A Perfect Key

Chapters

Chapter 1 (The Beginning)
Chapter 2 (The Awakening )
Chapter 3 (The Idea)
Chapter 4 (The Road Ahead)
Chapter 5 (The Allure)
Chapter 6 (The Reckoning)
Chapter 7 ( The Struggle)
Chapter 8 (Vision)

Chapter 1 (The Beginning)

A Perfect Key

Chapter 1.

By Jonnydash

The ever growing sound of that all too familiar beeping jolts me from my dreamy wonderland. I was in the middle of enjoying the most satisfying and tasty club sandwich, when my alarm clock had gone off and snapped me out of it. I quickly realized that the sandwich from my dream had been half of my pillowcase. I spat out the case and sat up in my soft mattress and sleepily looked about my room. It was a quaint room full of odds and ends from my life, posters of bands hung on the wall, a 40 inch TV displayed across the room and my desktop sat in the far corner. I flipped on the light on the nightstand beside my bed and rubbed my eyes to wake myself up.

I proceeded to walk almost stumbling out of my bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom to start my morning ritual. After putting in my contacts and taking a long hot shower I stepped out into the laundry room to pick up my work clothes. After putting on the shop uniform and placing mechanics nametag on I proceeded back towards my room down the hallway. Out of the corner of my eye I catch the hint of a silver sparkle rested just underneath the low end table. Not knowing what it is I bent down to pick it up and noticed it was an old style skeleton key. The key had a tarnished silver coat to it and black smudges all around the very ornate head. At the end were two small jetted out teeth and a short almost box jetted edge to it. Looking at the key I wanted to find out where it came from and why it was in my house in the first place. I racked my brain over and over trying to find answers to this question and I couldn’t find any sort of reasonable answer. I shrugged and said to myself “eh, I must have forgotten about it or something.” I continued to my room and sat in my comfy computer chair to check my e-mails and messages. I stared at my applejack wallpaper for a second before opening my emails and going through the mountains of spam I normally receive.

The first e-mail I stopped my cursor on was sent from an unknown source and was titled “Hello Jonnydash.” I opened it thinking it was just another one of those spam mails and send to so many people for a such and such, but this seemed to be different and I couldn’t place my finger on it. I figured it was the use of my screen name, since I only used it for my little pony things and cursing about the fandom. Maybe Austin had sent me some sort of e-mail on our next project. I read the e-mail out loud “Jonnydash, I sent you the key, instructions are within.” I had no clue what it was talking about and figured it was a spam message and moved on. Having nothing left in my e-mail folder I remembered the crazy e-mail. I figured Austin was playing a joke on me so I pulled up Skype. Seeing he was online, I placed my cursor over the username “Austin673” and clicked the call button. It rang a happy tune for a few short seconds and an eager but obviously tired voice answered “what chu want jonny?”

“Well good morning to you too sunshine” I said almost chuckling.

“Oh shut up” he laughed, “But seriously it’s like 8 o’clock in the morning there right? So what’s up?” he responded.

“Well yes it is, I just had a question for ya.”

“Shoot” he said simply.

“I got a weird e-mail about some key and instructions I just wanted to know if you sent it.”

“Nope I sure didn’t dude but it sounds like someone is playing a joke on you.” He responded obviously trying to hold back from laughing.

“Alright man well I just wanted to be sure, I gotta get going to work though bro and I’ll catch ya later.” I said.

He responded with a “peace” and the Skype ending call tone. I gathered up my jacket and headed towards the door of my room still realizing I had the key in my pocket and thought about it for a second before reaching the door.

I placed my hand upon the knob and found it to be locked. “What the Heck?!” I stammered out, as I know my door can’t lock itself because it has no lock on it. I tried turning it again and again and looked down at the bottom of the door where a crack had started to form on it. The crack was small less than a few inches but it was not there before last night I knew that for sure. I realized this was not my normal door. It looked almost exactly like my old door but with a brighter white color to it. The knob was also different; it was a tarnished gold color with an old style hole for a key. Above the hole for the key was etched “inside you”. As I wondered what had happened to my old door I realized I still had the old style key in my pocket. I figured I’d try it and give it a shot; I wiped the black smudge off the face of the key revealing an etched and embroidered “E” on the face. I inserted the key into the hole and turned. I felt the tumblers fall and the door unlock with a loud thud that sounded almost too big for the door. I pushed it open and proceeded to take a step but I realized too late that what I was stepping into was pitch black and had no floor to step on. I blacked out as I felt a falling sensation and wind rush through my body slipping me into an unconscious state only to faintly hear the sounds of female voices talking about a “strange pony” before I blacked out completely.

Chapter 2 (The Awakening )

A Perfect Key

By Jonnydash

Chapter 2 (The Awakening)

I felt my mind race through my thoughts at what felt like a million miles an hour trying to find some kind of logic to what had just happened to me. All I could see was black and I didn’t think I could move so I didn’t try. My mind felt like it was on a racetrack running through what I thought had just happened to me questions like “Why did I not freak out about the door? It was out of place and would have normally scared me?” “why was I so insistent on using the key to open an already strange door?” it wasn’t making any sense and all I could think was I was drawn to open it by a unforeseen force almost a will of someone else to open it and take that step that inevitably led me to this moment. When my brain landed on this thought I felt an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety over what was happening to me. I was unable to move or see anything and I felt like I was in a dream world filled with my own thoughts and feelings in pitch blackness.

All of a sudden my ears began to ring a very light ringing building slowly and slowly for what seemed like hours and when it was almost unbearable to hear it any longer a white light started to build around me, encompassing my entire vision. White light surrounded my vision and I started to feel my body and my surroundings. I felt warm and comfortable I began to think I was dead and felt my heart pound faster and faster. I could suddenly feel my body lying in a bed, just the feeling I could instantly tell I had a wet rag on my forehead and its cool dampness calmed my nerves. Once I knew I was not dead I dared to open my eyes and the brightness of the world instantly made me shut them. I managed to mumble out a few words from my exhausted body “ah……..my…head….”

Immediately following my words I heard a soft but almost scared “EEP!” and 4 soft thumps on what seemed to be a wooden floor.

I asked almost unsure of what to say “is anyone there?”

I waited a good few moments to hear a response from the stranger but to no avail. I decided to try and open my eyes almost afraid of what to say. Again I opened my eyes and it seemed to work if I squinted and focused to keep my head from spinning. I lift my head up from what I think is a pillow and proceed to look around the room. I find myself in a medium sized room, to my left was a small nightstand and sitting on top was my cell phone and wallet. Directly across from the bed I am lying in is a doorway half opened with a bright pink tail curled up outside of the door.
I managed to blurt out the words “hel….hello?”

The strange bright pink tail twitched and another familiar “EEP” was heard from behind the wooden door.

“It’s alright….ah, I just wanted to say thank you for helping me….” I managed to say still writing in pain from a massive headache.

“Um…………uh…” a high and very shy voice poked out.

“It’s ok you can come out and talk to me.” I said

The tail slowly moved completely behind the door and heard what sounded like little stomps and a shadow move across the doorway. What peeked behind the door was a small pale yellow face with pink hair and blue eyes staring back at me.

The creature I now recognized slowly and lightly said “um…I..uh ..hope your…ok now…. I didn’t mean to scare you if I did….”

“Wait I know you!” I exclaimed with a quick response and it made the small creature return behind the door with a quick and quiet yelp.

“I’m sorry” I responded “I didn’t mean to frighten you”

At this point I realized I must either be in a dream or some type of hallucination, this creature I was having this conversation with looked and sounded exactly like Fluttershy. Fluttershy was a Pegasus pony from a children’s show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This show is based in a magic kingdom called Equestria, she and her five other best friends try to learn lessons about friendship and report it to the princess of Equestria, Celestia. I decided to keep what I knew secret from her until I felt that it would be appropriate I didn’t want to scare her or any pony for that matter.

She poked her head around the corner and seemed to work up her courage before walking towards the bed she moved very gracefully and slow as she approached.

“Did you say that you knew me?” she asked almost unsure of what to say.

“I guess I thought I did but I actually don’t remember much at all...” I quickly responded with the lie.

“You’re um……a weird pony” “my name is Fluttershy... I’ve umm…..never seen you here before and I know everypony in ponyville.” she asked looking up at me from the side of the bed.

“A pony? I don’t think I look like a pony? Why do you say that?” I responded quite intrigued.

“Here….let me get a mirror.” She quickly turned around and flew off down the hall.

I lay in the bed quickly running thoughts through my head, “what does she mean I’m a weird pony?” as this thought crossed my mind I decided to look at my hands they didn’t feel right like they were balled into some sort of fist. What I seen was what appeared to be a hoof covered in a bluish fur on both of my arms.

“This must be a dream” I whispered “this can’t be real..”

Fluttershy had just flown into the room hovering over my bed holding what appeared to be a small mirror. She proceeded to show me my face from the mirrors reflection I looked upon my pony face. I had large hazel eyes topped with a brown and orange highlighted mane. I had a squarish muzzle and large rounded ears protruding from both sides of my mane. and most astounding of all was a large protruding horn in the middle of my forehead.
All I could mutter out was “I….I really am…a…a…..pony….” I was shocked beyond all belief but not just any pony i was a UNICORN! How could this have happened? All I did was step out of my room and I ended up in a children’s show. I closed my eyes and hoped and wished as hard as I could to be home. I felt my heart beat a million times faster than it was before when I suddenly heard another voice say.

“Is he awake yet Fluttershy?” the voice said.

This voice sounded familiar too and I opened my eyes to see 5 other ponies push the wooden door open and walk into the room. The five other ponies I quickly identified as Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and lagging behind her was Pinkie Pie. Twilight sparkle had said the words to Fluttershy and she was fixed upon me with her gaze.

“Hello there I am Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends” she replied

Suddenly my head was throbbing and I felt very weak. I replied with a soft and weakening voice “hi I’m……” and I found myself drifting back into blackness.

Twilight Sparkle quickly said “let him rest he has had quite a day already.”

I heard this echo in my head as I slipped into my sleep.

Chapter 3 (The Idea)

A Perfect Key
Chapter 3 (The Idea)
By Jonnydash

Waking up was almost as difficult as understanding how I ended up in Equestria in the first place. But opening my eyes brought a shroud of darkness over the room that I found myself in once again. I was in the same bed in the same room and in the same house. I noticed my headache was gone and the rag that sat on my forehead was now lying beside me on the bed. I was running in my head all of the ideas of where I was but I knew I was in Equestria. I figured I was in Ponyville because I had seen the mane 6 with my own two eyes. I also guessed I was in Fluttershy’s home due to her being the one to take care of me before I blacked out again. I decided to try and get up from the bed, even though I had come to grips with the fact I was here I still needed to find out why I was here and how to get home.

Sitting up and swinging my legs across the bed was the first step and I did it with little effort I was glad I could still move, even though I felt like I was hit with a Mack truck. When I tried to jump down on my two front feet I fell over, as I was a pony and ponies can’t stand too well or too long on hind legs. I hit the wooden floor with a massive “THUMP” that echoed through the house and I subsequently let out a small “Oww….oh you stupid legs…” I said trying to be quiet as not to wake any one up.

“Are you okay in there?!” Twilight's voice rang out in the darkness. It sounded like she was coming from outside of my room and down the hall as it seemed to echo a bit.

“Yeah I’m fine, I just need to get used to these legs.” I said slowly rubbing my flank where I had fallen.

“Okay…um well…. let me know if you need any help in there.” Twilight hesitantly said “And we would like to talk to you out here when you’re ready.”

I proceeded to get up on all four legs and tried to take a step but quickly lost balance and fell yet again. After three more attempts I finally got enough ability to walk to the wooden door and opened it with the muzzle of my nose. I proceeded down the hallway, swaying side to side trying to keep my balance all while not trying to look stupid. I finally reached the common room of Fluttershy’s house where all the ponies where lounging around. They each took notice as I entered the room and rainbow dash was the first to speak.

“Who are you anyways? And why are you here!?” she exclaimed

I muttered out “I…I” but Pinkie cut me off before I could say anything more.

“Jeez Dashie that’s no way too great a new friend! That’s Rainbow Dash she’s just not used to new ponies yet! Hi I’m Pinkie Pie! You must be new here and it’s really great to meet you! You know I love meeting new ponies and it’s really great to meet you!!!”

“Um hi Pinkie Pie my name is um, Monkey Wrench.” I muttered out.

Why did I say monkey wrench? It just popped into my head without even thinking, it was almost natural to say it. I remember I had created my own pony a long time ago. A pony named monkey who was a mechanic and could fix anything that needed it. This must be me! I must have manifested myself as my pony and dropped into this strange world. Whatever is going on it is freaking me out and I can feel as if I don’t belong here but I have a strange sense of welcoming and some sort of positive energy all around me.

“NICE TA MEET YA!” the pink pony bounced up and down saying that. “Monkey?! That’s a weird name! But you’re a nice pony!” she giggled as she said that and hopped off towards the kitchen in Fluttershy’s house.

“Hey there nice to meet ya , ma names Applejack” said the pony coming towards me with a brown hat on and thick country accent.

“Oh nice to meet you Applejack” I responded giving my best smile and friendly Hoof shake.

“Oh how lovely it is too meet a fellow unicorn!” exclaimed the white and purple unicorn in the corner lounging on the sofa. “My name is Rarity and it is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh it is a pleasure to meet you too Miss Rarity.” I said.

“Hi Monkey would you care to sit down and talk with us? We are all interested to hear about what happened to you.” Twilight Sparkle said as she beckoned me to take a seat near the farthest wall.

I took my seat and sat the best I could I responded with “so what do you guys want to know? I don’t remember much but I can try my best.”

“Do you know how you got here?” Twilight asked seeming very interested in what I had to say.

“Not really” I responded “the last thing I remember was lying in the bed and waking up seeing Fluttershy. I looked over at the pale yellow pony and she looked back then blushed and looked away. I thought to myself “Wow she really is that shy”.
“Hmm I can see why you wouldn’t remember anything. We found you unconscious lying in a field outside of Ponyville. We scooped you up and brought you to Fluttershy’s house.” She said this while walking towards the window. She gazed outside the window at the rising sun barely seen over the horizon outside.

“Wait That Gives me an idea!” Twilight exclaimed as she turned around and faced the other ponies.
“We should take him to see the princess! Celestia will know what to do and she can help us figure it out!” Twilight had a smile across her face and she looked to everypony else in the room for confirmation. Apple jack was the first to respond.
“That’s a great idea Twi! The princess’ll know exactly what is goin’ on here” she responded with a nod and tilt of her hat.
Every pony else in the room seemed to agree, until being interrupted by Pinkie bouncing out of the kitchen holding a tray of what looked like chocolate cupcakes.

“I MADE CUPCAKES!” she cheered carrying the tray and set it down on the table in the middle of the room. “Dig in everypony! We can’t begin a journey without a full stomach!”

Picking up one of the cupcakes proved to be difficult but Twilight was kind enough to hand it to me and I proceeded to eat the most delicious cupcake I had ever eaten in my life. We enjoyed the cupcakes while waiting for the sun to come up and I listened to the stories they were telling of Canterlot and the journey ahead.

Chapter 4 (The Road Ahead)

A Perfect Key

Chapter 4 the Road Ahead

By Jonnydash

Time flew by as I talked to each of the ponies and after finding out where I was from they all began to believe I was here in this world for something. Something bigger than us, and they seemed very excited to get on the journey to Canterlot. Pinkie suggested we take the train to Canterlot since it was faster and only a day’s trip. We all nodded in agreement and Twilight and Rarity got the bags and other things ready for us to leave. I on the other hand went back to the room to look at my things and see if I still needed anything or maybe a clue to what was going on and why I was here. On the other side of my phone was the same key from before but it had changed it was still a little tarnished in places but a big revealing “Y” was now embroidered on the left side of the face of the key. “I know that wasn’t there before..” I muttered to myself thinking about why it was there. I decided that this key or whatever it was wasn’t normal it had brought me here and must be my way home. I scooped up the key and my phone and placed it in the saddle bag rarity had sewn. It was nicely decorated and even embroidered with my cutie mark, a yellow pencil crossed over top a crescent wrench.

I wandered back into the common room of Fluttershy’s house, looking at all the nice things she had. It was really a quaint place and her bunny; Angel was nice but seemed to throw carrots at me quite a bit.

“Alright I think we are ready to head on out.” Twilight said as she had placed her final things in her saddlebag.
We wondered outside to a bright and colorful world, the colors of the grass, trees and sky were very bright and vivid and took a little bit of adjusting for my eyes. And we wandered down the path towards Ponyville where Twilight said the train station was. We continued to walk for a while talking and laughing about the comings and goings and much small talk when applejack asked me a question.

“Hey there monkey, so in yer world, what are we exactly?” she asked.

“Uh yes” I responded taken back by the bluntness of her question. “We have these things called TV’s and they show moving pictures with sound and stories with them. And all of you were featured in a show.”

“Huh?? I don’t get it…” she responded with obvious confusion.

I laughed at the response and said “It’s alright, I don’t really get it either.” All the other ponies were now laughing along as we proceeded into town. The town itself seemed like any other small town back home with complete stores for everything except a few oddballs like couches and quills store or a stand selling hay as food. I found this place to be quite a sight and Rainbow Dash watched me as I was gazing around the town, she piped up and said. “So you like our little town?”

“Well I’ve never seen anything like it before.” I responded “I never imagined it to be like this, the pictures back home don’t give it justice.”

Rainbow laughed at this and we continued on though the square of Ponyville and in no time at all we were standing in front of the Ponyville train station. The stations manager, a dark grey earth pony with brown hair and a stop watch as his cutie mark walked up too twilight and they began chatting back and forth most likely discussing the next train to Canterlot.

Twilight trotted back to the group “Ok guys, the next train leaves for Canterlot in 2 hours so what do you guys think about showing monkey around Ponyville?”

Pinkie immediately chimed in with “OH!! We can go to Sugarcube corner! I work and live there! Then we can go make some cupcakes and eat lots of sugar! And meet everypony in town and..” Twilight stopped her there and said “Pinkie I think we should just take it slow and give him a tour of the whole town”

“That’s a fantastic idea Twi!” Applejack responded “He’s only seen a bit a our little town and I’m sure he’d love the rest of it!”
With that said we wandered off towards the next part of town seeing more shops and other pleasant ponies talking and enjoying the day. We stopped at the biggest oak tree I’ve ever seen and twilight told me she lived and worked there.

“Oh so this is the library?” I said with utter amazement.

“It sure is! And my assistant spike and I live here too.” Twilight responded “Come on out spike!” Twilight shouted in the door of her library. A few moments later a small purple baby dragon walked out of the door and looked up at Twilight.

“Hey Twilight I was wondering when you were coming back our quills and parchment arrived already and I picked them up from the store for you.” Spike said he then spotted me and asked “Wait, who’s the new guy?”

“He’s our new friend spike his name is Monkey Wrench.” Twilight responded with a smile and looked at me.

“Yeah, uh hi Spike it’s nice to meet you.” I said hesitantly trying not to be too awkward.

“Hmm uh yeah nice to meet you too Monkey.” Spike replied with an almost unsure look to his face.

He had an arrogance around him and I almost got the feeling he didn’t want me around. I tried my best not to make him feel any different towards me and we moved on to talking about where to go see next. We still had about an hour left and we decided to get something to eat.

Applejack led the way this time taking us through Ponyville past all the shops again and finally leading us to the square in Ponyville. She walked up to her apple stand and began to make something behind the little counter on it. As she worked I talked to twilight and asked her how long she had been in Ponyville.

She responded with a smile “I haven’t been here as long as everyone else I’m actually from Canterlot but I’m here on assignment from the princess. I’m studying friendship and learning as much as I can about it.”

“Oh wow that’s awesome!” I responded as Applejack handed me what looked like a slice of apple pie.

“Go on an try it sugarcube! It’s an apple family recipe for the best apple pie in Equestria!” Applejack responded lighting up with a huge smile.

The first bite was amazing the flavor was so rich and the texture to the apples where just right and the crust perfectly crisp and delicious. “Wow!” was all I could say with a mouth full of apple pie. “I rearry rike it a rot!” I said spitting out pieces of pie everywhere. Everypony started laughing and I joined in feeling right at home with these strange multi colored creatures. We all finished our food and Twilight announced that we should head back to the station to catch the train. We started our walk to the station talking about Applejacks amazing pie and our ideas of what the princess would say. We arrived at the station a short time later; the gray manager came out to meet us again saying “you all are just in time! A ticket to Canterlot will be 20 bits each please.” We each handed the pony 20 bits and boarded the strange looking train being pulled by strong looking ponies at the front of the locomotive.Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy took the first booth from the door. Rarity sat down a little bit in her own booth staring intently at a mirror she brought and adjusting her mane. I took my own booth across from them staring out the window at the strange place these ponies called home I wondered how it would be to stay in a place like this and have friends like these. Then lost my self in my thoughts.

Before I knew it a few hours had passed, I zoned into what was going on around me, and realized Applejack was standing outside my booth. I quickly responded “Oh hey applejack, sorry I didn’t see you there” I laughed as I said this. “I was lost in thought I guess.” I responded with a smile.
“Oh that’s okay!” she said smiling. “I was just gonna see if I could talk for a bit.” she said with a big grin.

“Oh sure” I responded with a slight smile as I was a little taken back from her request. “Go right ahead!” I said giving a big smile.

“So tell me about yourself” Applejack responded with a smile.

“well back home I’m just a normal person, I do anything a normal person would do...” I quickly responded

“Person?” Applejack asked quizzically

“Oh, yeah...” I sighed in realization that she wouldn’t know what a person is. “In my world we refer to each other as people, like how you guys refer to each other as ponies”

“Oh, makes sense ah guess, and what about your cutie mark?” She responded.

“Well, I wouldn’t be to sure, since I arrived in this world with my cutie mark... But back in my world, I had a natural talent of fixing things, I could take almost anything apart and fix it and put it together again. I also loved drawing and doing anything with art I guess that would explain the pencil.” I explained with the little knowledge I knew on the subject.

We continued talking about our previous experiences, laughing and joking for what seemed like hours. Until finally the trains whistle blew and a shout came from the front of the train “Now arriving in Canterlot!!”.

We were finally there...

Chapter 5 (The Allure)

A Perfect Key

Chapter 5 (The Allure)

By Jonnydash

We had finally arrived in Canterlot so I picked myself up from my comfortable seat on the train and headed down the aisle of the cart with Applejack and Rarity behind me. I could hear Rarity going on about how excited she was to be back in Canterlot and something about a dress shop. I continued down the cart listening to the girls chattering about Canterlot and other things. I began to think about how the princess would see me and what she would say. I began to feel something in my stomach and I placed it as being nervous. As we all filed out of the cart I began to notice something odd about this place. It wasn’t like Ponyville at all , it was dark the sky was a tint of black in which I didn't think could exist in this world. The ponies of this place walked about with heads down to the ground not saying a word to any pony. Its as if there world were colorless..

Twilight was the first to speak. “What happened here..” she muttered but we all thought the same thing. Something was happening in Canterlot and I could see the fear in every ponies eyes. It was almost like I could sense that feeling we all shared.

Pinkie quietly stated “This isn’t normal...”

Rainbow dash had a worried look on her face as she watched the ponies walk by. “What is causing all of this?” she asked not expecting an answer.

Twilight answered “I’m not sure, but we need to see the princess and maybe she can let us know what to do and figure this out.”

We continued on through Canterlot looking at the empty streets and shops. Everything was quiet and an eerie feeling was lifting through the city. I noticed something as we were trotting along, even the buildings seemed gray and dull like they lost what color and vividness they had. I was just about to say something when Twilight stopped dead in her tracks.

“Did you hear that?” she quickly said as worry spread across her face.

“Um no i didn’t hear nuthin.” Applejack responded looking around fearfully.

“It sounded like someone was laughing...” Twilight responded sounding more distressed.

“I’m sure it was the wind or something” I said as I tried to comfort Twilight. “Don't worry about it .”

“Oh...thanks Monkey” she responded trying her best to smile but she was obviously worried

Just as we began to continue towards the princess’s castle i heard a soft but dark voice almost out of nowhere whisper in my ear. “It looks like your fearless leader isn't so fearless.....”

“Who.....who said that?” i said almost abruptly every pony now was staring at me, making me feel very awkward. “Um my bad i thought i heard something.” I responded shyly . This voice or whatever it was creeped me out and I was worried something was going on. But I remembered Twilight had said something earlier about hearing a voice that trailed off. Maybe it was a pony in the distance talking and we just overheard it through the quiet city.

After what I heard I knew something wasn’t right. I tried my best to hide my fear as we continued towards the castle. We could see it in the distance, and it was giant and very beautiful sight. It fit very well with its surroundings and didn't seem to be dark or uninviting like the rest of the city appeared to be. It was a magnificent structure and well deserving for a royal family. The gate was massive and out stood two white guard ponies each not giving a single look to the approaching ponies. When we had reached the gate the older guard pony spoke first, “Twilight Sparkle, you and your.... friends are requested to be seen by the princess in the..... main common..... inside the castle.” The way the pony had said it almost seemed like he wasn't the one talking. It seemed strange that he didn't notice the gloominess and darkness everywhere else around the palace. No other pony seemed to notice so I shrugged it off and we proceeded towards the gate. The Gate swung open and revealed the path to the door of Celestia's palace. I thought to my self “Wow this is her palace? i cant believe we are finally here.” As I looked up at the massive structure Twilight spoke.

“Alright I think its time to find out what is going on here.”

She said this as we entered the great hall of the princess’s palace. The shimmering stained glass windows showered a multitude of colors along our path. As we walked our steps echoed through the hall. The floor seemed to be made of a white marble of some kind and it was a shimmering stone that added to the look of everything inside. The palace was decorated with many things from flowers hanging around the pillars and walls to paintings of Equestria and even of Ponyville. As we continued through the main hall we all noticed a separate wing branch off the main hall.

This brought Twilight to say “That’s the way to Princess Luna’s room and her part of the palace.” she said this with almost a smugness.

Just at the end of the main hall was another hallway that led to the main common. Twilight had instructed us about the layout of the palace as we walked. She began to tell us about the many different things here, but no pony seemed to be particularly interested in any one subject, we all just looked about the palace and taking in the grand beauty of it. The grandeur and craftsmanship required to build this place was astonishing to me, back home i couldn't remember seeing anything even remotely like this place not even in pictures. As I continued lost in my own thoughts I suddenly noticed every pony had stopped suddenly and I walked right into the back of Fluttershy.

“Oh I'm so sorry...” I started to say, but Fluttershy hadn’t even moved or said a word. This feeling of utmost dread spread like wildfire all over my body until I had seen with my own eyes why they all had stopped so suddenly.

There in the middle of the hall was a slash of dripping bright red along the wall and leading from the slash was a flowing trail of red that went on for a good 5 feet before disappearing underneath the Main Commons's dark wood door. No pony said a word we all had the same feeling and we all didn't want to know what had happened here. As if on cue we all moved around the still wet and glistening trail ever closer to the Main Common door.

The door that we had stopped at was the door to the Main Common where Princess Celestia was supposed to meet us. The door was a traditional old wooden door with an elegant face, but the reason we stopped, and didn’t open it was because of a deep red smear going across the face of it.

The red smear dripped down the door and just above and to the left of the smear was a large red hoof print... at the floor below the door was the trail of red...

Chapter 6 (The Reckoning)

A Perfect Key

Chapter 6 (The Reckoning)

By Jonnydash

As i stood there i noticed the door was not fully closed and was leaning a bit off the hinges on both sides. it was almost as if someone busted through the door in a hurry. We pushed the door open slowly to reveal an elegant main common room. The high ceilings held an impressive crystal chandelier and strung about the hall where purple and pink banners that sort of glistened through the light of the windows.

The trail of red we quickly realized that it was blood, this trail of blood we followed led to the bottom of the steps located at the farthest wall. these stairs led to a small stage which held a pedestal with the crest of Equestria embroidered on it. The crest was broken in half and partially burnt hanging half off its original place. The source of the trail we followed led us to look below the pedestal and there lying in an awkward position was Princess Celestia. She laid half curled half sprawled on the edge of the stairs, she looked up at us when we entered the room almost with a sort of dread and fear.

Twilight ran to her, tears welling in her eyes. we all followed behind her and came closer to the princess.

"Princess.... what...what....what happened here?" twilight asked tears rolling down her cheeks. "I was so worried i didn't know to do!" she was no longer able to hold it back and she gripped the princess in a sort of hug and cradle, now sobbing uncontrollably.

The princess responded as if she was out of breath but we all knew she was in pain. "twilight... im so happy to see you and your friends........ i was almost afraid you didn't get my message" she said trying to move but twilight held her head still. "but i can see you found what i needed you too..." She looked directly at me when she said this. A smile crept across her face before she winced in pain.

"what do you mean princess?" twilight looked at her when she said this with tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"Listen Twilight we need to get her some help." Rarity said standing next to Twilight, she looked right in twilights eyes and turned to face Fluttershy. Fluttershy was watching almost frozen on the princess, she didnt return the gaze and rarity cleared her throught with a loud "mhmmm" and said "Fluttershy darling, what are you waiting for?" she said almost matter of factly. This perked Fluttershy out of her dreamy state and she quietly said "oh. right I'm sorry.."

Fluttershy looked over the princesses wounds carefully assessing each and every wound with care just like all of her animals. She had a gaping scrape across her left flank that exposed some red tissue this was the most serious and Fluttershy bandaged this first. The princess had more cuts across her midsection and her right wing appeared to be broken. Around her wounds she was stained a dark red and she had the appearance of losing a fight with bruises and a blood soaked mane stuck to her forehead and around her elegant horn.

I stood there watching Fluttershy work and began to feel something, it was a weird feeling like i was being watched by something. I looked around once more through the room and was unsuccessful to notice anything out of place except turned over table and busted glass from the rear set window. The window was busted from the inside out, as to show someone or something jumping through from our side of the glass.

The princess Spoke with a shaky and elegant voice. "I see you brought him here... i was hoping you would and I'm very glad you did" she looked at me as she said this.

"Princess he said he was from another world, and doesn't know how he got here." Twilight said this rubbing her eyes trying to hold back her tears.

"ahh so it is you." she said as she winced again in pain. "yes i asked him to come to our world, i had it set up to bring him here." she moved on her side again this time to better see us and give Fluttershy room for her wing. "I knew he was coming back, he seemed darker this time and too much for us to stop him." she explained.

"wait, who is coming back?" Twilight asked puzzled, she appeared to have calmed down some now that applejack was rubbing her back.

The princess looked down and said with a wavering voice "he is already back and i was right he is worse then before......it's Discord."

I was stunned at this, this whole time i was planned on being brought here like i was a plaything or as if it was written to bring me here all before. Discord almost brought down Equestria in one of the episodes and the elements of harmony had defeated him. This was different i didn't think he was capable of doing this kind of evil and it scared me, what could i do? i was nothing more then a mechanic and a pony for heavens sakes.

The princess continued, "He is trying to destroy this world and create his own, he has started here trying to kill me..." she looked at her wounds and said "I knew he was coming back and that's why i brought Monkey here, he has the power to defeat him." she looked up at me when she finished.

"h......how.... how can i be any help?" i said blankly i had no idea why it was me that was chosen over anyone else and how i could help fight a creature that could rip an alicorn to shreds.

Fluttershy had finished bandaging the princess when Celestia spoke "you have the key to defeat discord, you have to discover your power and strength." she turned to Fluttershy and thanked her before returning back to me.

I remembered i had the key still and now i think i understood why she needed me. this key had something to do with unlocking not only doors but myself and saving Equestria from discord. i knew i couldn't tell her no and she had brought me here and she could help me return back home. all along i was destined to come here and it was fate that i was here.
She could see the puzzled look on my face and she stated "we need your help monkey, you have what you need to help us you just have to look inside your self."

"i.....i can give it my best to help.." I responded unsure of what else to say. i wasn't 100% sure about my decision but i knew they needed my help, even if these ponies were not real they sure felt like they did.

All the ponies in the room looked at each other and i felt better about not only my decision but myself. Out of the corner of my eye Applejack gave me a big smile and rainbow ruffled my mane saying "Great! Now we got to get back at him for what he did!" she exclaimed.

Princess Celestia moved to better look at us, still in pain she said, "please get my sister she is down the hall in her room she doesn't know what happened. I would like to talk to her."

"Ill go i know where her room is." twilight exclaimed and took off down the main common and out the wooden door towards Luna’s room. The rest of us stayed in the main common and helped Celestia to her feet. she thanked us and applejack walked up to me. "hey, how ya feelin'?" she asked with a smile.

"I'm alright" i laughed "Its a lot to take in and im just a little overwhelmed about everything."

"yeah that's kinda expected ya know?" she responded "But we will get through this and defeat discord jus like last time." She seemed confident and happy and that really calmed my nerves. i was glad to have friends like her around.

A little bit later a tall dark blue alicorn trotted into the room and rushed beside Celestia as soon as she seen her. They hugged and Luna cried as Celestia explained what had happened.

luna cried out "We should have been here to help!" tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched Celestia. "We are just glad you are ok sister."

We all felt a little guilty we couldn't come sooner or have helped but there wasn't anything we could do. i sat down on the steps as the sisters conversed. Twilight looked over at me with a puzzled look and came over and sat.

"well now we know what we have to do. Find discord and defeat him to save Equestria." she stated. "i hope we can....... I'm not exactly sure what to do."

"yeah i think we need to find discord, he must have run off after the fight." I looked over at the busted window.

"Yeah i see what you mean, we should be on our way soon if we want to catch up to discord." Twilight said getting up from her seat. "i will let the others know and we will leave soon" she ended with a smile as she turned away to tell the girls our plan.

Soon after the princesses had thanked us for helping and Celestia stopped to talk to me. "Thank you again for helping us and my kingdom." she smiled and said "the farther you go the more you discover about yourself. Good luck Monkey Wrench."

"Thank you Princess Celestia." I said and we all walked out of the main common to a back way that led out of the castle and out to her luscious garden and fountain.

We continued our journey through her garden, a path was cut from the broken window to a tree that had been knocked over. past this tree led us to a dark forest, it was just lit enough for us to see the path ahead and we continued on for as far as we could until a soft growling noise stopped us in our tracks. we happened to stop in a clearing of trees, red dots darted two and from each tree all around us as the growling got louder.

From behind us a gray blur jumped between the trees. The blur darted around us and moved in a speed i had never seen before, in just a second it had leaped from the trees and in a split second later it had Rainbow Dash Pinned to the ground. The beast looked like a wolf but much larger, with glowing red eyes and sharp grey claws and teeth that seemed to be too big for its mouth. The beasts claws suck into the ponies arms and angrily snarled down at her, as she cried out in pain the forest glowed red with eyes all around us. Rainbow Dash yelled out “GO! I CAN TAKE THEM.... RUN NOW!”

We looked at her and ran without hesitation, we darted back through the forest running through the dark trees and limbs slipping deeper and deeper into the blackness..

Chapter 7 ( The Struggle)

Chapter 7 (The Struggle)

A Perfect Key

By Jonnydash

We ran..... I'm not sure how far.......this forest seemed to go forever, and it never changed as each tree, stump and branches looked exactly the same....... It seemed like darkness shrouded everything I could see..... in every direction i was afraid to even glance backwards......

Three or four feet ahead of me was Twilight’s tail, it bounced and flicked through the forest, over stumps and branches. Watching her tail and hearing the other ponies follow, kept me running as fast as I could. I followed her until we all collapsed on the ground exhausted beyond belief. We had stopped near a giant oak tree, around the oak tree where a few bushes and a large clearing away from the trees that surrounded us. I found myself lying on the ground underneath the tree panting over and over trying to catch my breath. Tears began rolling down my cheeks, the cool moistness of them seemed surreal, Rainbow..... why did you do that.... we could have saved you.... I could have done something.

I couldn't take what had happened.....I could have done something..........this thought never left my mind, it left me blank I couldn't tell what was real anymore, this sadness shook my whole body and I felt numb and weak.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Twilight sitting on top of a log adjacent to me, she had her her hooves over her face. From beneath her hooves little droplets of tears hit the log and I could barley pick up the soft sounds of her weeping.

Twilight looked up from her hooves and she tried to talk but she struggled with the words as she finally whimpered out “Rainbow.....how.....h....how did that happen....” her tears shimmered through the low light of the blackened and dark forest.

Fluttershy was softly weeping on the other side of the oak tree, her sounds made my stomach turn and ache. It was the saddest sounds I had ever or will ever hear. she spoke up with a soft touching voice “She....she saved us...” she looked at the ground, her ears dropped and her tone changed. “I can’t........ believe what happened....”

Rarity and Applejack stood next to Twilight now they were all teary eyed and looked extremely somber. Pinkie was sitting at the edge of the clearing, her back to us and the tree, her tail laid flat on the ground and her normally fluffy and bouncy mane now lay straight down and covered her face. “Girls.....” Pinkie had said this with an alarmingly calm voice, I perked up and looked directly at her. She turned to face us with a look of extreme distress and sadness. “I think rainbow is gone...”

Twilight lost all control she had and was now balling on the ground screaming for the pain to stop. We all comforted her even though we felt the exact same way, we all cried right there in the forest. We picked ourselves up again after what seemed like hours of sadness and being afraid of what we had just witnessed. It still ran through my mind, the wolf creature leaping from the forest onto Rainbow Dash the sheer look of terror on her face, the blood seeping from the wounds... it was almost too much for me. I tried my best to block out what it was and it seemed to work but would still give me a tinge when i thought about her and what happened.

We managed to continue on through the woods, we all agreed we needed out of this forest as quick as possible. Applejack showed us a trick with the tree bark to find a way out and we followed her lead for the time being. We walked for what seemed like an eternity, my brain racked through grim thoughts of what happened and I could still feel this sadness creep through me.

We walked out of the forest onto a half smooth and rough walking path outside of what looked like a barn and farm house. Overhead of us was an unnaturally blackened sky, not a single cloud or star hung in any direction, it was like a blanket of solid black with a half crescent moon set to the far side of the road we stood on. In the distance was the farm house and barn with a twinkle of a few lights here and there. We decided to head to the farm to get some rest and see if anypony had seen discord or anything unusual going on.

Each step we took seemed to take us farther away from the farm, we took each step and it seemed to prolong our journey even further. we felt the ground rumble, gently at first so gentle we almost didn't notice it until Pinkie had stopped and was staring at the ground. We all looked through the dim light of the moon was a fairly large crack in the ground about the size of our saddle bags. Just as I was about to say something about it the rumbling grew louder very quickly and a large fissure opened up between me an Twilight separating us and two more sprang up between Rarity and Applejack.

Rarity shrieked and just as she did, large black figures crawled out of the holes before us, they dug through the dirt and gravel and appeared to be twice the size of us. Still shrouded in the dark I couldn't make out what they were and before I could do anything the figure in front of me swung a giant paw. It collided with my face in a matter of seconds. The force sent me reeling backwards and I collided with the ground, I tumbled for a few feet and finally stopped lying on my back on the ground. I watched from the ground, my head still reeling from the blow, Twilight using her purple magic on the creatures but seemed to have no effect as they seemed to bounce right off. my body felt like it weighed a ton and i struggled to move as the other ponies battled the black creatures. Rarity called out to us as she was dodging blows left and right Fluttershy avoided the paws by flying upwards to be knocked back down by a rock the size of a small tree.

I willed my body, with every ounce of power I had left, to get up and do something. My friends needed me and I couldn’t just lay there and not do anything. after I managed to stand up I ran as fast as I could to them, I watched as Rarity took a blow from the massive creature, she tumbled through the air and landed on her side skidding across the ground. As I got closer she didn't move, as the creature moved nearer to her I felt a rage build inside my body, it coursed through my veins and I willed my self to do something...anything I pleaded within myself... and before my eyes a shimmering blue streak shot out of the top of my head, it collided with the side of the creature with a thud and nothing happened it just stood there looming over the pony.

Applejack was now pinned by two of the beasts and began crying out for help to Twilight who was still trying to use her magic on the creatures. Applejack struggled with the beasts, kicking and screaming before a giant paw to the face ended the fight as she no longer fought back. Pinkie pie screamed at the top of her lungs as a creature crawled out of the ground and began pulling her under the dirt and rock. Fluttershy flew over to help pull Pinkie out of the creatures grasp. Her wings flapped feverishly but to no avail as the pink pony slipped deeper and deeper into the ground, her screams became louder and louder as she got closer and closer.

I turned to face the creature i was charging, becoming even more enraged. The creature I hit with my magic now turned to me and began to walk towards me. I tried to fire back at him with my horn but it just glanced off just like before. I looked over at Twilight now being held down by the other creatures she screamed and fought like Applejack i witnessed her horn glowing purple as she looked directly at me. Before I could turn back to face the creature it had gripped me by the throat and lifted me high off the ground. My windpipe began to crunch under the extreme weight of this creature, the red eyes glowed in the night and the brown fur that covered the creatures face and body was stained red. I couldn't breathe and began to fade in and out of consciousness before he threw me down as if I was some sort of bouncy ball.

I couldn't feel anything anymore....... the pain I felt before from the previous hit was now replaced with nothing and an empty feeling inside my body. My eyes wouldn't move and with the limited sight I had, I witnessed the final moments of Fluttershy as they gripped her wings and body and began to claw at her. I tried not too look but i was frozen in place. I wished to be dead, I wanted to die this was too much i wanted to feel something or anything at all....... my vision suddenly began to fade to black I felt nothing as I drifted through this black........... all I could think before the nothing crept in on me was....

…......I am so sorry, I wasn’t strong enough.......

Chapter 8 (Vision)

A Perfect Key
by Jonnydash

The blackness of my mind held an almost sweet taste in my mouth. I was unable to move, not feeling my body and seeing an infinite blackness. The only sense I had was a sweet almost sugary taste that enveloped my taste buds. This sweetness lasted for what seemed like days and my thoughts raced through what had happened. It was blurry, the normal vivid memories i had of my friends now felt like blotched images on a blank canvas. Each one seemed more faded then the last, the only memory that stuck out significantly was the look Twilight had given me before she was hounded by those black figures. The thought made me cringe, the more I thought about the fight the more it seemed like it was over in a matter of seconds. I began to think to myself "All of my friends are gone... That actually happened... And here I am stuck in my own happy hell". At that an overwhelming feeling of guilt and anguish spread throughout what was left of me, I began to take notice that I could finally feel something other than that awful taste in my mouth.

Then it hit me; like my head was just run over by a bulldozer, an excruciating pain spread throughout me. A slight tingling sensation followed my pain and continued all throughout my body. I felt my hooves on a soft wet surface, the left side of my body was drenched and the right side was against a soft but firm surface. My ears were ringing loud enough to make me momentarily deaf, my vision began to come back as a tiny white dot in the distance, slowly gaining in size and brightness. The whiteness consumed my vision and soon flecks of color started to appear scattered as if my mind was painting a side view of a mural or painting. The more I came out of my horrific slumber , the more I felt around me. I could feel the grass against my belly and the pools of liquid under my front two hooves.

The pain in my head was still very much active and it kept me from opening my eyes too wide, so I squinted and tried to move my body to see if I was still able too. My front hooves pressed against the soft and wet ground with ease "Okay" I thought to myself "Time to get up and see were I am and figure this out". I began to move my rear hooves and as I adjusted my weight a pain shot up through my ribcage. "Ah..." I moaned and inched my head in the direction of the pain. I opened my eyes to see my blue matted coat speckled with dark red all up and down my body. From the looks of things I was not bleeding and I tried to move again, this time less pain was met and I managed to roll onto my hooves before attempting to lift myself off the ground.

I finally took a look around after what felt like ages trying to pull myself together. Before me was the same field we had tried to cross before but it was different. there were no ponies around me just long field grass and dirt with patches of burn marks scattered about. I could find no gaping holes where the monsters had risen from, it was almost like it had never happened. Except for the traces of scorched ground and patches of blood strewn about the field was empty and barren. I struggled to my hooves taking extra care not to hurt my side again and stumbled over to a fallen down oak tree closer to the edge of the field. Taking a closer look at the tree I noticed it was snapped off at its base and deep slashes ran up through the bark on either side. I sat down and leaned my back gently against the broken tree staring across the field as I wondered through my thoughts my eyes began to blur and well. Thinking about my friends made me incredibly sad and I was now bawling like a baby. The loss of Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, The incredible act of heroism from Rainbow Dash brought me to the ground. I began pounding my hooves harder and harder on the ground screaming and crying losing track of what was going on around me. By the time I had finished my sorrowful rage tantrum before me lay smashed in grass, earth and rocks. my hooves had bloodied from the rocks and were now covered in mud from the ground before me. Out of the corner of my eye a gleaming metal object lay adjacent to me in the small grass I hadn’t destroyed. As I looked closer I noticed it was the key I had kept from earlier, it was gleaming now almost giving off its own light, there were no smudges to be found and the text read bright and bold on the face. The Y E and I were now clearly visible on the face and very ornately sketched , it was almost giving off a humming noise the closer I moved to it.

Picking up the key off the ground released the most deafening sound I had ever heard and I clasped my hooves on my ears. It quickly fell to the ground and in an instant released a blinding white light and I instantly covered my eyes to shield them. In an instant the light was gone and I uncovered my hooves to let my eyesight adjust after a few moments staring off into what seemed like a gigantic green blur a somewhat familiar voice echoed through the forest to my left.

"So you're the one that the dear princess sent.." The melancholy voice piped out almost laughing as they said it.

"You know my minions could have killed you but that stupid unicorn saved you before we could get a hold of you." the voice snickered at this. "Pity she didn't live long enough to see that it was futile anyways, but don't worry you will join her soon"

Letting my eyes adjust I could finally make out who was talking and to my utter disbelief stepping out of the forest was one of Equestrias mortal enemies, Discord. The creature took careful strides towards me, eyes fixed as if he was staring right through me. He smirked and gestured for me to stay were I was.

"Do not fret my little pony" He said with a sly smile. "Your pain will be over quickly and I can continue to cause my beloved chaos" He snickered.

I stared back I wasn't able to comprehend what was going on, what was going to happen and nothing seemed to bring me back. I was lost in thoughts of the happy moments I had spent with my new friends the fun I had with them and just like that I imaged each and every one of them vanish before my eyes in an instant I was left with nothing. Sorrow and rage built up once again inside of me but this time a guiding voice chimed in.

"Let your emotions flow through you..." This voice seemed so familiar, a regal female voice, but I could not seem place a name to it. "Think about the Key! what have you learned!" It shouted at me now and I quickly thought. The more and more I thought about it i realized this key was just an extension of me! All the letters corresponded with my actions and thoughts! The "I" meaning my intellect how I could solve problems so quickly and the "E" for effort, I never gave up I was always trying my best no matter what the situation. The last letter "Y" appeared when i first met my new friends so it must stand for You!
without holding anything back i jumped to my hooves and shouted at the top of my lungs "I am the key!".
The startled Discord reeled back, he was not expecting me to shout and he was certainly not expecting the move I made for the glowing key still in the grass a few feet from me.

The guiding voice now telling me to use the key to channel my emotions and let them flow. "Let them out, all of your anger, sadness and grief" From this I now realized the voice in my head was no others then Princess Celestia. Yet I had no time to think about it as the key now vibrated almost uncontrollably in my hoof.

I held out the key like a sword pointed directly at discord now standing staring straight at me. I shouted "This is for everything you have done to me! For my friends and everyone I love!"

Once again a loud unbearable ringing noise blotted out my hearing and bright blue light shot out from my hooves and everything slowly disappeared into a bright blue cloud of light...