My Little Pony: Friendship is a Miracle

As the portal shrank and the light dimmed, the group looked towards the spot where the human would appear in...to see it completely empty.

“Wait, what? That’s it? A smoke and lights show, and for nothing? That was a waste of time.” Graham scoffed. After scouring most of the room, he gave a mighty huff. He lost all interest in the matter as he turned in a complete one-eighty towards the door.

“If you need me, I’ll be in the guest room.” He announced as he started walking towards the exit. Twilight’s eyes followed him out, chewing nervously on her lip.

“Um... He seems pretty upset, I’ll go check on him.” Twilight creeped out the open door as well, following the disappointed man.

“Discord, did you have anything to do with this?” Celestia looked towards her companion suspiciously. The draconequus shrugged.

“It’s not my fault. Why is it always my fault? Obviously, it was your fault, dear Celestia.” Discord teased, smirking as he snaked his way out the door.

“Hold it! You’re not running from this! Come back here, Discord!” Celestia demanded, only to be ignored as he slithered out of the room.

“Yes, that was a good way to stop him, sister.” Luna pointed out in her royally sarcastic manner. She gracefully floated from her smaller throne besides her older sister’s to trot out the door, leaving the room completely unattended.

“If you need us, we will be in the royal bedroom.” Luna shouted behind her as she disappeared. Celestia only sighed.

‘It works on two humans and a dog, and now it doesn't work with the combined might of Discord and Luna included? Perhaps the spell should have been cast by only me.’ She thought to herself as she slowly meandered her way out of the room, closing the door behind her. Darkness filled the thought to be empty room. None of the previous occupants saw the red eyes that were hiding behind the now closed door.

Twilight had caught up to Graham outside of the throne room. She had stayed silent after eyeing his neutral face for a brief second. She immediately understood that he was annoyed. Wondering if Graham shared her thoughts, they opened the door to the guest room they took refuge in.

“There has to have been something that came out of that portal! There was no way the spell would fail, especially since all of the standards were met.” Twilight exclaimed as the man jumped up on on the large bed that had been generously provided for them. The look on his face now showed a mixture of boredom and slight concern.

“Look Twilight, I’m sure whatever went down happened for a good reason. I have no way to know how portals created by magic work, so I’m not the best person to talk to on this matter. Sorry...I’m not magic.” He responded rather blatantly as he got more comfortable in his seat. He mumbled under his breath; something that sounded like he wished he was.

Twilight only rolled her eyes. “Well I for one, am certain that something did go right. All the prerequisites were met!” With a huff of indignation and resignation, Twilight left her room. She walked back down the hall to from where she had come from, determined to figure out what exactly had gone wrong with the spell. She pushed open the large throne room doors with her magic. She immediately knew something was wrong when she felt a breeze. She looked to the side to see glass scattered across the floor. One of the largest stained glass windows that were part of the royal castle was completely shattered. Twilight found her voice and she let out a panicked yell.

“PRINCESS!”

The Everfree Forest was not someplace anypony should every stray into, especially on their own. Still, Applebloom was convinced she was old enough to personally make a trip to Zecora’s hut without getting into danger. In fact, Applebloom hadn’t felt fear in the forest ever since the cockatrice incident, and none of her numerous journeys to Zecora’s had ever gone wrong. But there were several reasons so.

For one, Applebloom was very cautious. She made sure to look before she walked, avoided any place that looked muddy, slippery, or pointy, and always crossed the river in the middle of the forest with utmost care. The large log that spread across the stream had an eight foot circumference easily, and seeing as she weighed barely forty pounds, going across the log presented no danger to her small filly form.

Applebloom had just crossed that log when she heard the howls. Applebloom was reintroduced to her fear in a second. Her steps sped up, as the howls seemed to get louder, perhaps closer. She shifted into a full out run as she heard the crashing sound of leaves being thrown up into the air. She looked over her shoulder. Glowing yellow eyes locked with hers, and she realized what was chasing her. Memories of the stories she had constantly been told from a young age by her aging Granny Smith. All the tales of the supposedly mythical Timber Wolves, had been proven true. A guttural scream left her throat, and she thought for sure her young life was over.

“HALP’!” The wolf leaped towards her, and her eyes closed as she hoped for a quick end. She heard the sounds of her bones snapping of her young body being crushed beneath the heavy body of the Timber Wolf, but for some reason it didn’t hurt.

“Open your god damn eyes if you want help.” Applebloom’s large eyes snapped open and her head twisted to look at her saviour. Above her stood a tall being, similar to Graham who she had met briefly before. He wore solid black, from his shirt to his shoes, and even his skin hugging gloves. His hair too was the color of the darkness. That was all she could really see though, as he moved in a black blur. Lying on the ground in front of where he was standing before lay a dead wolf, its neck and arm oddly twisted. Applebloom resisted gagging at the body, and attempted to search for the man again. An ear splitting howl reached her ears and to her horror another wooden wolf hit the ground, dead as well, its jaw hanging open much too wide and one of its side bleeding sap profusely. Applebloom turned just in time to see another wolf attempting to latch its hungry maw onto her. Another crackling sound, almost like a tree falling and splitting in a lightning storm, then the feral animal dropped to the leafy floor, dead. The figure hovered above the body for a second, before directing his gaze at the small filly for a few seconds.

“U-um...t-thank you, Mr. um... What’s your name, mister?” Applebloom asked in her southern accent, trembles of fear still apparent. The man had retreated to the shadow of a tree, and the only thing she could actually see of him were his bright eyes staring calculatingly at her. She looked to her side to see the shadow of this saviour stared at her. The being didn't answer her for a few seconds before speaking out in a cold, gravely voice. It was chilling, but she wasn’t scared at all seeing as he had just saved her.

“It’s unimportant.”  He responded, looking away from her, or perhaps closing his eyes. “Just go back to your business, and tell no one. Can you do that for me?” The yellow-coated filly nodded her head repeatedly.

“My thanks.” He said, and Applebloom detected the gratefulness in his monotonous voice.

“Can I visit you mister? Yall seem kinda lonely out here...” She suddenly realized she was talking to herself, as no one was under the tree any longer. “Or... Not...”

Back at Canterlot Castle, Twilight and Graham were examining the shards of glass.

“Um... That. Right there. Is a really fucking long fall.” Graham said, peering out the window. “How would anypony even survive? I’m not even seeing any blood on the ground...”

“Do some humans have wings Graham?” Twilight asked with slight concern.

“If we did, I’m sure I would want a pair. Or be able to shoot fire from my hands. that would be cool too.” Graham replied. He kept staring over the edge, shaking his head.

“Unless Celestia summoned a ninja, I don't think there would be any possible way to fling yourself out of this glass without mashing yourself into a messy splatter when you hit the ground.” He retorted. Before he left the scene, he noticed something on the ground.

“Wait...” He interrupted as Twilight was about to offer a hypothesis. “I see something...is that an indent in the grass? It sorta...looks like an arm!”

Twilight peeked her head out the window to look down below to see what he was pointing to. She could see a faint indent of a human arm in the ground. She didn't say anything, but suddenly bolted down the castle halls.

“Twilight, hold on!” Graham shouted as he followed her as best as he could. About a few minutes passed by when they made it to the final floor to the garden, where the supposed fall would’ve taken place.

“It’s got to be around-- Aha! There it is!” Twilight said proudly as she ran towards the scene. Graham, as tired as he was from running all the way down, walked over in a huff.

“Next time, love...could you....hoo boy...” he tried to finish his sentence, but was completely out of breath. Twilight examined the indent to see something else.

“Graham, look...” She urged him to come over, picking up what appeared to be...a piece of skin? No, it wasn’t colored like skin, it was just dirty.

“What...the fuck is that?” Graham question out of shock. He grabbed the piece to realize it wasn't warm, but cold and hard....like metal. It was only a centimeter wide and was maybe half that length, but it looked to be part of something much larger.

“Twilight, I think that this person really is a ninja. Not only did they survive the jump, but he also has a special machine with him, or something. I don't know...”

Twilight was even more concerned. “Whoever it is that is loose, I can conclude that this human is both trained and dangerous. Not only did he survive a forty foot drop, but he walked off unscathed. He or she was able to land without so much as a single blood wound taking place. Whatever saved them from the fall, is powerful enough to save a full grown human.”

“Not just that Twi. They know how to freakin use it.” Graham added. He stared at the indent once more.

“And by the look of it? Male. I mean, I’ve never seen a woman’s arm shaped like that, so count that possibility out. I say we try to find where this sucker went, and track him down, before he causes a scene. Nopony knows of this but us, so we can stop something, before it begins.” Graham said, standing.

“Right. But how are we going to catch him, once we find him, Graham? I’m not sure magic’s the best way to go, me using it could cause him to freak out, it become violent if magic doesn't exist in your world...” She pointed out. Graham tapped his chin with his finger.

“Well, how about some rope? Would that work? I don't see a problem with it.”

“Graham, I think you are onto something. Not only is rope not out-of-the-ordinary, but it can hold him down long enough to drag him back here!” She smiled, jumping up to him to give him a hug on her hind legs. “I know the perfect mare for the job.”

“Wunderbar! Dann lassen Sie uns gehen! Es ist Abenteuer!” Graham announced into the air, his arm pointing to the sky as they hurried off.

“Ah’m sorry... You want me to what?” Applejack asked, dumbfounded.

“Tie the sucker up.” Graham explained in simple terms. Applejack nodded slowly.

“Tie up... A human? Are ya’ll sure about this?” She said, raising an eyebrow up high. Twilight nodded.

“Of course. We can distract him long enough for you to get the rope around him. And it won’t freak him out like magic.” Applejack contemplated for a second before turning around and heading into her barn, returning shortly with two ropes.

“Aw right. Lets give this a shot!” She beamed at the two. “Where is the varmint?” Graham blinked, the question seemed to remain unanswered in even his own mind.

“Um... Good question.”

“I think I know who yer lookin’ for... But... I wouldn’t try tyin’ him up!” Applebloom suddenly yelled, trotting out of the forest, looking slightly pale and shaky.

“Applebloom! Are you alright sis? What did I tell you about going into that forest alone?!” Applejack scolded the filly. Applebloom nodded her head back to Applejack.

“I know sis! And I know why now too... But that human feller saved me! He’s in the forest. But I wou—” She was cut off as the two ponies and the human dashed off into the forest from whence she came without listening to her warning. “... Wouldn’t mess with ‘im....”

The trio hurried towards the heart of the forest, hoping that the man didn't flee its boundaries.

“Do we even know where to look?” Twilight asked suddenly. Graham looked back at her.

“I have no idea!” He answered. Then he stopped, going dead still.

“Hey, why’d we stop?” Applejack turned in to see the reason why.

Three timberwolves lay dead before them in a heap. Their normally glowing eyes were dark, and bits of their wooden bodies were broken completely.

“There’s something wrong here. They’re...” Twilight couldn't finish her sentence before another body of a timberwolf fell from the trees, giving them the scare of their lives.

“Was zur Hölle war das!” Graham shouted as he slowly calmed himself from his scare. He looked up at the branches above the Timber Wolf’s body, and there saw a crouched figure. The figure didn’t move at all, but stared back at him, red eyes observing him.

“You! Come down here! I need to speak with you.” Red eyes blinked at him, and then he showed no sign of acknowledging Graham’s words as he stood then swung himself away, into an entirely different tree.

“What the hell! Come back, I know you’re really freakin’ confused, but I can explain!” Graham shouted after him, jogging up to where the man had jumped to. He was growing irritated.

“Alright, Ah have had enough of this!” Applejack called out, getting her rope ready. The man in the trees suddenly stopped and looked down at the blonde pony. She had the same accent as the previous talking horse he’d seen. Applejack saw his still form and went for it, tossing her looped rope upwards. The man turned and leaped towards the next branch a good five feet away.

The rope caught his foot, and pulled snug. The man swung down, now hanging in mid air with one leg above him. He grunted, before using some amazing form of body strength to pull his torso up and grab the rope. He scaled back up to the branch he was sitting on before, and began to untie the rope around his ankle. Applejack was having none of that, and much to the unknown everyone’s dismay, she yanked on the rope, sending him hurtling towards the ground.

“Shit! Twilight do something!” Graham yelled, while Twilight hurriedly attempted to send magic through her horn to catch the falling man. The man flipped forward in mid air and landed on his right arm, before rolling to his feet easily. Graham stood there, shocked.

“How the fuck did you... I mean that was... Thirty goddamn feet...” Graham choked out. Red eyes glared, obviously irritated by the blonde pony. Neither party moved now, as the newcomer seemed to just be staring at the two talking ponies. Then he snapped. With frightening speed, the man rushed into Graham, slamming him backwards with his shoulder into Applejack, who let go of the rope. At that, the still unknown human sped off, leaving Graham sputtering in German behind him. Twilight channeled her magic, the rope glowing purple as it pulled tight and stopped the unsuspecting human. He caught himself from falling and spun around to see who had stopped him. Glowing rope greeted his eyes and he dropped down onto one knee, his right hand grabbing the rope around his ankle and tearing it apart. Now free, he rushed away again. He ate dirt though, as Twilight shifted to hold one of his feet in place. Graham was up at this point, and jumped onto the man dressed in black, making sure to put most of his significant weight on the man’s right arm.

“Ha! Can’t do much now can you? I got your strong arm.” Red eyes, cold as ice locked with Graham’s.

“Get. Off. Of. Me.” His voice was just as frigid, and Graham almost got up off him.

“Oh hell no, not now. I finally caught you.” Red eyes closed in annoyance and then Graham slammed into a tree five feet away, winded from a lethal kick.

“Holy hay, you got a buck on yah!” Applejack hollered, rushing forward with her new piece of rope.

“Wait, Applejack! He may hurt you!” Twilight yelled after her, barely able to break her concentration enough to warn the mare. She was ignored though, as Applejack approached the man, but slowed to a trot and then completely stopped a safe distance away from him, and dropped her rope onto the dirt floor.

“Ah know this has to be odd for you. But you gotta realize that yer safe! We don’t wanna hurt ya, but we gotta make sure yah don’t do anything crazy. I promise to yah that we won’t hurt yah, or even come near yah if you don’t want us to. Now, we’re gonna let go of yah, but in exchange you stay put and don’t run away. Alright?” Applejack spoke gently and comfortingly to the male. Red eyes blinked a few times before he spoke for the second time to them.

“... Agreed.”

Twilight let go of her spell, almost fainting as she did. The amount of energy it took to hold just one of the man’s feet in place was insane. Graham groaned, uncurling from the fetal position he had taken up.

“Do yall have a name?” Applejack asked sweetly. The man sat up, now sitting comfortably, though he warily glanced in Graham’s direction.

“Bromley.” He said. Applejack smiled, then offered him a hoof.

“Pleased to meetcha’!” Bromley stared at the appendage, then raised an arm and shook it firmly.

Graham walked up, fully recovered and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Bromley. Name’s Graham. I hope that we can forget about that little incident earlier.” Bromley sat there for a brief moment, just staring at his hand.

“What’s the matter?” He asked the man standing before him; his hand still out.

“Nothing.” He said after a few moments, as if remembering something. Sighing, he outstretched his own arm and placed his hand in Graham’s. Graham immediately regarded that it was hard and he could feel cold seeping through the skin tight leather glove.

“Jeez, buddy. You freezing? Or...wait...” Graham stared at Bromley’s arm, his brain attempting to comprehend what exactly was wrong with his hand. He quickly took out the piece from the landing site from his pocket, to quickly realize something.

“You’re arm is made of metal...?” He questioned, letting Bromley’s hand go. Bromley’s red eyes glared at him for a second.

“Yes, but that is none of your concern.” He retracted his arm and stood up tall. He retreated from Graham, heading into the shade of a tree. Graham caught up with him.

“Well, why? Did something happen? Was it cut off? Is it a government experiment?” He persistently questioned the silent man, who was ignoring him now. Applejack took the opportunity to compare the two males standing side by side. Humans were odd critters, and getting a chance to see a third was a little exciting to her. And now that he’d calmed down, she got a chance to take a good look at him. He was big. She realized that he was just as tall as Graham, but not as bulky. His shoulders were wide, and he was very imposing, but he was lean, with his muscle hugging clothes showing off his contained power. Her eyes raked over his face, which was clean of a beard and very pale. His black hair was slightly spiky in the front, and medium length, with odd white streaks decorating it in places. She had completely blanked out the conversation Graham was attempting to start with the man, and realized with annoyance that she had blanked out and just checked out the new comer.

“Those converse, are the shit.” Graham said, pointing down at Bromley’s feet. His ‘converse’ were black with red tips on them. “Seriously speaking though, Celestia summoned the wierdest dude I’ve ever met.” Graham added. Bromley smirked at that, leaning back against the tree behind him.

“Tell me what is going on. I have come to terms with the talking animals, but I don’t understand what exactly has happened.” Graham scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously.

“Well, you see... I had you summoned from Earth. Not you specifically, just another human...” Graham mused, he braced himself for any retaliation, but Bromley didn’t move.

“Go on.” He commanded quietly, and Twilight continued Graham’s explanation.

“You see, you are in the land of Equestria. We Equines are the most intelligent of the creatures around here, and we are ruled by our faithful rulers, Princess Celestia and her younger sister, Princess Luna!” Twilight explained as Bromley nodded, seeming to be perfectly accepting much to everypony’s chagrin. He was now silent, and no one was brave enough to crash his train of thoughts or break the silence.

“Why would you summon humans here though?” He finally asked.

Graham cleared his throat. “Well, it was just to have more of us, really...”

“You can't be serious, you were lonely?” Bromley said, eyes narrowing dangerously. He sighed though, calming himself down. “Is there a better reason?”

Graham thought about it. “Well, the Princess said that Aramis and I were technically some sort of ambassado—”

“You’re talking about the big horse with the horn and wings, correct?” Bromley interrupted. Graham nodded.

“Yes, that one. Anyways, she said that she wanted to bring humans about on this world again, since humans once were brought into Equestria a long time ago. She used us to see if she was making a good choice, and so far, we’ve done a good job making her choice a beneficial one. We’ve helped around town with any job we could, and so far, the ponies here accept us.” Bromley closed his eyes in thought, his face void of any telling emotion.

“... I am not the best company, Graham. I am not going to release you from your loneliness.” He said carefully, assessing his role. “What is my purpose here?”

“In all honesty? I have no clue whatsoever. The princess said she’d bring a human or two, but you’re the only one we got, and so far, I’m not liking it.” Graham said with a sneer. Bromley’s red eyes turned to Graham, who attempted to ignore how intimidating the man was.

“The only reason you showed up on your own was possibly because you were alone when the spell went off.” Twilight mused. Bromley nodded in agreement, looking at Twilight expectantly before Applejack spoke to him.

“Ah don’t know what yer special talent is Bromley, but if yer lookin for somethin to do, Sweet Apple Acres will host yah kindly if yall can work a bit.” Bromley considered the offer.

“... It seems my set of skills aren’t very needed in this world.. Are you suggesting I work as a farm hand?” He said, an elegant brow lifting. Applejack nodded firmly and Bromley shrugged.

“It won’t hurt. I will assist you as I can... Miss... Applejack?” The freckled pony grinned at him in response.

“Thats mah name, don’t wear it out! Here, follow me back to Apple Acres. Graham, why don’t you and Twi tell the princesses we have the human they brought about. I’m sure Bromley here is exhausted.” Bromley remained mute, though his body showed no signs of fatigue as he walked over to Applejack.

“If you feel safe with him, then alright! I’ll go nab the Princesses.” Graham started off in a separate direction towards the castle. Twilight shot a warning look at Bromley, who was unfazed. Shaking her head in defeat, she teleported the two of them back to Canterlot.

As they walked through the castle halls, Twilight looked up at her friend before saying something.

“If the princesses and Discord didn’t know they summoned a human successfully, do you think they would try again?”

“I’m sure they know...” Graham played off, with a hint of doubt in the sentence. He started thinking different ideas; ones he hoped might not happen. If they summoned a human like Bromley, but didn’t know it, what stopped them from trying again? And who else could it be? Would they summon an even more dangerous man this time? What if it really did happen?

“Oh fuck...what if they brought another Bromley here?” Graham shakily asked. They’d have to go through that all over again, and that’s not to say if they even could. For all they knew, they could get someone stronger!

“We need to hurry back to the throne room, now!” Twilight called as she galloped towards the desired room, hoping to end what could become another summoning...

But as they neared the throne room with each passing second, Celestia was murmuring another chant, and a bright glow filling the room once more...