"Huh?" Twilight uttered. "But how could you possibly forget something like that? It's been your most prized possession for most of your life!"

"I know," Inhio replied sadly. "I thought I knew, I always thought that I knew the history of that coin like the back of my hand, and I never bothered trying to remember it because I was assured that I always knew it... Turns out I was wrong all this time," he explained, slightly ashamed of himself. "Do you still have it?"

"Of course!" Twilight exclaimed. "I would never lose something like that." She handed the man his lucky coin back. "I kept it separate of the rest of the coins."

Inhio smiled at her. "I am happy to hear that." Just as before, he tightened his fist around the coin and focused his mind on it. The vision he saw this time lasted barely any longer than the last one. "That's... odd," he whispered.

"Please don't tell me you can't see its history..."

"I'm afraid so," the man reluctantly admitted. "It's as though there's a different vision blocking my mind from seeing the coin's history."

"A different vision?" Twilight repeated.

Inhio nodded. "A certain object at a certain place. Luckily, I happen to know of its whereabouts."

"Do you think that this object could be of some use to us?"

"You got any better leads?" Inhio asked slyly. Although the responses of the six ponies contained no words, their answer was rather obvious. "In that case..." He started walking back towards the castle. "I'd best be on my way back home."

"Wait!" Twilight exclaimed, stopping the man from advancing further. "Let me come with you."

Inhio looked back at her. "You want to come with me? To Earth?" he asked with his eyebrow raised.

The purple alicorn nodded. "Yes. Chances are, the history of that coin has something to do with what's happening here. Even if it doesn't, it's just like you said--we simply don't have any better leads right now," she explained her motive. "And if it does have something to do with it, then I want to be there to help, if I can."

"Well, I'd certainly welcome the company," Inhio gladly admitted and urged Twilight to follow him. "Two heads are better than one."

"Wait a second," Rainbow Dash interjected. "She's not going anywhere without us!" The cyan pegasus flew over to her purple friend and placed her foreleg over her shoulders and drew her closer towards her. The rest of Twilight's also joined her side.

"I kinda figured the five of you wouldn't want to just sit this one out."

"You betcha!" Applejack confirmed.

"Mmhm!" The rest of them also uttered a sound of approval.

"Thanks, guys." The six ponies joined together for a warm hug. "I knew I could count on you."

Inhio gladly waited for them to finish. "Ready?" he asked after a short while.

"Ready!" Five of them answered at the same time.

Rainbow Dash simply saluted and darted off. "Last one to the castle is a rotten egg!" she shouted from a distance and kept flying. Upon reaching the door, she bumped into Pinkie Pie.

"Hi!"

"Pinkie Pie! How did you--"

Before Rainbow Dash could finish her sentence, the remainders of the company rushed past her, making her spin around a few times and leaving her a bit dizzy.

"Guess you're the rotten egg, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie giggled and went inside.

"Uugh..." Rainbow Dash moaned as she sprawled to the ground.

***

Since all of them already knew the drill, the whole process went significantly faster. Before long, the six ponies were already disguised as common Earth girls and the company was already on their way outside.

"So where exactly is this certain place?" Twilight asked while following Inhio.

"Not too far," the man replied in a casual tone. "It's in a forest. Bout half a mile to it, and then about half of that through it."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Twilight added, satisfied with the journey ahead.

"I wish I had my wings." Rainbow Dash crossed her arms. "Would've already been there."

"W-what kinda forest is it?" Fluttershy quietly asked.

"Nothing like your Everfree forest, at any rate." Inhio laughed. "It's a peaceful place where people go to relax, have a little jog and get away from the fetid city air."

"Phew." Fluttershy wiped her forehead. "Sounds like a wonderful place."

"Sounds like a downright boring place to me," Rainbow Dash said in a sulky tone.

"Beats walking through these crowded streets and constantly jumping aside to not run into anyone," Applejack added and did just as she had said.

"I hear that."

The outskirts of town soon became visible, and the forest in question was just a single red light and one stone's throw away.

"It's been so long since I've last had a reason to come here." Inhio took a few steps into the forest and inhaled loudly. "I had even forgotten just how much better the air around here feels like."

As the company made their way deeper into the woods, the city behind them started fading from view, along with most of the people constantly brushing against them.

"Finally, some room!" Rainbow Dash said with relief as she stretched her arms to the sides. "I feel like running!"

"You sure you can run with those? You could barely walk the first time you had to do it on just two legs," Inhio said in a playful tone, making most of the girls giggle.

"Hah!" the rainbow-haired girl laughed. "I bet I still run faster than you, even with just two legs!"

"Try me!" Inhio blurted out and started running forward.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash ran after him. The other girls had no choice but to follow their lead.

Rainbow Dash could beat just about any pegasus in a race back in Equestria, but she had considerable difficulties keeping up with Inhio on unfamiliar ground.

"Come on!" Inhio shouted from afar. "I thought you said you were the fastest in Equestria!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash panted. "When I had wings!"

After a split minute of cheerful running, Inhio suddenly stopped and held up his palm, urging the others to stop as well.

"No fair!" Rainbow Dash exhaled those words heavily after finally catching up. "You had a head start!" She kept on panting loudly for a while. By the time the rest of the girls had reached them, she had just finished catching her breath. "I totally would have beaten you if you hadn't stopped so early," she smugly insisted. "By the way, why did you stop?"

"We're here," Inhio replied, directing everyone's attention towards a pathless section of the forest. "I think..."

"You think?" Twilight asked with her eyebrow raised.

"I haven't seen this place in over two decades... It's gotten a bit... overgrown."

After taking a more thorough look at the sight, the girls couldn't blame Inhio for not being certain. In fact, they couldn't even figure out how could he have known that it was here. The current section of the forest looked no different from all the other parts of it that didn't have a clear path going through them.

"Come on!" Inhio descended into the forest. "It's not much farther now."

Although the road was short, it was not easy. They had to lift their feet up high on every step to avoid tripping over roots that couldn't be seen through the tall grass, and they also had to constantly keep their eyes up, as well, otherwise they would've gotten slapped in the face by a branch that the person in front of them had bent forward and then sent flying back at them.

Fluttershy seemed to be getting the worst of it. After getting her sight impaired three times in a row by a few particularly leafy branches, she failed to spot the next one coming straight towards her. She could only gasp loudly and cover her face. Oddly enough, she didn't feel the hit. When she opened her eyes, she realized that Inhio had stopped the branch right before it reached her.

"Thank you," she said in her usual soft and quiet voice while smiling at the gentleman.

"You're welcome." Inhio smiled back. He kept on holding the branch until the moment all six of the girls had passed by him. "This is it," he declared after releasing the branch. "This is the place."

There was something of a clearing in the place they had just reached, but none of them seemed to notice any object of significance upon inspection.

"But... there's nothing here,"

Ignoring Rainbow's remark, Inhio walked up to a small pillar that seemed to consist purely of vines and moss, but as he began clearing away the growth, it became clear that it was a small, stone structure. Something like a pedestal. All doubts got cleared away when they noticed that it had a tiny opening on top of it, just big enough to house a single coin. Oddly enough, it seemed incredibly well intact for something that had spent so many years under a veil of earth. It was almost as though there was something magical keeping it preserved.

"I remember now..." Inhio whispered. "This was where I got it from." He gripped the coin tighter in his right hand and placed his other hand on the altar. "But there was more to it than just that... If I could just--" Before he could finish, Inhio's mind got swept away into another vision.

In this vision, he saw himself from over twenty years ago. Just an ordinary kid, wandering around the forest without a care in the world. He was playing a game of hide and seek with some of his friends, and he thought that he was about to find the perfect hiding spot, but there was something in this certain spot that caught his attention and made him forget about the game.

It was the same pedestal they just saw, only with a coin residing in what was now just an empty hole. Unable to keep his curiosity at bay, he did as just about any kid in his shoes would have done--he picked up the coin. Just as he did so, a vision got seeped into his mind. A spell, an incantation... a warning.

Listen to me, creature of unnatural lands,
You now hold great power within your hands.
The power to perceive what the world has hid,
The eyes to see it the way I once did.

You may use this power as you see fit,
As long as you promise to forever guard this gift.
Should this coin one day leave your pocket,
You are to retrieve it and return it to its socket.

For this kind of power can only know one master,
And would turn the pretender's life into a disaster.

And now, go. Show me the path that lies ahead.
For the pony inside this coin is not yet dead.
You shall carry me with you now. Me...

Inhio said the last words of the incantation out loud.

"Star Swirl the Bearded..."