Earlier, minutes after being sent on a scouting mission.

Shadow man slowly crept amongst the outskirt soft the small town. He had been pondering about how to explore the uncharted territory, given that he had no way of knowing if the locals were hostile. The majestic sun light was an enemy for one who practised the art of stealth. His shadowy form would instantly be seen outside his timber sanctuary. The trees made ideal cover, gliding between each thick trunk, he soon reached the edge of the forest.

Although the path was a viable, more logical, choice; he might encounter patrols out here in enemy territory. Well he assumed he was in enemy territory.

He came to what appeared to be the bridge leading into town. He took note of the river below and considered his options. He also spied a cart, full of hay, resting on the apex of the stone bridge. He did a quick glance around, looking for any sign of life besides the birds bothering him. He flicked one away when it got to close and made a bee line for the cart. As he got closer, he lowered his stance and began creeping up to the cart. Carefully, he hopped into the abundant amount of hay, and nestled himself at the bottom.

“Thanks for the help, Quick Fix, the wife will be happy that her hairdryer is working again.” yelled a male voice.

“Anytime, Hay Bayle, give a shout if the thing tires out again.” another masculine voice replied, as the cart slowly moved towards its destination. Shadowman had made numerous little tunnels, giving him miniature windows, to see his surroundings. He needed to be able to retrace his steps.

He acknowledged the sound of hooves hitting cobble stone, and he started looking to his left. He studied what appeared to be the town hall. Two circular floors and a chocolate drop roof; he actually took a second to, mentally, compliment the design. His appreciation of architecture was cut short when he saw something that disrupted his understanding of the animal kingdom.

He saw three pastel coloured ponies. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it was the unique features that prevented him formulating any thought process.

A purple mare, dragging her hoof steps, appeared to be conversing amongst two others. She wore a baby blue saddle bag, a much duller shade to the cyan wonder floating above. She turned to face her and the man spotted the horn protruding out of her deep purple bangs.

The rainbow maned pony was maintaining a hover to the right of the smiling unicorn. The feathery wings flapped effortlessly as another pony bound around, hopping in all directions. The party pink blur only stopped for a second in mid-air, twitched her nose, ears, sneezed, and continued hopping around.

“Thanks guys, after last night I could do with cheering up. I can’t believe I almost cried over the end of a TV series.” The lavender pony snorted.

“Hey, it was a good show. Did you see the way Hank fought off all six guards. That was awesome; he didn’t even get a scratch.” The azure pegasus jabbed the air like an amateur boxer, shortly before doing a summersault and kicking the same spot.

The stalker was staring in disbelief. He didn’t even notice the cart stop, let alone hear the one called Hay Bayle leave. He was trying to solve how that pony knew about Hank, let alone how she had witness his fighting style hours ago. That fact that they were even talking didn’t hit him until he heard the next sentence.

“Yeah he was good, but Shadowman had more finesse. I prefer his style, silent and effective. He moved like a prancing phantom.” The unicorn replied merrily. Her companion waved her hoof and continued boxing against an unseen assailant.

The complement went straight over his head. His mind was trying to comprehend how these mythological creatures, which deeply disturbed him, knew about his team mates, why they were discussing his near death experience as if it was a performance, and finally how the heck he was getting out of this Hell hole.

“Hey Pinkie, you seem quiet. I know you didn’t watch the show but you normally ask us what we’re talking about. Did you touch more poison joke or something?” The sporty mare asked the bouncing ball of fur.

She stopped bounding around; finally Shadowman got a good look at her. Cotton candy hair, both style and colour, vibrant pink coat, and three balloons tattooed to her flank. She extended her neck and glanced around, bringing a hoof above her blue eyes, and scowling at everything she spied.

Shadowman ducked in his nest, quickly avoiding her gaze.

“Nope, I’m just looking for the new pony in town, he’s here somewhere. My pinkie sense says he’s nearby.” He heard a bubbly voice bid her friends farewell and trot around the cart. He checked and could see that the other two…creatures had left.

A grave mistake.

“Hi. Are you the new pony? You can come out you know. Come on, I have the welcome wagon! You can sleep in the hay later, let’s party!” He heard the same voice chirp. He didn’t move.

“Oh. Do you wanna play Hide and seek? Oh boy, you’re fun! Tag!” He was soon nearly assaulted by a pink tentacle. The space invading hoof waved around inches from his face. If he was going to escape it was now.

He quickly rolled out, covering the energetic pony in a monsoon of hay. He turned back, saw a small stack of hay with two eyes blinking, and ran towards the nearby alley ways. In the dark shadows, he witnessed the mare shake off the hay, put an ear to the ground, leap up, and dash off.

He figured he was safe, but thought she had gone to alert the local authorities to his presence. He slid along the walls, switching between looking at the exit and the entrance, and made his way away from the cart. Glancing around, he noticed large a quantity of more ponies, unicorns and pegasi. He appeared to have stumbled across the market place, he spied all sort so fruits and veg, some even seemed alien to him.

The vibrant rainbow spectrum of colours made him polish his shades. After giving up all hope of comprehending the situation, he planned and escape route. The tree line was coming into view, which raised his spirits.

He spotted a few more alley ways across the road, leading towards his new destination. He decided try and creep amongst the parked carriages. As tempted as he was to steal one, he soon realised he would need a horse to pull it, resulting in a need for one of the ponies. He took a quick look back, between two of the carriages, and spied a humorous sight. A muscle bound pegasus, short blond crew cut, walking around with tiny wings. He dubbed him the ‘Hank pony’ and restrained a small smile.

After reaching the alley way, littered with bins, boxes and the occasional newspaper, he heard a familiar voice.

“AHA! Found you!” The playful pony had returned, this time with a hot air balloon. He watched in horror as the woven basket fit snuggly in the alley way. She grinned and outstretched a hoof, by which point he had darted towards the exit. She closed the gap as the balloon dragged the basket along the floor at alarming speed. Still she poked her tongue out and strained her arm, stretching it closer to the back of his trench coat.

He barely managed to turn the corner when the mare was an inch away. Quickly dodging her reach, he darted for the bridge. He saw the balloon land and deflate, and a little pink space hopper, when he jumped over a fence. He was sprinting when he spotted a small butter blob in the middle of the road. He took note of the head cowering underneath the rosy mane, the folded wings, and the tiny squeak, as he launched himself over it. After realising he might have scared a pony, he took a quick peek over his shoulder.

His purser was mere meters away.

He had only managed to cross the bridge. He pushed his body to its limits, grinding his teeth, he breached the tree line. He lengthen his strides and bound between the trees, sometimes bouncing between tree trunks to further the distance between the persistent pony and himself.

Finally he slowed down and looked back. After a solid half an hour of running he was completely exhausted. He nervously glanced around, rapidly breathing, and saw what he was looking for.

Trees. More trees and shrubbery. No more pink menace.

He smiled triumphantly, heart still pounding. Although he was sure she had the last laugh. On the way back to the wreckage, his mind soon numbed. He was contemplating what he had witnessed and how he was going to break it to his leader.

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“Tag you're it! That was fun!” chirped the pony named Pinkie Pie, poking her prey.

He responded by letting his eyebrows drop and flatten, before simply rolling over. He didn’t understand anything anymore, nor did he wish to. He lay across the rock, wondering what he did to deserve this punishment.

Frank’s and Hank’s jaw fell. Right in front of them, giggling at a high pitch, was the imaginary pink pony Frank had joked about. The brothers were stunned, Frank’s rational mind started shutting down and he joined Shadowman on the rock.

“You…you can…talk?” Prince Albert barely managed to pronounce. Whilst the others were fighting the madness of the situation, he chose to accept it, out of curiosity.

“Well duh. I mean, everpony can talk, unless they don’t know how too, or worse, can’t all. Can you imagine not being able to talk? I don’t have to, it was horrible. This zebra named Zecora, she’s really nice by the way, tried to warn us about this funny plant that plays pranks on you. So anyway I got some poison joke on me- that’s the name of the plant- and my tongue went all swollen like thipsshh. Ipshh realshy harmd tew sshhpeeakksh lllikshps thipshsh.” Albert removed the spittle from his brow as the mare grinned sheepishly. He was amazed that something could talk for so long, so fast, and not be out of breath. She apologised and pouted.

“That’s fine. I think these ponies mean us no harm.” He looked around to see his squad look up from their stupor. They stared at him, given the arched eyebrow of Shadowman, combined with the frown from both brothers, he could tell they disagreed.

“Oh I would never hurt a pony. That’s not a nice way to welcome anypony to Ponyville.” the pony quickly took offense, scrunching up her face and frowning. Frank immediately kicked his brain back into gear.

“Ponyville? Oh you are joking. I thought we were near Stalliongrad! What a moronic name for a village.” mocked the angered man. That ridiculous name brought him back form the edge of insanity.

“Hey that’s mean. If you want to know where Stalliongrad is, it is 327 and three quarter miles that way.” The irritated pony said, pointing to her right.

The ponytailed man quiet downed as he was told that A: the place existed, and B: he had actually conversed with a talking pony.

“Sorry about my colleague, but we are a little shaken up. We are also injured. I don’t suppose you could aid us in recovery. We would be eternally grateful Mrs Pie.” the Prince beseeched, using his diplomacy skills. As was the case of meeting any of the people of is kingdom, if they required his aid he would shift to a more serious tone. As was the case if he needed anybody’s skills.

Hank was still recovering. His method of recovery often involved thinking of the good things in life. Delicious meals, succulent sweets, and even more exotic delicacies, calmed his mind when on the move. Given her name, he immediately recounted every pie he had ever tasted. He was up to 56 different varieties so far.

“Oh please call me Pinkie, all my friends call me Pinkie.” She beamed another smile, but then her hair suddenly deflated. That ridiculously large grin instantly turned into a small pout. “You're hurt? Oh no. We gotta get you to Ponyville right away. Then when you’re all fixed up we can party.”

Hank was not too happy. He objected to the idea, with a lot more profanity than was necessary, claiming it was a trap. Unfortunately for him, the group had no other choice, and reluctantly followed their guide.

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The injured Prince was supported by the black figure, as they followed the path. Hank made sure to his younger sibling walked between him and the bouncing ball of fur. He despised how kind and helpful she was being. He kept thinking that even the most adorable animal, can easily become a viscous threat. Given that she was, admittedly, the cutest thing he ever laid eyes upon, he assumed she was just as capable of further injuring the man.

Frank meanwhile was slowly accepting that he had indeed died and was in Hell. Every hop of the energetic mare was only a slight irritation, were as before he was tempted to ground her permanently. He didn’t need her defying physics on top of this, when she paused in mid-air and reminded them they were getting closer.

Shadowman was the calmest, not that you could tell difference, but he was given a head start to accept the mythological beings, when he was fleeing town. He gave the giddy guide the occasional glance, but primarily focused on his Prince’s ankle. He watched it like a hawk, making sure not to let too much pressure get it.

Prince Albert was conflicted. His scowl seemed to be aimed at his injury, but in his mind he was trying to comprehend the situation. He was failing.

What do you remember? The tether snapped, you braced for impact, slammed into the helm and… and?

There was a purple flash.

His mind couldn’t understand. The last thing he saw was the zeppelin rapidly ascend, followed by him and the squad jerking forwards. He crashed into the helm and… there was a purple flash before he lost consciousness.

“Here we are! Nurse Fluttershy is visiting Twilight, to get some books on herbal tea, she’ll help you guys out. We should go to the Library.”

“The Library? Would a hospital not be a better option?” The Prince was confused, why would a library a more suitable place to treat the wounded? More importantly who is Fluttershy?

“A hospital is for ponies not… wait what are you?” Pinkie had even amazed herself that she had forgotten to ask who and what these creatures were.

“What am I? Is it not obvious little equine? We are Humans. The giant to your far left is called Hank,” Hank gave a short grunt refusing to talk properly, “And the slender man to your left is named Frank.”

“Hey.” He replied morbidly.

“Hello.” Pinkie chirped, bouncing to his eye level. She still wore a smile even when his frown deepened.

“My comrade under my arm is labelled Shadowman. Nobody knows his real name.”

“Oh I know you! You are fun, wanna tag again when you’re all patched up?” He looked at her and shook his head.

“Okey Dokey Lokie.” She wasn’t even put off in the slightest.

“I am Prince Albert, Diarch of Primane.” he announced bringing more power into is voice. Pinkie pie stopped dead in her tracks. She turned and looked at him worryingly.

“Oh, I am so sorry! I didn’t know!” she bowed her head and lowered her body. “I’m so sorry your majesty.”

Hank grinned. He liked the fact she realised who she was messing with.

“It is okay little one; I am surprised you did not recognise me. You may rise.” He said warmly.

Pinkie pie, once again, smiled happily. She seemed to be in deep though they crossed the bridge.

“Where’s Prime mane?” she asked curiously. The humans looked at each other as if she had started speaking in a foreign language.

“This land, you know the one you refuse to remain tethered to, is called Primane. It belongs to your lord over here.” Hank pointed out, nodding towards his Prince.

“No this is Equestria silly filly.” She giggled; Prince Albert was bamboozled to say the least. Someone had stated he did not own the land rightfully his. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna own all of Equestria. I don’t know where…Prime mane? Even is.” she remarked scratching her head.

“No this is PRIMANE,” Hank said sternly as the group approached a deflated air balloon, “There is no such place as Equestria.” He finished in a less harsh tone.

“Nu-uh.” She said lighting a small flame. Soon the balloon sprang into the sky. “I lived here long enough to know this place is called Equestria, well this place is called bridge lane, in Ponyville. But the land is called Equestria."

“Well then, it is clear we are being escorted by an idiot, can you just get us some help?” Frank sniped.

“That’s mean!” The mare returned with a wobbly lip. Her mane deflated, and her eyes watered.

“Frank apologise.” The Prince was restraining is fury. Had he not injured himself he would put the man in his place. “Now.” He said more sternly.

With a deep sigh, he realised he had stepped over a line. One he rarely enjoyed doing without either good intention, or good reason. He had neither when he hurt the pony helping him.

“I am sorry. This is stressful. If what you say is true, then we are incredible far away from home. Still that is no reason to insult your intelligence; your knowledge is saving us after all. Can you forgive me?” he asked sincerely, a small hint of shame in his eyes.

“Yes.” She trotted over and hugged him, she had to stand on her back hooves, but she managed to hang her fore hooves over his shoulder. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around her back, surprised by the sudden display of affection. The smell of cotton candy stirred a strange emotion. He was…happy. Why was he happy? He did not know, but his arms jerked as he released her.

Albert and Hank smiled at the peaceful resolution, Shadowman watched the pony back off into the basket with an emotionless mask.

“Come on mister grumpy pants, we can use the balloon since it’s an emergency.” She beckoned the group over. They acknowledged it was for the best to keep the prince off the ankle, so resting on the rim of the hovering basket did seem more beneficial than walking.

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“Oh it was just awful Twilight. I was making my way over here, when that thing ran straight for me. I was terrified.” Fluttershy recalled the incident earlier in the morning. The softness in her voice matched the shade of yellow she had for her coat.

“That horrid hour has come to past; you can finally rest at last.” a black and white striped pony added, resting a hoof on her shoulder. The zebra looked into her friends teal eyes. The timid pegasus soon smiled back at her warming gesture.

“Zecora’s right Fluttershy. That thing didn’t hurt you, and by the sound of things, it didn’t want to either.” The purple unicorn reassured.

They were gathered around a table made out of a tree stump. In the center rested a carving of a stallion’s head, in a faded shade of lime, as well as other items relevant to the purpose of the meeting.

A copy of ‘homemade brews and teas just for you and company’ was the original purpose of the meeting; Fluttershy had planned to pick it up, after Zecora had finished using it; three empty tea cups, already being refilled by a teapot that was suspended in purple aura. There was a scroll, amongst the others which were already used and set aside, this one was meant to be a letter to the highest authority in the land: Princess Celestia.

“What you need is a calming brew, may I suggest page thirty-two?” Zecora opened the book and passed towards her friend to her left. The quite pony studied the recipe, smiled, and then beamed happily to the zebra.

“I can make this when I get home. Thanks girls.” The butterscotch pony lifted her tea to her lips, tasted the fine concoction and sighed happily.

“Anytime Fluttershy, we’re your friends after all. I would still like a description of this thing; you haven’t told us what it looked like. It could have been a pony for all we know.” Twilight levitated her tea, took a quick sip and set the tea cup down.

“No. It was not a pony. It looked completely different.” Insisted the pegasus.

“Oh I’m sorry. Did I interrupt you?” The pony held the worried look, even whilst Twilight reassured her that she was fine. Meanwhile Zecora had finished her tea.

“Dear Twilight here is the lotion, to put rapid healing into motion. Apply to broken bones or wounds twice. No more, no less should suffice.” The potion master placed a jar of red jelly on the counter as she left the library. Twilight thanked her and engulfed the jar in a purple glow. The scarlet vessel flew across the room, before gently landing in an opened cupboard labelled ‘First aid’.

“Oh filly, I forgot to ask her for some Twining leaves.” The pony, once again, wore a worried look, staring at the door.

“Don’t worry. You can have some of mine. Princess Celestia often sends me too much anyway.” The unicorn chirped. Her friend regained that merry smile. She was drinking up the final pool of the dark tea, when Twilight decided to ask her a question.

“Do you want to describe this ‘thing’ that supposedly attacked you, by jumping over you before running away?” she asked, still sceptical about the idea it had injured her in some way.

“Well…If you want to.” The mare looked away. Fortunately, Twilight rolled her eyes when the yellow pony’s view was blocked by her rose mane.

Dipping her floating quill in ink, she asked “So tell me, what this ‘new’ creature look like?” she hid her disbelief with a smile; Fluttershy did often mistake her own shadow as a monster.

“Well it looked…” The pegasus was cut off by a loud thud, coming from the second story balcony.

“Twilight? Fluttershy? Are you in here?” Pinkie Pie was seen overlooking the upstairs railing.

“Pinkie Pie? What are…you…doing…here?” Twilight finished slowly. What was starting to fill up on the second floor had taken her immediate attention.

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“Ah my lady of the exotic land, how might a colt such as I help such a divine equine today?” A blue colt complimented behind a stall. His smirk grew when Zecora blushed. He straightened his mane as she gingerly approached the fruit stall.

“Oh Mr Bell, you know how to treat a mare well.” She gave him a small smile, still bearing a crimson shade to her cheeks.

“Not just any mare Mrs Zecora.” He replied, leaning closer.

“Ms Zecora that would be, I have not yet found the colt for me.” She responded sheepishly.

We’ll see about that. Go on ask her. he commanded himself.

“Well maybe I could help. I appeared to have booked a table for two at the ‘Rose and thorn’ restaurant. As foolish as I am, you have given me a brilliant idea. Perhaps we could, say, find you a stallion at three PM Tuesday?” he added slyly. Of course she understood the meaning of the invite, she was not a foal, but neither was she one to reveal her excitement.

“Perhaps, we shall see. You might wish to still be there past three.” She responded studying her hoof, he was worried until the small grin crept across her face.

“Well I’ll keep the champagne in the ice until you’re there. In any case, would you like the usual? With discount of course.” he asked returning to his business stature.

“That would be a wonderful boon; yes-wait, is that Miss Pie in a balloon?” She tried to block the sun’s light with her hoof, but she could only make out the silhouette of Ponyville’s party pony. She watched as the hot air balloon landed on one of the balconies of the Library. Had the branches not been in the way, she may have seen four strange creatures disembark.

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“Twilight, Fluttershy, can you help my new friends? They’re lost and injured, and he’s really grumpy as well.” She pointed to Frank, who shrugged it off with a scowl on his face. Frank and Hank welcomed themselves in, slowly trudging through the doorway. They rested on the railing, just as Prince Albert and Shadowman left the basket case.

“Are you hurt?” Fluttershy gracefully flew up to the second floor; her instincts to care for injured animals had overridden her concern for her wellbeing. Upon coming inches away from the broken arm, Hank suddenly moved his injured limb away, raising his hand defensively.

Moments before he was about to ask her to back off, he fell under the hypnotic effect of her voice. He allowed her to undo the makeshift sling and analyse the appendage.

Meanwhile Twilight’s mind was burning out. She recognised what these things were. Her eyes widened and focused purely on her idol: Frank. With each twitch, a single strand of hair sprang out of place, with each passing second her quill began writing the following:

Dear Princess Celestia

I am sure you are aware of the ‘My big human series’: the cartoon that ponies either love or hate? You should watch at least the first few episodes, it is a brilliant CARTOON. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you I am a ‘humare’, probably from the sheer embarrassment. I first became interested when I came across that book on ancient Equestrian MYTHOLOGY, around a year ago, and humans became present for a couple of chapters. Well the MADE UP creatures are the focus group of the program.
And guess what?

They’re in my library. Please send help, either you or a psychiatrist.

Your faithful, mentally unstable, student

Twilight Sparkle.

“Spike could you please send this.” she had held the scroll out was expecting her number one assistant to burn it, alas he was missing. She couldn’t do anything else until the scroll was sent off to her mentor. She remained standing there, eerily smiling at Shadowman as he continued to hold Prince Albert up.

“Oh you poor thing, you must be in so much pain.” cooed Fluttershy.

Hank pushed his chest out, and wore a cocky grin. “Oh yeah, I had forgotten I was supposed to be in pain.” he calmly stated as inspected his finger nails.

“Well you just wait here and we’ll…fix…you…eep!” The pegasus’ wings locked up, she fell to the floor, and tried to hide under her hooves. The titan cocked his head, looked at his brother, then over to the sight she had hid from.

He could only see Shadow man dusting his trench coat, after propping Albert against the railing.

“Err…Miss? Did my squad mate scare you?” He asked with slight concern. The timid pony nodded without removing her hooves from her head.

He sighed, restraining the urge to cave in. The sight was adorable, a timid little pony, shivering and squeaking. Still that thought of this being a trap lingered in his mind.

“Trust me. He does not want to hurt you. You can get up now.”

No response.

“Hey, I said he’s okay. You don’t have to be scared of him.” He said raising his voice slightly.

She squeaked and continued to hide under her mane.

“That’s it Hank, use those exceptional people skills.” His brother tapped him on the back. He heard Twilight laughing from below.

He saw her messy mane, twitching eye, and the levitating scroll. He quickly turned away to avoid the automatic process of analysing the impossible feat.

“Shadowman, I think you need to get over here. You’ve already scared a pony.” Shadowman arched an eyebrow, leant the side, and nodded, finally understanding what he said.

The terrified pony heard slowly moving footsteps moving across the wooden floor. She took a peak, and regretted it. The monster from before was heading towards her.

The phantom cocked his head, looked at both Hank and Frank, then shrugged. He recognised the same faded yellow bundle of fur as the one that nearly tripped him earlier that morning.

“Well you gotta fix it.” Hank replied.

“Use that silver tongue of yours. So far your charm has landed us in a Library, instead of hospital, receiving aid from ponies, instead of doctors. Care to tell me what your words can’t do?” mocked Frank; he received a swift kick to the knee, once again scaring the pony.

Shadowman rubbed the bridge of his nose, and sighed.

“Well it’s not an apology, but it’s a start.” Frank commented. Shadowman raised his leg, about to send it into the nuisance’s chest, when he remembered the previous result.

He massaged his forehead, and lowered his stance. He was squatting and looking at the pathetic sight before him. Small, weak, shivering, scared…overwhelmed…outnumbered…losing hope. He shook his head once, to bat away a few distant memories, and looked back at the butter blob before him.

He let out another sigh. She looked up and saw him. She gazed into his reflective shades, saw the fear in her own eyes, and quickly hid again. He waited. When Hank informed her that Shadowman didn’t talk and was trying to apologies, she gave a sympathetic look.

His expression remained neutral. It worried her slightly, but he slowly raised a gloved hand and separated each finger.

She looked at it, and then at him with confusion. The edges on his lips dipped, revealing for a split second a hint of sorrow. Gingerly she raised her hoof. It was still shaking when it was a millimetre away. Eventually she rested it against his black hand. She felt the warmth of his hand pass through his gloves and into her hoof. He gave a small smile, which she slowly returned.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were going to hurt me before. Why were you running so fast?” He replied by pointing towards Pinkie Pie, who was still explaining that they were in Equestria to Prince Albert.

“Oh. Pinkie pie does sometimes like to play a lot of games. She didn’t scare you did she?” she replied more confidently.

He shook his head and smiled, but she still looked worried.

“If you don’t mind me asking but…could you tell me why you don’t talk?” His eyebrow slowly crept up, pulling a smirk with it.

“I mean if…you want to talk abou…” She trailed off into a mumble. Hank decided to explain that nobody knows why he doesn’t speak, so she shouldn’t take it personally. That reassured her a little, but not as much as when Frank joked saying he was normally shy. Although he wouldn’t admit it, given that he was normally mute, he did find social interaction awkward at times.

“Can you speak? I mean if you wanted to? You’re not injured are you?” he nodded to answer the first and second, the shook his head to answer the third question, and slowly rose back up. She was at least able to accept that he chose not to speak to anyone.

The Pinkie pie soon dragged Fluttershy into the her debate over who’s land this is. Soon there was a heated discussion involving humans versus ponies. Well three humans and one pink pony who could argue for the sake of two more.

Shadowman had decided to sneak away, slowly walking back. He motioned for Fluttershy, who was in obvious distress, to follow. The two sat quietly, not talking, but content with watching the debate in silence.

Meanwhile Twilight was still grinning, waiting for her number one assistant to obey her last request. Sure enough he entered the Library.

“Hey, Twilight sorry I took so long, but Rarity needed help and so did…Rainbow Dash.” The little purple reptile stopped giving an excuse when she swiftly turned to face him. He trembled under her mad gaze.

“Send. This. To. Celestia.” She pronounced the last word with an unusually high chirp, before giggling madly.

“Okay.” The small dragon gulped, took a deep breath, and exhaled a green fire. Jade smoke flew away from the burning scroll until there was nothing left to incinerate.

“Hey Twilight, sorry I had to borrow Spike for a…” A rainbow blur shot into the room catching Hanks attention, and stopped just before him. Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth dropped. The giant was confused and just stared back. Both he and Frank were worried when her magenta eyes slowly sparkled and dilated. A large grin slowly started emerging.

“Yeah he’s ugly. I can see why you find it funny. Go ahead, poke him with a stick.” Not only did he receive a smack from his brother, but also a clip from the pegasus. The elder looked back at her with curiosity as the younger cradle his head. She smiled sheepishly, he peered at his brother rolling on the floor, and looked back at the cyan pegasus.

“Nice arm you got there.” he added flatly. She had stopped being a potential threat and was deemed: an acquaintance with decent standards.

She grinned again. “A…You… I” She wanted to say a million things. She wanted to ask a thousand more questions. She also wanted to know where Twilight found them.

Wait, Twilight. She thought. Swiftly returning to her friend, she took note of the baby dragon gawking at the guests. She ignored his questions focused on the lavender unicorn, still grinning psychotically at Frank.

“Whoa, Twilight how did you do this? Why didn’t you tell me you had Hank in your bedroom?” The fan side of her dissipated as an idea popped into her head.

A sinister dark idea.

“You didn’t…you know.” She said hoping the answer would be no.

“Have sex? No.” She said, smiling and closing her eyes merrily. Still grinning madly after she opened her eyes, she still remained facing Hank, who was unaware of her predatorily gaze. Spike did a double take.

“Phew. For a moment I thought you were a fapper then Twilight.” She chucked to herself.

“Oh in that case, don’t check my private chest, under my bed.” She replied, not realising what she had said in her stupor.

“Okay now tell me…wait what?” replied Rainbow dash. She thought she heard what she desperately wanted to never pass her eardrums.

“Do you want to know how I did it?” She asked turning to face the pegasus.

“Well yeah, but you just…” finally she took notice in her frazzled mane, “err Twilight are you feeling okay?”

“I’ll tell you. I lost my mind! My favourite fictional character is in my library hehe.” She giggled, before slowly erupting into a fit if laughter. She stopped and still facing Rainbow Dash, moved her eyes towards each of the humans. Rainbow Dash grabbed her and shook her.

“Twilight you’re not crazy. They are really here!” She screamed trying to earn her attention.

The humans stopped bickering and looked down.

“Of course they’re not real. Humans are mythological.” She pronounced the last word with a sing song voice, before disappearing in a purple flash. Prince Albert took notice the flash, but was distracted by the purple unicorn reappearing amongst the humans.

“You, you, you and you are not real,” she chirped pointing at each one, “If they were real could I do this?” She trotted towards Albert, smiled at him and poked his knee cap. Her eyes shot open; she wasn’t expecting to make contact. The mad look in her eyes, as well as the twitching, vanished as her pupils dilated.

“Little one, do believe me when I say we are all real. It is us who should be worrying about your existence in Primane.” the Prince replied, with a grin on his face.

“Equestria!” barked Pinkie from behind him.

“You’re…you’re…you’re.”

“Wow, first Shadowman gets us invited to magical stable, disguised as a village, and now your words have the ability to break the ponies. I wonder what my super power is.” commented Frank, admiring his lord’s handy work.

“I think it’s how you can summon a river of shit to flow out of your….Will you stop staring at me!” He turned to see the cyan speedster hovering at eye level. He flinched at the sudden movement as a sharp spike of pain bolted up his injured right arm.

“Can someone give a hand over here?” He asked anybody who still cared about him.
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In Celestia’s private chambers; the Princess had been busy signing many documents, writing out new laws, and stamping the seal of approval upon suggested policies and aid requests. Occasionally she treated herself to a new batch of caramel carrot, but was slightly concerned for the size of her flank. A new rigorous regime, hidden in the private garden, was slowly taking effect.

Away from prying eyes, talkative employees and most importantly, school fillies with cameras, she was able to trot and gallop and burn of calories to maintain her figure.

The sun was at its highest when Celestia stopped working for a moment to perform her most vital royal duty: moving the sun. Her pearl white horn was surrounded by golden aura. She scrunched her face, and strained her powers. Soon after, the sun jerked forwards and the shadows slid into the correct position. Although this time, Celestia had moved the sun to bother her sleeping sister, as punishment for discovering her secret last night.

However, today she was feeling morbid; with her favourite show gone and no repeats for a while, she had a lot of free time. She considered writing another fanfic, or reading through more ponies on earth stories to pass the time. Although ponies on earth were her favourite category, she was starting to become enraged with the amount of romances that popped up.

Not that she despised the combined genres, she had written a few herself; it was how by the third chapter the characters had realised they had strong feelings for each other and proclaimed their love. No actual plot or build up, just a simple complement and they were knocking hooves.

What ticked her off the most was how, if a human came to Equestria, they became ponies. Now she was aware that it was possible to transform one species to another, but the amount of times a human instantly metamorphosed into a pony was astronomical.

Still, she was guilty of turning her favourite human into an alicorn and embarking on a grand romantic adventure.

She sighed and gladly finished her work, and pulled out a stack of papers. She levitated a quill and began to ponder over what to write. Tapping the point against her lip, inspiration struck after mere minutes.

The quill furiously scribbled amongst the parchment. The paper began to fill up, like a tattoo; slowly an imaginary picture was being painted. Black ink was dragged around, creating small symbols, soon forming words and sentences. Translating the story in her head onto paper was an effortless task; it was finding the rest of the story that stopped her in her tracks. She hit a barrier: the dreaded writers block. Before she could groan, as her mind once again failed her, a scroll appeared with a flash.

“Hmmm, I wonder what Twilight has discovered about friendship this time? Perhaps it may be more than just that. Twenty-three, and still single. Why did I give her a library to go to of all places? She’s no better than Frank and that silly Laboratory of his.” she chuckled to herself. She kept the smile as she read the scroll.

From the smile you’d give a child taking their first steps, she rapidly felt horror pull her face down into a panicked expression.

“Oh sweet Cele...me!” she yelled before departing in a blinding flash of light.