Alexander and Edward walk over to the booth their friends are sitting at to find a lot more bottles on the table then they brought before. Twilight and Starlight have two bottles each, one that is half empty and one empty, while Adam has three empty and one that is quarter full. Robert isn't so bad, with only two that are empty and one that is half full. Edward and Alexander's drinks remain untouched.

"We left you guys alone for literally a few fucking minutes... How the hell did this happen?" Alexander groans.

The booth they are sitting in is shaped like a U, much like the booths at Sparkles. Twilight gets up, allowing Alexander to slide around and sit next to Starlight while Edward takes the end seat after she sits back down making him sit opposite Adam.

"What could you two have possibly said that caused this many bottles to pile up?" Edward asks looking at Twilight.

"They started explaining about the world they come from..." Robert begins swirling his drink around.

"Then the ponies..." Adam adds.

"And the friendship..." Robert continues.

"And ze wrapping up of winter..." Adam slurs.

"It doesn't sound that bad..." Alexander nervously chuckles taking a sip of his drink.

"Oh, that's not even the best part... They then went on to explain about estrus and all sorts of other things I wish I did not know..." Adam shakes his head in fear.

"Okay, that one was not my fault... Starlight spear-headed that conversation." Twilight defends herself.

"What? They asked the bucking question..." Starlight takes a swig of her drink.

"Joys... What 'else' was discussed while we were away?" Alexander asks sighing deeply.

"I then went on to explain Unicorn magic theory and after that, I started to explain about Alicorn magic theory where Adam made a very weird noise like he was dying." Twilight explains to the pair.

"Sweet Jesus... It's worse than I thought then." Alexander takes a large swig of his drink.

"For the record, I tried to stop her... She simply wouldn't listen, even when Robert started foaming at the mouth." Starlight comments.

"I kinda feel sorry I missed it..." Edward states in displeasure.

"I'm not... You can kill your brain cells with that shit another time." Alexander replies quickly.

"Perhaps you can explain that unofficial version now before I beat myself unconscious with one of these many bottles..." Adam sighs taking a heavy swig of his drink.

"The short version is that we stole a book from the forbidden wing and used a spell within to try and summon a familiar." Edward explains.

"Only, using a very similar book from our world, we cast exactly the same spell at the same time as these two and now we are stuck here with no way home." Twilight continues to explain.

"Great Scott..." Robert states.

"This is heavy..." Adam finishes his drink.

"Yeah... Hence why they are under the guise of being our familiars while we find a way to get them back home." Alexander states getting halfway down his drink.

"In hindsight, I suppose that plan sounds pretty solid... But you forgot the familiar seal." Adam states deep in thought.

"What the fuck is a familiar's seal?" Alexander asks which makes Edward slap his face in realisation.

"How the fuck could I forget such a basic element? I'm surprised we haven't been found out already..." Edward downs half his drink harshly.

"Well, people don't generally ask to see your familiar's seal as it's a personal thing between a magician and their familiar. It's also not always on such an obvious part of the body or would be on display much with our current uniforms." Robert explains leaning back in his chair.

"What exactly makes them personal?" Starlight asks in confusion.

"Generally when making a pact with a familiar, a seal chosen by the familiar in question will be branded upon the magician to show the evidence of said pact. Although, it's a bit deeper than that general description." Robert adds to his explanation.

"It's also not always in a given location, that depends entirely on the pair making the pact." Adam states sliding his bottle to the others.

"So... Where are yours?" Starlight asks.

Adam and Robert glance at each before adjusting their uniforms. Adam rolls up his sleeve to show a black tattoo of a pistol with a dragon wrapped around it held on a shield background. Robert, on the other hand, has a black hooded reaper holding a scythe within a steampunk style cog wheel on his collarbone.

"They are actually pretty cool." Starlight comments.

"However, the problem still remains that we don't have them..." Twilight muses deep in thought.

"It's weird as people normally ask to see them if it's a new familiar." Robert ponders finishing his drink.

"What about forging the seals?" Alexander asks getting looks from Robert and Adam.

"You can't just forge a familiar seal... Jesus Christ Alexander." Adam sighs deeply.

"You seriously didn't pay attention in familiar class, did you... The seals are the evidence of a pact, not exactly something which can be forged lightly, nor should they." Robert states in concern.

"So, what options do we have if someone asks? We'd be sitting fucking ducks..." Alexander downs the rest of his drink hard.

Alexander shivers slightly as an intense burn hits his stomach making him regret his decision.

"Isn't there something which can be done?" Starlight asks looking at Robert.

"I guess... When you summon a familiar, obviously a pact is made... However, even detailed books always leave out the most important part. It's the familiar's job to brand their partner, the ways in which they do this are always the same. The process, however, is extremely sacred to familiars in general hence why it has yet to ever be documented." Robert explains to Starlight.

"So, if we learn the process, we could do it?" Twilight asks frowning.

"Yes, in theory. Familiars themselves are in essence an entity. Much like Merlin's familiars and the elements they were made of. It's more or less a magical way to bind your destiny with that of another, which is what the pact is for. It ties your being to that of your familiar and vice versa, in essence entwining your destinies. However, the reason why only they know the spell to do so is a mystery even to me." Robert replies to Twilight.

"You know an awful lot about this subject..." Alexander states in desperation.

"I just pay attention in class and find familiars to be an interesting subject. In short, I suppose if you really wanted to... Nāve could potentially teach you the spell you'd both need in order to umm 'brand' your 'partners'." Robert states as Nāve pops up to stand on the table.

"What about the familiars? Do they get a symbol of the pact?" Twilight asks looking at Nāve.

Nāve shifts her dress to show the same tattoo that Robert has in exactly the same place that he has his.

"They'll get the tattoo in the same place that they brand their partner. It's to show to any other magician that they are 'owned' in a sense, or bound to another." Adam states with a sigh.

"To be honest even if we couldn't find a way home, it's a pretty big decision..." Twilight states finishing her second drink.

"I suppose but how long can we keep up the charade otherwise? It's only going to work for so long before someone starts asking awkward questions... It's not like we can kill them and hide their body in an alternate reality." Starlight states which get her a few stares.

"She has a-" Alexander begins before being cut off.

"I can't believe you'd even agree with her suggesting that!" Twilight interjects.

"Seems flawless to me." Adam comments.

"Absolutely flawless." Robert adds.

"Are we the only two who think that's a very bad idea?" Edward asks concerned.

"I have no problem with it and I'm still sober." Alexander states in reply.

"I can't even believe this is being mentioned..." Twilight rubs her forehead.

"Well... What do you suggest? Not everyone is going to be brought by a sob story of two equine mares stuck here due to a magical experiment which landed us a one-way ticket to this fucking place!" Starlight states in frustration.

"I... I don't know... I guess we'd have to enrol?" Twilight shrugs.

"What about memory altercation?" Edward states finishing his own drink.

"Oh? Besides also being illegal, are any of us a high enough level to cast such a spell?" Alexander raises his eyebrow.

"She could... I guess." Edward points to Twilight.

"I refuse to believe a horse is a higher level magician than me..." Alexander deadpans.

"I did fire a beam of consorted light into the face of an evil centaur using the combined power of four princesses." Twilight states proudly.

"I also may or may not have used an adaptation of a Starswirl spell with Twilight's table and almost destroy all of Equestria by bucking with the space-time continuum." Starlight states casually.

"This is fucking bullshit is what this is..." Alexander sighs pushing his empty bottle away from him.

"So... You're fucked from every angle is what I'm seeing." Adam states finishing his drink.

"I'm not drunk enough for this shit..." Alexander states teleporting out to stand beside the table.

"Where are you going?" Edward asks looking confused.

"To get drunk, the Night way." Alexander sighs deeply as he walks away from them.

"What the buck does that mean?" Starlight asks looking concerned.

"His wallet is boned as well as the entire bar if someone doesn't watch him..." Edward leans back in his seat.

Starlight teleports out to also stand beside the table.

"I'll watch him..." Starlight sighs walking after Alexander.

"In case things go south... What's the escape plan?" Robert asks playing with his empty bottle.

"What escape plan? Lucita is here too..." Edward states sighing deeply.

Both Adam and Robert blink before looking at each other and then in the direction of Alexander.

"We're boned..." Adam grimaces.

"Quite boned..." Robert adds laying his head on the table.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter finished ahead of time with plenty of time to spare. We wrote half of this chapter when we published the last chapter. So, luckily we are keeping in front of that deadline day we set ourselves. These chapters are coming in short bursts to make the information we share much easier to sink in and understand as we try ourselves to construct this universe and its rules. As always we hope everyone continues to enjoy the story as it unfolds.
Edit: This chapter ended up being a tad late due to life complications with my co-author, as such the proofread was delayed by a few days.