In a refurbished office building, situated in the northern side of a wet and dreary Fillydelphia, was a lone stallion working. White walls and posters belonging to the company he worked for surrounded him as he furiously clicked a pony ergonomic mouse.

“No, no no no. Where the blast are they?” Thunder Tone bellowed, slapping a full mug of coffee off his computer desk. The handle shattered and a crack slithered along the logo ‘My Big Human: Friendship is Expendable.’

“It’s just impossible.” His anger morphed into blind panic as he searched for another episode hidden in the files. “They’re…just gone!” he added, preparing to tear out his gold mane. The drizzle of the rain blurred the windows before him, but Luna’s moon managed to distinguish itself in a white haze.

“What’s the matter Thunder? Somepony stole your sweet roll?” a feminine voice asked.

He spun around, eyeing up the new entity. She was grass green and wore an emerald mane,
glistening as it framed her petite face. He wouldn’t admit it, ever, but the earth pony couldn’t resist staring into her jade eyes. On any other normal day that is.

“Actually, yeah! I left it in my secret hiding spot behind-“

“You mean your drawer?”

“No, not that one.”

“The back of your monitor?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

The mare dropped her smug smile and shifted her eyes around. Biting her lip and pawning at the floor, she avoided eye contact as soon as his grey coat started turning red.

“Sorry,” she squeaked, looking him in the eyes. His cheeks were slowly turning into tomatoes. “But you make the best rolls and muffins, and have the nicest buns.” It was her turn to turn red as he cocked an eyebrow and cooled off. “Err, I mean like your cousin, Ditzy, she makes good muffins too. Not to say your buns are bad, I could bite into them all day.” She only managed to further increase her fluster. “I mean-“

“Let’s drop it, we have bigger problems than my buns.” he remarked, turning away to hide his face. He was in a mixture of pride and embarrassment; she may have noticed his gym routine finally paying off, or he could just be hearing what he wanted to hear.

“Like what?” she asked, stepping closer to the screen.

He couldn’t tell her just yet, he had to show her. He beckoned her closer, to which they both wound up sharing the seat. He clicked play on an episode, after entering the mandatory password Haspony had installed in light of recent events.

Somepony had been leaking information about each series for the past five years, and this was just the oldest method of securing their work. It might as well not be there.

They both sat and watched all twenty five episodes, each one injecting fear into the pair.

“Where the Tartarus are they? I thought we finished these episodes today! Titan Strong just finished recording for Frank! I saw them overlay the audio with the video; why are the characters missing!?” she screeched, pacing the floor.

“Look, Emerald, we gotta tell the artists.”

“And tell them what? The humans just walked out of season six?”
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“And that’s why I have a newfound respect for the letters I send to Princess Celestia.” Spike proclaimed, earning a sagely nod from both Shadowman and Frank. The rest of the group, with the exception of the two princesses who were having a ‘chat’ in the kitchen, looked back in amazement.

“I believe I speak for Shadowman when I say he couldn’t have said it better himself.” Frank remarked. The darkened figure continued nodding, still bearing a blank mask. Besides him was Fluttershy and on his other side were two vacant seats.

“Really? Wow. I didn’t know that that’s what happens when you send a letter, Spike.” Twilight added, before scratching her chin. “I gotta write that down; did the green tunnel of fire come before or after the mountains of crystal? And was the giant mailbox at the end also?”

The group had been trying to understand a majority of the tale, including those who travelled the magical route. Around the table, those who attempted contemplate the trip were seen to be leaning in, mainly consisting of Rarity, Applejack, and until recently Rainbow Dash. Prince Albert and Hank had no say in the matter, although Hank mimed a smoking cannabis notion.

“Ah never thought those letters you send go through so much bother, Twi. Sounds a bit intense with the giant, blue tentacles and such.” Applejack commented, switching her focus to the lavender unicorn by her side.

“Yes, rather dangerous for simply delivering mail, even if it to a princess.” Rarity added using a hoof to flick her hair to make sure the princess got her good side.

“I know; I knew they were sent by magic but I thought it operated on the same principle as a teleportation spell and-”

“If getting teleported means being incinerated, going on a trip that could make a junkie jealous, as well as having my mouth taste like ash, then I want nothing more to do with it.” Frank pointed out, crossing his arms. “I can barely manage to keep my sanity in check just sitting here and talking to you lot.” he added, gesturing to the group with one hand.

“It’s perfectly understandable,” Twilight said, earning an arched eyebrow from the man. “You all know by now that you’re meant to be mythological, not to mention impossible.”

“I believe you should say improbable given that we are here, and thus are possible. It is us that should be confused about your being.” Albert interjected, raising a finger.

“Wouldn’t that just be a lack of communication of both our halves, ever since we apparently first met? Should we not treat this as simply being the first contact between our two races in eons?” Twilight added, hoping not to reveal that their race created the humans. If she could play the ‘our species met at one time’ card, she may have a shot at keeping the peace.

“Or rather that yours, supposedly, had been watching ours.” Frank returned, a frown forming on his brow. The rest of the humans looked caught onto his trail of thought, and began studying the mares with suspicion.

“Yeah, why do most of the ponies know about me, the Prince, and Splinter?” Hank asked, glaring at the Pink pony next to him. She returned her own menacing stare, before using her hooves to push his cheeks up into an artificial smile.

A creepily, unnatural smile.

“Knock it off!” With all his restrained fury, he gently grasped her hooves and lowered them from his face, keeping a twitching eye on her.

“Wow, you really are the brother of Mr grumpy.”

“Still in the room.” Frank added, raising a finger.

“You’re almost as moody as him,” Pinkie pie commented, ignoring the ponytailed man.

“Once again, still in the room.”

“But he’s just the smart arse computer guy that sits there smoking cigars all day; I do most of the heavy lifting.”

“Hank looks like a mountain gave birth to a rhino.”

“There’s no reason to be so grumpy! You just gotta smile.”

“Hank smiled once. He wound up scaring the afterlife out of the ghosts.”

“I’m not exactly in the smiling mood.”

“Hank’s biceps are so big, he once jumped in the air and got stuck.”

“You don’t need to be in a mood to smile.”

“Enough.” interjected his majesty, placing both of his hands flat on the table. He leant forward, as if trying to block out the ponies. The humans leaned in, ignoring the bewildered looks of those around them.

“From what I can tell, they have access to our past and seemed to see it as a form of entertainment. Especially our darkest times.” He scowled the center of the table at the recollection of the one called Scootaloo had said, but more importantly how she said it.

“I think I know how they do it.” Frank remarked, earning a panicked look from Twilight. Those fully aware of bronies and the show consisted of Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash; Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were the only two to still be clueless about the show and its nature.

The humares, plus the farmer and the seamstress, gave a worried look as Frank opened his mouth. It was then that the voices of the kitchen caught their attention that he stopped.

“You are so infuriating!”

“If you cannot look after one of the most restricted and most powerful tomes in the private library, then I will not allow you to have your television!”

“You monster!”

The small committee paused and faced the kitchen. There, wearing a surprisingly merry smile, was Celestia. Whilst everyone subtly glanced at each other, Hank frowned given the context of the smile. She was pissed and was wearing a false smile reserved for obscuring her true emotions, he noted.

She’s been giving me that same look all day. Sly cow.

“Little sister giving you trouble?” Hank asked, arching an eyebrow. Before she could answer he turned to face his sibling with grin and said, “I know what that’s like.”

Frank rolled his eyes before blowing a childish raspberry at the man. At this point Luna walked with glint of contempt in her eye. She continued glaring daggers in the back of her sister’s head until she walked into her line of sight and refocused on the group of mortals.

During her brooding, where her own thoughts were nothing more than immature references to her sister’s head matching the size of her flank, she managed to walk to one of the vacant seats.

Right next to Shadowman.

The pair made eye to shade contact, a small hint of shame tying a knot in Luna’s throat. He reminisced about the number of times she nearly threw him off the rooftops, the total minutes spent playing cat and mouse at different altitudes, and concluded on one action. With a blank look, he pulled out the chair.

If he was ever going to give his respect to anyone, or pony, who could catch him it wouldn’t be a pink demon but a dark goddess. Not that he was still pleased with her actions; he would happily prefer to never see the mare again, but his mother taught him better. The gesture confused Luna slightly, as she phased out the spat between the brothers; he still gave that calm expression.

“You do not mind me sitting beside you? After we chased thou across the rooftops?” His response was not only to ignore the kerfuffle besides him, but also to slowly outreach a hand and gently pat the seat.

Luna gave a small smile as he turned away, happy to sit next to her favourite, silent hero. She switched over when the small sound of gurgling became the focus of everypony’s, and every human used to the display, focus point.

Hank held his brother in a vicious head lock, Frank squirming like a child being held over a cliff face. The height advantage of his elder somehow always made itself apparent whenever he wanted to get his own way.

“Take it back.” Hank said smugly, catching glimpses of Applejack’s, Twilight’s, and Rarity’s scowls.

“Never...You fat headed oaf!” Frank replied rebelliously.

“Hank.” Albert sounded off warningly, inspecting the bruise on the back of his hand; the routine nature of this event often left him time to give himself a once over. Not out of vanity but before and after a meeting, or even a skirmish, he chose to inspect his health. This bruise caught his attention briefly, given that he had missed it after awakening, but he quickly lost interest and turned to face the titan and his prey.

“Put him down, you don’t know what he’s been experimenting on.” As soon as the key phrase was announced, the slender man found his backside once again hitting the floor hard. The two returned to their seats, Twilight asking if he needed attention for his ‘injury’ to which point Frank replied with a vague gesture to how this world could kiss his arse.

“Now, Princess Celestia,” The Prince continued, earning the pleasant focus of the alicorn.

“Could you please?”

“Certainly, and please call me Celestia.” Celestia didn't sit down, but instead made her horn glow with a signature golden hue. A tanned book, slightly obscured by a yellow ethereal aura, revealed itself to the group. It landed delicately on the table in front of the empty seat Luna sat next to.

“Not to be ungrateful, but shouldn't we be entitled to free cookies and milk during story time. I get cranky if I don’t have my milk before nap time.” Frank remarked, earning a deathly stare from Twilight and Albert. Hank suppressed a chuckle as a majority of the eyes attempted to shoot lasers at his younger brother.

Soon enough, with the occasional interruption of a sceptical Hank and Frank, Celestia explained the purpose of the book. Much to the group’s amazement, the spells went beyond transforming ponies. So much so, that the reason it is archived in the restricted section was because its last use conjured up the Crystal Mountains out of mere hills.

There was a great debate on the matter at hand; should they be turned into ponies? Of course, it was met with resistance. Even Shadowman ‘voiced’ his displeasure by shaking his head when he was asked if he wanted wings.

As for as he was concerned, he wanted to remain rooted to the ground; he had enough air travel, rooftop hopping, and travel via flying, burning, dimension shifting, letters to last him a lifetime…Or two.

Never the less; with the die-hard humares subtly, or not in Rainbow Dash’s case, and Rarity and Pinkie eagerly, convincing them to alter their DNA, both with completely different pursuits in mind, the humans eventually wound up considering it. After asking for a moment alone the humans departed for the kitchen.

Between the fridge where Hank leant against, and the stove where Shadowman watched the equines, those willing to speak debated the matter.

“I will not lie, they are rather reasonable.” Albert put forward with gesture from his hand.

“I’m not becoming a horse,” Hank quickly sniped whilst crossing his arms across his vest.

“Ponies actually,” his younger sibling remarked, patting himself down for more cigars. Finding he had only one left, he chose to save it for later by moving it from his left upper ‘cigar lighter’ pocket to his ‘cigar storage’, right chest pocket. “As much as it pains me to say this, your cyan friend has made her point pretty clear.”

“Acquaintance. I still don’t trust them; what if they need us in pony form to have their way with us?” the behemoth replied, recalling how the indigo alicorn supposedly couldn't catch Shadowman with her magic.

If humans are immune, and ponies aren’t, won’t that make us easier prey?

“I don’t think we need to fear any form of hostility as a pony,” Albert added, looking back at Shadowman. “But as humans we seem to attract a lot of unwanted attention. I believe there are other equines who may not wish to harm us, although I believe you know, Hank, that they can be borderline psychotic.”

“You have no idea,” Frank muttered to himself, before speaking up. “I think I can help shed some light on the subject.”

“Oh?” Hank said, arching an eyebrow.

“During my disappearance, when I was exposed to the elements and with my back against the wall, I encountered a…strange white, horned pony.”

“You mean unicorn?” Albert corrected, his eyebrow arching in curiosity as to why their smartest member did not pick up on it.

“That would imply that they were in fact real, in turn, giving further ‘evidence’ to the claim that magic exists,” he responded quickly, massaging the bridge of his nose.

“Moving on,” he said loudly. “Along the way back to her humble abode-“

“HA!”

“I’m glad you see the funny side, Hank. Anyway, the time I spent in her and her friend’s company-“

“Wow, a threesome.”

“I managed to forget your writhing session with the stallions who were after your wood, so shut it!” Frank chided, pointing an accusatory finger at his smiling elder.

“Hank, let him speak.”

“Thank you, Albert.” Frank leant back against the side, his arm picking up whatever fruit was in a bowl behind him.

“You see, the girls pointed out that we were meant to be cartoons; as in fictional, animated, scripted, characters. They seemed to be up to date with my previous actions, including those that I had long forgotten.” He took a small bite out of an apple and instantly fell in love with its taste.

“Aye; a small orange pegasus-“

“Winged equine.” Frank ‘corrected’ with his mouth full of Red Deliciousness.

“Pegasus, knew about… my father.” Instantly his comrade’s heads spun to face his dreary expression. It was a tough battle, and the cost was still etched across his thigh where he received a final gash from the beast.

“Why would they possibly want to watch us?” Hank asked, resting a hand on his leader’s shoulder. It was a sign of saying ‘it’s time to put the past behind you.’

“Yes, it seemed similar to that craze where grown men watched those talking mice go through their daily lives. What was that show called again? Ah, ‘Your little rats: Infestation is fantastic?’”

“It wasn’t called that… although it did lead to a sudden demand in rainbow coloured mice.” Albert admitted, brushing his friend’s arm of with a grateful nod.

“Pahtato, patahto,” Frank said, waving the hand clutching half an apple around dismissively. “Anyway, I think we can use this spell to our advantage. We will not only be disguised as the local population, but I may well find a way to confirm our suspicions and to what extent they know about us.”

“How?”

“Remember when I said I met a few new friends?” A small smile formed on both Albert’s and Frank’s lips, contrasting the large frown on Hank’s face. “I’m sure I can get them to let us watch a few episodes, as it were.”

“No.”

“Oh for… Why not?”

“I. Do. Not. Want. To. Be. A . PONY!” the giant emphasised by jabbing his younger brother. “I’m good being human.”

“Then you can remain cooped in here.” Albert replied, folding his arms.

“It’s cosy.”

“The librarian will quiz you; I probably will never teach a student as inquisitive as her.”

“I’ve put up with it long enough.”

“Pinkie Pie will know where you are, and you can’t leave.” Albert’s response initiated a subtle chain reaction; firstly Hank’s eyes widened in horror then his jaw lowered slightly before sealing itself shut. It remained shut after he had one last thing to say:

“I’m not going first.”

Frank rolled his eyes, landing his focus on his ruler and making eye contact. He gave a small chuckle before nodding towards the stove.

“We’ll do what we normally do in uncharted territory.”

Shadowman whipped his head towards his ‘friends’ at the sound of that sentence. Whilst monitoring the ponies, which were all whispering amongst themselves, he had heard every dispute so far. He looked back, his cheeks lowering to give away a microscopic hint of dismay.

All of his allies were giving him that look.

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“Have you reached a decision?” Luna asked, turning away from her conversation with Twilight about the use of magic on the humans.

Through her experience, however brief it was, she found she could not use the basic levitation spell. Twilight’s rebuttal was that that the magic in the healing balm seemed to work just fine, causing further confusion between the two.

“Yes, we have.” Albert spoke pleasantly, resting against bookshelf.

“Yes, we ALL have.” Frank added, inspecting the literature amongst the shelves. He spied a few curious titles; ‘Magical masters’, ‘Manehattan murders’, ‘My Big Human Friendship Is Expendable guide for dummies.’ That one in particular grabbed his interests. He edged over whilst his friends began moving to the other side of the room, his back against the bookcase. When everyone else was distracted by his teammates he pulled the book out, hiding it behind his back, and returned to the table.

“So… are you guys gonna change into ponies or what?” Rainbow added, hovering by her favourite character.

“Maybe kid,” Hank replied, taking a seat next to Applejack. “We just want to see what would happen first.” He pointed to the phantom, his head still looking up to the pegasus. She in turn, as well everyone else, focused on Shadowman. He walked in, his hand over his head and wishing he could escape.

It was always him, for some reason. Never Frank to test his experiments, never Hank to check for a pack of heavily armed raiders behind a locked door, and never Prince Albert to say no to anyone. He noted how funny it was that he was the one to deny others, when he himself could not deny anybody else’s request for his aid. He hated it, but put up with it.

But even he had his limits and this was damn near close.

“We all had a say in the matter, and the one who said the least happened to volunteer.” Frank remarked, sitting between Celestia and Twilight. When Albert was welcomed to his spot between the ruler of the sun and the seamstress, Frank slid the book under his seat when nopony was looking.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. So who’s first?” Twilight chirped, pausing when she noticed that Shadowman was massaging his nose. Luna gave a small titter about how correct her assumption was.

Of course it was him.

“How brave, so sister…” she trailed off, looking past a slightly concerned looking Fluttershy to spy her sister already rapidly skimming the pages. She took note in the subtle hint of pleasure in Celestia’s eyes as she scanned the tome, imagining her mind was in a frantic fan mare mode.

“Huh? Yes, sorry this spell has a lot of complex uses of tertiary and primary binding principles.”

“Are we ready to perform the spell?”

“Soon, but I believe we may require time to fully understand this spell. It has been while since I last performed it.”

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“Excuse me, err, Hank, could you please move over? You’re on my tail.” Fluttershy finally squeaked, after minutes of mumbling to get the man’s attention. Everyone and everypony had been ordered to gather in either the kitchen or on the upstairs landing away from where the spell was going to be cast.

“That is, if you don’t…mind. If… you want to you…” she spoke, trailing off until her mouth was just opening and closing. Hank was already looking at her, cocking an ear. It didn’t help that she was always looking at the floor, but he finally got the message after glancing at his foot.

“Sorry,” he said honestly. Mostly because she was defenceless and was his second favourite amongst the potentially traitorous equines; partially because he was actually in the wrong.

He was in the kitchen, Fluttershy smiling to have her tail back on his left, the azure pegasus hovering to his right, and looting the fridge for treats to his far right was Pinkie Pie. He was happy that something else had occupied her attention for once.

Upstairs, leaning on the railing, was Prince Albert conversing between Twilight and Rarity on the matter at hand. Applejack remained silent; the cowpony hated how sincere and friendly the humans were. However, she was respectful about how the prince had to decency to catch on to this and not ‘convert’ her, as she put it watching her friends bond with the bipeds, and left her alone.

In the center of the library were two rather giddy alicorns and an extremely annoying scientist. Whilst the two were referencing to common assumptions about a ponified Shadowman, carefully avoiding Frank catching wind of this, preparations were being made.

Frank took it upon himself to try and disprove magic; he accepted that some form of force manipulated the world, he wasn’t close minded, but the fact that it was called magic made his skin crawl.

Magic is just science we can’t explain. I will prove that magic does not exist and that everything can be explained through proper research and experiments. Levitation could just be a manipulation of the gravity field; whatever is generating the force is not… magic.

The least I can do is rename the terminology to something more modern.

Then again, these do seem like archaic times. he mused before glancing at his mute mate. Shadowman had been instructed to stand on the other side of the room, but judging by his head drooping from time to time, he wasn’t going to last long.

“Tia, do you think he’ll be tall? I would love for him to be tall.” Luna confided, wistfully looking between the silent primate and the notes on her part of the ritual.

“Look who is now wanting a relationship like the ‘Prince and I’.” Celestia replied with a sly grin. Luna gave slight nudge with a harsh glare. The elder simply giggled as she read the method of the spell. “Oh please, Lulu, I found that picture you hide under your bed long ago.”

The venomous look almost put fear into her heart. Almost.

“How dare you!”

“I’m your older sister, I have a right.” Celestia relied, inspecting her hoof as she referred back to centuries ago when the alicorns were but foals. It seems with that even with time, some things never change. They only learn when to appear.

“It is MY room!” Luna responded angrily.

“Can we get back to the matter at hand? I thought we were here to play hocus-pocus , rather than play family time.” Frank remarked, leaning in front of Celestia to look at the contents of the book. It was his first glance at how much to the equines knew about magic, and he was surprised by some of the technical sounding terminology. Things like ‘thrumming’, ‘primary weave’, and ‘Star Swirl glands’ caught his eye.

“I am sorry, you are right.”

“Of course I am, I’m never wrong,” he replied looking into the kitchen. Whilst Luna and Celestia mentally recalled numerous times he used that phrase, with undesirable results, he watched Pinkie Pie offer numerous amounts of some yellow liquid. Of course the equines accepted, but Hank held a hand up to show he didn’t want any.

“If he becomes a unicorn, I hope he goes through the horning pains as a foal does.” Luna muttered to herself, looking at the back of Frank’s head. “Are we now ready to begin, sister?”

“I believe so,” Celestia replied, beaming at Luna. “Things will go so much smoother if this spell works. It would be a shame to keep them confined to the library, when we could at least indulge in a bit of cross cultural experiences. With Frank’s mind we might even grasp some of the technology that could only exist in cartoons.” she continued before looking up from the book.

She leant closer to her sister, bearing a grin small enough to reveal her excitement. “Can you believe we are actually going to be with ponified versions of the My Big Human cast?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“It is every humares dream, believe us, we know.” Luna replied, equally as quietly.

“We are ready, Frank,” Celestia announced, looking towards the still distracted man. “As useful as you have been, we are going to have to ask you to join the others.”

“Actually, I think you’ll need me to move Shadow’s personal things; said so fourth paragraph in, third line.” Frank remarked, heading over towards his drowsy friend. The mistress of the night double checked the book and confirmed that he was in fact correct, but Celestia already knew that part of the procedure.

“Okay, strip down.” Frank said casually, earning an arched eyebrow form the dark man. “Well if you want to stand around all commando like, then that’s up to you. We only need you without anything metal or anything blocking your chest,” he continued, using his hand to gesture to his whole body.

“If you’re feeling tired, you can use that thing as a kick stand, Tripod,” he chuckled, earning a quick punch to the diaphragm. The action didn’t tied over well for Applejack or Fluttershy, or even Twilight who was used to seeing him get beaten for his antics, but Hank was once again happy to see his brother put in place.

Luna couldn’t help but get distracted as Shadow began to remove his jacket. To her recollection, he had only been seen without his trench coat in a few scenes. Underneath they all observed his skin tight black cover, Applejack gawking at the amount of knives attached to his body.

Yer see! That righ’ there’s why I don’t trust ‘em. Why the hay would a fella need that many knives?

Everypony could only stare at the amount of sharp weapons being handed over; a small mountain of blades and shurikens began to build up behind the Princesses. Spike, who was sitting on the steps chewing on a few rubies, only stared at him as he wondered where exactly they all came from, as did the rest of the group.

“A butter knife? Really?” asked Frank, staring at disbelief as he received the last knife belonging to the phantom. His reply was to mime a sandwich eating motion, bulging cheeks and all. “When the heck does an assassin have time to make sandwiches?”

“Frank, let it go. I’m actually looking forward to some more complex magic, and I’m sure the Princesses will deliver,” Albert chimed from above, earning a smile from both royal ponies. Celestia’s smile even managed to stay present when he immediately returned to happily conversing with Twilight, but more importantly Rarity.

Both laughing; she was fluttering her pretty little eyes whilst he was returning a warm smile.

She hated it.

“Alright, Pinkie Pie, is it?” Frank replied, switching his focus to the pink party pony. She responded by bouncing over, a jug of lemonade and a cup balanced on her back, before halting before him. Not a single drop seemed to be spilt.

“Yes, but call me Pinkie,” she said before leaning in. “All my friends call me Pinkie.” She waggled her eyebrows, causing him to recall images of that mint unicorn. He grabbed the jug and filled the cup, before trying balance it back on her back. He was interrupted by a tapping on his shoulder.

Shadowman had removed his top, exposing a gymnast’s body. The humares of the room took notice, Pinkie Pie being the only non humare to eye him up and down briefly. His chest held a small scar over his heart, close to a silver pendant hanging around his neck. After giving it a brief, tender rub, Shadow handed that over too.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let this out of my sight,” Frank replied sincerely. They both parted ways, the half dressed man standing on one side of the room, the other standing guard over the pile of weapons, clothing, and a trench coat. Luna noted the strange pendant, realising it had never been seen before, but chose to inquire about it another time.

Shadowman felt all eyes on him; it was almost instinctive for him to get out of the spotlight. If the matter required his appearance, or if it was for a task that needed everyone’s attention he reluctantly agreed to it.

The humans made sure to get perfect view, each sharing a glance that acknowledged that this might be the last time they see their agile friend as a man. Fluttershy backed up behind Pinkie Pie fearing the worst whilst Twilight was practically hanging over the edge of the railings in anticipation.

Soon enough the room fell silent; only the gentle hum of the alicorns horns echoed throughout the room as everybody held their breath. Shadowman closed his eyes, still wearing the shades that blocked out the light of the bolt that hit him. He felt a tingle, then a burning sensation as he collapsed to his knees. He hugged himself, grinding his teeth as his chest felt like it was being drilled through, before shortly feeling the pain subside into an itchy sensation. Before long the glistening yellow and indigo forces departed, leaving him as if nothing had even happened.

“It…didn’t work?” Twilight asked rhetorically, announcing everyone else’s thought. Everypony and everybody shared a small look of either disappointment or confusion; Luna stepped up confidently, standing next to the near naked man.

“We believe we may have the answer,” she stated, giving him a once over. “When we were… trying to convince Shadowman to return to the library,” she hesitantly asked, earning a cocked eyebrow from the man. “We attempted to use magic on him to grasp him as we would do to any other object, but found that our ability to levitate him was cancelled out. Our magic was useless against him.”

“But what about the healing lotion?” Fluttershy asked, before once again retreating behind Pinkie.

“That is rather peculiar; how can one form of magic affect a human but another cannot?” Rarity asked Twilight as they descended the stairs. Twilight studied the floor, searching for the answer. Finally she came to a conclusion after mere seconds of staring between two panels.

“Maybe, it is the way in which magic is applied?”

“Although I am against this whole magic fiasco, I know it is an underlying force of this world. I know little about it, but I think I might know enough to know why the spell didn’t work.” Frank stepped forward, standing between Twilight and Celestia. “If the healing balm works by being absorbed through the skin, then we must consider human skin as more than a defence against disease and microbes, but also as a shield against…magic.” Once again that word left a sour taste in his mouth.

“So what you’re saying is that the conventional method of using magic does not apply to a human. It would explain why a balm would work.” Both Twilight and Frank held quizzical looks, simultaneously scratching their chins. “If that were the case, then perhaps if we can get past the barrier then we can still change you.” She put forward.

“Not at all, I suspect if your kind could summon a, say, a ball of fire then the effects would become apparent. That spell isn’t trying to change us, but to conjure a flaming ball of death. The trick is finding a method to affect our body from the inside out.”

“Interesting. While that doesn’t exactly explain why a simple levitation spell does not work, it does give a plausible explanation. We have to study as to why it doesn’t work; a few experiments wouldn’t hurt right?” she asked, attempting to copy Rarity’s puppy dog eyes.

Science with her favourite scientist… what more could she want? The ponies rolled their eyes at the display; of course anything strange to her had to be catalogued, studied, and experimented on. Frank, much to his resentment, gave in to pleading and admittedly well-presented reasons for studying.

With one catch, he would help in the research, and Shadowman would be the test subject. Twilight restrained a large squee, returning to the matter at hand. She pondered over why the healing lotion worked, and came to a conclusion.

“Perhaps there is some way to get past the human skin, and still turn you into a pony after all.”

“That would either require injecting magic into our blood vessels, allowing it to circulate around our body so that the intended results become apparent, or simply creating some sort of bath for us to bath in until we change.” he replied.

“Actually, perhaps we can go one step better.” Twilight commented, earning everyone’s attention.

“I’m intrigued.” Frank replied, giving her full attention. “Maybe we have come to the same conclusion.”

“Likely.”

“Possibly.”

“Maybe.”

“Certainly.”

“Definitely.”

“Absolutely.”

“GET ON WITH IT!” bellowed the rest, barring the royals, Shadowman, and Fluttershy.

“Digestion.” They both said in unison, rubbing the back of their heads. It wasn’t until the others started mumbling, and when the Princesses and Dash crowd around that she realised what had happened.

“I just had an intellectual debate with Frank!” she squeaked, peering over her shoulder to him giving her a small grin before conversing with Shadowman. “And I’m going to be doing real life experiments with him!”

“Yeah, although all that sciencey stuff is for you eggheads, that was kind of cool. Shame Hank can’t become a pony though. I really wanted that hoof wrestling match,” Dash added, sighing after landing next to the unicorn.

“Don’t worry; I think tomorrow we should ask Zecora if she knows any potions that can change one creature to another.” Dash’s mood perked up, as did Luna’s slightly.

“Well done, my pupil. I suspect this is the same Zecora from your friendship report?”

“Yes.”

“Well, we hope the alchemist can conjure a remedy suited for our needs.” Luna said, watching Shadowman return to his former clothed self. She once again eyed the pendant he was returned, but felt as if it conjured painful nostalgia him. What was more important was the fact that the piece of jewellery was never seen in the show.

Is it possible, that they had lives before the show? she asked herself, watching him hang the silver pendant around his neck.

“Me too, it would be easier to show them around Ponyville without them being hunted down by the bronies, or worse the haters.” Twilight cringed shortly afterwards. “We better avoid Big Mac and Mayor Mare.”

“Unfortunately, we have to wait until Zecora can make the required potion, given that she even can.” Celestia sighed, disheartened to not be taking home a blonde haired stallion. “I doubt we would be able to keep them in the castle in the current state they are in. Sorry, Luna, but I’m afraid Prince Albert and Shadowman will be staying here for the night. With Blue Blood, who will not doubt attempt to make matters worse, we cannot guarantee their safety if word reached the public.”

“You mean you’re upset that Rarity may be spending more time with Albert?” Luna could almost see the raging fire in that deathly look her sister gave her; it only gave further evidence as to why she was the ruler of the sun.

“Err, what did you say Princess?” the pegasus asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Nothing dear Rainbow Dash. Sister, I believe it is time we leave.” Luna spoke, turning away to leave the building.

Soon enough the time came for everypony to say goodbye, each receiving varying levels of disheartened farewells. Surprisingly, Shadow made more of an effort in saying goodbye than Hank did by at least waving. Twilight, with the minor aid of her number one assistant and Hank, brought out two mattresses for two humans to sleep in the basement.

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Soon, the library was engulfed in peaceful silence, barring the snoring of Hank in the basement and Spike upstairs. The behemoth and Albert took to the comfort of the mattresses whilst Frank and Shadow slept on opposite sides of the center table. But before Shadowman could be rewarded with the blissful miracle that was sleep, Frank had something to ask of him.

Again.

“Hey, see that book under your seat?” Shadowman refused to move, hoping his response would give clues that he wanted to rest. Still, between rubbing that pendant and shifting around he didn’t have much luck.

“I’m going to try and gain some knowledge about how the ponies know about us.” That caught his attention; if it could hint to why he was being chased by pony doppelgängers, then he could stay awake for one last hour. Lazily, he slid over the book and tried to get back to sleep. It was when a candle lit up, that he soon groaned.

He sat up to spy his shades on the table, and Frank sitting up already a few pages in.

“Sorry, but I need some help.” He looked into the darkened figures hazel eyes and saw small amount of murderous intent. It didn’t help that the silent killer’s eyes focused on his wrist blades sitting between them. “I want you to help me research. We won’t be doing it long, besides you get the fun part,” Frank added, flicking over another page.

“Vinyl Scratch, that mare who took me to her house, which you demolished,” he looked up only to see his counterpart rubbed his shoulder before giving a nonchalant small shrug. “Said that some ponies write about us. Fictional stories of course. Some get published at some convention called ‘Bronycon’, others still float around cyber space. I want you to read a few.”

“Only those that have impacted this ‘community’, as she says, get put into a book, and also contain correct grammar and spelling." Frank closed the book, using his finger as a book mark. "

Why some people wouldn't consider that important is beyond me; the whole purpose is not to be annoying but give clarity. If an author doesn't strive to achieve a certain standard then what’s the point? Why not just have one big run on sentence? It's what proof readers are for after all.”

Shadowman frowned, slowly descending to his resting position.

“Okay, just one. Over there. Look for the books under ‘My Big Human: Friendship is Expendable’.” Hank gestured towards a bookshelf, close to the kitchen. Groggily, the ghost wandered over to the bookshelf. “It’s kind of a harsh way of looking at our lives, but I couldn’t say it was any less true. I’ve jeopardised your life as much as you have to mine.” That comment earned a glare at break neck speeds, and didn’t ease up as Shadowman pulled a book out randomly.

The book was titled ‘Royal Buffet’ by Trixie Lulamoon.

“Hey, they got a bestseller called the ‘Prince and I’, and another called ‘My Little Shadow’. Oh, what’s this? ‘Frankie goes to Hockywood? Isn’t that the pointy bit on the back of the hind leg? They’ll make names out of anything.”

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It was a glorious morning on the border of the Everfree forest; the smell of damp grass, the cool breeze of the air aiding in the focus of a rather chipper mare. The zebra was busy humming a Zebrican tune, straightening one of the many tribal masks decorated around the hut.

The witchdoctor’s workplace, doubling as a home away from home, was filled with all sorts of bubbling concoctions; both pleasant and foul odours mixed into the air, contrasting the colour jars and flasks they belonged to. Vases lay around; sacks of ingredients hung around within a hoof's reach, all centred around a large empty cauldron.

Zecora couldn’t help but give a bashful smile as she thought about her date with the shy Mr.Bell. She took a small glance at her dress, still resting at the foot of her bed. He was the perfect gentlepony, given you ignored his tendency to ramble when he was caught up in talking about a topic, but she chalked it down as a cute quirk.

The champagne she tasted was exquisite; she rarely had anything alcoholic besides the spiritual drinks she sometimes brewed up. Not for her, but for some ponies looking to cure some ailment.

The way she saw it, if she makes it, she can take some of it. The meal and pleasant conversation still captured her dreams, although she had more grass stains on her black and white gown in her fantasy.

Because they wound up stargazing in a nearby field…

With a happy sigh, the mare picked up a list of cures and remedies on her to do list, some for her but mostly for the rise in customers coming to see her.

“Without a doubt, I can say, a second date is on its way. Perhaps a small token, planted on his cheek? Perhaps I should ask Rarity, in her boutique?” she said out loud. The problem wasn’t that she doubted a blossoming romance, especially not since the dance, but it had been a few years since she considered a coltfriend. The last thing she wanted was for their friendship to end.

The more she spent lingering on the subject, the more she thought about the first kiss. When was it to come? By who and when? She dismissed the second date as a possibility, thinking it may be a bit forward.

With an indecisive mind catching her focus, her first potion, a cure for toothache, was performed automatically by her body.

Perhaps the seamstress will know the answer?
Her romantic mind will prevent a disaster.
If this issue is my current task,
Surely it could not hurt to simply ask?

Her musings were cut short by a knock on her door; in doing so she poured more black twigerhurt berries in than necessary. The results were a black, thick, tar like sludge in her cauldron. With a bit of silent cursing in her native tongue, she made her way over towards the oak door.

“Twilight Sparkle, a pleasant surprise; why have you come so early after sun rise?” she asked, raising her hoof to block out the still rising sun. She was genuinely happy to see the bookworm, it was enough to subside her irritation for ruining a small batch of her potion.

“Hi, Zecora.Sorry if I have disturbed you, but I really need your help with a big problem I having...”

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Author's Notes:

Hock: the pointy bit in the hind legs of a pony. Hence the Hockywood reference. Although somebody writing a story about ponies playing ice hockey would be awesome.

Sorry it has been so long for an update; that genetically inherited disease known as life is getting in the way a lot. Shout out to Soulless DCLXVI for the author and in-fan-fic-fan-fic that Shadowman happened to pick up. The victim is the same, but I had to change the title and who the killer was. Thank you for the inspiration.

Shout out to Recovery 565 for proof reading! Much obliged kind Sir!