Chapter Fifteen: The Game

As we neared the spot where I fell into Equestria, I stopped and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Why are we stopping?" Trixie asked, impatiently.

"This is where we were going, this is where I fell into Equestria. We're going back." I clarified. Trixie let out a pouty "hmph."

"How are we going to actually leave?" Time Piece asked.

"I think we should all hang onto Zach and walk around." Twilight suggested.

"That's rediculous!" Trixie spat.

"I don't know..." Time Piece was thinking.

"I think that might work. It may look rediculous, but seeing as though everything on me, including my backpack, were sent to Equestria with me the first time, it might send all of you as well if you're in contact with me." I reasoned. Two of the ponies put a hoof on my sides, another put one on my back, and Derpy flew above me with a hoof on the top of my head, somehow gripping my hair. The going was rather uncomfortable and slow. Suddenly, I felt the ground fall away, and the five of us were falling.

*****

"Zach? Twilight?! Derpy? Trixie?" Said the voice of Applejack, surprised. I sat up. I was on Sweet Apple Acres again.

"Hi, Applejack." I said casually. "Fancy meeting you here again."

"What happened? Why are Twilight and these other ponies here?" Applejack was confused. Big Mac was with her this time.

"Discord sent Twilight and I back to Earth to retrieve them." I replied. This time I wasn't dazed. Maybe I was getting used to falling out of a universe and into another.

"I see. Spike told me Discord got rid of ya somehow. We feared the worst." Applejack was very relieved. I saw Trixie get up, apparently uninjured. She looked about.

"Ugh. How unpleasant. Oh, it's the bumpkin."

"Who are you callin' a 'bumpkin'?" Applejack responded angrily.

"You, of course. I'll be leaving now. My show is ruined forever because of you, Zach!" Trixie said melodramatically as she ran off.

"What's eatin' her?" Applejack asked me.

"Let's just say that the other humans really liked her, she didn't want to come back." I answered. Derpy awoke next.

"Woah, what was that?" She lifted off, looking around. She didn't appear to be injured either. She started flying away. "Thanks Zach!" I looked again at my surroundings, noticing that Twilight had woken up and, as she stood, held a hoof to her head. Applejack, Big Mac and I ran over to her.

"Are you alright, sugarcube?" Applejack queried.

"Ugh. I think so." She shook her head, trying to focus. "We're back in Equestria!" She said excitedly.

"Eeyup." Big Mac confirmed in his characteristic laid-back manner.

"Spike was worried sick about you two. What did Discord do?"

"He threw us in a portal to Zach's world so we could get the ponies there back here a few hours ago." Twilight explained. "It was really exciting there, there were these things that-" I decided to interrupt her.

"Yes, yes, it was very neat, but that can come later." I hadn't noticed Time Piece get up.

"Now that we're back in Ponyville, what do we do now?" He asked us.

"What's your name?" Applejack asked. "I'm Applejack. Pleased to meet ya."

"Time Piece. It's nice to meet you too, Applejack. You're of the Apple Family, right? I'm honored to meet a member of the family that founded Ponyville."

"Well, shucks. The honor is mine." Applejack said modestly.

"I think that Discord would be willing to set his game in motion now that there's only one extra piece and no missing ones. We should be ready for him." I said.

"But how do we prepare?" Time Piece had no idea what could be effective against something that the Elements of Harmony had difficulty defeating once, let alone a second time.

"I don't know. He knows us this time. He won't be as easy to stop." Twilight said.

"But there are now nine of us. Sure, three of us are not holders of any Element Of Harmony, but I've got my gun, Time Piece has his knowledge and Spike has... I don't know, but he saved the day last time." I said as encouragingly as I could. "And besides, this could be the heroic act that could repair the barrier significantly enough to put our universes out of imminent danger." I remembered how ineffective the gun had been on Discord before. What could I do about that..?

"But how? Discord will probably make it even more difficult- if not impossible- to get to the Elements Of Harmony this time." Twilight wasn't very optimistic.

"Maybe we don't need the Elements Of Harmony." I suggested.

"But... those are the most powerful artifacts in all of Equestria. If it took their use to banish Discord both times, he must be too powerful to be stopped by any other force." Time Piece was well versed in the history of Equestria, obviously. I thought of something.

"Twilight, what about the gun? Maybe you could make it more powerful."

"I've heard of these 'guns'. Frightening things, they are, but a substitute for the Elements Of Harmony? I don't know." Time Piece was skeptical.

"What if we imbued it with the energies of the Elements' wielders? Could it act as a channel like the enchanted pieces of jewelry that are the 'guns' that fire the energies of the Elements?" I reasoned.

"I don't know. Maybe we should get everypony to the library first. Discord could come at any time." She began walking, and three of us followed.

"Big Mac, I'm sorry about leavin' ya here, but this is important." Applejack explained to her brother.

"Eeyup." Big Mac already knew. He was quiet, but not dim. We left the farm shortly after.

"We should round up the others." Applejack suggested as we went down the path.

"We should. Zach, do you know how to get to Sugarcube Corner from here?" Twilight queried.

"I think I do. I'll go get Pinkie and Rarity." I offered.

"I'll get Rainbow and Fluttershy. You should get to the library, Twilight and Time Piece, we'll rustle up the rest." Applejack and I split from the group and headed in our respective directions. I came upon Sugarcube Corner a few minutes later. Ponyville wasn't hard to navigate. I entered and was immediately set upon by Pinkie Pie.

"We were so worried about you! We were afraid you'd miss the party tomorrow! Where'd you go? Spike was so worried about you and Twilight!" Pinkie was relieved and as bubbly as usual.

"I'll explain later, we need to get to the library with Rarity. We should go get her." I suggested.

"Okie dokey lokey!"

We set off towards the Carousel Boutique. This was the second time I had gone there with Pinkie. It felt like so long ago that I'd arrived here. I had been to Ponyville, then to Canterlot, back to Ponyville, then to Earth, then back to Ponyville again over the last two days. And what a two days it had been. I was tired- there had been no time to really relax since this all started and all the things in two universes to be stressed out over. My train of thought was derailed as we arrived at the Carousel Boutique. We walked in.

"Hello! Welcome to Carousel Boutique!" Rarity called, having heard the door close.

"It's Pinkie and Zach again!" Pinkie responded. Rarity came to the door.

"Zach, you're alright! Spike was dreadfully worried about you! The poor thing... what happened?"

"We're going to the library, and we need you to come with us." I said urgently.

"We aren't going to Canterlot again, are we?" Rarity asked as we departed.

"Nope, just to the library." I confirmed.

"Are we going on another adventure!?" Pinkie was excited. Still a game to her, I thought.

"I don't know yet, Pinkie. Let's wait until we get there." I answered.

We proceeded to the library in silence. When we arrived, I saw that Spike had cleaned up the library while we were gone, and that Applejack had returned with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Twilight began a speech.

"Now that everypony is here, I'd like to explain the situation. Today, Discord sent Zach and I to hid universe to retrieve the ponies stranded there. We were successful, and have returned. Now that Zach is the only thing out of place in this universe now, Discord might start to play his games. We believe that Discord will make getting the Elements Of Harmony impossible this time, so we'll have to find another way. Zach thinks that we can make his gun into a channel for the Elements instead, and since this is the only idea we have at this moment, I think we should try it. The problem is, we don't know how to do it. So, I propose that we go to the Canterlot Archives to find a spell that we could use."

Rarity groaned. We all looked at her.

"So, we should get going." Twilight finished her speech.

With Spike in tow, the nine of us said not a word as we set out, for the second time, for Canterlot.