Our Inner Ponies 3: A New Villain

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...