say my next corny line: "'Cause in this situation...friendship always wins." Kayleigh gave me a what-the-heck? look before I saw out of the corner of my eye eight silhouettes take form beside me. A gust of wind took place behind us, and as the silhouettes took form of a human body, a burning hot force shot out to Kayleigh, making her scream in pain. I kept my eyes closed, concentrating until that scream faded away.

"Thank God," I breathed, falling to my feet. A second later, I was propped back up.

"You did it! You saved us! All of us!" Pinkie's way to cheerful voice exclaimed in my face.

"I knew you could do it, darling," Rarity added, patting my sore back. "We all knew you could." I gave a tired smile in reply before looking at Maya, who was making her way toward me at a snail's pace.

"I'd be shocked too," I told her. "Now give me a hug, BFFL!" Maya let out a happy scream and practically sent both of us down with her bear hug.

"I'm so proud of you!" she screamed. "I thought I'd never see you again!" I had to laugh, but then I stopped.

"Holy shrimp, Lucky!" I shrieked, receiving a "What?" from Applejack. I gently took Maya's arms off of me and used the last bits of energy to drag Lucky back to me in a faint little orange bubble.

"Geez, he doesn't look so good," Twilight commented, kneeling down toward Lucky's shoulder. No kidding! The dude's clothes were dirty and torn, his hair was like a giant puffball, and his wings—I, I just couldn't look at the crumpled pair of cyan wings. I blocked out the vision and leaned near his face, praying to myself that he was still breathing.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. I noticed Lucky moving on the ground little by little, in a weak attempt to sit up. He muttered something unintelligible (which to me sounded like "Magic rainbows and fluffy bunnies"), and I got extremely happy inside when he opened his icy blue ices.

"My favorite color eyes!" I screamed, jerking my head forward and planting a big smooch on the guy's lips. When I pulled back, Lucky was staring at me as if I'd lost it.

"What?" I asked innocently before smirking. "I can't kiss my love bird?"

Chapter Nine, A New Choice, A New Life

A golden light escaped from the clouds, boring down on the ten of us like a huge spotlight. In a few seconds, it acted like a healing searchlight; dousing out fires and freeing people from their chains as it slowly rotated in a slow circle. Once it faded away, Princess Celestia herself was settled in the air, making her way down.

"P-Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed as the others—including Maya—gave a respectful bow. "What are you doing here? Princess Luna said you were away for important business." The princess smiled.

"Indeed, I was," she replied. "But when I found out about all this chaos, I just had to push my schedule away so my loyal subjects would be safe. Yet it turns out—" The princess turned to me—"I didn't have to." I gave a small smile, feeling embarrassed and happy at the same time.

"You've done wonderful Zaria," Princess Celestia went on. "You've sacrificed your life just to save all of us. Equestria and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If only you and Maya could stay." My heart skipped a beat.

"Wait a minute, what?" I cried. "What do you mean 'If only you and Maya could stay'?"

"Princess Celestia, are...are you saying we—?" Maya didn't finish her sentence. Who could blame her?

"I'm sorry girls," Celestia said, her eyes shining with sympathy. "Don't take this the wrong way, but all kinds of chaos have occurred ever since your first time traveling here. Ponyville can't risk another villain, and neither can your world. I'm afraid it's time to say goodbye—forever." I covered my mouth with both my hands. We couldn't just leave! This was so unfair!

"Well, I guess that seems fair," I heard Maya say, and I almost screamed "What?!" at her. "If Ponyville keeps getting exposed to all kinds of villains every time we visit, then we should just stop. Right Zaria?" I looked at my friend in disbelief, and I was about to object when I remembered our first visit to Ponyville, and how Maya had said we had to leave Fluttershy and Twilight's bodies since they'd do the same for us.

"Life's not fair," I whispered, then said in my normal tone, "Yes Maya, you're right. We should just stop." It was a pretty painful goodbye hug me and Maya got from the Main Six and Spike; why did saying goodbye have to be so sad? Yet the hugging wasn't the only depressing matter. Princess Celestia stated that she erase everyone's mind of all of me and Maya's visits so nothing like this would ever happen again.

"Ready girls?" Princess Celestia asked in a distraught tone. Too sad to answer, Maya and I nodded our heads as Celestia charged up her horn and—

"Wait! You can't do this!" Lucky cried just as Celestia's horn was close to our heads. "It wouldn't be right! We can't just forget these two heroes—even if they sort of cause the chaos. But still! You can't!" Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And could you give me a good reason for why this shouldn't happen?" she asked calmly. Lucky nodded.

"Better yet, let me show you." Lucky marched straight over to me, grabbed my head, and pressed his lips against mine. It felt like an hour long kiss, but it ended in approximately four seconds.

"See? That's why they can't leave!" Lucky said, squeezing my hand into his. I looked up at Celestia with pleading eyes. Come on, you're a princess! I screamed in my head. Can't you do something? Celestia rubbed her chin with her hoof, probably thinking about what Lucky had done. Then she gave us a nano smile.

"I believe I have a simple solution," she stated. "It's risky, but if it means so much to Lucky...then I simply declare that Zaria and Maya on this present night become ponies and live the rest of their lives in Ponyville." A cheer erupted behind me and Maya as the girls ran over to us and attacked us with hugs. I knew I should be happy, but there was one problem bugging me.

"But what about our family?" I asked, which caused the cheering to stop. "We can't leave them. And what about school? This is all so wrong." Maya gabbed my hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Since you saved all of us," she began, "I'm going to let you choose. I won't reject your answer. Pinkie Promise." This time the Pinkie Promise meant everything to me now. I knew I couldn't just abandon my family and education, but I didn't want to leave my pony friends and Lucky. It was like a tough Would You Rather, and even though one answer seemed simple, it really wasn't an easy question.

"Well, which is it?" Celestia pressured me. Everyone was staring at my with expectant eyes, waiting for my answer. I took a deep breath. After all me and Lucky had been through—searching through the forest, having slight feelings for each other in the beginning, and flying through the air multiple times—it was about to go down the drain. I knew the correct answer.

"Ponies, of course," I said, and the cheering and hugs were born again. When I was about to hug Maya, Lucky pulled me away.

"Why'd you do that?" he whispered. "How come you chose ponies over your family and school?" I smiled and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

"'Cause I wanted to spend my pony life with you," I answered, holding back a giggle when I saw the tiniest bit of blush spread across Lucky's cheeks.

"Hey!" I heard Pinkie exclaim, "you know what this celebration calls for? A party!"

Author's Note

DON'T badger me about it being short, kk? I know it's short, but it's an ending, right? Right!
Besides, the epilogue will be much shorter! :) ~NYQUTIE

Epilogue

I walked down the straight line, feeling confident as ever. I couldn't hide my smile, which was practically covering my whole entire face. I climbed the three steps by flutter onto the steady foundation with my new Pegasus wings. Since I was the one who had agreed to the new pony life, I was the one who got to choose the appearances. I now had a light tan coat, a shoulder-length black mane, and a cutie mark I thought was supposed to represent creativity. Yet appearances was the last thing on my mind as I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for my scratchy veil to be thrown across my head. Once I felt the movement, I opened my eyes, smiling until my cheeks burned. I let out a horrified gasp when I found myself facing at a half human, half bug creature. And the thing had Kayleigh's face!

"Pucker up, buttercup!" she snarled, a thick green slime escaping her mouth.

"AHH!" I screamed.

* * *

"AHH!"

"Zaria, will you keep your voice down? You'll do fine, okay?"

"Maya, do you realize how challenging this whole event is for me?"

"Dude! It's been, like, a couple of weeks and you're already scared? Man up! Or, Pegasus up or somethin' like that." I rolled my eyes at the corny joke and flexed my cyan wings against my back.

I wasn't kidding when I said I got to choose my appearance; Maya's was different, though. She had a brown coat, a black curly mane that flowed past her shoulders, and a cutie mark with a book and quill on her flank. I may as well say that she had chosen to be a unicorn unlike moi. Anyway, I was beyond scared, and I seriously wasn't ready for this opportunity.

"Zaria, look at me," Maya demanded, using her magic to turn my head when I didn't do as she said. "It's okay. I'll always be by your side. Anything you need, anything you want, I'll happily obey your commands." I gave a tiny smile, my wings fidgeting nonstop.

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Maya vowed before giving me a tight hug. "And you can't break a Pinkie Promise, can you? Oh! That's your cue, go!" I took a deep breath and faced the wooden doors before me. Maya tugged the obnoxious cloth over my eyes with her teeth and gently pushed me forward.

"I've got your back," she hissed. "Step, step, turn a little—whoa careful! Okay, here we go." In front of the cloth covering my eyes, I could see the double doors open on command of Celestia's magic. I took another deep breath as Maya and I walked in a straight line, casting mini glances at the audience surrounding us.

I let my wings carry me up the steps of the podium and squeezed my eyes tight when the veil was lifted. I slowly opened one eye, expecting to see the same hideous creature in my daydream, but all I saw was a single ice blue eye. Relaxing, I opened the other one and shifted uncomfortably in my wedding dress Rarity designed for me. She's such a generous friend.

"Nervous?" Lucky hissed, looking really handsome in his tux.

"I'm just glad I'm not facing an ugly half human half bug creature," I admitted. Then the wedding was on. I'm not even going to bore you guys about the stuff Celestia said for the ceremony to work, so let me just skip to the "I do's," but minus the whole "in sickness and in health" stuff.

"LuckyBlitz, do you take Zaria to be your lawfully wedded wife, as long as you both shall live?" the princess asked, and Lucky responded with a firm "I do." Celestia turned to me.

"Zaria, do you take LuckyBlitz to be your lawfully wedded husband, as long as you both shall live?" I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I was starting to have second thoughts about this...

"Zaria?" Celestia asked when a good four minutes passed. "Do you?" Of course I did, but nothing was coming out!

"I object!" some voice cried from the audience, causing a storm of gasps and murmurs to spread. Someone from the back row stood up, and I could not believe my eyes.

"Hey, I thought we got rid of you!" Rainbow cried, pointing her hoof at a, yes, half bug and half human Kayleigh.

"No one can kill the most powerful villain to have ever ruled Ponyville and—"

"Yeah yeah, blah blah blah," Maya interrupted as she angrily trapped Kayleigh in a force field. "Sorry about that guys. Continue on." As Kayleigh demanded to be set free, I turned to look at Lucky. His eyes were expecting me to say something; practically pleading for me to say yes.

"Well?" literally the entire room called out, making me look at the floor.

"I—I do," I squeaked. Then, in a loud voice, "I do!" The room burst into applause and, unbelievably, the trapped Kayleigh in Maya's bubble exploded into millions of pieces of confetti that rained down on the kissing me and Lucky.

"Aww, no fair Maya!" Pinkie complained, pulling her party canon from out of nowhere. "I was gonna do that!" I had to laugh as me and Lucky headed down the aisle. I had no idea that saving the world could result in a marriage a few weeks later.

I actually had to thank Kayleigh for all of this, because if she hadn't gone all demon on Ponyville and my world, I never would've met Lucky. So far, life was good. What could possibly be better than that?

THE END

Author's Note

Sorry about my back and forth choice for Maya. She'll remain a unicorn!

P.S. Don't badger me if I got the wedding thing wrong. Please? :)

~NYQUTIE

Chapter Six, A Path to the Beginning

Lucky and I were now making our way into some dark, creepy forest. Earlier, when I had told him the riddle, he immediately got excited for a "real adventure." I had spent a painful amount of minutes waiting for him to stop soaring the sky in search of a forest, because that was the first thing that had come to mind. And even though it was broad daylight outside, the prickly trees blocked any rays of sunshine from warming me and Lucky. We were now pushing past bushes and jumping over ragged stones, looking for just one clue that would lead us on to this mini mission.

"You think we'll find the others in time?" Lucky asked, flying across a slimy stream.

"Don't even ask me that," I answered, grabbing a nearby pebble and tossing it into the water. It acted like quicksand, swallowing the innocent pebble in one bite. Now I know how deep the stream is, I thought numbly.

"I'm just saying," Lucky said, watching me struggle to lift a moldy log, "that if we don't rescue the girls—and that dragon dude—in time, what would you do?" I was balancing myself on the log when Lucky said these words, causing my head to snap up and my foot to slip. I lifted my shoe to find it covered in green slime. Gross.

"Can you just shut up and help me cross this death trap?" I asked, wiping the muck on the log I was standing on. I was suddenly grabbed under my arms and flown nearly halfway across the forest.

"I only asked you to help me across the stream," I pointed out, my legs fidgeting. They weren't used to being this far from the ground.

"I know, but I figured you'd be tired from walking so much today," Lucky said. "No need to waste your energy when you need it for the real battle." I still could've walked on my own, but I was really thankful for the kind gesture. I actually felt like we were getting closer to the riddle than last time, and the feeling rocketed up when I took a quick peek at Lucky. His red face was gleaming in the sunlight, and his yellow hair was whipping slightly against his face. His expression held a mixture of determination and worriedness, and when he looked down at me I snapped my attention to the ground.

"So Zaria...are you, uh, nervous about this whole kidnapped thing?" I heard Lucky ask. I looked back up at him.

"What?"

"You know, nervous about finding out who this villain is and why they kidnapped Maya and the other ponies?" Lucky went on. "You're really good at staying strong and determined about this whole villain thing."

"Well this happened a few years ago, so I've had a lot of training for dealing with bad guys." Lucky laughed, and I had to laugh along with him. We spent the remaining minutes getting to know a teeny bit more about each other, but I got weirded out when questions about feelings for another person and what made me happy escaped Lucky's mouth. I get filling in an awkward silence with mini questions about your life, but asking about the deeper details of it? Creepy with a capital C! Half an hour later, I was starting to doze off when I noticed a tan blob below our feet.

"Lucky, down there!" I cried, pointing toward the ground. "See that thing? What is it?"

"Huh? What's what? Where?" I didn't know if my sudden shouting threw him off, or if he was starting to doze off like me and I'd interrupted him, but Lucky's frantic screams made his face meet a tall tree. I made an that's-got-to-hurt face as Lucky literally slid down the long trunk and softly hit the ground. I wriggled out from under his hooves and looked around. The tan blob was standing a few feet away from us and, not wanting to go alone, I started dragging Lucky by the tail toward the weird object only to find out it was a small hut. Smoke was dancing out of a small chimney, and a dark yellow light was glowing in a nearby window.

"I've seen this hut before," I muttered, slowly creaking open the door. Different bottles full of liquid were lined on wooden shelves on the walls, a small bed in between the walls held a thick blanket, and in every nook and cranny held freaky looking masks that made me wonder how this person could sleep in this hut. Or, how this zebra could sleep in this hut.

"Is it bad that I taste mouthwash right now?" I heard Lucky mumble dizzily, struggling to sit up. At least it wasn't blood he was tasting at the moment. As I looked around the stuffy room, I was starting to wonder why Zecora would chose such a bleak place to live, far away from civilization I might add. But I had to get back to the task. Trying not to make a big mess, I searched through bottles, behind masks, under the bed...but found nothing that could lead to a riddle.

"What are you looking for?" Lucky, who was finally back on his feet, asked.

"A clue to the riddle," I replied, dumping out a bottle of pink liquid that burned the edge of a nearby table. I guess Zecora borrowed Twilight's potion that helped improve ponies' athleticism for her little collection—or should I say Maya's potion. Sure hope that judge who taste tested it was okay.

"This might be the wrong place," Lucky said, flying over to the bed and snuggling above the covers. "We could be searching the wrong place, and then some freaky cloud will appear and be like, 'You've run out of time! You failed! Failed!'" I groaned at Lucky's attempt of an evil laugh and continued my search. My energy was gone by the time I finished looking through the hut. All that time I wasted looking for a stupid riddle, only to be freakin' disappointed when I couldn't find anything!

"Hey, how'd that riddle go?" Lucky asked, using his magic to flip through some dusty books.

"What's the point? We're probably too late or something," I said, slumping against the walls. "But if you really want to know, it said something about ponies screaming and we had to follow some path that would lead us to a spell."

"A spell?"

"Yeah! It's ridiculous, I know! I thought we'd been right since Zecora mixes up all kinds of spells and whatnot. How could we guess wrong?" I buried my face in my hands, but I wasn't crying. I was getting really flustered, and I was also fearing for everyone else's safety. I didn't want them to be destroyed, but if I didn't find a riddle sooner or later, that's just what would happen. I was then blinded by a light red glow, and when I removed my hands from my eyes, I saw Lucky's horn charging up with energy, his eyes squeezed tight.

"Lucky, what the heck are you—?"

"Shh...! Concentrating...!" There we go with the "shh!" again. But because of my phenomenal job of not punching him for telling me to be quiet, I watched in amazement as the floor shifted inch by inch, slowing unearthing a dark passageway. I peered down at the darkness and couldn't see any ladder or stairs.

"How can Zecora afford all of this crap?" I screamed.

"Hope she has insurance," Lucky said, joining my side."If she doesn't, we were never here." I was soon hanging on to Lucky's back as he flew in a straight line in complete darkness under the floorboards. The light from above and the light from his horn didn't make a difference, and I was starting to think we'd run into something and lose our path.

"You sure you're okay Lucky?" I asked for the third time. "I don't want you to run into anything and hurt yourself.

"Don't worry, my eyes are kind of trained to see in the dark. So think of me as part cat." Yeah, a cat with a unicorn horn and Pegasus wings. It took a long time, but we finally saw a dull light that led to another riddle.

"Finally! We found something!" I cried joyfully, hopping off of Lucky's back. I was expecting a long fall, but thankfully I only fell for a good seven seconds. I ran toward the light and found a humungous book lying face up. I turned to a page where a silk orange bookmark was sticking out, and read the riddle aloud.

"'Congratulations, you have completed the riddle quest. But are you ready to pass my test?'" My eyebrows wrinkled in confusion, and I had no time to be confused. A blast of strong wind came out of nowhere, causing me to tumble backwards and hit something hard. I didn't know what it was, but my eyes were squeezed tight in order to be protected by the wind.

This is it! I thought with both pride and nervousness. This is where I finally meet this villain!